There’s a New Sheriff in Town
by Jim Woods
So you thought you had gotten rid of me. I think the editor of Hoopville thought I was gone. In fact this article is so far overdue I think he was thinking of firing me. And he should have. You probably didn’t notice, but I have not submitted an article in months. I would hope you didn’t notice, since that would mean you have less of a life than me if you were anxiously anticipating the next Jim Woods hoopville.com article. But I’m back now and you got another whole season’s worth of opinions, ramblings, analysis, bad predictions, unfunny jokes, and boring stories. I’ll be coming at you a lot more frequently once the season really kicks off, including some random postings on the new hoopville.com writer’s blog. I think a blog is like ramblings about nothing posted by losers like me on the internet when we have nobody else to talk to. But I’m not really sure, and since I talk to myself quite a bit, I think this blog thing is right up my alley. So with all that being said, this season first article will look at the coaching changes that took place this past spring, summer and even fall. I’ll break it down in capsule format for your viewing pleasure and to make my writing even easier. You see I spent this past weekend at “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party”, better known as the University of Florida versus University of Georgia football game. So any way to make it easier to write when I have 14 hours of sleep, plus 50 beers and 65,000 images of southern coeds in my head I am going to take advantage of.
Air Force
Old Coach: Joe Scott
New Coach: Chris Mooney
Analysis: The former Princeton player Mooney gets the opportunity at his first D1 head coaching gig after spending the past four years as an assistant to Scott at the Academy. It only took one day for Air Force to make the decision to turn the program over to the 31-year-old Mooney, so obviously the decision makers at the school are extremely confident in Chris’ abilities. He is a product of the “Princeton” system that the Falcons employ, so the continuity of teaching the complicated system remains intact. The current players in the program also have a strong level of comfort with Mooney and really backed him for the job. Like any young coach, especially one who is a mere 31, it will be interesting to see how the player’s react to somebody going from being looked at as somewhat of a liaison between themselves and the head coach to being the decision maker.
Akron
Old Coach: Dan Hipsher
New Coach: Keith Dambrot
Analysis: Let’s not kid each other here, no recruit that Dambrot signs at Akron will be as important as the eight grader he once convinced to attend St. Vincent-St. Mary by the name of Lebron James. Dambrot parlayed the success he had coaching James and two current Zips Dru Joyce and Romeo Travis into an assistant coaching position at his alma mater, where he once starred for the baseball team. Dambrot has been with the Zips’ program for three seasons as an assistant and was asked to step up to the position of head coach after Dan Hipsher was fired at the conclusion of last season. Dambrot does have previous head coaching experience on the collegiate level at Tiffin College, where he compiled a six-year record of 108-70. This success and his familiarity with Ohio, specifically the local Akron scene, was integral to him getting the job. Very rarely do you see an assistant of a head coach who gets fired (excuse me “reassigned within the university”) get elevated to the head coaching position. This will be an interesting one to keep an eye on.
Auburn
Old Coach: Cliff Ellis
New Coach: Jeff Lebo
Analysis: The former Tar Heel great Lebo was tabbed to succeed Ellis, who was fired in March due to NCAA investigation regarding recruiting violations in the Tiger program. Lebo can be best described as a winner both as a player and a coach. In the eighteen years he has been involved with Division 1 basketball, Lebo has been a part of nine conference championships. As a head coach he has compiled a 115-63 overall record, which includes a 68-27 conference record. Now Lebo moves from Tennessee Tech and Tennessee Chattanooga to a program where he is going to have even better facilities and budgets to work with. I think this has the potential to be a very nice matchup between school and coach, and Lebo will help Auburn achieve a high level of success.
Tennessee Chattanoga
Old Coach: Jeff Lebo
New Coach: John Shulman
Analysis: After Lebo left to take the Auburn job, the interim label was placed on Shulman. Shortly thereafter, after a national search for a new coach, the administration realized that they had the best choice right there on campus. Very few people know the Southern Conference as well as Shulman, who has spent eleven years in the league as an assistant, including the past six with Lebo as his mentor.
Dartmouth
Old Coach: Dave Faucher
New Coach: Terry Dunn
Analysis: After Dave Faucher resigned from Dartmouth after thirteen seasons it seemed like it was going to take the Big Green thirteen years to name a replacement. Popes and Supreme Court Justices don’t have to go through as much to get a job and wait as long as Terry Dunn. Dunn, the brother of former Penn State head coach Jerry, comes to Hanover after spending eight seasons as an assistant at the University of Colorado. Dunn will quickly learn that Dartmouth is not the easiest place to win and is taking over as big of a challenge as there is in Division 1 basketball.
Eastern Washington
Old Coach: Ray Giacoletti
New Coach: Mike Burns
Analysis: Few could blame Giacoletti for leaving Eastern Washington to head to Utah. And it came as little surprise to those in the Pacific Northwest when Burns was tapped as his replacement. Burns spent the previous season as an assistant to Dick Bennett at Washington State, but prior to that was a Giacoletti assistant at EWU from 2000-2003. Burns is extremely well connected in that region and is very familiar with the players in his new program. It should be a relatively smooth transition for the Eagles.
Florida International
Old Coach: Donnie Marsh
New Coach: Sergio Rouco
Analysis: Marsh was relieved of his duties following his fourth season at the helm of the Golden Panthers. Rouco, who was a Marsh assistant from 2000-2003 and spent the previous year at UTEP, returns to his hometown of Miami to try and revive the struggling program. Rouco is known for his recruiting, especially internationally in South America and Puerto Rico, where he has pro coaching experience. This is another interesting case where the assistant of the fired coach is hired to replace him, making this is one to keep an eye on.
Georgetown
Old Coach: Craig Esherick
New Coach: John Thompson III
Analysis: Esherick was relieved of his duties by the university following a 13-15 season which was the Hoyas worst in 31 years. I guess it never hurts to have the name John Thompson III when you go to interview to become the next Georgetown head coach, but Thompson is more than just his father’s son. He was very successful at Princeton and I think he will be a great fit at Georgetown. He will relish the role of restoring the program to the glory it once had under his father.
Houston
Old Coach: Ray McCallum
New Coach: Tom Penders
Analysis: “Turnaround Tom” returns to the state of Texas to try and match the success he had as the coach of the University of Texas. The program has fallen under hard times, and McCallum could never do anything to reverse the negative tide. He was fired at the conclusion of the season. Penders will bring his up-tempo pace and fun style of play to a city that is just loaded with players. He must convince them to stay at home and restore the glory of the Guy Lewis era.
James Madison
Old Coach: Sherman Dillard
New Coach: Dean Keener
Analysis: Talk about striking while the iron is hot. Keener, though well respected amongst his peers, was not talked about like other high-major assistants as being a guy who was “hot” and only a matter of time before he landed a head coaching job. But then Georgia Tech put together an amazing Final Four run and Keener parlayed that into landing the Dukes job. Keener did spend one year as a Dillard assistant in 1999-2000 when Dillard had his best record of 20-9. After that, though, the program slowly slipped and Dillard was fired after the conclusion of this season.
Louisiana-Lafayette
Old Coach: Jessie Evans/Glenn Cyprien
New Coach: Robert Lee
Analysis: After Evans departed the Cajuns to take over the San Francisco program, ULL tabbed the Oklahoma State assistant Cyprien to replace him. However in July the school found a resume discrepancy, a la George O’Leary, and turned to eight-year Cajun assistant Lee to guide the program. Lee is obviously familiar with the players and the system and I wouldn’t expect him to alter much from the style of play that Evans employed. It was successful then and ULL hopes to continue the winning ways.
LaSalle
Old Coach: Billy Hahn
New Coach: Dr. John Giannini
Analysis: Off-court issues, including players being charged with rape, brought about a quick end to the Billy Hahn era at LaSalle. Gianinni returns to the region where he had his greatest success as the head coach of Division 3 Rowan University in South Jersey where he brought home a national championship. Dr. John also was able to win at Maine, which is no easy task. At Maine, he relied heavily on transfers from “higher” programs, so it will be interesting to see how successfully he recruits the Philly-area high schools. I have been on the opposite sideline from this guy and he can really coach so I expect him to be successful if he can land the right kids.
Loyola-Maryland
Old Coach: Scott Hicks
New Coach: Jimmy Patsos
Analysis: Hicks was fired after a season that saw his ballclub only win one game and threaten the NCAA record for consecutive losses. Needless to say, Patsos faces a major rebuilding project. Unlike I mentioned with Dean Keener, Patsos has been one of those “hot” guys the past few seasons and now makes the moves out from under the wing of Gary Williams at Maryland. Don’t look for overnight success, but do not be surprised if the Greyhounds are a player in the MAAC in 3-4 years.
Loyola-Chicago
Old Coach: Larry Farmer
New Coach: Jim Whitesell
Analysis: After spending the past twelve seasons at nearby Lewis College, Whitesell was asked to replace Farmer, who was fired after six seasons. Whitesell will try to emulate the success of Bruce Pearl (UW-Milwaukee) and Steve Hawkins (Western Michigan) who had prior success moving from the Great Lakes Valley Conference (D2) to Division 1. Known as a great teacher, Whitesell finished with a career record of 214-126 at Lewis. He will try and restore this once proud Chicago city program.
Maine
Old Coach: Dr. John Giannini
New Coach: Ted Woodward
Analysis: Another assistant coach who moves one seat up the bench to replace his boss, who we mentioned above took the LaSalle job. A very quiet and unassuming guy, Ted will try and maintain a level of success that isn’t easy at Maine. Under the Doctor, Maine won 20 games in two different seasons, the only times in school history that has been done. Woodward has plenty of experience as an assistant, as he has been at the Division 1 level for eighteen years, the last eight at Maine.
Marist
Old Coach: Dave Magarity
New Coach: Matt Brady
Analysis: Another assistant coach who parlayed his teams success into his first head coaching job, Brady comes to Marist from St. Joe’s. Brady will replace Magarity, who stepped down after eighteen seasons as the head coach of the Red Foxes. Brady is known as a great shooting teacher and was given a great deal of the credit for the development of Hawk guards and 2004 NBA First Round picks Delonte West and Jameer Nelson. It was thought by many that the Red Foxes would look to a coach with greater New York City “ties”, but the administration and current players were very impressed by Brady.
Maryland-Baltimore County
Old Coach: Tom Sullivan
New Coach: Randy Monroe
Analysis: There are not too many nicer guys that I met in my workings with basketball than Randy Monroe. I was very excited that this longtime assistant got the opportunity to replace Sullivan, who resigned after a turbulent end to this past season. Monroe has spent the past ten seasons as a UMBC assistant and is ready for the challenge. He will need to upgrade the talent in the program to compete at the top of the America East Conference, and anybody who knows Randy knows he will work extremely hard to get that done.
Maryland-Eastern Shore
Old Coach: Thomas Trotter
New Coach: Lawrence Lessett Jr.
Analysis: I’d be lying if I said I knew a lot about either of these guys, but I can research and make some analysis just as well as the next guy. This program has not had a winning season in over a decade and Trotter was relieved after the conclusion of the season. Lessett was hired and he will only have 5 returning players to work with. Some may say “oh that’s not good”, but I say that’s great. Why would you want to inherit the bad players that got the last guy fired? Lessett is definitely well-traveled, having most recently worked for Magic Johnson International Basketball.
Miami
Old Coach: Perry Clark
New Coach: Frank Haith
Analysis: The Hurricanes move into the ACC under direction of first-year head coach Frank Haith, who comes to Miami from Texas where he was an assistant under Rick Barnes. He will try to breathe life back into the program after two consecutive losing seasons, which led to the firing of Perry Clark. Haith is known as a relentless recruiter, but has no previous head coaching experience. He has worked for a great X’s and O’s guy in Rick Barnes, so I expect Haith to be prepared. It will not happen overnight in the ACC, though.
Montana
Old Coach: Pat Kennedy
New Coach: Larry Krystkowiak
Analysis: Kennedy was a strange fit for Big Sky country from the beginning and as soon as an opportunity presented itself back east at Towson, he jumped at it. That opens the door for former Grizzly great Krystkowiak to take over. The former NBA player is a legend in that region and he commands a lot of respect from current players and potential recruits. A very good hire for Montana.
Navy
Old Coach: Don Devoe
New Coach: Billy Lange
Analysis: Very few hires made me as happy this summer as Navy giving Billy a chance. When I was in college and first working the summer camp circuit Lange was one of the first guys I met when he was his dad’s assistant at Bishop Eustace High School in New Jersey. He is just the kind of energetic guy who can win at a service academy, which Devoe had some success doing before he retired after twelve years. Lange comes to the Academy from Villanova where he served as the Director of Basketball Operations, but prior to that he was the head coach at Merchant Marine Academy and was successful. That service academy background was what got Lange in the door to take over the Midshipmen program.
Nevada
Old Coach: Trent Johnson
New Coach: Mark Fox
Analysis: When Mike Montgomery shocked the college hoops world and took the Golden State Warriors’ job, it opened the door for Johnson to move his career onto Palo Alto. In his place, Mark Fox will take control of the Wolf Pack program after spending the past four years as Johnson’s associate head coach. Fox inherits one of the West Coast’s up-and-coming mid-major programs. Last season, the Pack made a run to the Sweet Sixteen, and Fox will be wise to build around sophomore center Nick Fazekas.
Nicholls State
Old Coach: Ricky Blanton
New Coach: J.P. Piper
Analysis: Very rarely do you have a late October coaching change, but at
Nicholls State that is the case. On October 18th Ricky Blanton resigned for
personal reasons. Since it was after practice started already the logical
move was to replace him with top assistant J.P. Piper which is exactly what
the Colonels did. Over the past few years Nicholls has been one of the
poorest Division 1 programs, so Piper has his hands full. He has been at
the school for two years, and prior to that was a succesful high school
coach for eight seasons. It will be interesting to see if this is just a
one year stay or if Piper can parlay this opportunity into a longer term
contract.
Ohio State
Old Coach: Jim O’Brien
New Coach: Thad Matta
Analysis: One of the surprise openings of the Spring took place here in Columbus. After allegations of recruiting improprieties arose, O’Brien was fired by the university on June 8th. Matta moves within the state from Xavier, where he had great success with the Musketeer program, winning 78 games in three seasons. Matta has the reputation as being one of the top young coaches in the game, and he will have to be to get Ohio State in the upper half of the Big Ten this year. It will be interesting to see what kind of penalties get handed down to the Buckeyes as a result of this NCAA investigation. Matta will also be forced to deal with that as he moves forward.
Princeton
Old Coach: John Thompson III
New Coach: Joe Scott
Analysis: Princeton did not go outside of the Pete Carril “family” to find its replacement for Thompson who left for the Georgetown post. Scott, a 1987 graduate of Princeton and former Tiger player and assistant, was the first person the Tigers targeted and they quickly got their man. Scott will keep the system in place that has been the backbone of Princeton’s success for decades. This hire surprised nobody and nobody will be surprised when the Tigers remain at the top of the Ivy League.
San Francisco
Old Coach: Phil Matthews
New Coach: Jessie Evans
Analysis: Jessie Evans returns to the West Coast from Louisiana-Lafayette, where he took the Ragin’ Cajuns to three straight postseason appearances, to replace Matthews, who was let go after nine years at the helm of San Francisco. After flirting with bringing in longtime Purdue head coach Gene Keady, the Dons settled on the former Lute Olsen assistant Evans to restore the USF program to past glory. Evans has the reputation of being a great recruiter, and he proved in his years in Lafayette that he can also coach that talent. San Francisco got themselves a fine coach to lead their program.
Southern Illinois
Old Coach: Matt Painter
New Coach: Chris Lowery
Analysis: After Gene Keady turned down the San Francisco job, he decided that this would be his final season at Purdue. In order to ease the transition to a new coach and to eliminate a drawn out search that could confuse potential recruits, Matt Painter left SIU to join Keady’s staff for one year and will be promoted to the head coaching position at Purdue the following year. As a result, the Salukis found themselves needing a head coach and they didn’t have to look any further than former SIU star player and assistant coach Chris Lowery. Though Lowery spent last year with Bruce Weber at Illinois, he is a true Saluki. Lowery played on four postseason teams at the school and assisted on two others. Known as a great recruiter in the midwest, Lowery becomes the fifth-youngest Division 1 head coach at the ripe age of 31. Expect the Southern Illinois program to not skip a beat under Lowery.
SMU
Old Coach: Mike Dement
New Coach: Jimmy Tubbs
Analysis: Jimmy Tubbs returns back to SMU where he spent twelve seasons as an assistant under John Shumate and Mike Dement, who was fired at the conclusion of last season. SMU has fallen on hard times lately and Tubbs, who spent the previous two seasons on Kelvin Sampson’s staff at Oklahoma, will be expected to guide the Mustangs back to respectability. Tubbs did a great job as a recruiter at Oklahoma, and he will need to upgrade the talent quite a bit at SMU to get them back on the winning track.
Southern Miss
Old Coach: James Green
New Coach: Larry Eustachy
Analysis: Very few can forget how Larry Eustachy left the college game after a successful run at Iowa State. Eustachy was let go for off-court issues, which included being photographed at a college party in Missouri after a loss to the Tigers. Well, Eustachy has been given a second chance in his coaching life as he replaces James Green who was forced to resign just prior to the end of this past season. Eustachy will be thankful for this second chance and I can imagine he is going to throw himself into this job relentlessly. He will have to, as the Golden Eagles have a big rebuilding job on their hands. This is a hire that will pay off more in three seasons than it will in this first year.
St. John’s
Old Coach: Mike Jarvis
New Coach: Norm Roberts
Analysis: Perhaps no program needed a change of coaches more than St. John’s. Jarvis never enamored himself to Johnnie fans or the New York media, and after an off the court scandal involving players and a stripper on a road trip, the St. John’s administration made the move to fire Jarvis. Kevin Clark was the interim coach for the remainder of the season, but he was not retained for the position. Plenty of names were bandied about for this job, but after much speculation and interviews, St. John’s settled on the Queens native, Norm Roberts. Roberts spent the previous season at Kansas and had also worked under Bill Self at Tulsa and Illinois, but his roots are true New York City. Roberts played and coached in the New York City catholic league at Archbishop Molloy HS, and will rely heavily on those ties to keep New York kids at home. You have a plethora of people to appease in this job and how Roberts manages all New York factions of basketball is only half the battle. He then has to get on the floor and teach and coach his team. Roberts will be up for the challenge and has coached under a very good x-and-o guy in Bill Self.
Stanford
Old Coach: Mike Montgomery
New Coach: Trent Johnson
Analysis: As I mentioned above, Montgomery shocked the college basketball world when he took the Golden State Warriors’ job and left the college game. It didn’t take the Cardinal long, however, to settle on Johnson as a replacement. Johnson was a Montgomery assistant for three seasons prior to his move to take over at Nevada. His success at Nevada, including last season’s Sweet Sixteen run, made him a natural fit to take over in Palo Alto. He inherits a good team, but will need to recruit great student athletes like Montgomery did to stay at the top of the Pac 10.
Texas A&M
Old Coach: Melvin Watkins
New Coach: Billy Gillispie
Analysis: Gillispie became a hot coach last spring when he took UTEP from six wins to a 24 win season and NCAA Tournament bid. Turnaround like that get you jobs up the coaching ladder. He will face a major challenge in rebuilding the struggling Aggie program, which never could get it going under Melvin Watkins. Watkins was let go following the season and has resurfaced as an assistant at Missouri. Gillispie is a young and energetic go-getter who can also coach. Gillispie, like Norm Roberts, comes off the Bill Self coaching tree. He was an assistant on Elite Eight teams at Tulsa and Illinois. He is a winner and that winning attitude is exactly what Texas A&M needs.
Texas-Pan American
Old Coach: Bob Hoffman
New Coach: Robert Davenport
Analysis: Davenport gets his first Division 1 head coaching opportunity after Hoffman left to take over the position vacated when Jimmy Tubbs left the University of Oklahoma. Davenport has spent the previous five seasons as Hoffman’s assistant at UTPA. While an assistant, Davenport played a large part in the rebirth of Pan American basketball. The program has won more games in the past five seasons than in any other five year period in the school’s history. These factors made the Davenport hire an easy decision.
Towson
Old Coach: Michael Hunt
New Coach: Pat Kennedy
Analysis: Hunt could never quite get it going at Towson and was let go after this past season, opening the door for Pat Kennedy’s return to the East Coast. Kennedy spent the previous two seasons at Montana, but is no stranger to the East where he once coached successfully at Florida State and Iona. Throw in his time at DePaul and you have somebody who is as connected nationally as anybody in the game. Kennedy brings some name recognition to a program that is in need of recognition. Don’t be surprised if Towson becomes a player in the CAA in the next three years.
Utah
Old Coach: Rick Majerus
New Coach: Ray Giacoletti
Analysis: Very few coaches were as associated with the college game as the likable Majerus, but health issues forced him to leave the program early last season. After deciding not to retain interim head coach Kerry Rupp, the Utes turned their attention to Giacoletti, who had a great run at Eastern Washington. It will not be easy to replace somebody as popular as Majerus, but Giacoletti is an extremely capable coach. His first big move was to convince Andrew Bogut to remain at Utah, and he was able to do that. Let’s see if that can be the first of many successes for Giacoletti.
UNLV
Old Coach: Charlie Spoonhour
New Coach: Lon Kruger
Analysis: After Spoonhour resigned in the middle of last season, UNLV looked nationally to try and restore the program back to the success they have enjoyed in the past. They needed to look no further than Kruger, who had great success at both Florida and Illinois as a college head caoch and then struggled in the NBA with the Hawks. But then again, who wouldn’t struggle with the Hawks! Kruger has proved he can win wherever he has been on the college level and I expect him to do the same in Vegas, where they are craving a winner again.
UTEP
Old Coach: Billy Gillispie
New Coach: Doc Sadler
Analysis: When your program goes from six wins to 24 you can expect to lose your head coach, and that is exactly what happened to UTEP. You also should keep the same people, players and staff as intact as possible and hire from within. That is exactly what UTEP did when they promoted Doc Sadler to head coach. Sadler is no stranger to the head coaching position as he was a successful top man at JuCo power Arkansas-Fort Smith. Sadler inherits quite a bit of talent and will be expected to take this team back to the field of 65. I see no reason he can’t handle this pressure.
Xavier
Old Coach: Thad Matta
New Coach: Sean Miller
Analysis: Nobody could blame Thad Matta for leaving to go to Ohio State, and nobody could blame Xavier for turning to Sean Miller to replace him. The former Pitt point guard great has been considered for years to be one of the top young assistants in the game during his time at NC State and Xavier. Well-liked and the son of a legendary high school coach, Miller is a natural fit to take over the Xavier program. Fans will see Xavier teams year in and year out at the top of the Atlantic Ten under the guidance of Miller.
