Coaching Carousel

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#1,401      

DB11Headband

Chicago Burbs
So C.Y. Young definitely looks like he would be an awesome hire! I know we drink the orange kool-aid on here, but why I’m wondering why he would he leave for anything less than a HC position? It would have to be money and and associate HC position I guess. Florida State has been really successful lately and it seems like he would have less of a hurdle with their admissions, weather, and not having to navigate Chicago.
👍🏼
 
#1,404      

skyIdub

Winged Warrior
He seems to have bounced around a lot. Maybe he didn’t get a HC offer he wanted. Sometimes people want a new challenge or a change of scenery. Could be any number of things man, don’t overthink it.

Wut??

"Charlton “CY” Young is in his eighth season as an assistant coach on Leonard Hamilton’s staff at Florida State. He became a member of Hamilton’s staff on June 4, 2013."
 
#1,406      

Loyalillini10

Urbana, IL
Wut??

"Charlton “CY” Young is in his eighth season as an assistant coach on Leonard Hamilton’s staff at Florida State. He became a member of Hamilton’s staff on June 4, 2013."
My hope here, is that was written in sarcasm (trying to give you an out here, Yeller).
 
#1,407      

BMoreIllini

Baltimore, MD
Because the bigs at Kentucky were all, but Stein, were one and done during his time there. He is a very good assistant but no one is irreplaceable.
You don't exclude one and done bigs because he furthered their development and ensured their status as a one and done. There are very few HS prospects that, regardless of development in college, are slam dunk one and done players. OA kept their development on course to be a top NBA pick, and that's not always easy.

No coach is irreplaceable, but I don't think anyone was making that argument. We will, however, have a hard time replacing him with someone of equal caliber.
 
#1,409      

Big Jack

Decatur
Have lost track of where we are with Gentry - still highly likely to be leaving?
Step Brothers Yep GIF by reactionseditor
 
#1,410      
not sure if an issue is say goodby to kids like frazier, curbello, Kofi, Padilla, BBV, Melendez, and Plummer who were all influenced by OA's broad international ties. If you cut out this niche market our future rosters could look pretty thin on talent.
Frazier was recruited and signed while Groce was still head coach, long before Antigua was part of the program.
 
#1,411      

Champaign Toast

Fan since Kiwane Garris
Throwing out a name here for reactions; and, perhaps, someone on this forum will have more information. Joining the Illini coaching staff is...

James Augustine

Quoting his wikipedia page (no citation given):
'On 20 October 2019, at age 35, Augustine announced that he would retire from professional sport. “In summer I thought it was too much. Now I am enjoying life after active sport. I had a very long career," he said.

Augustine has expressed a desire to be a coach in the future.'
 
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#1,412      
What I find humorous about posters' comments about Frazier, is that for years fans have wanted an alum on staff. Now we have one and some posters are questioning the hire. So, it's not having an alum, but having the alum they want. People want Dee Brown, but Frazier has a better resume without the baggage. People still want Jerrance Howard, but Frazier has an excellent reputation. I keep hearing how Howard is a great recruiter and Frazier needs to prove himself. Which school would be easier to recruit to, Kansas or Kansas St? Kansas or Virginia Tech? People are disappointed that Frazier was hired and not Powell. I don't know, but maybe Powell was contacted and was not interested in Illinois. Also, is Powell known as a good recruiter? I look at Frazier's experience and see a young coach taking the correct steps to further his career. I think he will prove his worth and add value to the staff. Nothing in his past indicates that he will embarrass the University of Illinois with his personal conduct and I think that fans will be sorry when he moves on to his next job.
never know. He may be a candidate for the next Illini head coach. If that’s the case then it means we would have been very very successful
 
#1,413      

Ransom Stoddard

Ordained Dudeist Priest
Bloomington, IL
Throwing out a name here for reactions; and, perhaps, someone on this forum will have more information. Joining the Illini coaching staff is...

James Augustine

Quoting his wikipedia page (no citation given):
'On 20 October 2019, at age 35, Augustine announced that he would retire from professional sport. “In summer I thought it was too much. Now I am enjoying life after active sport. I had a very long career," he said.

Augustine has expressed a desire to be a coach in the future.'
The bolded is the key. You don't begin your coaching career in a recruiting/on bench position for a P5 program. Like anything else, you get an entry level gig and work your way up, proving yourself every step of the way.
 
#1,414      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
Throwing out a name here for reactions; and, perhaps, someone on this forum will have more information. Joining the Illini coaching staff is...

James Augustine

Quoting his wikipedia page (no citation given):
'On 20 October 2019, at age 35, Augustine announced that he would retire from professional sport. “In summer I thought it was too much. Now I am enjoying life after active sport. I had a very long career," he said.

Augustine has expressed a desire to be a coach in the future.'
The bolded is the key. You don't begin your coaching career in a recruiting/on bench position for a P5 program. Like anything else, you get an entry level gig and work your way up, proving yourself every step of the way.
This. If he could coach bigs (assist in practice), from a non AC role, that seems like a no-brainer.
 
#1,416      

purcy51

Nappanee, IN
I agree. Chin got his start coaching Mac Irving Fire and then ended up at Whitney Young before becoming a college assistant. That was why Brad offered him the job and I think it paid dividends. I don't think anyone was happy when he left, but that doesn't mean there aren't equally talented guys out there.

The hard one will be replacing OA with his recruiting chops. Everyone gives him high marks for his work with Georgie and Kofi, but Georgie didn't seem to continue to improve and Kofi is just a freak. Who is to say another coach couldn't have done more ...?

One telling thing is that when lists are made of the top assistants neither guy seemed to pop up until OA started to make lists when he went to Kentucky again.

I have every confidence that Brad will find his guys that will make us all scratch our heads in a few years and wonder what all the hand wringing was about.
One thing that gets lost in this conversation about developing players is player coachability. Granted, you must have a coach that knows the game and can teach it, but the player has to be willing to learn and implement new skills.

Many of us may be giving the assistant coaches a little too much credit, myself included. When you lose two good coaches it is very easy to take a "sky is falling" approach.

Is Kofi's development all due to OA? Of course not, Kofi is the one who has to go out there and showcase new moves, etc. All the coaching in the world will make no difference if our players are not willing to learn. Looking at how much progress the roster has made over the last few years leads me to believe we have a group that wants to improve.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I agree with you. And I have all the confidence in the world in BU & JW and thier ability to find and hire quality assistants.
 
#1,419      

Tevo

Wilmette, IL
So C.Y. Young definitely looks like he would be an awesome hire! I know we drink the orange kool-aid on here, but why I’m wondering why he would he leave for anything less than a HC position? It would have to be money and and associate HC position I guess. Florida State has been really successful lately and it seems like he would have less of a hurdle with their admissions, weather, and not having to navigate Chicago.
Not sure if FSU athletics admissions are much easier than Illinois'. I know their regular student body admissions are surprisingly tough. My daughter was accepted at Illinois and denied at FSU.
 
#1,422      
Here is my take. We have had a lot of misses in recruiting but found many diamonds in the rough. But look at Coach K’s coaching tree. How many Duke players have started their coaching with him? Seems to work for Duke. Why cannot we hire a guy like Augie to coach the bigs while getting a established recruiter to be on the staff? maybe I am naive, but weren’t these players at one time recruited by great recruiters? They should remember what it is like to be recruited and what it takes to recruit. Bringing back former players will bring in more loyalty to the program.
 
#1,423      
It's kind of beside the point, because he's gone and never coming back, but the sad "Orlando Antigua is not that good anyway" rationalizing on here is getting a little ridiculous. OA was/is phenomenal at his job. JW and BU, who I have reason to believe a lot of you trust, were willing to make him the highest paid AC in the country. And I'm reading between the lines here, but based on what insiders on here have said and the fact we haven't to date successfully hired Mennenga or Young, the offers made to replacements seem likely to be of a lesser value than what OA was offered to stay. I think that tells you all you need to know about whether OA was the real deal or not.
 
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