Official Utah basketball coach candidates thread.

[LA Ute]

Ok now that the hornet's nest has been stirred, the reason that Rice is not a good option in that he would be a "swing for the fences" hire that may be as likely to strike out as succeed. He may turn out to be a spectacular coach, but he may turn out to be Boylen 2.0. IMO, Utah needs a safe hire, not a home run right now. If Hill swings big and misses right now, the program could be set back for the next decade. Personally, I would rather take a guy who can restore a level of competitiveness and legitimacy to the program than searching for the guy we think will have us in the final four in two years.

Rice may turn out to be a great coach but, right now, the program cannot afford to take that risk with him.

Exactly. Which is why it is not going to happen.

[Portland Ute]

But, I do enjoy taunting SeattleUte, and perhaps the rest of you by affiliation.

What happened to you? Even CJF is going a bit 'cougjunkie' in this thread.

It's like you are setting out to prove the poorly named "Goatnapper theorem."

[LA Ute]

What happened to you? Even CJF is going a bit 'cougjunkie' in this thread.

It's like you are setting out to prove the poorly named "Goatnapper theorem."

Port, it is just as I once told you. There are three things you need to know about this board, as a Ute fan:

1. 85% of the posters here are BYU fans.

2. None of them knows what he/she is talking about regarding sports, except now and then, accidentally, in a "blind pig finds an acorn" kind of way. (See: Goatnapper.)

3. So you should relax and enjoy the show.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Eventually it will sink in with you guys that it's not all about resume. But if you want to keep bringing in guys with D1 coaching experience (Giac) or with an impressive resume (Boylen) then most BYU fans won't have a problem with that.

So if it isn't about resume what is it about? It seems like all that Rice has to hang his hat on is that BYU fans think he will be a super great hire for the Utes.

Also, this isn't just a concern over his resume it is a concern over his lack of recruiting ties. He has Utah and Bishop Gorman and that is it. He isn't stealing recruits from Rose. Davies, the Haws, the Collinsworths, the Emerys, etc. aren't coming to Utah just because Rice is the head coach, they are going to BYU no matter who Utah hires. Dave Rice has some nice ties to Bishop Gorman but that isn't going to get us the top players from there. Also, what are his AAU ties and what experience does he have recruiting in the West (outside of Bishop Gorman and Utah LDS kids).

[Goatnapper'96]

What happened to you? Even CJF is going a bit 'cougjunkie' in this thread.

It's like you are setting out to prove the poorly named "Goatnapper theorem."

Port, you are a kid that just recently figured out BYU kicked out high profile athletes for breaking the honor code even if it would cost them games. I don't know if growing up you were stupid, ignorant or just raised in such a hostile environment that you were like the folks who wanted the truth but did not know where to find it. In any case, the fact of your newly discovered revelation colors your skills of perception a bit. At least it does to me.

Regardless, is there something I said that was inaccurate or offensive in this thread? Pac affiliation is your rallying point and the reality is luck is a bigger part of the equation than most want to admit. There are things athletic programs can do to increase the likelihood of success, but luck is still huge.

[Donuthole]

So if it isn't about resume what is it about? It seems like all that Rice has to hang his hat on is that BYU fans think he will be a super great hire for the Utes.

Also, this isn't just a concern over his resume it is a concern over his lack of recruiting ties. He has Utah and Bishop Gorman and that is it. He isn't stealing recruits from Rose. Davies, the Haws, the Collinsworths, the Emerys, etc. aren't coming to Utah just because Rice is the head coach, they are going to BYU no matter who Utah hires. Dave Rice has some nice ties to Bishop Gorman but that isn't going to get us the top players from there. Also, what are his AAU ties and what experience does he have recruiting in the West (outside of Bishop Gorman and Utah LDS kids).

He understands and runs an offensive system that, even with the hodgepodge of JC players and rag-tag recruits currently in Utah's system, would have Utah as a top-3 team in the MWC this year and would probably make them a NCAA tourney team. Top-3 in the MWC would make them a top-2 team in the PAC-10 this year.

You can belittle his Gorman ties if you want, but the Gorman players he'd land at a school without an Honor Code would be far superior to the players he's landed for BYU. Beyond Gorman, Las Vegas is rich with basketball talent, and Rice has a lot of ties and connections in the valley which he can't fully exploit while he's at BYU.

[MartyFunkhouser]

He understands and runs an offensive system that, even with the hodgepodge of JC players and rag-tag recruits currently in Utah's system, would have Utah as a top-3 team in the MWC this year and would probably make them a NCAA tourney team. Top-3 in the MWC would make them a top-2 team in the PAC-10 this year.

You can belittle his Gorman ties if you want, but the Gorman players he'd land at a school without an Honor Code would be far superior to the players he's landed for BYU. Beyond Gorman, Las Vegas is rich with basketball talent, and Rice has a lot of ties and connections in the valley which he can't fully exploit while he's at BYU.

So we are relying on Las Vegas players. Seems like a great idea when we are recruiting against UNLV. I'm also guessing we will also be fighting with UNLV for those players.

Sure he runs a nice offense at BYU, but we don't know how that will translate to being a head coach. Perhaps he will be overwhelmed with the other duties as a head coach and the offense will suffer. How is his defensive coaching ability and/or the types of assistants he would bring in to coach defense? These are just a few of the many questions we are going to be answering if we hire someone without a head coaching track record. Maybe you are right and it will all pay off, but the risk associated with hiring a guy like Rice is huge. I'm also not sure the payoff is all that high.

I'm not belittling his Bishop Gorman ties, those are great ties. He just isn't going to get us the top Bishop Gorman players. He will continue to get the Anson Winder, Charles Abouo, and Jonathan Tavernari types. Good players, but role players.

I still say no thank you to Dave Rice because of the risk.

[Portland Ute]

[QUOTE=Goatnapper'96;552538]Port, you are a kid that just recently figured out BYU kicked out high profile athletes for breaking the honor code even if it would cost them games.

I don't know if growing up you were stupid, ignorant or just raised in such a hostile environment that you were like the folks who wanted the truth but did not know where to find it. QUOTE]

:finger3:

[Katy Lied]

Same goes for Judkins, no chance he would take the job.

Why do you say that? I think he would take the job. He wouldn't even be seen as a "traitor" if he took the job.

O IMO, Utah needs a safe hire, not a home run right now.

Agreed. The problem is that a safe hire will still cost more money than Utah has. Unless Hill can bring in a minimum $5mill donation.

[ERCougar]

Why again is Steve Fisher not being talked about?

[jay santos]

Why don't we just hire a high school coach if we are going to give up on the program. Dave Rice is basically throwing in the towel. He would have the worst resume, at the time he is hired, of any of the coaches in the Pac-12.

Are there any programs in the Pac 12 that Utah would rank above, in terms of desirability from a potential coach's standpoint?

Maybe Washington State? Or Oregon State?

[LA Ute]

Are there any programs in the Pac 12 that Utah would rank above, in terms of desirability from a potential coach's standpoint?

Maybe Washington State? Or Oregon State?

Probably those two, plus Colorado. I don't think anyone here is saying otherwise - I am not. I do think the job is more attractive than it was before because of the PAC12, and is much more of a "destination" job than it was before (although there are only a few jobs in the entire country that are true destination positions).

Agreed. The problem is that a safe hire will still cost more money than Utah has. Unless Hill can bring in a minimum $5mill donation.

You may be right; I don't know. But you are making an assumption there.

[LA Ute]

This is in the "cute, light-heated diversion" category.

[YOUTUBE]c6jQKYysLYg&feature=player_embedded[/YOUTUBE]

[MartyFunkhouser]

Why again is Steve Fisher not being talked about?

He died 5 years ago. I'm not sure we want a corpse coaching our basketball team. We need some stability.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Are there any programs in the Pac 12 that Utah would rank above, in terms of desirability from a potential coach's standpoint?

Maybe Washington State? Or Oregon State?

I'm not going to even disagree with this statement. Utah basketball is not a highly desirable job right now in relation to our conference mates. It has potential to be a good job, but it isn't right now.

So we can agree that Utah is a better job than Washington St and Oregon St. Here are Washington St and Oregon St's coaches.
http://www.osubeavers.com/sports/m-b...n_craig00.html
http://www.wsucougars.com/sports/m-b...one_ken00.html

Both of them had previous head coaching experience when they were hired. Ken Bone had gone to the NCAA tournament twice with Portland St. Bone also was an assistant for 3 years at Washington. In short, Ken Bone had substantially more experience when Washington St hired him.

Craig Robinson is kind of a meh candidate but still has a better resume than Rice.