Sorry ahead of time for the lengthy post…
I appreciate HL’s efforts in attempting to hire Hurley or Miller and it was absolutely the right place to start the coaching search. We can debate whether or not it was the right decision to eventually pass on Miller and we may not know the verdict for a long time. Pitt’s general counsel is privy to more information than we are and they obviously saw some major red flags with Miller that forced them to axe this hire. Even if they approved Miller’s hiring, he would have been a lame-duck coach until the conclusion of his former assistant’s criminal trial (spring 2019). It would have been difficult for Miller to recruit during this period and even retain what’s left of the current roster. We would be looking at delaying the rebuild for another year at least. Worst case scenario, Miller is implicated in the trial and Pitt has to start from scratch again. Is it worth the risk? Possibly. But I believe Pitt made the right call.
Regarding Hurley, could Pitt have done anything more? From everything I’ve read, the answer is NO. He’s a very good mid-major coach but let’s not confuse him with Brad Stevens at Butler, Gregg Marshall, or even Shaka Smart at VCU. Those coaches had dominating regular seasons and deep tournament runs multiple times. Hurley has been a head coach for eight seasons and has two tournament appearances. Stevens took Butler to the tourney in 5 of his 6 seasons, including two final fours. Marshall – 20 seasons, 14 tournament appearances, 1 final four. Smart – 9 seasons, 7 tournament appearances, 1 final four. For some reason, Hurley has been elevated to a tier that I’m not sure he belongs in. He can certainly get there with the right pieces at UCONN, but he’s not there now. Which brings me to my top candidate from the beginning…
Nate Oats. I’ll admit I didn’t know who Nate Oats was until two weeks ago. But everything I’ve seen and read since the Arizona game has convinced me that he should be very high on the list. He appears to have all the traits to be a very successful college coach and I think he can win over this fan base quickly. There are legitimate concerns regarding the length of his resume and his ability to recruit the ACC footprint. I can’t defend that he’s only been a head coach at the D-1 level for three years and was a high school coach prior to that. But obviously Bobby Hurley saw something in him to hire him as an associate head coach and the UB administration felt the same way as they quickly promoted him following Hurley’s departure. Additionally, he’s been to the tournament 2 out of the 3 seasons since he’s taken over. Sure, we can give Bobby Hurley credit for much of the early success, but at some point this became Nate Oats’ team & he’s shown what he can do this year.
I’m not a recruiting expert, but a quick search shows that Oats has reeled in a couple 4-star recruits (depending on the site) in Buffalo’s upcoming class. Not exactly the easiest place to recruit. Could his success translate to the ACC footprint? Possibly. I thought this quote by him was pretty funny…”If you’re one of those kids that’s worried about the weather outside the gym during basketball season, let me know up front, because the weather inside the gym is the same in Miami as it is in Buffalo”.
Finally, there’s something about his attitude, personality, and confidence that translates well to the college game. We all got a glimpse of that in his postgame comments following the Arizona upset.
Things may not have worked out with Hurley and Miller…but that may be a blessing in disguise.
I appreciate HL’s efforts in attempting to hire Hurley or Miller and it was absolutely the right place to start the coaching search. We can debate whether or not it was the right decision to eventually pass on Miller and we may not know the verdict for a long time. Pitt’s general counsel is privy to more information than we are and they obviously saw some major red flags with Miller that forced them to axe this hire. Even if they approved Miller’s hiring, he would have been a lame-duck coach until the conclusion of his former assistant’s criminal trial (spring 2019). It would have been difficult for Miller to recruit during this period and even retain what’s left of the current roster. We would be looking at delaying the rebuild for another year at least. Worst case scenario, Miller is implicated in the trial and Pitt has to start from scratch again. Is it worth the risk? Possibly. But I believe Pitt made the right call.
Regarding Hurley, could Pitt have done anything more? From everything I’ve read, the answer is NO. He’s a very good mid-major coach but let’s not confuse him with Brad Stevens at Butler, Gregg Marshall, or even Shaka Smart at VCU. Those coaches had dominating regular seasons and deep tournament runs multiple times. Hurley has been a head coach for eight seasons and has two tournament appearances. Stevens took Butler to the tourney in 5 of his 6 seasons, including two final fours. Marshall – 20 seasons, 14 tournament appearances, 1 final four. Smart – 9 seasons, 7 tournament appearances, 1 final four. For some reason, Hurley has been elevated to a tier that I’m not sure he belongs in. He can certainly get there with the right pieces at UCONN, but he’s not there now. Which brings me to my top candidate from the beginning…
Nate Oats. I’ll admit I didn’t know who Nate Oats was until two weeks ago. But everything I’ve seen and read since the Arizona game has convinced me that he should be very high on the list. He appears to have all the traits to be a very successful college coach and I think he can win over this fan base quickly. There are legitimate concerns regarding the length of his resume and his ability to recruit the ACC footprint. I can’t defend that he’s only been a head coach at the D-1 level for three years and was a high school coach prior to that. But obviously Bobby Hurley saw something in him to hire him as an associate head coach and the UB administration felt the same way as they quickly promoted him following Hurley’s departure. Additionally, he’s been to the tournament 2 out of the 3 seasons since he’s taken over. Sure, we can give Bobby Hurley credit for much of the early success, but at some point this became Nate Oats’ team & he’s shown what he can do this year.
I’m not a recruiting expert, but a quick search shows that Oats has reeled in a couple 4-star recruits (depending on the site) in Buffalo’s upcoming class. Not exactly the easiest place to recruit. Could his success translate to the ACC footprint? Possibly. I thought this quote by him was pretty funny…”If you’re one of those kids that’s worried about the weather outside the gym during basketball season, let me know up front, because the weather inside the gym is the same in Miami as it is in Buffalo”.
Finally, there’s something about his attitude, personality, and confidence that translates well to the college game. We all got a glimpse of that in his postgame comments following the Arizona upset.
Things may not have worked out with Hurley and Miller…but that may be a blessing in disguise.
