Bear Down Wildcats

Beachcat97 wrote:

zonagrad wrote:If I'm UCLA, I'm calling Sampson.

You can't be serious. Kelvin Sampson is the mother of all re-treads. Not that he hasn't had occasional success, but I just can't see UCLA settling for a guy so pedestrian. Would be an uninspiring hire. Think they're gonna aim higher.

I'm sure they're aiming higher. I'm not sure they can pull who they want. Sampson just resurrected the Houston program. Baggage? Of course. Hey, at least I didn't suggest Tubby Smith

Sampson is a way better hire than their last one.

zonagrad wrote:If I'm UCLA, I'm calling Sampson.

Good coach,wouldn't be bad. Pearl, Barnes all seem decent. None would win the press conference. Unless we pull a rabbit out of our sleeve,it won't win the press conference

MrBug708 wrote:

zonagrad wrote:If I'm UCLA, I'm calling Sampson.

Good coach,wouldn't be bad. Pearl, Barnes all seem decent. None would win the press conference. Unless we pull a rabbit out of our sleeve,it won't win the press conference

Bill Walton

Figures we would do things like this. Spend that money to buyout Alford, listen to a guy and hire his friend

I can't imagine Earl Watson "wins the press conference." To go from Alford to Watson...man, that would really show just how far not just UCLA but the Pac more generally has fallen, especially as other programs (Texas A&M, Nebraska, et al) are making, or about to make, better hires.

MrBug708 wrote:Figures we would do things like this. Spend that money to buyout Alford, listen to a guy and hire his friend

Who cares that he got fired six days into his NBA season, amirite?

You guys could get Beard but Guerrero will go out the door with a retread alum instead.

Pac-12: Conference of Shooting Yourself in the Feet!

catgrad97 wrote:

MrBug708 wrote:Figures we would do things like this. Spend that money to buyout Alford, listen to a guy and hire his friend

Who cares that he got fired six days into his NBA season, amirite?

You guys could get Beard but Guerrero will go out the door with a retread alum instead.

Pac-12: Conference of Shooting Yourself in the Feet!

I don't think Beard would take the UCLA job if he was offered it. He is from Texas and from all accounts, he loves Texas Tech.

Isn’t Texas Tech a better program than UCLA anyway? That’s what all the Final Four or hit the highway folks are suggesting by extension, no?

Irish27 wrote:

catgrad97 wrote:

MrBug708 wrote:Figures we would do things like this. Spend that money to buyout Alford, listen to a guy and hire his friend

Who cares that he got fired six days into his NBA season, amirite?

You guys could get Beard but Guerrero will go out the door with a retread alum instead.

Pac-12: Conference of Shooting Yourself in the Feet!

I don't think Beard would take the UCLA job if he was offered it. He is from Texas and from all accounts, he loves Texas Tech.

Not of we offered him 3 million a year, he wouldn't. He'll take the Texas job when it opens, but just let him leave of he wants then and use buyout money for someone else.

Greg Marshall should still get a look, but he's too mean

UCLA should hire Painter. He's the best of the guys they could realistically get.

So UCLA offered Calipari $8 million a year but he turned them down because they don’t use chartered flights? Where’s the head scratching emoji?

When is UCLA gonna report a hire?

CalStateTempe wrote:When is UCLA gonna report a hire?

When they finally offer wyking jones.

Bennett and Painter should be at the top of the list. Beard isn't leaving unless UT opens up; reportedly that's his dream job.

ByJoveByJingle wrote:So UCLA offered Calipari $8 million a year but he turned them down because they don’t use chartered flights? Where’s the head scratching emoji?

UCLA has always had charter flights available.

MrBug708 wrote:

ByJoveByJingle wrote:So UCLA offered Calipari $8 million a year but he turned them down because they don’t use chartered flights? Where’s the head scratching emoji?

UCLA has always had charter flights available.

Heh.

One of the issues UCLA has run into during its coaching search, sources told ESPN, is its lack of charter flights. In a stark contrast to nearly every high-major program, the Bruins have always flown commercial, even in recent years under Steve Alford. The school began mixing in charter flights during Pac-12 play this season.

Cool. Wanna bet?

Oh wait..

Cal signed his extension. Hopefully UCLA will still ise that money to pivot somewhere else but I'm sure the leak was to bail out our AD on a bad hire

Good, I'm glad Calipari is staying at kentucky.

him at ucla would have been horrible for UofA

I want the bruins to hire the best guy out there and for us to return to our standards. Having a weak league does no one any good.

Keep going after Cal, then Bennett, then Painter, then Beard. Go after Pitino if need be. We need UCLA back and as good as ever

Stakes feel a little higher for UCLA this time. Alford was an uninspiring hire, and now they're looking at possibly hiring a second straight middling coach.

Dixon would be a safe hire that would probably do well. If we are going to miss and settle, Dixon would be fine. Probably better than Randy Bennett, Shaka, or Cronin

MrBug708 wrote:Dixon would be a safe hire that would probably do well. If we are going to miss and settle, Dixon would be fine. Probably better than Randy Bennett, Shaka, or Cronin

Dixon is interesting considering he was Howland's top assistant at NAU & Pitt.

Shaka?? They're still waiting for him to do something in Austin. I'd think Cronin would take the job in a heartbeat. He's done a great job in Cincy but hasn't had tourney success.

I still think Sampson would be a good hire.

Sampson wouldn't be bad, but I think they are overvetting candidates after not vetting last time, though after what's been exposed, his phone calls seem silly.

Shaka would be ironic since he publicly turned down UCLA last time around, despite not actually being interviewed (The Mora move)

Dixon is similar to Howland, though less controlling on offense and less gruff. His tenure at Pitt ended poor, but the move to the ACC did him in more than anything. I like what he did in his short stint at a bad TCU program. He has a 8 million dollar buyout or something like that and it wouldn't win the press conference.

Nevada HC Mark Fox to Cal, official today.

Dixon, lol. Not a good hire, imo. Cronin would be better.

catgrad97 wrote:Nevada HC Mark Fox to Cal, official today.

He hasn't been at Nevada for a decade

Merkin wrote:

If Arizona is looking for a coach like Miller this off-season, it doesn't get him, or anyone his caliber. In fact. Calipari never has that sit-down persuading him to go.

That's how far the Pac-12 has fallen in just the last 10 years.

catgrad97 wrote:
That's how far the Pac-12 has fallen in just the last 10 years.

Pac has definitely fallen. But we're also being reminded of what became apparent when they hired Alford: UCLA is probably not even among the top 3 jobs in the Pac. I'd say AZ, Oregon and UW are solidly better. Next tier would be UCLA, Stanford, Cal, Utah.

Don't Miller and Cronin hate each other?

UAEebs86 wrote:Don't Miller and Cronin hate each other?

Mack and Cronin do. Miller was loyal to Mack in it

For UCLA, names I'm hearing more and more are Bob Williams and Mark Gottfried.

Sounds like Cronin is getting a 5/20 offer. Knowing DG, it'll have a buyout of 15 million

MrBug708 wrote:Sounds like Cronin is getting a 5/20 offer. Knowing DG, it'll have a buyout of 15 million

Wow. How far has UCLA fallen. The more I think about Cronin, the more I think Alford 2.0.

I think Dixon would do really well at UCLA, so I’m hoping it’s Cronin.

Well at least Miller will know how to prepare for UCLA.

UW, USC, and ASU all had an easier time hiring coaches in recent years, and that’s just in the Pac. It’s remarkable just how unattractive that job has become. Dixon, Cronin, Gottfried...if you’re an AZ fan, you gotta feel pretty good about how this is shaping up.

If they hire Cronin I think it’s a wait and see. He is much more solid than Alford as n X and O coach. He can recruit and his teams are tough. Maybe he becomes the likeable Howland in LA?

His hire is not that much different than Miller was from Xavier. I will hold out on the bravado on whether it’s good or bad

Other people are now saying that Dixon is the main guy but they are tryong to lower the buyout. If not, Cronin gets the job

azcat49 wrote:If they hire Cronin I think it’s a wait and see. He is much more solid than Alford as n X and O coach. He can recruit and his teams are tough. Maybe he becomes the likeable Howland in LA?

His hire is not that much different than Miller was from Xavier. I will hold out on the bravado on whether it’s good or bad

Yeah, Alford had no track record of success at all. Cronin has done pretty well at Cincinnati though I don’t recall off-hand that they advanced very far in the Tourney. Definitely a better hire than Alford. Somebody who hates UCLA must have made that hire happen.

According to Pete Thamel, Cronin is 6-11 overall in the tourney with just one Sweet 16.

That might not “win the press conference”...

Chicat wrote:According to Pete Thamel, Cronin is 6-11 overall in the tourney with just one Sweet 16.

That might not “win the press conference”...

Dixon's post season record of late is not great either.

Ahhh man UCLA hired Dixon, was really really hoping for Cronin. Either way that's a good hire considering their circumstances. We'll literally be recruiting the same exact type of players as them (if Miller ever recruits for his system again).