OT: "Stop disrespecting me, bro!"
- Thread starter HOF Coach
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He sounds like a clown. Reminds me of Capel with his excuse making
Total disaster. I always fall into the trap of getting intrigued when one of these former players come in and start landing big recruits and they rarely end well. If Larry Brown can’t save you, nothing will.
Memphis is in bad, bad shape. Pastner was smart and jumped ship before he found himself on the chopping block and then the fans/media ran Tubby out of town after 2 years in part because of the hype Penny was building with his AAU team and the allure of him bringing those kids with him. At least we have the ACC cushion to soften our fall to rock bottom. I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say their athletic department is riding on their next coaching hire. It’s going to be awfully hard to convince the B12 to get interested if they add again if that basketball program isn’t cooking soon.
Memphis is in bad, bad shape. Pastner was smart and jumped ship before he found himself on the chopping block and then the fans/media ran Tubby out of town after 2 years in part because of the hype Penny was building with his AAU team and the allure of him bringing those kids with him. At least we have the ACC cushion to soften our fall to rock bottom. I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say their athletic department is riding on their next coaching hire. It’s going to be awfully hard to convince the B12 to get interested if they add again if that basketball program isn’t cooking soon.
Penny is possibly the best recruiter in the nation, all things being equal. But also one of the worst coaches. That cant be a surprise as he only coached HS Ball/AAU a few years before landing a D1 job.
Memphis is soon to be in a basketball league with
North Texas
Texas-San Antonio
Florida Atlantic
Rice
Charlotte
East Carolina
UAB
Tulsa
Temple
South Florida
SMU
Tulane
Wichita State
That's a 1 bid league. I said I thought Memphis and Temple should join the A10 and form an A10 football conference with UMass, Army, and some others. Basketball is going to take a big hit.
I wouldn’t call him the best recruiter, given the results. He’s probably the most high profile recruiter but that’s amounted to absolutely nothing. Could a great coach take Penny’s players and be a good/great team? Maybe but I don’t think a great coach would’ve promised 5-6 high end players that they’re each going to be “the guy”. Too many egos and moving parts with those kids to think you can get that many to coexist. We had trouble getting X/Toney/Champagnie to coexist last year and none of them had the kind of hype/rep of the Memphis guys.
It’s hard to think of a bigger loser in realignment than Memphis. They bet on their FedEx sugar daddies eventually buying a P5 spot and it never happened. Their football doesn’t jump off the page and their academics are going to be at the bottom of any P5 they attempt to join. Even if the B12 expand again I’m not convinced they get interested, but unless basketball gets back to an annual top 25 standing none of it matters. It’s unfortunate to an extent because that’s a great, great hoops town.
Really a testament to what a good coach Cal is that he’s able to turn his roster over every year and still field top ten teams more often than not.
Yea, Memphis was definitely the biggest loser in realignment and like you said, its no given they'd be the choice if the B12 expanded again. And I don't know why the B12 would expand again unless they lost some teams to the Pac 12 and if that happens, Memphis would basically be back in the old league where they came from with UCF, Cincy, Houston, etc so what's the point? I guess Kansas would be a leftover which would be great for hoops.
I went over to a Memphis message board a few months ago to see if it was armageddon but their fans were super positive. Basically they felt a B12 invite was imminent and they could be the top football and basketball team. Man, if Pitt were in that situation, it would certainly, rightfully, be doomsday.
Cal is one of those guys, personally, who you either love or hate but you have to respect his honesty. The difference between a guy like Cal and Penny is that Cal has no issue telling a 5 star kid that he’ll put you on the bench even before they get on campus. From everything I’ve heard, Penny promises these kids the moon and at the end of the day, there’s only one basketball to go around on game night
Memphis has missed their shot. Their best hope was keeping the AAC intact because the Houston/Cincy/UCF’s of the world are exactly at their level, but the AAC was always a ticking time bomb because the only thing the schools had in common was that 80% of the league couldn’t wait to leave. Unless they get desperate, I can’t see the B12 coming back around and the Big East wouldn’t even consider it. Maybe the A10 makes some sense but I can’t see them tanking football for that type of move.
An A10 football league of
Memphis
Temple
UMass
Army
A few random teams
Is no worse than this new American Athletic Conference. Heck, if I'm the A10, I try to maybe get USF, ECU, and/or Charlotte if it helps bringing in Memphis and Temple.
On Cal, I heard a great quote from him a few years ago. He said something like everyone asks if they can make them the next John Wall and he said he asks them "are you as good as him?" He is very honest with recruits and tells them Kentucky isnt for everyone
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