Yep the WHOLE staff not just one or two of the asst coaches.In 4 years this staff has taken a tanked program and turned in NCAA tourname top seed. I hope Whitman pays what is needed to keep the staff intact.
Yep the WHOLE staff not just one or two of the asst coaches.In 4 years this staff has taken a tanked program and turned in NCAA tourname top seed. I hope Whitman pays what is needed to keep the staff intact.
If what I just heard was true, would be the biggest moment for our program in a longggg time.
Someone can be an exceptional assistant coach and only a middling head coach, so I don't really care what happened in S. Florida. As far as why no one tried to grab OA before this year: (1) we certainly don't know if that's true; and (2) you have to consider context.Sure, but calling OA the best asst coach in the world doesn't explain why until now, nobody tried to hire him away from us. He wasn't "elite" last year?
Sure he crapped out at S. Florida, with a whiff of scandal, but where were all the asst. coaching offers since it was widely known that KY did well with him there? Nobody thought he was "elite" then? How come S. Florida was the best HCing gig he could get? How did we end up with him for FOUR years?
He's very good at what he does, but he's fairly easily replaceable IMO. If we offer the kind of money being talked about here to others, REAL easily replaceable once again JMO.
This situation reminds me of that old board when Self left. Everyone panicked "we can't keep good coaches" "We're gonna lose players" "We're doomed we can't have nice things" etc, but soon after the next guy we hired not only kept most of the players, but actually got us to the NC game. Anyone want to give all the credit for that to one of our Asst coaches at the time?
Sure he fell apart with time but so what? Anybody want to blame that on Jerrance Howard leaving? No, the guy was just over his head, like OA was over his head at S. Florida. He's "elite" except as a HC, I guess. And nobody noticed his "eliteness" until now.
LOL I was thinking all of KY's recruits switching to us to replace all of our players that will be joining OA at KY. /sBoth coaches are staying and TyTy reconsidered and went ahead and committed here despite his final list not including us and Kofi is returning and Liddell is transferring to us to play on the dream team?
Puff puff pass pleaseBoth coaches are staying and TyTy reconsidered and went ahead and committed here despite his final list not including us and Kofi is returning and Liddell is transferring to us to play on the dream team?
People who know about assistant coaches know about Orlando Antigua. Being considered a god in Lexington makes you a pretty well-known commodity. I would even say being an assistant at Kentucky is a higher-profile gig than being a head coach at USF.
lol especially after all UI recruits were headed to UKLOL I was thinking all of KY's recruits switching to us to replace all of our players that will be joining OA at KY. /s
We convinced Calipari to come be an assistant coach at IllinoisLOL I was thinking all of KY's recruits switching to us to replace all of our players that will be joining OA at KY. /s
View attachment 8807 Well, yeah, Indy hasn't posted since that boom gif.....so ?????
This thing probably needed to be wrapped up before recruiting @ AAU tournaments this weekend. If we're looking good at 6pm on Friday, I think that's a great sign. OA would have to know what polo to put on by now.View attachment 8807 Well, yeah, Indy hasn't posted since that boom gif.....so ?????
There is a huge difference between running the show and playing a supporting role. You can be amazing at one of those things and still stink at the other, because the necessary skill sets can be significantly different.I'm not suggesting we shouldn't fight to keep OA and I really hope we do.
But I think there is a fallacy in some of the logic.
Why didn't that god-like status land a better job than South Florida?
As a god, shouldn't he have been more successful at South Florida?
If he is a god in Lexington, why has he been assistant coaching at Illinois?
If he is a god in Lexington, why isn't he being offered a higher profile head coaching position?
If being an assistant at Kentucky is a higher profile gig than head coach at South Florida - why did he take the job?
Again, I'm not suggesting OA hasn't been a really great fit at Illinois and done a really nice job of landing Kofi and Curbelo.
Did it ever change?OA’s twitter background and photo is back to UofI. We’ve done it.
If I'm letting my imagination run wild, then I hope you just heard that OA and Chin are staying, and now Kofi is planning on coming back too.
(Don't tell me if I'm wrong. I just want to enjoy the fantasy for a little while.)
Being a HC requires somewhat of a different skill set. He is an outstanding recruiter and position coach for bigs (“elite” level), but being a good head coach requires a bit more on the X’s and O’s side and an ability to think more holistically and strategically about all aspects of managing a program. Much of that is learned over time and some of that is instincts. Won’t pretend to know what his ceiling is - maybe this job and the success this staff has achieved by adapting so much of the program is what he needed to be at the next level. But one thing is clear. He is among the best of the best at this job.I'm not suggesting we shouldn't fight to keep OA and I really hope we do.
But I think there is a fallacy in some of the logic.
Why didn't that god-like status land a better job than South Florida?
As a god, shouldn't he have been more successful at South Florida?
If he is a god in Lexington, why has he been assistant coaching at Illinois?
If he is a god in Lexington, why isn't he being offered a higher profile head coaching position?
If being an assistant at Kentucky is a higher profile gig than head coach at South Florida - why did he take the job?
Again, I'm not suggesting OA hasn't been a really great fit at Illinois and done a really nice job of landing Kofi and Curbelo.
Yes, but I think it changed back sometime yesterday. So not a recent development as far as I'm aware.Did it ever change?
He can literally say, "Look, I know it's UK is great program, but there are some great reasons to choose Illinois....I did."There is a huge difference between running the show and playing a supporting role. You can be amazing at one of those things and still stink at the other, because the necessary skill sets can be significantly different.
I bet if OA wanted to be a lifetime assistant at UK, he could have done that. But he took a risk and bet on himself to make the jump to be a head coach. Didn't work out like he wanted, and we were the beneficiaries. Not going to look a gift horse in the mouth now. If OA is staying, we just kept a UK-level assistant on our staff. Everyone knows that now. We can sell that everywhere, and OA can tell recruits that no one is better at identifying and developing talent than him, and that they are one of the lucky players getting an offer to come to Illinois. That's clout.
But probably won’t be able to say we’ll pay you more than UK will, like we apparently did him.He can literally say, "Look, I know it's UK is great program, but there are some great reasons to choose Illinois....I did."
Wait, what about all the fans at KY who KNOW OA because he is "elite"? But KY didn't want him for SEVEN years? I don't get the logic here. He was really good at KY so everyone remembers him but they didn't actually want to try to get him back (unless they are real good at keeping it secret? and they just recently thought of offering OA boatloads of money? but only until Cal's back is literally against the wall with his own boosters?)Someone can be an exceptional assistant coach and only a middling head coach, so I don't really care what happened in S. Florida. As far as why no one tried to grab OA before this year: (1) we certainly don't know if that's true; and (2) you have to consider context.
As for (1), it is entirely possible that other coaches have been sniffing around OA before this year, but he has told all of them he was happy at Illinois. Then, the situation appreciably changed when UK came calling. OA has history there and they are the premier college basketball program. Also, it sounds like they flashed some serious cash on top of all the rest they can offer.
As for (2), our team was deep in rebuilding mode in OA's first two years here. We were bad. No one was going to try to poach him then. OA was at a new school, with a new staff, and trying to install a new culture. Building takes time. And whether those efforts would eventually pay off was difficult to project early on. But now you have last year and this year to point to. Caribbean pipeline - built. Giorgi and Kofi exhibit development beyond our wildest dreams. OA brings in Curbelo who wins B1G 6th man of the year as a freshman. We go from near the bottom of the B1G three years ago to winning the most combined conference games over the past two seasons. We win the BTT this year. We earn a 1-seed for only the fourth time in school history. OA doesn't get sole credit for all of that, but if he can help facilitate that kind of a turnaround at Illinois, then he can be a significant value-add practically anywhere. And if UK wants him, then we should want to keep him. It could be as simple as that.
Wait, what about all the fans at KY who KNOW OA because he is "elite"? But KY didn't want him for SEVEN years? I don't get the logic here. He was really good at KY so everyone remembers him but they didn't actually want to try to get him back (unless they are real good at keeping it secret? and they just recently thought of offering OA boatloads of money? but only until Cal's back is literally against the wall with his own boosters?)
Cal is trying to make a big splash and maybe, just maybe JW will end up with a bigger splash.
But either way, people are talking about KY and Illinois in the same breath! that's pretty cool if you ask me.
My point is that OA is not quite as great at being an asst coach as some here (and Cal of course) are suggesting, that's all. He's very, very good at what he does. Sure, if KY wants him we want him, too. But I suspect that a lot of what is going on right now is Cal trying to pump OA up to help save his own skin.
And if other teams were trying to poach any of our coaches, it would have leaked, IMO. Heck someone would have posted it just to get laughs two years ago. It's nearly impossible to keep something like that secret, especially since everyone at KY "remembers" OA. Agents leak this stuff as a negotiating ploy.
I don't get why people, not singling you out, want to give OA credit for our turnaround and don't even mention BU? Isn't BU the guy who "facilitates" EVERYTHING? I give him MOST of the credit. Good recruits come here to play for the HC not one of his assts.
I hope both OA and Chin stay with us because what we have is working great, not necessarily because those two are irreplaceable. Even BU is replaceable, obviously, but losing him would hurt us far, far more than losing any of our other coaches, IMO.
Losing BU would be like losing Self was. Losing OA would be like Weber losing Jerrance Howard.
That's the "context" I see here. One sux much more than the other. Neither one was/will be the end of the world.
Interesting. I actually run a department at Harvard Law and Prof Lazarus there is a CU native who used to be a sportswriter for the News-Gazette. Huge Illini fan.Haha, let's see, OA's daughter is a Senior at UK, right? OA's got to be an awfully proud PaPa, she's headed to Harvard Law School.
I don't follow. You need two former coaches to win it all, but keeping the current staff gives a real chance, then we get to praise someone? 2 to all to one. I'm missing something