Bullet dodged part 2? Not all was rosy in Richmond?

http://m.herosports.com/news/will-wade-vcu-basketball-players-unfazed-ugly-departure-bgbg

3/21/2017 4:37:52 PM

The more I read about how Wade tried to screw over Clemson and basically just left all of his players hanging, I'm glad we went with Keatts over Wade. Wade seems like a Grade A asshole.

3/22/2017 8:40:41 AM

^^ It's so strange that the buzz about him when he was an NCState candidate was that Smart was the do-nothing and Wade recruited all his players and now that he is gone, it's Wade who rode Shaka's coattails.

I'm glad we got Keatts, but most of this stuff coming out of VCU now looks like sour grapes.

3/22/2017 9:33:04 AM

^I mean, it's one thing to be an asshole to your players that you recruited, but the Clemson rumors are just as damning.

Rumors were that he reached out to Clemson to see if they were interested in him and flirted with them to the point reports were they had worked out a deal on the buyout for Brownell but caught wind of the fact LSU was all-in on Wade. Wade was trying to get Brownell fired just to use Clemson as leverage to get more money out of LSU. He then reportedly said that he considered Clemson a "mid-major".

Alumni shitting on their own program? Shitty.
Guy willing to get someone else fired just to make him more money? Shitty.
Doesn't even have the decency to talk to his team and explain his decision and just left them to fend for themselves? Shitty.

I think VCU fans can be sour all they want, that doesn't really mean too much, but we know for a fact he did #3 and a lot of smoke around #1 and #2...if he did all 3 of those then I want no part of that guy.

3/22/2017 10:04:13 AM

Juicy.

Glad we got Keatts. I wonder if the search firm was able to sniff any of this stuff out beforehand and maybe that's why we didn't interview him after all.

3/22/2017 10:26:14 AM

C'mon now. Wasn't Clemson his alma-mater? A mid-major compared to LSU? L O fuckin L. They just won a national championship in football...

Those rumors smell like bullshit to me.

Brownell's buyout being $3M is a bigger reason why Wade didn't go there than some made up story like that.

3/22/2017 10:53:16 AM

Quote :

"but we know for a fact he did #3"

every goddamn coach is going to accept a job before he tells his current team. we don't know that he didn't talk to them. there hasn't been a single actual report that says he just up and left. sure players found out on twitter. i bet some UNCW players found out about Keatts on twitter as well.

this is all a bunch of stupid rumors.

3/22/2017 11:04:10 AM

Even when we were researching Wade, it was reported he was really high on NC State and LSU but wasn't that big on going back to Clemson.

I mean look at Clemson basketball. The school is pouring money into football, not much of it going to basketball. It's the ACC, Clemson is a mid-level job in a tough conference. I definitely see the upside of LSU. Look at all the talent LSU has been able to land, it's great for recruiting, they just haven't had a good coach in a while(sounds like NC State right?). I think Wade knows he wants a gig with resources, easy recruiting, and a lot of upside. I'm not surprised he'd value LSU over Clemson, that makes complete sense. Much easier to succeed at LSU than at Clemson in basketball.

Also the buyout doesn't mean a ton, they had already negotiated a payment plan, allegedly, to help mitigate the upfront cost. But let's not act like Clemson athletics isn't flush with money right now.

Obviously it could all be BS, but there are lot of signs that it might all be true. I mean Brownell and the AD had a meeting scheduled the day after all the Wade to Clemson news started to break, and then the next day when people speculated the announcement would come down that Brownell would be fired, later that day it came out that he'd get another year and Wade was in negotiations with LSU "officially". Some Clemson fans tried to spin it that Clemson chose Brownell over Wade and they turned Wade down...which doesn't make sense. Why would you turn down a coach if you're not hiring?

3/22/2017 11:08:59 AM

Quote :

"i bet some UNCW players found out about Keatts on twitter as well."

Keatts said in his inaugural interview that he was upset that the media leaked his hiring before he had a chance to talk to his guys. But he did go talk to his guys.

3/22/2017 11:15:12 AM

I mean, you can't say he didn't like Clemson because they are a football school and then he signs with LSU. You can't say he liked LSU because they have less competition, but then say he was high on NCState. None of us knows what really went on, but I'm just saying those rumors don't add up. At least not in the way you have communicated them.

I do think it's strange how quickly the narrative can change on someone too.

3/22/2017 11:27:11 AM

and there have been zero stories saying that Wade didn't do the same thing. the only thing that's been reported is that they found out on twitter (which is going to happen 100% of the time when players have twitter)

3/22/2017 11:28:52 AM

Wade isn't that dumb, the coaching circle is supposedly really really small...and he's an idiot if he said Clemson is a mid-major knowing they're a p5 team....i doubt he actually said that.

I do think Keatts military prep school background is a tremendous asset.

3/22/2017 11:43:26 AM

Giglio tweets saying DSJ will officially announce he's going pro Monday or Tuesday. no surprise there

3/22/2017 2:25:55 PM

VCU players said Wade didn't speak to them even after he took the LSU job, he didn't fly back or anything. Keatts drove back to meet with his players before ever meeting our guys.

Comparing LSU to Clemson:

Clemson - 1 Elite 8 appearance(1980), 1 conference regular season title(1990), 1 conference tournament title(1939). Last 5 recruiting class rankings: 106, 79, 72, 74, 46. Arena seats 9,000.

LSU - 4 Final 4 appearances(latest: 2006), 10 conference regular season titles(latest: 2009), 1 conference tournament title(1980). Last 5 recruiting class rankings: 50, 9, 37, 6, 52. Arena seats 13,200.

So LSU has a richer tradition of winning, they seem to be easier to recruit good players to, they have nicer facilities, and they're in the SEC and not the ACC. So you have to beat UK, UF, and USC compared to beating UNC, Duke, UVA, Louisville, and ND. LSU is also a larger school than Clemson so likely more financial resources as well.

Other than the fact that Wade is an alum...why in the world would he pick Clemson over LSU? LSU is one of those "sleeping giants" like some people have claimed we potentially are as well. I think Wade wanted to go somewhere with a high ceiling that had a lot of resources built in. NC State and LSU would clearly be better basketball jobs than Clemson right now.

3/22/2017 3:38:30 PM

Basically he pulled an Archie on Clemson

3/22/2017 3:57:58 PM

i don't know what "pulled an Archie" means in that context. Archie apparently expressed no interest in the State job. Wade flirted heavily with the Clemson job.

3/22/2017 5:10:47 PM

So Archie turned us down for Indiana? Screw that guy. So much for him wanting to stay home near Pennsylvania or Ohio or whereever. Hope he does well and we meet him in the tourny and Keatts puts a beat down on Archie.

3/26/2017 9:17:15 AM

You do realize Ohio and Indiana are right next to each other?

He's a Midwest guy. Deal with it.

3/26/2017 9:46:23 AM

Archie took a job that is considered a "better" job than NC State for more money than we could've paid him. good for him.

3/26/2017 10:05:25 AM

Sounds like Yow screwed us again. The millers hate her.

3/26/2017 10:17:19 AM

can we lock this? guy didn't pick us, so move on

3/26/2017 10:26:18 AM

Rawr rawr rawr I love Archie Miller

Rawr rawr I hate Archie Miller

3/26/2017 10:28:11 AM

He was never coming here...

3/26/2017 11:18:22 AM

When you're still drunk from the night before and middle school geography eludes you...

Quote :

"So Archie turned us down for Indiana? Screw that guy. So much for him wanting to stay home near Pennsylvania or Ohio or whereever"

3/26/2017 11:52:41 AM

Quote :

"There had been talk he’d go to his alma mater, North Carolina State, after Mark Gottfried was fired a month ago. “Yeah, everyone thought N.C. State, but I knew that wasn’t gonna happen,” John said. “He knows that place too well. You gotta have trust in the people above you that they’ll stand by you.”"

Archie's dad

http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/sports/tom-archdeacon-behind-the-scenes-archie-miller-road-indiana/FVTuIsT8BNtcjAK7imjpUM/

3/26/2017 12:15:17 PM

he was never coming here. he took a better job for more money. none of this should be a surprise.

3/26/2017 12:31:31 PM

^^Ah so go to a school that fired a coach that won more than us and won the Big Ten last year. Makes sense.

3/26/2017 1:34:55 PM

Stay classy, Coach G

https://twitter.com/Mark_Gottfried/status/845055698065076224

3/26/2017 1:46:45 PM

Quote :

"can we lock this? guy didn't pick us, so move on"

This! I don't get all of the hate on pack pride and here just because someone who played here didn't get hired as our new coach. There is no rule that you have to take a job at your alma mater when there is an opening. Our coach has just as much of a chance to be great as Miller does. We didn't pass on someone like Coach K to get Keatts.

Off the top of my head, here is a list of people who have coached their alma mater...

Clyde Drexler
Sidney Lowe
Les Robinson
Matt Doherty
John Bunting
Chuck Amato
Carl Franks
Hal Groh
Mark Gottfried

And yes I know about Coach K, Norm Sloan, Roy Williams, and Paul Bear Bryant.

3/26/2017 1:48:50 PM

^^

Quote :

"@Mark_Gottfried is this what you looked like when you got fired?"

haha, that girl had it out for coach

3/26/2017 2:35:33 PM

Quote :

"managing editor at @ncsutechnician"

That's a pretty bad look right there

3/26/2017 4:30:16 PM

Wait. What did the technician editor do?

3/26/2017 4:51:09 PM

Quote :

"@kells_mcneil Mar 24 @Mark_Gottfried is this what you looked like when you got fired?"

3/26/2017 5:00:43 PM

Ahhh...didn't realize that was the tweet from the editor.

3/26/2017 5:07:45 PM

Quote :

"Off the top of my head, here is a list of people who have coached their alma mater..."

Roy Williams went to UNC.

ALSO HAL GROH

3/26/2017 5:18:03 PM

^ yeah he mentioned that. He was naming unsuccessful coaches at their alma maters.

3/26/2017 5:59:48 PM

Coach K didn't go to Duke.

3/26/2017 6:17:07 PM

He went to West Point

3/26/2017 7:00:54 PM

^Yeah but when you look at his stats he did a pretty solid job before leaving. They played as an independent in an era when there were less post season births in national tournaments, but he still managed to make the NIT once and have 3 winning seasons out of 5. That's a pretty solid job when considering the situation. It's probably the equivalence of getting Duke to the second weekend of the current NCAA Tournament. It's nothing that would get a coach fired. Most of those coaches I listed got canned at their alma maters when they became pretty average and couldn't even make the NIT. I just don't get the obsession with Alumni coaches. They aren't always the answer.

[Edited on March 26, 2017 at 11:11 PM. Reason : .]

3/26/2017 11:03:16 PM

Bob knight recommended him and the Duke AD had an eye for talent.

3/27/2017 3:11:58 AM

Quote :

"POST SEASON BIRTHS"

3/27/2017 7:23:17 AM

^^Hopefully our big donors and AD have an eye for talent too.

3/27/2017 1:02:46 PM

Big donors have no say on who we hire for Athletics.

3/27/2017 1:28:13 PM

Wendell Murphy is a huge donor and he absolutely had a say in who we hired to be our basketball coach.

3/27/2017 1:38:35 PM

He was on the committee.

3/27/2017 1:58:50 PM

Quote :

"While in politics, Murphy also helped with North Carolina State University athletics. He was a member of the Centennial Authority, which helped develop the RBC Center, the home for NC State Wolfpack men's basketball along with the Carolina Hurricanes and Carolina Cobras. In 1987, while serving as senator, Murphy sponsored legislation that gave 1.5 million dollars for the initial planning of the RBC Center. Murphy then kept working to get funding to the stadium until he eventually got 22 million dollars donated to the project. For his work with North Carolina State University athletics, the Wendell H. Murphy Football Center was named after Murphy in 2003."

lol yeah I'm sure they told him to fuck right off [the committee] when he weighed in on who should coach.

[Edited on March 27, 2017 at 4:04 PM. Reason : .]

3/27/2017 4:00:05 PM

if you think Murphy was able to walk in to that committee and say I WANT KEATTS GET IT DONE, you're an idiot.

Sure they have input, but DY ain't gonna let a donor run the program and decide who to hire.

I know Murphy personally and he is a good friend of my family, I assure you it wasn't his choice to hire Keatts.

That's what the search firm and the committee is for.

3/27/2017 4:26:06 PM

Quote :

"I know Murphy personally"

3/27/2017 4:31:42 PM

3/27/2017 4:33:09 PM

Quote :

"Big donors have no say on who we hire for Athletics."

Quote :

"Sure they have input"

3/27/2017 5:16:53 PM