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The Moos “Desk Drawer”

Rick Barnes was mediocre at Texas with access to some of the best talent in the country. Why on earth did Tennessee think he'd be successful there?

Oh wait, they are the #1 team in the country.

Oh yeah and UT thought they could/should do much better...
It is funny to see that Shaka is basically .500 at UT.

The whorns are a rich spoiled fan base and they always think they can do better and doesn’t bother them to not be patient with their hires, always seem like their coaching staff is on short leash...
 
Firing Barnes was a huge fail by Texas. I’d say he was second best coach in that conference to Self. There were a lot of great Kansas-Texas battles. He had a couple off years and they got rid of him and replaced him with a ‘hot’ system coach from a small conference.
The results are predictable
 
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Would we have any chance with Musselman?
IF we want a name coach which Musselman certainly is in my book, Luke Walton is going to be unemployed shortly. Unfortunately UCLA needs a permanent head coach and he'll likely land there. IF Moos fires Miles, he needs to at least approach Walton IMO. The guy can coach and he would have no problem recruiting big men IMO.
 
i dont give in completely to the location angle.
i just look back at our coaches and its pretty obvious.
 
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Not that this is a surprise, but sounds like a search is going on so I hear.
 
Not that this is a surprise, but sounds like a search is going on so I hear.
o_O No doubt agent feelers have been extended in both directions. Us gauging interest and agents suggested their client might be interested if an opening occurs. The buzzards are circling after this last loss.
 
Not that this is a surprise, but sounds like a search is going on so I hear.
Moos needs to have his guy locked down before he even cans Miles. This needs to be a 1 day coaching search so the new head man can get here and recruit the transfer market and the little talent we will have coming back.
 
Moos needs to have his guy locked down before he even cans Miles. This needs to be a 1 day coaching search so the new head man can get here and recruit the transfer market and the little talent we will have coming back.
That would be tough considering most of the guys he would be after one has to assume will be coaching in the tourney.
 
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Moos needs to have his guy locked down before he even cans Miles. This needs to be a 1 day coaching search so the new head man can get here and recruit the transfer market and the little talent we will have coming back.

Never good to rush a hire and your not going to hire him till the season is officially over...

Regardless who our Head basketball coach is going to be even if it would be Miles it’s going to be a difficult year..
 
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Never good to rush a hire and your not going to hire him till the season is officially over...

Regardless who our Head basketball coach is going to be even if it would be Miles it’s going to be a difficult year..
Next year may depend on if a new coach can bring a couple of guys with him. One thing that concerns me is the idea of going out and throwing out a ton of money and a long term deal for a "name" coach. Huggins was the hot name a few years back and he's self destructing now at West Virginia. I keep hearing Frank Martin's name thrown out on the radio. :( Our best bet is to probably find a young guy who can "make" a name at NU then pay him enough to keep him. JMHO.
 
Our best bet is to probably find a young guy who can "make" a name at NU then pay him enough to keep him. JMHO.

I don't necessarily disagree, but the last 3 guys we've tried that with haven't worked out (Miles, Sadler, Collier). So maybe we should try something different this time. If not a "name" coach, perhaps a top assistant at a top program - it seems to have worked for Marquette and Washington. But on the other hand, Collins at Northwestern has imploded after their one good season, and Danny Manning has been awful at Wake Forest. So it's a crapshoot.
 
I don't necessarily disagree, but the last 3 guys we've tried that with haven't worked out (Miles, Sadler, Collier). So maybe we should try something different this time. If not a "name" coach, perhaps a top assistant at a top program - it seems to have worked for Marquette and Washington. But on the other hand, Collins at Northwestern has imploded after their one good season, and Danny Manning has been awful at Wake Forest. So it's a crapshoot.
The thing to remember when building a program is that it isn't going to be a straight rise to the top. Even a proven guy is going to have down years ESPECIALLY at a place like Northwestern and NU. That isn't excusing what we've seen from Miles these past 3 years. It just seems there are some intrinsic problems with the way he coaches.
 
Frost and Erstad are in place. This is our opportunity to bring back Pike. Who else can fit the pattern?
 
Frost and Erstad are in place. This is our opportunity to bring back Pike. Who else can fit the pattern?
Pike as far as I know is not coaching. He was part of a group a few years back that tried to buy the Clippers I think. I think he's got enough money that coaching at NU wouldn't be on his radar.
 
I hear ya, I was joking although I agree I'm not funny. Lue is definitely the Husker alum with the coaching chops, but sounds pretty unlikely.
 
Honestly, at this point we need to hire a toxic, proven cheater who can get us to the NCAA and win a game, get some notoriety, and then be fired in a shocking scandal. Following 1 year of postseason ban, we could maybe build upon that success. This basketball program is cursed.
Eddie Sutton is still kickin'.

Would need to pony up for a personal driver, though. I don't think you want Eddie getting behind the wheel in Lincoln.
 
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Honestly, at this point we need to hire a toxic, proven cheater who can get us to the NCAA and win a game, get some notoriety, and then be fired in a shocking scandal. Following 1 year of postseason ban, we could maybe build upon that success. This basketball program is cursed.

That is truly is a factor in why I say I just don’t see too many coaches succeeding here at a high level. We don’t have a group of rogue alumni who are willing to bend the rules behind the scenes, and our coaches aren’t using their own money. College basketball is so freaking dirty.
 
I keep seeing Eric musselmans name coming up. He is not coming unless his first two choices -UCLA and USC fall thru along with a number of others. Also , he is a USC alum He is either going to stay out west or sign with a very big name program.
 
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I highly doubt he would have any interest but I think Greg McDermott would be a great hire. His teams are really well coached and he has a great track record with big men, this coming from an avowed Creighton hater. Musselman is a pipe dream. Sampson at Houston would be interesting but I think he'd rather just stay put than coach in Lincoln. We might get someone decent though, Moos has a great reputation and he can pay probably 4 million if he needed to. We aren't going to get the pick of the litter but we shouldn't be getting the runt either.
 
Nate Oats Nate Oats Nate Oats!!! If you can recruit and win in Buffalo, you can recruit and win in Nebraska.
 
Hopefully Moos doesn't get Pac-12 Network. Ernie Kent's absolutely terrible WSU Cougars are destroying Arizona State in Tempe. Every blind pig, so they say.
 
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Heard on a podcast today that Tom Crean was interested in the Nebraska job 2 years ago? His agent reached out to Nebraska... Wonder if he would be an option?
 
Heard on a podcast today that Tom Crean was interested in the Nebraska job 2 years ago? His agent reached out to Nebraska... Wonder if he would be an option?
I would take him. Think that would be a heck of a good hire. Just don't see it happening. Maybe he could get his son to tranftra too. Baseball player for georgia
 
Here is my take.

The next coach at Nebraska needs to have or be able to create a fast paced offensive or defensive identity. I don't care if it is something like what McDermott does at Creighton where they shoot a bunch of 3s early in the clock or if it is like old school Pitino at Kentucky, where it is fast paced offense predicated on a bunch of pressing on defense. Something that will create a buzz. The last 3 coaches, had no offensive identity and none of them had a defensive philosophy that used the defense to create offense. So the flow of the game on the offensive end became stagnant and relied too much on 1 or 2 guys to create the offense. With a fast paced style, you will use more players. I truly believe you can get enough 6'4 to 6'9 players to be successful in the Big Ten.

Again, look at St John's. Chris Mullen has that program on the up tick, they have improved every year for the last 4 years. They run out seven or eight 6'6 to 6'8 athletic players, they switch every ball screen on defense and are a competitive Big East team. I think they can make a run into the 2nd weekend in the NCAA tournament. None of the players on that team, outside of Shamorie Ponds, were top 150 prep players, but they play hard, with a ton of energy and are in your face, with a chip on their shoulder, from the tip.

My opinion, players will want to play in that sort of environment. The turn around won't be overnight, but it would happen in 3-5 years.
 
Here is my take.

The next coach at Nebraska needs to have or be able to create a fast paced offensive or defensive identity. I don't care if it is something like what McDermott does at Creighton where they shoot a bunch of 3s early in the clock or if it is like old school Pitino at Kentucky, where it is fast paced offense predicated on a bunch of pressing on defense. Something that will create a buzz. The last 3 coaches, had no offensive identity and none of them had a defensive philosophy that used the defense to create offense. So the flow of the game on the offensive end became stagnant and relied too much on 1 or 2 guys to create the offense. With a fast paced style, you will use more players. I truly believe you can get enough 6'4 to 6'9 players to be successful in the Big Ten.

Again, look at St John's. Chris Mullen has that program on the up tick, they have improved every year for the last 4 years. They run out seven or eight 6'6 to 6'8 athletic players, they switch every ball screen on defense and are a competitive Big East team. I think they can make a run into the 2nd weekend in the NCAA tournament. None of the players on that team, outside of Shamorie Ponds, were top 150 prep players, but they play hard, with a ton of energy and are in your face, with a chip on their shoulder, from the tip.

My opinion, players will want to play in that sort of environment. The turn around won't be overnight, but it would happen in 3-5 years.
St. John's is a whole different animal than NU from location, tradition, local talent pool to a former All Star NBA coach. I don't think we have any of those things going for us. Even with a a name coach like Mullen, NU is not going to be able to attract the volume of guys that St. John's can get. JMHO. Personally I think we need to be able to run a fundamentally sound offense that creates open shots for guy by setting good screens in an offense where nobody stands around. I don't think we'll ever be able to accumulate enough talent to overwhelm the B1G with our depth and a fast paced offense. We have to be more disciplined and smarter than other teams because I highly doubt we will be more talented. People dramatically overstate the talent we had on this team this year. Yes, we had more talent than we've had for years, but it still doesn't compare to the top teams in the B1G especially off the bench. When we watch NU play some of the other teams in the B1G, it seems they are constantly getting open looks and layups created from their offense. NU? Not so much. Occasionally when we run a set play that happens but not often.
 
St. John's is a whole different animal than NU from location, tradition, local talent pool to a former All Star NBA coach. I don't think we have any of those things going for us. Even with a a name coach like Mullen, NU is not going to be able to attract the volume of guys that St. John's can get. JMHO. Personally I think we need to be able to run a fundamentally sound offense that creates open shots for guy by setting good screens in an offense where nobody stands around. I don't think we'll ever be able to accumulate enough talent to overwhelm the B1G with our depth and a fast paced offense. We have to be more disciplined and smarter than other teams because I highly doubt we will be more talented. People dramatically overstate the talent we had on this team this year. Yes, we had more talent than we've had for years, but it still doesn't compare to the top teams in the B1G especially off the bench. When we watch NU play some of the other teams in the B1G, it seems they are constantly getting open looks and layups created from their offense. NU? Not so much. Occasionally when we run a set play that happens but not often.
You’re going to need offense in the BIG to win.
IMO the next hire needs to recruit those long athletes while also emphasizing some kind of offensive philosophy. Just develop one position grouping would be a start, like good guard play or front line, etc.
To Tucos point, I have seen really good Creighton teams with Doug McD struggle against St Johns, Providence, etc. Athletic bigs are erasers against good offensive teams. Providence’s coach, Cooley, is a Big East guy that started at BC, coached at Fairfield, then got the gig at Providence, taking them to the NCAA tourney 5/7 years. Get a guy with ties to a region, recruits these athletic bigs, and go from there. Oh and Cooley also won the Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year before he got the Providence job. Wouldn’t hurt to look at that type of coach
Here are the nominees from 2018:
2018 BEN JOBE AWARD FINALISTS

Tommy Amaker, Harvard
Kevin Baggett, Rider
Mike Boynton, Oklahoma State
Travis DeCuire, Montana
Earl Grant, Charleston
Ron Hunter, Georgia State
Donte’ Jackson, Grambling
Mike Jones, Radford
LaVall Jordan, Butler
Edward Joyner, Hampton
Bashir Mason, Wagner
Rob Murphy, Eastern Michigan
Kelvin Sampson, Houston
Damon Stoudamire, Pacific
Dedrique Taylor, Fullerton
Reggie Witherspoon, Canisius

Here are the nominees from 2017
The 2016-17 finalists include: Tommy Amaker (Harvard), Mike Anderson (Arkansas), Rod Barnes (CSU Bakersfield), Jamion Christian (Mount St. Mary’s), Mike Davis (Texas Southern), Johnny Dawkins (UCF), Earl Grant (Charleston), Leonard Hamilton (Florida State), Ron Hunter (Georgia State), James Jones (Yale), Robert Jones (Norfolk State), Kevin Keatts (UNC Wilmington), Danny Manning (Wake Forest), Ritchie McKay (Liberty), LeVelle Moton (North Carolina Central), King Rice (Monmouth), Montez Robinson (Alcorn State), Kelvin Sampson (Houston), Anthony Stewart (UT Martin), Dedrique Taylor (Cal State Fullerton) and Willis Wilson (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi).

FWIW I just looked back at the OP and he mentioned Montana’s DeCuire. I agree he’s worth a look as well as some of the others on these lists
 
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St. John's is a whole different animal than NU from location, tradition, local talent pool to a former All Star NBA coach. I don't think we have any of those things going for us. Even with a a name coach like Mullen, NU is not going to be able to attract the volume of guys that St. John's can get. JMHO. Personally I think we need to be able to run a fundamentally sound offense that creates open shots for guy by setting good screens in an offense where nobody stands around. I don't think we'll ever be able to accumulate enough talent to overwhelm the B1G with our depth and a fast paced offense. We have to be more disciplined and smarter than other teams because I highly doubt we will be more talented. People dramatically overstate the talent we had on this team this year. Yes, we had more talent than we've had for years, but it still doesn't compare to the top teams in the B1G especially off the bench. When we watch NU play some of the other teams in the B1G, it seems they are constantly getting open looks and layups created from their offense. NU? Not so much. Occasionally when we run a set play that happens but not often.

Again the players that Mullen is bringing in aren't 4 and 5 star players. They are just average players from NYC or Newark or Philly. You can find those players in Kansas City, Chicago, or St Louis. No one said you had to overwhelm anyone, Arkansas when they ran their stuff under Nolan Richardson, wasn't recruiting 4 and 5 star talent, they just had a bunch of athletic players that played pressure defense and created opportunity. We sit here and watch Scott Frost recruit a top 20 class to a dormant program and recruit players from all over the country. Yet because Lincoln isn't a huge metro area, a basketball coach can't recruit athletes. Please. It's just more excuses

What you are describing is what we have had for every coaching search with the exception of maybe Nee. It hasn't worked. Maybe we should go hire John Thomspon III and let him run Princeton sets, that will surely attract the players needed to win in the Big Ten.
 
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You’re going to need offense in the BIG to win.
IMO the next hire needs to recruit those long athletes while also emphasizing some kind of offensive philosophy. Just develop one position grouping would be a start, like good guard play or front line, etc.
To Tucos point, I have seen really good Creighton teams with Doug McD struggle against St Johns, Providence, etc. Athletic bigs are erasers against good offensive teams. Providence’s coach, Cooley, is a Big East guy that started at BC, coached at Fairfield, then got the gig at Providence, taking them to the NCAA tourney 5/7 years. Get a guy with ties to a region, recruits these athletic bigs, and go from there. Oh and Cooley also won the Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year before he got the Providence job. Wouldn’t hurt to look at that type of coach
Here are the nominees from 2018:
2018 BEN JOBE AWARD FINALISTS

Tommy Amaker, Harvard
Kevin Baggett, Rider
Mike Boynton, Oklahoma State
Travis DeCuire, Montana
Earl Grant, Charleston
Ron Hunter, Georgia State
Donte’ Jackson, Grambling
Mike Jones, Radford
LaVall Jordan, Butler
Edward Joyner, Hampton
Bashir Mason, Wagner
Rob Murphy, Eastern Michigan
Kelvin Sampson, Houston
Damon Stoudamire, Pacific
Dedrique Taylor, Fullerton
Reggie Witherspoon, Canisius

Here are the nominees from 2017
The 2016-17 finalists include: Tommy Amaker (Harvard), Mike Anderson (Arkansas), Rod Barnes (CSU Bakersfield), Jamion Christian (Mount St. Mary’s), Mike Davis (Texas Southern), Johnny Dawkins (UCF), Earl Grant (Charleston), Leonard Hamilton (Florida State), Ron Hunter (Georgia State), James Jones (Yale), Robert Jones (Norfolk State), Kevin Keatts (UNC Wilmington), Danny Manning (Wake Forest), Ritchie McKay (Liberty), LeVelle Moton (North Carolina Central), King Rice (Monmouth), Montez Robinson (Alcorn State), Kelvin Sampson (Houston), Anthony Stewart (UT Martin), Dedrique Taylor (Cal State Fullerton) and Willis Wilson (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi).

FWIW I just looked back at the OP and he mentioned Montana’s DeCuire. I agree he’s worth a look as well as some of the others on these lists

Most of the coaches on these lists aren't exactly lighting it up this year, except for Kelvin Sampson. In fact, a few will probably be fired soon (like Danny Manning)

I'd be all for offering a proven guy like Ed Cooley $3-4 million/year, but I still don't think he would be interested. Most East-Coast coaches want to stay on the East Coast, not move to the middle of nowhere. So we'll likely either be rolling the dice on another mid-major guy, or rolling the dice on a top assistant somewhere like Washington did. Moos seems to strongly prefer coaches with head-coaching experience (Frost, Leach, Ernie Kent) so I would bet on the former.
 
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Most of the coaches on these lists aren't exactly lighting it up this year, except for Kelvin Sampson. In fact, a few will probably be fired soon (like Danny Manning)

I'd be all for offering a proven guy like Ed Cooley $3-4 million/year, but I still don't think he would be interested. Most East-Coast coaches want to stay on the East Coast, not move to the middle of nowhere. So we'll likely either be rolling the dice on another mid-major guy, or rolling the dice on a top assistant somewhere like Washington did. Moos seems to strongly prefer coaches with head-coaching experience (Frost, Leach, Ernie Kent) so I would bet on the former.
That very well may be regarding Moos. But these lists are a conversation starter and not all are to be dismissed. One of the guys on this list from 2017, Kevin Keatts, just signed a 6 year deal with N.C. State took them to the NCAA tourney his first year and his teams are highly competitive with ACC teams. Keatts was hired from UNC Wilmington. Point being you can hire east coast guys just have to find the right one willing to come to NU. IMO the selling point would be the conference, not necessarily location.
Butler’s LaVall Jordan is currently 5th in the Big East. Former assistant of John Beilein. Was sixth in Big East last year took them to NCAA tourney second round. Dang Berry Collier.
Jordan was Head Coach at Milwaukee. Problem with NU has been the ineptitude of the Administration not identifying quality men’s coaches.
A consecutive nominee on this list Earl Grant, HC at Charleston, is from east coast originally, was an assistant under Gregg Marshall at Winthrop and Wichita State. When he was an assistant at Clemson they went to the tourney as a 4 seed. He took Charleston to NCAA tourney last year. His resume is more impressive than Miles was when he was hired.
This search deserves a deep dive, though I’ve heard it’s been going on for a while.
 
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That very well may be regarding Moos. But these lists are a conversation starter and not all are to be dismissed. One of the guys on this list from 2017, Kevin Keatts, just signed a 6 year deal with N.C. State took them to the NCAA tourney his first year and his teams are highly competitive with ACC teams. Keatts was hired from UNC Wilmington. Point being you can hire east coast guys just have to find the right one willing to come to NU. IMO the selling point would be the conference, not necessarily location.
Butler’s LaVall Jordan is currently 5th in the Big East. Former assistant of John Beilein. Was sixth in Big East last year took them to NCAA tourney second round. Dang Berry Collier.
Jordan was Head Coach at Milwaukee. Problem with NU has been the ineptitude of the Administration not identifying quality men’s coaches.
A consecutive nominee on this list Earl Grant, HC at Charleston, is from east coast originally, was an assistant under Gregg Marshall at Winthrop and Wichita State. When he was an assistant at Clemson they went to the tourney as a 4 seed. He took Charleston to NCAA tourney last year. His resume is more impressive than Miles was when he was hired.
This search deserves a deep dive, though I’ve heard it’s been going on for a while.
Has Lavall Jordan had to rely on his own recruits yet? We fell in to that trap with Doc Sadler. No matter who we hire, it's gong to be a crap shoot unless somebody like Bill Self is tired of winning the Big 12 and wants a real challenge.
 
No he hasn’t, he’s been there for 2 years.
The hard thing about trying to target guys like Cooley, Jordan, etc is that they have already been discovered by athletic directors at those jobs. And they likely aren’t coming here for a lateral move getting paid what they are already making. I would be surprised to see any big fish either. I think you have to take that crap shoot and roll the dice.
Moos hired Ernie Kent at WSU after Kent had been fired and out of coaching for 3 years.
This is a tough hire, although when Miles was hired the Pinn Bank wasn’t a known commodity as a tough place to play with a packed house. This is a better job now than when he was hired IMO
 
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Word from someone pretty connected with Husker Hoops. Moos is still dead set on hiring Dana Altman and will pay whatever it takes to get him here, even though Dana already turned Moos down last year.
 
Nebraska should be better at basketball than they are. They don’t have to be Kansas, but they shouldn’t be Nebraska.

It is not easy to succeed in college basketball, but it is not as hard as Nebraska makes it look.
 
I totally agree with Tuco that we're probably never going to compete consistently running a traditional offense in the half court. We need a niche.
 
Word from someone pretty connected with Husker Hoops. Moos is still dead set on hiring Dana Altman and will pay whatever it takes to get him here, even though Dana already turned Moos down last year.

No chance Altman leaves the Top 10 class he has coming in at Oregon, to rebuild the mess Miles will leave here. Especially at 60 years old. Moos could offer to double his salary and he'll probably still say no. He only has so many years left in coaching to try and win a National Title, and that's never going to happen here.
 
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