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Jeff Battle and Providence?

RacerDeac said:
But did s/he mean Hamlet? "The lady doth protest too much, methinks." Either that or Battle is going to come back with an Army and slay Bzzz? :D
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Sorry, my Shakespeare is quite rusty. I meant Hamlet.
 
So is it to early to speculate on the musical chairs if he leaves? Who will take the #1 chair? who will join the staff? does bzz have any friends?
 
His Colorado staff was former Wyoming head coach Steve McClain, former Kansas State assistant Charles Baker, and Derrick Clark, who spent two seasons with [Redacted] at the Air Force Academy.

McClain is currently an assistant at Indiana, Baker's at Campbell, and Clark is head coach of Metro State in Denver.

Wasn't one of his assistants a little shady? I can't remember which.
 
DieselDeac said:
His Colorado staff was former Wyoming head coach Steve McClain, former Kansas State assistant Charles Baker, and Derrick Clark, who spent two seasons with [Redacted] at the Air Force Academy.

McClain is currently an assistant at Indiana, Baker's at Campbell, and Clark is head coach of Metro State in Denver.

Wasn't one of his assistants a little shady? I can't remember which.
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Dude who's name is a bit like abercromie but w/ a t in there. And sounds like we'll get that baker dude if he's nearby.
 
That was the guy I was thinking of.

Baker was at K-State from 2000-2006, and was an assistant with Laing from 00-02. Laing now coaches Campbell. Baker left KSU when Huggins got there.

It looks like Bz brought Baker to Colorado because of his Big 12 experience, not because of a personal connection to Bz.

McClain was the assoc head coach under Bz at Colorado, but has only been at Indiana for a year.

Clark went 22-8 a Metro State and won a tourney game with them, so he probably wouldn't leave after his first year as a head coach.

So not much to pull from with Bz's Colorado connections.
 
From Dan Collins:

Quote:
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When I first got wind that Battle might leave for Providence—not exactly the scourge of the Big East—I wondered along with apparently many others if he felt the need to get out of Wake. I was always under the impression that he and new coach Jeff [Redacted] got along pretty well. They certainly take every opportunity to say nice things about each other, but you never know everything.

Once I got him on the phone this morning, Battle said his relationship with [Redacted] had nothing to do with him considering Providence. It wasn’t only what he said, but how he said it that convinced me this was the case. Instead the tug was his special friendship with Ed Cooley, named head coach at Providence on May 22...

...My bet is he [Battle's son] will spend that year in Winston-Salem, with his father remaining as an assistant at Wake Forest.
-------------------

????
 
DieselDeac said:
Maybe he means, "here we go", as in here comes the offer, we've got a lot to think about.

I'm hopeful he decides to stay, but will root for Providence if he goes. There aren't many positive vibes.
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Oh yeah, I know that's what he meant. Just saying that there are a lot of good reasons for him to go and he's not giving us reasons to believe otherwise.
 
McClain is the assistant we were hoping would come with [Redacted] last year, but it didn't happen as he wanted a shot at head jobs (most specifically at Colorado).
 
No one would begrudge Battle for leaving. Jeff is pure class and one of the best in the country at his job.

While it is not necessarily true that [Redacted] is the reason Battle is leaving (and in fact everything seems to point to the opposite being true) it would not help [Redacted]'s case with Wake fans. Probably not fair, but probably reality.
 
Wakeforest22890 said:
No one would begrudge Battle for leaving. Jeff is pure class and one of the best in the country at his job.

While it is not necessarily true that [Redacted] is the reason Battle is leaving (and in fact everything seems to point to the opposite being true) it would not help [Redacted]'s case with Wake fans. Probably not fair, but probably reality.
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That seems about right to me.
 
I mean, this stuff is always on some sort of subjective continuum. On the one hand you have Cooley, Battle's long-time and close friend. On the other, you've got [Redacted]. Battle and [Redacted] may "like" and "get along with" each other just fine as colleagues and coaches on the same staff, but not so much that Battle would turn down an opportunity to go work for and with his best friend.

Had Battle and [Redacted] simply not gotten along or gelled whatsoever, Battle may have already accepted by now. Conversely, had Battle and [Redacted] REALLY hit it off and saw eye to eye on everything basketball and non-basketball-related, maybe this new friendship would be enough to overcome Battle's long-time relationship with Cooley.

So it doesn't have to be one or the other; Jeff and Jeff are probably "fine," but just not fine enough in comparison to Jeff and Ed Cooley.
 
Wakeforest22890 said:
No one would begrudge Battle for leaving. Jeff is pure class and one of the best in the country at his job.

While it is not necessarily true that [Redacted] is the reason Battle is leaving (and in fact everything seems to point to the opposite being true) it would not help [Redacted]'s case with Wake fans. Probably not fair, but probably reality.
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The casual fan could care less about assistants. They care about wins and losses. In the grand scheme of things unless Wake starts winning they could have Maya Angelou as an assistant but nobody would care.
 
Ian Holloway said:
The casual fan could care less about assistants. They care about wins and losses. In the grand scheme of things unless Wake starts winning they could have Maya Angelou as an assistant but nobody would care.
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By that logic, we could have Maya Angelou as head coach and nobody would care. Fans care about assistants because they affect wins and losses.
 
Wakeforest22890 said:
No one would begrudge Battle for leaving. Jeff is pure class and one of the best in the country at his job.

While it is not necessarily true that [Redacted] is the reason Battle is leaving (and in fact everything seems to point to the opposite being true) it would not help [Redacted]'s case with Wake fans. Probably not fair, but probably reality.
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Lots of sense here.
 
Man ... go out of town for a few days and don't check the 'net and come back to this. This makes me sick to my stomach. Battle is a great assistant and an outstanding member of the Wake community. I'd much rather have him as the head guy than [Redacted].

I certainly won't blame Battle for leaving. I would wish him luck and root hard for him and for Providence. Heck, if I was in Battle's shoes I'd be seriously considering packing my bags as well...
 
Let's all hope that Jordan and Coach B decided this weekend that it is in their best interests to remain in Winston at least one more year!
 
Fans care about assistants because they are the primary recruiters...they do the work on the ground that lands the big guns. The head coach sets the recruiting ceiling, but the assistants are the ones that actually bring in the players.
 
not that i know anything about it, but i have a hard time believing a high school kid would want to move the spring/summer before his senior year.
 
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