GrandGreen

What are the odds that your two head basketball coaches both have their dream jobs come open on the same year, and both are selected? Even making it most far fetched both dream jobs are with the very top of the athletic food chain and both despite many protests from their fans, selected lowly Belt coaches. By my count NT has only had four HC's move up to higher ground in the last fifty years. A couple of them were here only a year and were not big loses, Harry Miller in MBB and Cherrie Rapp in WBB. The other two were Fry and Jerry Moore which I still don't understand. So in really, NT has lost one coach before this year that was a real loss; Fry. Now this year we are down two. Many may discount Aston because she was here only a year, but she may be as good a coach as ever worked at NT. Jones was solid and orchestrated an amazing program turnaround and left arguably being the best ever basketball coach at NT. The best and the worse, is that both basketball teams should have had great seasons ahead. The best is with the right hire, the teams should still have tremendous seasons, the worse is that because of coaching changes the odds of having those seasons is substantially reduced. Both coaches left the team well stocked with good players, now it is up to the new coaches to build upon what has been established. Fry left a loaded team with about everyone back from a 10-1 season, NT made the wrong hire and it quickly turned to dust and it was not because of players leaving. NT seems to never be able to get over the hump, rare success is usually followed by failure. Now is the time, that trend is reversed and NT build a program based on a foundation of good coaches not the rare exception that can win at NT.

Frankly, I initially thought of this as a last ditch effort; but if Jank comes on board this will be a formidable foe both in recruiting and on the court. Jankowitz was a good coach here but he just was a little inexperienced for the position at that time, but I think he has proved he can coach at Illinois State. I do wonder why he would take a position like this. I wonder if JJ thought he would be going head to head with his mentor and the guy who really pushed him for the SMU job. Basketball just got a lot more interest in this area, it so important that NT gets the right coach or NT could quickly fall behind their metroplex rivals. Nether SMU or TCU hires are blockbuster but both have big names and I think recruiting in this area has gotten a lot tougher.

espn.go.com/dallas/ncb/story/_/id/7825471/sources-larry-brown-agrees-become-next-coach-smu-mustangs

NT falls further back after second round. NT now in fourth, 23 strokes behind Denver at first.

Some of these LSU supporters act like JJ is being paid with the their money. Saw the same thing from some UT ignoramuses when Aston was hired. I guess they would be happier if they hired a bad coach from a name school and paid him more.

He played the first season with a bunch of recruited walk ons just to have a team. Although I dislike college tennis's almost all foreign player teams; it is nice to have a good one. Nothing at all bad about the athletes, they are some of the most dedicated around on the court and in the class room. It is just a shame that most USA players just can't compete anymore. Lama has done a great job and is a better person.

Kaspar was a player with limited talent but a lot heart. Not sure he has the pizazz, most are looking for, but certainly should be considered. Based on what I have seen though, players returning to their university to coach are far from a sure thing. I can't think of many that have success.

North Texas at 8 over is in third place, one behind MTSU but 8 behind the leader Denver.

5 recruits early signed, the one I referred to has only committed and can still sign if she hasn't already with another team. So there should be 1 ship left for Peterson to use. Aston had a real good early class and has according to her; her best point at NT becoming eligible next season after red shirting, Dawkins. Peterson should have a good team to work with.

Actually it is not, there is at least one ship open. Aston had what looked like a great commit, 6' 250 and averaged 35 pts a game in TX 4a conference games. Don't know what her status is now, but she may be still available. Also had at least one national level guard commited for next year which I doubt NT gets now.

If you like Charlie, you better hope Jones takes him. It is very rare that assistant coaches maintain a job with a school after the hc leaves. My guess Jones will hire Leonard. Foy and Forrest maybe, but JJ will be in much better position to hire assistants at LSU than he was here, so I wouldn't be surprised if he only takes one NT assistant.

I wonder what assistant he is recommending. Not sure it would be Forrest, Jones has an eternity with Leonard and a lot of time with Foy. I would certainly want Jones' input and I think it would be particularly meaningful if he is pushing Forrest for the job over his long time assistants.

Looks like a safe choice. Not sure he has the upside some of the others like Danials have, however he also doesn't have a big risk factor. I think RV is being sure he doesn't hire an unkown like Dodge or Stephens that could easily backfire on him. From his pictures, he looks like he has plenty of fire.

I want to know how anybody can guarantee that anyone stays on the bb team. That is the first job of the new coach, not hiring assistants, or recruiting but being sure that the core of this team remains intact. Actually, that should not be that hard, the players are versatile; most have played on a lot of teams under a lot of difference coaches. It would be difficult to hire someone that is going to run them off even before the season starts. Stephens comes to mind, but I think her problems with players didn't start till the fall semester begin. As far as NT being attractive, sure it is; if it were a dump with no success but still offered a $400k salary it would still be attractive to a lot of coaches. NT is not going to get the cream of the crop but with its potential and recruiting ground, there will be plenty interested. As I have stated many times, the ante has been raised substantially in the Metromess. New arena at UTA, renovations at SMU and TCU, much better basketball conferences for SMU and TCU. Recruiting is going to be super tough in this area, not only the locals are upgrading but Jones is still going to recruit here heavily. NT's biggest issue is that like a lot of teams in lower tier conferences and some in the bigs, basketball just doesn't get a lot of support. To sustain success some one has to build a much better fan following. With all of Jones success, attendance has not been good; that to me is the most unattractive thing about NT's program. I think it is obvious to most that next year can be special it the players stay and a good coach is hired. I think that is going to be a big sales point for a lot of applicants.

Forrest is apparently a great recruiter, that does not make him a good head coach. I have nothing against interviewing him or evaluating him for the job. I may have missed something but I don't see were he has any head coach experience. The role of ace recruiter is obviously for someone who can establish a good relationships with players and sell. I have no idea how much Forrest has to do with the actual coaching of the team, but I thought he was third in line behind both Leonard and Foy in the coaches' pecking order. Those advocating Forrest may know more about his coaching abilities, but on the surface I think he would be a bad choice. Head coaches don't need to be players' friend. Maybe hc Forrest would be entirely different than what the players expect based on their previous relationship with an assistant coach who is paid at least initially to have players like him. I admit my first reaction was why not, keep the players happy and promote Forrest. On second thought, however, I think NT should get someone with hc experience that is likely to be able to keep the players intact and more importantly grow the program. I think the risk is greater to put an unknown in the hc seat than to not be able to placate the players. Again this is all perspective from afar, I don't know Shawn's role in actual coaching at NT and his potential for the job. He may be running the practices, but on the surface he looks like too much a risk. I think NT with Jones' big help has developed the hc position in to one that will be attractive to a lot of good coaches. Just look at how many good coaches there are currently in the Belt and with the possible exception of WKU, I got to think that NT is the best job in the lot. Great recruiting area, good facilities and good compensation at least by Belt standards.

I didn't think Jones would get the job, so I am two for two wrong; thought the same thing about Aston. I also don't think losing Jones or Aston is the end of world or definitely not something to applaud. Jones turned this program around from the depths of bad, he has also been the only coach that has had success with multiple teams at NT in forty plus years. Blakeley had a very good team but with primarily players he did not recruit and once they left could not recover. Way back, Spika who I think was the best coach NT has had in my times, only real success was when Joe Hamilton and Crest Whitaker were on the team. Gales only won in a couple of consecutive years. The negative on Jones is that he did not ever take that one step up that would put NT in the upper echelon of non power conference teams. The reason I was surprised that Jones was in such demand, is in my view his last two year were not all that good. Two years ago he had assembled a team that should have killed the Belt, didn't happen. Injuries were critical but JJ did for whatever reason go into the season two players short and overall failed to recruit the help that particular team needed. Last year many think he did very well, not me: a team with Mitchell should have been better than 9-7 in the Belt. I don't want to get in another debate over it, but I was not happy at all with the way he handled the J. Williams and C. Jones situation. The great positives of Jones in my view was that he was always a great representative of the school and his teams in general did not have the issues of many other teams. Most coaches in the Belt recruit numbers of players every year, lose or run off a bunch of them and then start again next year. Jones provided relatively great stability with his team, I think he really cared about the players. Another given with Johnny, is that the team was always going to peak in time for the Belt tournament. Jones also obviously has an eye for talent, frankly before Forrest he didn't get the headliners but he got kids that could play. My point with this rambling is that those that think that JJ can be easily replaced are obviously wrong. However, there are people out there to be hired that are better coaches than Jones, it is going to be far from easy but we have to hope RV finds one that can build on what Jones has accomplished.

Boy, that is some swift investigative reporting. They have probably less of an idea of what Mitchell will do than the average poster on this board.

I hope we get some one in here that can satisfy the players and coach. I don't see any reason NT can not do that. If nothing else, JJ has made this a much more attractive job. As far as anyone assuming NT can get the perfect coach in these circumstances, with NT's hiring record in all major sports it would seem highly improbable. As far as pulling in egual talent, I am not sure Jones could do that if he had stayed, particularly with all the credit that Forrest has been given for the recruiting.

Could not be worst timing for NT, but in my view; JJ deserves his dream job. I wish him well and hope NT quickly find a capable replacement.

So NT should offer JJ who is barely over .500 in the Belt, for the third year in a row; another contract. Among the issues, NT current ticket revenue doesn't even cover the coaching staff's current salaries. Also the obvious, NT cannot even if they wanted to, outbid SMU or LSU. LSU is supposedly JJ's dream job, he is not going to stop pursuing that for even a big increase by NT standards. Now bring out the big boos, is Jones even worth the kind of money some of you are throwing around? He has put NT basketball back on course and deserved our support, but there are limits. Here is the situation as I see it. Jones is not a sure thing at either LSU or SMU. Both seem to be busy searching around. Jones has a potentially great team coming back at NT. This team could turn to dust if JJ leaves, but at the same time: Jones could be leaving a team that could make him much more salable as a head coach. Problem is that his dream job is now open, he may never have this chance again. NT on the other hand has just about made JJ bullet proof with a seven year contract with six years remaining. RV or NT has no leverage in this deal. I think NT is at Jones' mercy. He can chase the big deal and if he gets what he wants; he is gone and NT could easily lose their best chance to be a big factor in college basketball. If he doesn't get the offer he wants, JJ has lost nothing. I think NT would be foolish to enhance his contract even if they could; I don't think its buys anything. If Jones goes, then good luck to him and I thank him for what he has done at NT. Hopefully, RV and NT are preparing for that possible outcome and can bring in someone who can minimize the damage and keep the team in tact. Prepare for the worse, but don't panic; it is a time to wait.

Why in the world if JJ is in that much demand, would he renegotiate a contract? The only way that happens is if JJ knows he going to stay at NT, and in that case why would NT up the ante? I think LSU's interest has heightened SMU's because now it looks like they are going after a hot coach. Every hour this is drawn out it is hurting NT. Problem is that NT has no leverage at all in this process, so we have to wait to see how it plays out.

It is actually the model for most programs, the lower you are on the athletic food chain the more likely you are going to lose successful coaches. There are very few programs that can keep someone from hiring their coaches. Obviously the more money invested in your program, the least likely you are to have someone come in with a bigger offer. Tulsa was just good at it for a long period, as is Boise in football, but it is basically what every AD tries.

Yes, many may be embarrassed every time ULM beats NT; which has been far too often given their resources.

Lets see we have lost a big time transfer because JJ is being considered for other jobs. Maybe not having a ship available has something to do with it or just maybe A&M in the SEC has more appeal than NT. If Forest is the one responsible for getting all this talent to NT, try to keep him. However, I doubt NT is going to outbid a Big 12 perennial basketball power. The JJ situation I doubt has anything to do with it.

He has already opened up his pockets, how does anyone think that NT could or even should match a 1 to 2m salary? Second, anyone who thinks SMU can't buy any coach from NT is going to be wrong almost every time. Some of you seem to have lost touch with reality.