Next man/woman up ! or should I say OUT !.....

*KA's teams struggle with turnovers every year regardless of personnel.
*KA's teams struggle in half court sets regardless of personnel.
*High profile players have left the program for a few years straight.
*Zero conference championships.
*Trending downward the past few years in NCAA's.
*Has not developed the outstanding talent that's been recruited.

CLEARLY THERE'S A PROBLEM THAT NEEDS TO BE FIXED.

 

yeah it’s her same old excuses year in year out. Fails to take responsibility. Refuses to get better with her X’s and O’s. Portrays a negative attitude. On the flip side she’s well spoken.

 

She was an incredible recruiter, but apparently that is slipping too.

 

Lol just let me have hope honestly If Texas could not snag a top coach then I would wonder if Nell Fortner would be a choice? She is going in the right direction at georgia tech so she has the ability to turn programs around and she has done a great job recruiting over there and it's only her first season. She already is tied to Texas so she already knows what it would take to win and besides I love her energy and intensity which Karen Aston desperately lacks

 

I have no idea why, but I have heard she is not someone we would consider. Again, no idea why but it came from someone who usually is in the know.

 

Intriguing info. Last year, UNC hired the Princeton coach (Courtney Banghart) and Penn State hired the Marquette coach (Carolyn Kieger). So those P5 programs opted for coaches who built competitive programs at mid-majors with strong academic reputations. Don't know if 2 hires make this a trend, but perhaps it is.

 

Dawn is perfect for the fans in SC. - WBB is popular in the state's small towns. It's also a state with only 2 major state universities. I lived in SC in the '90s when The Other USC, as they say, was the doormat of the SEC. As I recall, USC lost every conference game for a couple of consecutive years, which was barely noticeable since only about 5 people came to games! At the same time, Clemson beat Gail's Duke teams 3 times in one season and went to the final eight. Now Clemson is barely competitive in the ACC. So I guess we can cheer up a bit, as we remember that sports go in cycles!

 

And let's not forget that we beat Kim in 2017; we just haven't won titles, sigh.

 

Well that sucks. I honestly don't know who else if we can't get a big name. I would assume Texas would look for a coach who can come in and win immediately

 

There is absolutely no way Karen’s contract is not renewed. She has done too much for the program to get the boot yet.

 

I would have agreed with you three years ago. Not today even though I actually like her.

 

I've been thinking about this: The fact that Karen is well spoken and has represented the program and the university with class only serves to make this situation more painful and disappointing. She gives all the outward signs of being intelligent, competent, level-headed, insightful -- all the qualities a coach would need to, say, put together a reasonably effective offensive playbook.

But no. The proof is in the pudding. Someone on this board described hers as a "junior high offense" -- and sadly, this seems pretty accurate. Nothing about the way the players or the ball moves on offense, individually or collectively, comes close to resembling the way good offensive teams look. Instead, it's basic perimeter passes, dribbling that goes nowhere, standing around watching, and overreliance on individual playmaking.

 

When you are 1 and 20 against Baylor, that lone win pales in comparison to the 20 losses. Sorry, but that's fairly meaningless.....

 

Since the masses have been clamoring for a new but simple take on Aston's situation, here is my "fair and biased" current opinion. Aston will take this team to the Dance in March and be out in either the first or second round with a senior team. A middling to disappointing season. Next year she will have a new team with four average rated freshmen, a graduate transfer guard from Harvard, and a redshirting Ortiz. Of course, Collier and Taylor will be back along with a couple of decent role players. And perhaps a late pickup? So the simple question for CDC is...…..Option 1....give Aston an extension of one year and give her time to right the ship and see the new team have moderate results as it develops. By moderate, I mean less victories than this year. That team might be very competitive but not challenge nationally in year 2 which would be the first year of the new stadium. Option 2. Change coaches after this year with known decommits/new players and a transition year before the new stadium. Results would probably be about the same as option 1. Year 2 in new stadium might be higher. Option 3...…...give Aston a 3-5 year extension based on good results for first five years and two years of moderate results while acknowledging mistakes in player selection and other. There could be hybrid options of the first 3. The new stadium is a huge issue. Who thinks CDC wants to see 2 to 4 thousand fans in year one? I have been an Aston supporter for first 5 years. Too many issues now. I vote for Option 2 but only if it is a major culture change in the program. Options 1 and 3 appear to be a reassessment and more of the same results as recently. If option 2 is not selected then option 1 is voted on. In no way shape or form do I support a 3-5 year extension based on what we know today.

 

Option 2 please and, yes, it DEFINITELY needs to involve a huge culture change!

Just FYI... I was all about KA and supported her for the first four and a half years. I started second-guessing myself when I kept seeing the same deficiencies every year, with no apparent change in the coaching strategy/philosophy to address those deficiencies.

I really, really wanted to see her succeed further and not regress. Hell, I would've been okay with just being able to beat BU every now and then as long as I saw her improve as a coach, try new things, and develop the outstanding talent she recruited to the fullest so that we remained a Top 10-15 team every year.

That just has not happened and the trajectory of the program is going exactly opposite of where it should be with the players we have. Before anyone says "our players aren't that good" it's because they HAVE NOT BEEN DEVELOPED by our staff.
Time for a change...a drastic one.

 

I have a question about the decision-making. Does Jody still exert influence behind the scenes in this type of firing/hiring decision? My understanding is that she was influential in the decision to hire Karen in the first place. Is there anyone else CDC considers a constituency that he'd have to consult before deciding whether to extend or let go?

 

Great question! I would hope, as AD, he's capable of making his own decisions (if allowed to do so).

 

Chris Plonsky was women’s athletic director during a lot of Conrad’s reign and when Aston was hired. When CDC was hired he became athletic director over women’s and men’s sports. Plonsky, Conrad and the old guard are in some form or fashion still around and could wield influence. Conradt was shown on TV last game and comes to lots of games. CDC understands the political situation and I assume can navigate that minefield well. Hiring a new coach and changing the culture in the WBB program is something I would like to see. If that doesn’t happen, I believe the results will be what we have now and the program will be competitive in B12 but irrelevant nationally.

 

Coaching WBB is a tough job. Culture is a tough word to define. I have my definition. Yours is most probably significantly different. As I was pondering a need for a culture change for Horns WBB, the Dallas Morning News just posted an article on SMU WBB. The essence of the long article is on Travis Mays and his toxic culture with the SMU program. Phrases like "debilitating culture" and "mentally traumatic" in the byline. Lots of former and current players quoted. Just one example...….Mays supposedly told his player if they didn't want to compete...…..to kill themselves. Since one of the girls fathers had just committed suicide 2 years ago, that didn't go over well. So I suggest you go on-line and read it. I am not suggesting in any way shape or form that the Horns WBB culture is similar. Even though Mays has been on Horns staff twice for a lot of years. It does show that culture is important to success of programs...…..whether WBB or in any environment.

 

"Competitive in the B12" is a rapidly descending bar, to put it nicely. Baylor is the only team in the top 25 right now.

Texas was a 7 seed last year and lost in the 1st round. We are headed for a 7 or 8 seed at the moment. There will almost inevitably be a drop-off next year after Sutton, Holmes, Higgs and Underwood leave. Just how much winning do we think a team of Collier-C.Taylor-Benzan-Ortiz-JAT-Warren can do, under the same coaching staff that doesn't know how to teach a system to save their life? I'm thinking NCAA bubble team at best.

 

I just read the entire article regarding Travis and the SMU women's program.... VERY disappointing to read that Travis may have done any of those things let alone all of them.

 

I’ve been very on the fence in my thinking about what needs to happen with this program. By the end of last season I was ready for a change, but by the beginning of this season, I felt willing to take a wait-and-see attitude. More than anything that involves a change of coaches, I hate the potential loss of players, especially with the latest and greatest transfer portal as such a ready option for players. I really like our current players. Though perplexing at times, I enjoy the exuberance and chemistry we have often witnessed this year. Sitting watching the Oregon vs Uconn game tonight, I was reminded of the Ducks associate head coach, Mark Campbell. I’ve always enjoyed his enthusiasm, positive attitude, and active interaction with Ducks players. He’s gonna make a great head coach for some program one day. One of Oregon’s assistants has been with Graves since his Gonzaga days, and there are no doubt factors that I’d be unaware of, but Graves made this young man his choice for associate head coach. Since we’re speculating here, and if Texas decides to make a change, this is a risk I’d be willing to see Texas take. Campbell doesn’t have head coaching experience, but he’s worked under the tutelage of one of the best, and has actively helped build a topflight program as the Duck’s lead recruiter.

https://goducks.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/coaches/mark-campbell/3079

 

Campbell certainly has a good resume'. But, with him being a native of Washington, and his wife a native of Oregon, who knows if leaving the region for a head coaching job is an option for him. Regardless, he certainly has experience working at programs with a lot of recent success.

 

As a fan, I honestly could care less if any of our head coaches are male or female.

But, if we do need to hire a new women's head basketball coach in the near future, and a male coach is hired, this will be the distribution of head coaches among our women's athletic programs:

Basketball: Male
Volleyball: Male
Softball: Male
Rowing: Male
Golf: Male
Tennis: Male
Track & Field (combined program): Male
Swimming: Female
Soccer: Female

For so many years, it seemed as if former women's AD, Chris Plonsky, was reluctant/against hiring male head coaches to coach the women's sports programs. But, towards the end (prior to CDC being hired as the overall AD), she did hire the male Rowing coach from Berkeley, hired the male Tennis coach from A&M, and promoted our men's golf assistant coach to lead the women's golf team. Those three male head coaches have been very successful at Texas.

 

I posted a few days ago that Charli Thorne of Arizona State is not someone I'd want at Texas. But, I remembered today that she coached her team to a home victory over Oregon a few weeks ago, and a home win against Oregon State; and, we saw what Oregon did to UConn on the road the other night. So, she certainly proved she can coach well enough to beat some big dawgs. Maybe she would deserve a look. But, she also lost at Minnesota and Purdue earlier in the season. Her team plays at Oregon and Oregon State this weekend, so I'll be very curious to see how they do on the road this time around.

On the other hand, she lost both games to Arizona this season. That supports the reason why I really like Arizona's Adia Barnes more; she's been at UofA a lot fewer years than Thorrne's been at ASU, and has the tide turning in her favor.

 

I respect Charli Turner Thorne a lot. She's really big on high character individuals, and she's turned ASU into a perennial NCAA tournament team, but they seem to max out in the 2nd round most years, occasionally a Sweet 16. They did give South Carolina their toughest game in their 2017 title run. But at this point other programs in the Pac-12 have emerged and surpassed ASU in the past several years, and U of A may be the latest to do so as we speak. ASU teams tend to be very gritty and defensive-minded, but can be offensively challenged. To be honest, it's not an aesthetically pleasing style of play. She would not be high on my list of coaches that UT should be looking at.

Adia Barnes is a star on the rise, no doubt. She took her team to the WNIT title in her 2nd year in Tucson, and this year they'll likely host the 1st two rounds of the NCAAs. She's already shown herself to be adept at navigating the transfer portal and at developing players.

 

Adia Barnes is an intriguing choice. She was an assistant at UW under Coach McGuff prior to her current role at Arizona. To go from 6-24 to 24-13 in her third season is amazing which ultimately ended up as the WNIT champions in 2018/19 season. The biggest question mark is whether any coach with no bonafide Texas ties will be able to step in and compete with BU, aTm, etc. We know what happened with goestenkors.

Barnes would have to be presented a compelling opportunity to be able to say yes to coach at Texas. I personally think getting our next coach using out of the box thinking will benefit the Texas program. We need someone who sees Texas as a destination and not a stepping stone.

 

What opinion does anyone have about Teri Moren at Indiana? They are 18-5 so far this season. Won the WNIT in 2018, was able to make it to the NCAA tournament last year, and won their first round game (Boo), just seems like she might be someone to consider. If she hired an assistant with ties to Texas recruiting, I think she might be a good candidate. ????

 

I do not know enough about her. Her record at Indiana leaves question marks. She is in her 6th season at Indiana and has had less success than Coach Aston both in conference play and post season. In total, she has two second round finishes in the NCAA, one WNIT quarter final, and one WNIT championship. Last season Indiana finished 10th in the Big 10 before getting the big win over Texas in the NCAA tourney, which turned out to be a harbinger for this year's excellent season. The team will probably be good for a couple of years based on the fact that most of the players have remaining eligibility. Beyond that, does the current Indiana success represent a turning point or a high point?

 

But, she hasn't had the recruits that Aston has had either. I just wonder if she would be successful with higher rated recruits. Anyway, just putting her name out there. I don't know.