ESPN: Danny Manning considered for WFU job, meets with Wellman 3/31/14

[Brendan207]

Oh really. Well here's a test. Which person is more LOWF? A: the person who thinks Wake will continue to be a strong bball school with the next hire after enduring a bad one, or B: the person that thinks it's completely nuked and now doomed because of a single lame coach.

or the person who accepts the reality of the phrases "strong bball school" and "great basketball tradition"

 

[tagsfan]

Danny Manning snubbed Dean Smith. So he's got that going for him. Which is nice.

 

[Brendan207]

Come on now.... LOWF

How do you define "great basketball tradition"? Spit it out.

 

[ArlingtonDeac]

In the next few years, Danny Manning is going to be a candidate for every open major-conference head coaching job -- barring the 7-8 ultra-elite basketball schools -- until he takes one. Not sure why we think we're so much better than the field.

He's a hot rising young coach. His name coming up in connection with Wake makes total sense, even if he's not anyone's first choice. The problem is that Wellman's and this board's first choices were the absolute hottest coaching prospects in the entire industry, and we're coming off four years of being terrible, so it was never overly likely that we'd get one of them. Then there's the Howland hysteria, but no one in basketball seems to want him, despite his resume, and that should give everyone pause. Getting past those guys, I'm still dumbfounded that people think Manning would be some kind of disaster hire.

 

[DeaconOEF/OIFvet]

How do you define "great basketball tradition"? Spit it out.

 

[PhDeac]

So you think Wellman isn't trying to sell Wake as a great job...and you think coaches would listen to you over Wellman? Wow.

I'm sure he's trying. Of course he is. But what about the narrative that has come from him over the last 4+ years convinces you that he can convince a coach that Wake Forest basketball can win now?

He's spent the last 4 years convincing people that Wake basketball was dirty under Dino and needed to be cleaned in order to justify losing. And those "dirty" years were when Wake basketball was actually good with the type of athletes any coach wants to recruit.

Wellman and the powers that be have been telling people that doing a "good job" at Wake is under .500 or barely .500. Why would a coach with championship aspirations think they can come to Wake and win?

Now if us diehards were in the room with Shaka, we'd be talking about all the stuff in the "What Shaka needs to know" thread that I started. We'd be talking about our NBA Deacs. We'd be talking about how Wake was only below UNC and Duke in recruiting for the 90s and 00s. We'd be talking about a fanbase ready to support any legit coach with a fire in his belly.

 

[TopHat]

A week ago Wellman was still defending the "he who shall not be named" hire and called it "winning". So, no if I was a candidate I wouldn't be convinced that he is committed to winning.

 

[Tin Cup]

I'm sure he's trying. Of course he is. But what about the narrative that has come from him over the last 4+ years convinces you that he can convince a coach that Wake Forest basketball can win now?

He's spent the last 4 years convincing people that Wake basketball was dirty under Dino and needed to be cleaned in order to justify losing. And those "dirty" years were when Wake basketball was actually good with the type of athletes any coach wants to recruit.

Wellman and the powers that be have been telling people that doing a "good job" at Wake is under .500 or barely .500. Why would a coach with championship aspirations think they can come to Wake and win?

Now if us diehards were in the room with Shaka, we'd be talking about all the stuff in the "What Shaka needs to know" thread that I started. We'd be talking about our NBA Deacs. We'd be talking about how Wake was only below UNC and Duke in recruiting for the 90s and 00s. We'd be talking about a fanbase ready to support any legit coach with a fire in his belly.

Yea, I'm sure we're just skipping right over those parts. Better send Wellman and company a link to that thread, in case they forgot a few things to mention.

Wellman screwed up the last 4 years, and the lunatic fringe portion of our fanbase took a bad situation and made it worse. Now we are all paying the price for it now.

 

[Milhouse]

A week ago Wellman was still defending the "he who shall not be named" hire and called it "winning". So, no if I was a candidate I wouldn't be convinced that he is committed to winning.

i agree

 

[DeaconSig]

Yea, I'm sure we're just skipping right over those parts. Better send Wellman and company a link to that thread, in case they forgot a few things to mention.

Wellman screwed up the last 4 years, and the lunatic fringe portion of our fanbase took a bad situation and made it worse. Now we are all paying the price for it now.

Horseshit.

 

[vadimivich]

Kansas fans and former players largely credit Manning with the tremendous success that Self's program had with big men during his time there. Larry Brown and Bill Self both seem to think the absolute world of him as a coach, and he's off to a damn strong start to his head coaching career at Tulsa. In time, hiring him early on could be a tremendous steal.

That being said, it's a risky hire (though not as risky as hiring a known loser like [name redacted]/Gregory, etc) and I can see why people who want a proven big time winner RIGHT NOW would be upset. From the outside looking in though, I think that outside of Smart/Marshall ... Manning is as good a hire as there exists. Better than Buzz Williams (who I think is a good, but not great coach), better than Howland (who drove his last program off a cliff and is a pariah now) and better than any of the other mid-major guys who don't have the big program resume and experience that Manning has. It's a calculated risk, but taking that kind of calculated risk is how you get the true super star coaches. Those guys are hired young or inexperienced, not once they are known quantities in all but the rarest of circumstances (i.e - if your name is Kentucky, Kansas, UNC, Louisville or UCLA).

 

[Wrangor]

I can somewhat agree that outside of Shaka / Marshall ... Manning makes a lot of sense. He carries some risk, but also upside. Somewhat similar to Archie. I probably prefer Archie, but I could probably give Manning a shot. Wellman just needs to realize the risk that Manning carries with him. Shaka/Marshall carry almost no risk. I am beyond confident that either of them would have almost immediate success. It seems Shaka is off the table, still haven't heard if we are even interested in Marshall (we should be).

 

[deacz]

Wellman screwed up the last 4 years, and the lunatic fringe portion of our fanbase took a bad situation and made it worse. Now we are all paying the price for it now.

By this do you mean the Strattons or Braces?

 

[EatLeadCommie]

I called Danny Manning two weeks ago, and I can not believe that this board would not be happy with the hire. If Danny lands in Winston I promise that you are getting a very intelligent coach on and off the court, a player coach that can still get out there and play with his players, a former player who was National Player of the year and #1 in the draft, a recruiter that was the lead recruiter for most of the recent players for Kansas (Wiggins not included), a guy that has respect at all levels and especially the local H.S. coaching levels. You are talking about a player that every coach that ever came in contact with, including opposing coaches, spewed compliments about his play and character. He put a crappy Tulsa team back in the dance in less than two years of taking the job. Granted he has only been a head coach for a short period, but he has been in the right circles for over a decade.

Tulsa was not exactly a crappy team when he took over. They had 6 consecutive winning seasons prior to Manning's arrival. They just hadn't been to the dance in a while, which is to be expected playing in the CUSA, where there was Memphis and everybody else. A big reason why they got to the dance this year is because the CUSA is full of scrubs now. Seriously, look at the teams in the conference. It's horrible.

 

[Shorty]

In the next few years, Danny Manning is going to be a candidate for every open major-conference head coaching job -- barring the 7-8 ultra-elite basketball schools -- until he takes one. Not sure why we think we're so much better than the field.

He's a hot rising young coach. His name coming up in connection with Wake makes total sense, even if he's not anyone's first choice. The problem is that Wellman's and this board's first choices were the absolute hottest coaching prospects in the entire industry, and we're coming off four years of being terrible, so it was never overly likely that we'd get one of them. Then there's the Howland hysteria, but no one in basketball seems to want him, despite his resume, and that should give everyone pause. Getting past those guys, I'm still dumbfounded that people think Manning would be some kind of disaster hire.

This is spot on. We all love Wake bball and we have had some marquis players. But the facts are that in the last thirty years, we've made five Sweet Sixteens, two Elite Eights, and zero Final Fours.

 

[EatLeadCommie]

ooh, Tin Cup has joined the excuse makers now too. All the more reason why we can't settle on a Manning.

 

[EatLeadCommie]

This is spot on. We all love Wake bball and we have had some marquis players. But the facts are that in the last thirty years, we've made five Sweet Sixteens, two Elite Eights, and zero Final Fours.

Wake isn't chock full of "basketball tradition" like many of our fans seem to think it is, but we can do better than Manning. Manning's resume is thinner than Buzz's.

 

[Liquid Karma]

Very sobering post on the KU board about how others view us right now:

"Makes sense, but Wake is a chit job. Really chitty since ACC expanded. They fired that Dino guy who had decent records and hired a damn loser coach in Jeff [name redacted]. It was freaking stupid. So if Ron Wellman (athletic director ) sticks around your boss is a nut who might just get fired any moment. Then you face the prospect of working for a new guy who may want to fire you and bring his own guy in. I'd go after a different job. Wake sucks."

We need to fire Ron Wellman right now. As I have said before, I would immediately hire Jim Grobe as our AD.

What would you think about Dave Odom as AD?

 

[vadimivich]

Wake isn't chock full of "basketball tradition" like many of our fans seem to think it is, but we can do better than Manning. Manning's resume is thinner than Buzz's.

Buzz's resume wasn't thin. It was thick with mediocrity and failure. That's what made it horrible such a horrible hire (and what made Gregory such an awful hire at GT).

Kansas hired Roy Williams and he had no head coaching resume. Sometimes that means nothing - you want to get guys with huge upside, and get them as close to starting as possible (so you get the vast majority of their careers). What you want to avoid is hiring the guys who have proven they have no upside.

 

[ChrisL68]

Tulsa was predicted at the bottom of the CUSA Manning's 1st year after a complete roster turnover. They won the CUSA this year with one of the youngest teams in the US.