How about Geno Auriemma - UCONN's women's coach?
- Thread starter NC Panther
- Start date
No, that would be a ridiculous idea for too many reasons to even explain. Let's keep this to planet earth, guys.
Haha. I'd rather have Jim Calhoun for two or three years. Speaking of Jim Calhoun, I bet BC wish they had that last hire to do over again. He would have probably have given the Eagles a pulse, which is more than they have right now.
I can see Geno going home and coaching a men's team in Philly for a couple of years for kicks before he retires, but there would be no reason for him to come to Pitt. He could run for governor and win in CT. And his ability to collect wines would be severely hampered by the PLCB 
In all seriousness, I'm certain Geno could coach the men's game as far as Xs and Os. But he has no experience in men's recruiting, so that's a non-starter. It's also doubtful any pampered 4* or 5* AAU recruit would want to put up with his practices or philosophies.
As far as Calhoun goes, he's potentially on the hot seat with comments suggesting he might help Steve Pikiell out at Rutgers while still being on the UConn payroll. Not cool.
In all seriousness, I'm certain Geno could coach the men's game as far as Xs and Os. But he has no experience in men's recruiting, so that's a non-starter. It's also doubtful any pampered 4* or 5* AAU recruit would want to put up with his practices or philosophies.
As far as Calhoun goes, he's potentially on the hot seat with comments suggesting he might help Steve Pikiell out at Rutgers while still being on the UConn payroll. Not cool.
Maybe like a very successful college men's coach who wants the next challenge - the NBA.
Maybe he would want to prove to himself that he could have some of the same success on the men's side.
I don't think it's that far fetched - better than some of the other candidates being thrown around.
No, it's far-fetched. It's extremely and incredibly far-fetched, and I daresay maybe the silliest name thrown out here by far.
If an Athletic Director even suggested this to his bosses, he'd be fired on the spot and should be.
Don't die on this particular hill by trying to defend a bad idea.
Thus endeth the thread.
If an Athletic Director even suggested this to his bosses, he'd be fired on the spot and should be.
Don't die on this particular hill by trying to defend a bad idea.
Thus endeth the thread.
In general terms, I like your posts Doc and would like to know some of the reasons that you think it's a ridiculous idea.
I mean, I really would - maybe it *is* completely off base- just would like to know specifically why you think so?
Let's just say for argument's sake that he *does* want to prove that he can be successful on the men's side.
It's a different analogy but, some college coaches have done well in the NBA - Brad Stevens most recently comes to mind - some haven't.
I would think that the transition from the college game to the NBA would be more difficult than going from coaching a women's college team vs men's.
How can success at his level not translate to the men's?
Just asking...
Sums it up well.
Right or wrong, male athletes aren't going to respect someone who has coached women for as long as he has.
That was really a joke. He's 67 years old, and his record in March is worse than Jamie's.
Let me take a stab at this as someone who likely knows more about Geno than any of you.
First, I'm not going to suggest that Geno wouldn't want to ever coach a men's team. I imagine that's in the back of his mind somewhere. However, his first and foremost goal is to get women's hoops competitive beyond a half dozen teams. That's why he opens up his practices to any coach who wants to learn how he's achieved his success. UConn practices are brutal for both men's and women's teams, but it can be argued that the women's practices are more brutal. He's legitimately pissed that he's able to run over so many other teams because of poor conditioning and fundamentals.
I'm sure he's also not pleased that the entire AAC TV compensation is no better than what the women's team earned on their own from their TV package with SNY when back in the OBE, as well as having zero competition within his own league, losing both ND and Rutgers. So he does have some reasons to leave if he felt it was time.
He does get many of the best players, but not all of them. Usually when he doesn't get a top player it's by choice because said player won't fit into the culture, although there are exceptions. I don't think he'd do well at attracting top men's players because he wouldn't be able to deal with the AAU BS and one-and-dones or early departures. That doesn't even address the fact that he has no recruiting base with men's coaches anywhere and would have to do a ton of convincing that he knows how to handle male teenagers. He'd have to hire a staff that would buy into his idea of how a program should be created and run.
To that end, let's say there are 20 decent women's programs in a couple of years and Geno feels he's done his job. At that point, if there were an opening at say, LaSalle or Drexel, I could see Geno committing to five years and making the tourney within three years. It would be much easier to get 2* and 3* kids to buy into his philosophies as none of them would be coming to those schools for an NBA career. He wouldn't get the best talent, but he'd probably have the most well-conditioned and fundamentally sound team that would be a PITA for anyone in the A10 or Colonial to play.
But he'd be a bust at the P5 level at any school with expectations of getting top recruits and quick results.
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