Not sure there will be "Many more options for quality coaches available" next spring than there is now. This is no longer a desirable job. The Pete is now old news and no longer "The greatest basketball arena in the world". There is no local or regional recruiting base and you no longer have NY, Philly, DC to recruit from which fed the past success in the BE. And as a Pitt Bball coach, your program will always be behind the Steelers, Penguins, Pirates, Cultural Activities, and now Pitt football, in terms of interest and support in this town. Bottom line, weather he is replaced now or next spring, we are looking at a top assistant or a HC at a lower level. The window of opportunity has closed to get an established successful HC at a P-5.
Stallings buyout rumor
- Thread starter FrogmoreZeke
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Not sure there will be "Many more options for quality coaches available" next spring than there is now. This is no longer a desirable job. The Pete is now old news and no longer "The greatest basketball arena in the world". There is no local or regional recruiting base and you no longer have NY, Philly, DC to recruit from which fed the past success in the BE. And as a Pitt Bball coach, your program will always be behind the Steelers, Penguins, Pirates, Cultural Activities, and now Pitt football, in terms of interest and support in this town. Bottom line, weather he is replaced now or next spring, we are looking at a top assistant or a HC at a lower level. The window of opportunity has closed to get an established successful HC at a P-5.
The window would only open if Pitt opened the coffers which they weren't willing to do .First of all any job that pays seven figures is an attractive job. , but it's all relative and Pitts just not that attractive of a P5 bb school to attract top HC talent . If 2.5-3 is the going rate for a high quality HC Pitt needs to be at 3.5 or higher with an adequate budget for assistants . Does anyone really see that happening ? ( don't forget to add in the cost of the buyout )
Pitt thought they could equal JDs performance for less , how's that working out !
It all starts and ends at the administration level and they don't want what we all want .
Souf is nothing if not consistent!!That's a pretty fresh take by you.
Before Stevie P extended Dixons contract the last time, he contacted the agents of S. Miller, S. Smart and B. Stevens to gage interest. None of the 3 were interested. Knowing he could not get one of these 3, Stevie P. then extended Dixon. This was at the time when Dixon was being courted by a west coast school. Stevie P made some really bad decisions here but he did his due diligence before he extended Dixon another 10 years. Learned the hard way after the Wanny, Haywood, Graham shit show. The bball program was at its peak at the time but none of these 3 hottest coaches was interested. We all had an inflated opinion of the program, (for good reason). But the reality was not the same on a national level. When you look back on the history, when the program was successful, we basically caught lightening in a bottle with a solid head coach who had great assistants. Buzz Ridle and Tim Grgurich. Chipman/Evans and Calapari. Howland/Dixon had several good assistants. So the window was a pipe dream back when Stevie P extended Dixon but is now a Wet Dream due to Barnes misreading and mishandling the whole situation.
When things are consistent, it's hard to find fresh takesThat's a pretty fresh take by you.
A friend of mine (die hard Pit fan) sat next to him on a flight back home and she is one not to mince words. She thought he was an arrogant a$$ and can't wait until he is gone. And she even let him know she was an unhappy season ticket holder.
Do you really think any coach at any level cares to hear from a fan complaining, especially on a flight? You may not like Stallings or the job he has done, but let's be serious.
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I'm not sure what our chances of hiring a big time or hot coach was back then and how much that's degraded now. But back then, Sean Miller, Shaka Smart and Brad Stevens were all pretty big time hot coaches so just because they weren't interested doesn't mean that you couldn't have attracted a good coach at that time.
And if what you say is true, it's actually refreshing to hear Stevie P had set his sights high even if not achievable.
Although she speaks her mind your assuming all she did was bitch but it was really friendly banter that starting in the Southwest boarding line. The reality was she took her window seat and was planning on sleeping and it was KS who sat in her row and next to her and kept talking to her for most of the flight. Don't assume facts not in evidence.
He didn't need to act the way he did considering he needs the fan base and every season ticket holder he can hang on to. There are a lot of arrogant people out there but coaches being in the public eye, talking to fans comes with the territory. He could have easily kept his mouth shut but yet he didn't.
I am part of the group that is willing to give him a chance to see that he can. But not a fan of any coach that is arrogant to anyone especially a long time season ticket holder and when he was the one the that kept the conversation going.
Of course there is also a possibility he doesn't he doesn't give a crap and could care less if he gets fired since he gets paid.
Not defending either side but you do have a she said situation .
You have to admit, when your original post says she is someone that doesn't mince words and she made sure to let him know she was an unhappy season ticket holder, it isn't hard for your imagination to wonder how polite or diplomatic she may or may not have been.
Again, your own words in your original post can't help but invite the response of Diehard Panther that you are jumping all over him about.
Stevie P. realized that if he wasn't going to get someone better than JD then stick with what you have. Again he learned the hard way from the football cluster. What he did not anticipate was how much of a hit moving to the ACC was going to have on bball recruiting. JD was not in favor of moving to the ACC because of losing the NY, NJ, Philly recruiting pipeline but he also knew that football rules the roost and would never say anything about it publicly.
And he made JD alter his coaching staff . SP recognized the recruiting was falling off the cliff !
Although I believe this may have happened, I'll given Stallings a pass. I know for me, although I go out of my way to be polite (I think airline jobs are some the sh*ttiest and thankless around), flying makes me very tense these days. I could imagine someone sitting next to me might not think I'm the friendliest person. Not the best environment for a cozy chat. But I do get a sense he may come off as brusque. JMO.
Should have told the long version from the beginning indicating KS kept the conversation going which could have kept Diehard from assuming my friend was ranting although when someone who speaks their mind it doesn't mean they went over the top.
And yes is was a "she said" story but it was fron someone who is a long time friend who has a great ability to read people.
Agree flying makes people stressed and I am one who flies often and keeps to myself most times. As is my friend.
Part of this was KS kept the conversation going not her. She is very good at reading people and if talk to someone at length you can get an impression what isn't necessarily wrong.
I will judge him based on what he does on the floor and how he represents Pitt.
For the ten thousandth time, Pitt's going to the acc had NOTHING to do with the decline in recruiting in the specific areas you cite or anywhere else. Recruiting began to go down hill when Pitt was still in the BE. Recruiting went into the toilet because Dixon had allowed his staff to deteriorate and because he himself couldn't recruit a lick given his personality and the negative brand he built for Pitt BB. The acc schools have always successfully plied the NY, Philly and NJ recruiting areas, Dixon was to recruiting what kryptonite was to superman.
It never happened just more " fake posts" which have been around a lot longer than "fake news."
Most posters on here are "flamers"
I'm 100% sure most PITT fans don't like KS and I'm 97% sure KS doesn't really care!!!!!!!!!!!!
He's laughing all the way to the bank and in a great spot:
- he was hired somehow by a U /PITT that had and has no idea what they're doing when it comes to college athletics
-he was probably paid well and has a six year deal????????????????
-AND the U that made the mistake in hiring him isn't willing to put up the money reguired to get rid of him. Even if they do KS laughs all the way to the bank again!
-AND downgraded the PITT AD position so they probably don't have the horsepower in that spot to make a good replacement hire!
Result = ADVANTAGE STALLINGS
Buckle up for atleast 4 more years of KS ball regardless of PITT basketball results!
This is what happens when a bunch of incompentents are allowed to try to run a sports program and it starts with Gallagher!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Think about Stallings a total incompetent yet 17 yrs at Vandy making big bucks and 6 more at PITT= He fooled a lot of people!
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Agree with a lot of what you said except:
Not a fake post as I am not a flamer this was just sharing a story from a trusted friend no more no less.
And I think Stallings gets 2 more years if no improvement but if some improvement he gets his 4-5 but no extension.
Haven't you ever had a harmless conversation with someone and they turn around and say you said this and that and totally misrepresented what you said ?
Any Pitt bb fan would most likely enter into a conversation with KS with a highly negative attitude .
You don't think he could also be a little defensive with all the negativity floating around his program ?
I was a healthcare professional and I can't tell you how many times I had conversations about treatment options only to have the person say that I never told them that until I showed them the records of what I said. People sometimes hear what they want to hear .
Your friend could be 100% accurate , but there's no way to prove it .
Nothing to prove or disprove it was her opinion.
I get that details get lost when stories are told but the only thing she relayed to me was he came across as completely arrogant and she thought he was an A$$.
Not much to misinterpret. I just shared a Pitt fan's opinion no more no less.
The rest of my post was just explaining that he was a big part of driving/continuing the conversation.
If I never said she is someone that speaks her mind this thread would have died awhile ago.
Miller was more of a "hot" choice than the other 2. Shaka had an OK run at VCU. Stephens got his rep a boost beating us In D.C. Turns out he was pretty good, but mostly unknown before that. I'm impressed with how he made the jump to the NBA so well.
I really don't know why everyone is jumping all over you. You shared a story from a trusted friend. I'd do the same. Heck, I've DONE the same.
That's why there's vanilla and chocolate . He might of thought he was charming and witty and she thought he was an ass .
My memory gets foggy as the years go by but didn't Stephens end up doing a good bit more than just beating us. Was it 2 straight championship games or 2 FF's.
My main point was that, us not being able to land 3 coaches that went to the Celtics, Texas and Zona doesn't prove at that time that we can't attract a good or high profile coach. That was setting the sights pretty high.
Of course, we've since proven we can't attract a high profile guy or donn't seriously go after them with sufficient $.
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Yep.....2011 & 2012. But not many folks had heard of him until he knocked out a #1 seed. If we had won that game, we might have made the F4....with a team no where near as good as 2009's Panthers.
It would be cheaper, but it would be a lot riskier and definitely would not have a better outcome considering the coach.
gallagher needs to make better decisions, barnes and stallings, two bad hires. maybe next time the pitt admin will have 143 people on the selection committee....
That guy looks like Dick Groat!Ya, I heard he can be a real jerk to sit by.
Maybe 20 years ago...... Dicky G has seen better days, but you're right! I can definitely see the resemblance lol
At least in the past when Vanderbilt bag men delivered him a few good players, they eeked into the tournament even if by accident. Meaning they were at least positioned to attract a competent replacement for him when they colluded with our AD to be rid of him.
Compared to the 5 win seasons we're likely to have with incomplete rosters now.
Well if Stalling is a total loser as most people on this site think how did he deliver good - very good recruits at Vandy and cant do the same at PITT.
Maybe someone previous to him dropped a bomber and ran out of the room and stunk the room up for players wanting to come to PITT? You would think that smell would clear out must have been one you could light?
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