Official Utah basketball coach candidates thread.

[UteStar]

Trying to be un-biased but if I were a ute fan this is why I would have reservations:

2 years at Montana (assistant)
1 year at Old Dominion (assistant)
1 year with the Idaho Stampede (HC)
2 years at Montana (HC)
1 1/2 seasons with Milwaukee (first as an assistant then as head coach)
1 year at New Jersey
Now he is the Utes head coach.

(His NBA career looks very similar 6 teams in 9 seasons)

That is a lot of stops. He also has very limited college head coaching experience with his only job being Montana. His career head coaching record including the CBA and his short stint in the NBA is 110-106.

I see no west coast recruiting ties, his only ties to Utah are the one year he played for the Jazz. Also history shows that if he gets a better job offer he is gone.

The reasons to be optimistic his only college coaching gig he took his team to the NCAA tournament both times and won a game as a 12 seed.

His career record at Montana was 42-20.

He had a 9 year NBA career so I am guessing he has some knowledge about the game. He is also 6'9 250 pounds and hopefully can relate to these players better which in turn should help him become a solid recruiter.

Maybe this is the place he finally puts down some roots and and rides it out for more than 2 years.

For my ute brethren (including BO who I left off my list) good luck.

CJ - you make a lot of good points. I actually think that he will be a pretty good coach, but your negatives about him are my biggest concerns.

It will be really interesting to see what kind of assistants he brings on. I think Krysko will be impressive to recruits for his pro career and his history but we need a guy that will come in and recruit like there is no tomorrow. If he can surround himself with a strong staff, he could really do good things with the Utes.

If he leaves in a few years because he found a 'better' job, that obviously means he did something right. If he is around for many years, that obviously means he has done something right.

Going back before Boylen was hired, I was excited about Krysko. But his years away from the college game have taken away some of my excitement...but I am getting ready to be excited again. I am intensely interested in his assistants and what he is looking to do offensively and defensively.

[Jarid in Cedar]

Trying to be un-biased but if I were a ute fan this is why I would have reservations:

2 years at Montana (assistant)
1 year at Old Dominion (assistant)
1 year with the Idaho Stampede (HC)
2 years at Montana (HC)
1 1/2 seasons with Milwaukee (first as an assistant then as head coach)
1 year at New Jersey
Now he is the Utes head coach.

(His NBA career looks very similar 6 teams in 9 seasons)

That is a lot of stops. He also has very limited college head coaching experience with his only job being Montana. His career head coaching record including the CBA and his short stint in the NBA is 110-106.

I see no west coast recruiting ties, his only ties to Utah are the one year he played for the Jazz. Also history shows that if he gets a better job offer he is gone.

The reasons to be optimistic his only college coaching gig he took his team to the NCAA tournament both times and won a game as a 12 seed.

His career record at Montana was 42-20.

He had a 9 year NBA career so I am guessing he has some knowledge about the game. He is also 6'9 250 pounds and hopefully can relate to these players better which in turn should help him become a solid recruiter.

Maybe this is the place he finally puts down some roots and and rides it out for more than 2 years.

For my ute brethren (including BO who I left off my list) good luck.

Anyone with a brain has the same concerns. I think I am ok with the selection simply because he is about what we can get. I hope that some people realize that this is a reflection of how far the program has fallen. I have watched the quality of the program degrade for the better part of a decade(minus the sweet bliss of 2005). Even in 2009, it seemed like we won on a kiss and a prayer. Ultimately that team was exposed in the tournament as a team that could only win if Nevill was on the court.

Here is what I hope is the end result of Krystoviak's(sp? gonna take some time to get it right) hire:

1. Invest in facilities. This will likely not happen in earnest until the big $$ starts rolling in from the Pac-12. But get the plans done. Have something to show the new coach and prospective recruits that we have a gameplan to get on par with the competition.

2. Move the student section to a better part of the arena. Lord knows that there is plenty of empty seats on the sides of the HC. Simply move the displaced season ticket holders to a different/comparable seat.

3. Start to appeal to smaller donors. You can get as much bang by getting 10,000 people to $100 as trying to massage the thigh of a single donor for the same amount. And by getting more people to donate small routinely, they are more likely to donate higher amounts when their personal finances are in good shape.

4. Get the students to attend. Tie membership to the MUSS for football to attendance to 50% of the basketball games. IOW, have your ID scan for half of the games or you can't attend football games.

[UteStar]

Here is what I hope is the end result of Krystoviak's(sp? gonna take some time to get it right) hire:

1. Invest in facilities. This will likely not happen in earnest until the big $$ starts rolling in from the Pac-12. But get the plans done. Have something to show the new coach and prospective recruits that we have a gameplan to get on par with the competition.

2. Move the student section to a better part of the arena. Lord knows that there is plenty of empty seats on the sides of the HC. Simply move the displaced season ticket holders to a different/comparable seat.

3. Start to appeal to smaller donors. You can get as much bang by getting 10,000 people to $100 as trying to massage the thigh of a single donor for the same amount. And by getting more people to donate small routinely, they are more likely to donate higher amounts when their personal finances are in good shape.

4. Get the students to attend. Tie membership to the MUSS for football to attendance to 50% of the basketball games. IOW, have your ID scan for half of the games or you can't attend football games.

You have some good suggestions, but a couple of problems - hard to tie in going to football games and basketball games. The hoops season is after the football season, so I am not sure how that would work. I guess you could tie it into the next football season, but that seems difficult to manage.

Also, I like where the student section is right now. As long as they are loud. They are in the corner next to the opposing team bench. Not bad. Back in the 90s, the students were across the floor from the the Ute bench (which Boylen changed to the opposing team bench) and he moved the students next to the other team. If they can get in and are loud, it is not a bad place. With that said, I don't have strong feelings either way - except we need more student going to the frakkin' games.

[TripletDaddy]

I don't know how they would do it, but I like the idea of holding students accountable for attendance if they want to enjoy the perks of free tix or discounted tix. I would want BYU to do the same.

[Surfah]

I don't know how they would do it, but I like the idea of holding students accountable for attendance if they want to enjoy the perks of free tix or discounted tix. I would want BYU to do the same.

Me too. I want kids camping out for tix next year even with Jimmer gone.

[LA Ute]

CJ - you make a lot of good points. I actually think that he will be a pretty good coach, but your negatives about him are my biggest concerns.

It will be really interesting to see what kind of assistants he brings on. I think Krysko will be impressive to recruits for his pro career and his history but we need a guy that will come in and recruit like there is no tomorrow. If he can surround himself with a strong staff, he could really do good things with the Utes.

If he leaves in a few years because he found a 'better' job, that obviously means he did something right. If he is around for many years, that obviously means he has done something right.

Going back before Boylen was hired, I was excited about Krysko. But his years away from the college game have taken away some of my excitement...but I am getting ready to be excited again. I am intensely interested in his assistants and what he is looking to do offensively and defensively.

I'm pretty much with you. One interesting question/ thought: Where would we be if we were still in the MWC? Probably hiring another assistant who would be a bigger gamble still.

[UteStar]

Before Boylen was hired, I liked Coach Krystko. I thought he would be a good choice. But years have passed and he has stayed in the NBA and my excitement about him has waned. There are concerns - he moves around a lot, not a lot of time building a program, gone from college for a while, etc.

But, I am ready to get behind him for a couple of reasons. I went back and reviewed what he did at Montana and it is interesting. Montana, surpirsingly enough has a terrific coaching history of Jud Heathcote, Mike Montgomery, Stew Morrill and Blaine Taylor. When Krystko came on, the Grizz were mired in some struggling seasons and had gone thru a couple of coaches.

The two previous seasons were 13-17 and then the year before Krystko, they were 10-18. Krystko took them to 18-13 and an NCAA appearnace (an 11 point first round loss to Washington) and then his 24-7 record and 2nd round appearance. In Montana history, they have 2 NCAA wins all time. Krystko has one of them.

In his first season at Montana, the team averaged 69 points per game and gave up 69 points per game. What is interesting, is his second season has his offensive and defensive philosphies started coming out. His second season, his team averaged 79 points per game and gave up 71 points per game. What I like though, is that his team averaged nearly 20 assists per game (to put that in perspective, Utah averaged around 11 assists a game this year as a team).

In regards to recruiting. I have heard the rumors that he doesn't like it and is not very good at it. I don't buy it. He had little chance to show what he could do with recruiting. I seriously doubt that he can't stand it and won't do it...in fact, I think he has a pretty good story to tell (former NBA player with good success, etc.).

What does all this mean? I don't know. I think several coaches would have been good safe hires (Blaine Taylor, Gottfried, etc.) who would have done a solid job with the program...but I look at Krystko as a guy that has the potential to do great things with the program. With that said, he has the potential to be a disaster. That is what is frustrating and exciting at the same time. I have warmed up to this hire. I will be hot on this hire depending on what his staff looks like.

[MartyFunkhouser]

I've slept on this hire. I hate it more now than I did last night. Rumors are he doesn't like to recruit, wow that is sure a great idea for a coach of a team that is serious need of an influx of talent.

[UteStar]

I've slept on this hire. I hate it more now than I did last night. Rumors are he doesn't like to recruit, wow that is sure a great idea for a coach of a team that is serious need of an influx of talent.

The rumors come from a couple of Grizz fans on their message boards. I take that with about 10,000 grains of salt.

[MartyFunkhouser]

I'm thinking about showing up at the press conference with a pitchfork.

[Portland Ute]

I've slept on this hire. I hate it more now than I did last night. Rumors are he doesn't like to recruit, wow that is sure a great idea for a coach of a team that is serious need of an influx of talent.

He doesn't like to recruit and he hasn't built a program.

Yeah, that's EXACTLY what this program needs right now.

I'm not buying the bullshit.

I'd rather eat crow in 4 years than the bullshit today.

[Viking]

Hill had it easy: Whitt was a natural successor.

He's proven himself totally incapable as it relates to procuring talent otherwise.

I feel for you guys, especially Seattle Ute.

[FMCoug]

I feel for you guys, especially Seattle Ute.

Hey he had it right. They didn't hire a WCC caliber coach.

[hostile]

Hill had it easy: Whitt was a natural successor.

He's proven himself totally incapable as it relates to procuring talent otherwise.

I feel for you guys, especially Seattle Ute.

Majerus, McBride, Meyer

I agree that Hill has completely missed on the past two bball hires but to call him incompetent save for Whittingham is wrong.

[UteStar]

Hill had it easy: Whitt was a natural successor.

He's proven himself totally incapable as it relates to procuring talent otherwise.

I feel for you guys, especially Seattle Ute.

A little extreme. I think Hill did a decent job in hiring Majerus and Urban.