He’s certainly recruited well at UGA. Not many wins though. I wonder if he will be available after the season?
Would you rather have Dixon come back next year or have Brandin Knight?
- Thread starter PittPoker
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I think Knight is a respectable choice if we have an open checkbook on assistants to bring in high level talent. Knight wouldn't be a top dollar choice in terms of how much money it would take to get him, it would save quite a bit on the head coach salary. But we would have to be willing to spend big and I mean big on assistants. Orlando Antigua would bring talent in here immediately. We would get legit NY / NJ talent and get our pipelines back. Look what he did at Illinois. Again, money talks. Steal high level assistants that will get the talent in here to give Knight a legit chance to win. Does anyone think Knight would fail badly with Cockburn and Curbelo on our team? Those guys played ball in NY even though they aren't from there. Antigua got both to Illinois to restore their program. I would take it a step further and if we are going cheap with Knight, triple Antigua's salary to get him here. Recruiting is the lifeblood of a program.
Orlando isn’t leaving Kentucky for Pitt. He’s making 1 million there. His tenure at South Florida was very similar to Capel’s here. Average recruiting, scandals, nepotism and off court problems. He would be the definition of a bad hire.
JD is not the man , the way he was treated here his pride would never allow him to come back . Plus at his age with no financial worries why would you want to undertake what appears to be an almost impossible task . No booster group , no fan support and a university that’s not fully committed to win .So between the two Knight is the only choice who’d take the job.
Whomever you hire you must add 3 million to his annual salary for the next 4 yrs , so with an empty Pete how much money do you think Pitts willing to invest in a men’s Bb coach especially when the Pete’s empty ?
Hire a big name coach better allocate another million and half for his assistants plus your going to have to pay him above market rates to get him . So hire a Pitino or Pearl just how many more seats are you going to sell ? Two thousand maybe three that doesn’t pay the bills .
Hire an unknown the Pete continues to be empty tomb until they’d return to a top 20 team .
Quite a pickle !
Unless a big monied booster comes forward and buys out JC he’s here for at least 2 more seasons . Losing a 17 yr old kid who now has every blue blood school salivating over him won’t make Heather and her bosses spend 20 million to replace JC no matter how bleak things currently are .
Whomever you hire you must add 3 million to his annual salary for the next 4 yrs , so with an empty Pete how much money do you think Pitts willing to invest in a men’s Bb coach especially when the Pete’s empty ?
Hire a big name coach better allocate another million and half for his assistants plus your going to have to pay him above market rates to get him . So hire a Pitino or Pearl just how many more seats are you going to sell ? Two thousand maybe three that doesn’t pay the bills .
Hire an unknown the Pete continues to be empty tomb until they’d return to a top 20 team .
Quite a pickle !
Unless a big monied booster comes forward and buys out JC he’s here for at least 2 more seasons . Losing a 17 yr old kid who now has every blue blood school salivating over him won’t make Heather and her bosses spend 20 million to replace JC no matter how bleak things currently are .
lol yet he was awful as a recruiter at Pitt. Do you think that maybe where he’s at and who is closing has something to do with it?
And hiring another recruiter as head coach would be the definition of insanity. You’re not getting too HS recruits to play here. GET A COACH. FULL STOP
A second major decision like this could make or break Lyke's career. I think she is going to be willing spend money this time around.
Im talking about getting Antigua as an assistant, not as a head coach.
There are good, young coaches at lower levels that would love to have an ACC head coaching position. You need to hire a young guy who HAS to win and wants to advance his career.
He’s not leaving Kentucky? What don’t you get about that. He’s making more than our entire assistant staff
I don't think Pearl is interested in leaving Auburn. Besides, I can't see Pitt giving Pearl the time of day, even if he wanted the Pitt job. He has way too many skeletons in his closet.
Pitt could really benefit from a coach with his marketing skills though. He has a way of uniting a fan base and installing a sense of pride in the program before things start to turn around. Pitt could definitely use someone like that.
He makes 850K per year at Kentucky, I looked it up. Brandin Knight would be a very cheap coach to hire as a D1 coach. He isn't getting a Power 6 job anywhere but Pitt anytime soon and the fanbase still loves him. The money that would be saved hiring Knight, can be used to spend on getting the best assistants money can buy. And yes, Pitt can steal them away with the right money offer. You dont seem to understand money talks.
I’m sure there are , but no ones buying a ticket from that hire until the guys ready to move on .
She spent money the first time around too.
Having said this, not for one second am I criticizing Lyke for hiring Capel. I thought it was an excellent choice (who she paid to go get I might add).
Right, Im not suggesting she went cheap with Capel. What I am suggesting, is she is going to up the pay higher this time around to try and get it right. I was on board with the Capel hire. But the stakes here really couldnt be any higher, for her or for Pitt basketball.
I say, how about this........Ben Howland. The hire Jamie as an assistant, Brandin as an assistant and Cal as an assistant. There ya go. Easy.
Where’s she going to get the money from ?
Doubling down on a losing investment takes a lot of balls and capital .
Antigua was reportedly offered $1 mil for 4 years to remain at Illinois, yet hooked back up with Coach Cal. That's a cushy gig he has at UK.
I don't disagree, but I'm not sure how much higher she can go. $4 mil?
With no basketball fan support in an athletic department that still needs to be subsidized university operating funds. If she doesn't get a donor to fund the buyout, her hands are really going to be tied.
Sure it does. But when your career is potentially on the line like it will be with her, that changes things to want to get it right.
Orlando Antigua, unless fired, will never be an assistant coach again. His entire package is over 1 mill, it’s almost like I talk to him from time to time, and loves Lexington. His wife loves Lexington. He will be a head coach somewhere as his next stop.
You haven’t been right once in 4 years arguing with me why do u think that would stop now
What makes you think any of these guys crooked or not would want the Pitt job let alone leave the one they have. As I recall the last search until Capel's name came out the leading candidate was Mark Schmidt. No one was beating the door down. So what has changed that makes this job attractive? You can get money lots of places so there has to be more.
Ok, I will participate. Obviously in this type of situation it would be Jamie. My reasoning is that he probably has some current recruits that he could entice to come Pitt’s way. Not sure if Brandon would have that.
So, for me, it is only about the need to add some players to the squad in the quickest manner possible.
Looking back I’m sure she wished she never hired or extended JC deal , but she did . Now if you were her boss and she comes to you and says we need to move on from JC and we need 12-15 million to buy him out and then I need a can’t miss HC at 6-7 million a yr plus another 1.5 million for assistants are you giving her the ok ? I’m firing her !
After you guaranteed Efton Reed and Jarrod West as Pitt locks, your credibility on recruiting was lost long ago.
You also predicted Ethan Morton was better than Femi and that Femi would bust because we beat Umass to get him.
You said Big John was a major project that no other program really wanted when we got him.
You also predicted Collier was the top impact recruit in the 2020 class.
You also predicted Drumgoole would have a large turnaround after his first year bust at Pitt
You also said Trey Mcgowens was a huge loss to Pitt when he has been a bust at Nebraska
You also guaranteed X was a high level NBA player after 1 year at Pitt, and this has been the worst take of them all.
lol I said maybe three of those things. Thanks for reminding me about John. He’s a mid major big. Big win there.
Femi was the big surprise. He’ll be a great player for one year on a terrible Pitt squad and never play another second here. So yes, Morton will have the better career.
He's probably treated like a king in Lexington. A UK basketball assistant probably gets more red carpet treatment than most head coaches do in other college towns.
IMO, there isn't a more passionate fan base in all of college athletics, football or basketball, than Kentucky basketball fans.
Unless Pitt offers him 10 mill over 5 years AND pays his buyout, he’s not even answering the call
Also, Jamie Dixon has been a bust at TCU. I think that needs to be said too since there is no way I want him back here and you were high as a Kite predicting big things at TCU.
He’s had the best 5 year run in TCU basketball since he played there. It’s a terrible job. He’s been very good!!
how are all your players you predicted to be great and sign with Pitt doing?
aren’t you happy they didn’t take HS kids in 21 cuz the talent was so bad and focused on 22?
I’m sorry but I struggle to see one box that Brandin checks other than the nostalgia box.
1. His time as the top Pitt assistant coincided with the downturn of the program and a regression in recruiting.
2. He is not even a top assistant at a bottom half Big Ten program.
3. If he wants to be a head coach so bad, why hasn’t he even been a finalist for a low major opening, especially one of the dozen or so programs in his home state where he is very popular.
So what exactly is his resume?
Dixon has made 2 NCAA Tournaments in 7 years. He had a losing record last year and a .500 record the year before. He hasn't finished above .500 once at TCU in Big 12 play. TCU was selected to finish 8th this preseason in the Big 12.
Dixon had a great run, but his time is also over.
Who cares where they finish in the big 12? He took them to an ncaa tourney and 8th in the big 12 so firmly on the bubble. I’d kill to be talking about a bubble team. But we’re focused on 2034 recruits because the talent in this class is so bad
How about a quick summary. You’ve both been right some, you’ve both been wrong some. Just like all of us. Just like any coach who’s ever coached anything.
If you care to continue your pissing match carry on.
I would also like to point out I voted for BK over Dixon coming back lol. I don’t really think either should get it
I’m not thrilled with BK either. If I recall correctly a huge strike against him was that he’d only coached at Pitt. He was told he needs broader experience. I figured after a stint at Rutgers he’d be in line for a smaller job. Just based solely on the fact that hasn’t happened gives me cause for concern. Has he even interviewed?
But it was either or so…
