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

I’ll take Hlilsman and Barnes, Close is Karen Aston light.

 

Hard pass on Mitchell. If you want someone who can coach offense, he's not a big improvement over Karen.

 

While CDC made a splash hire in softball in June 2018 that sent shockwaves nationally, I don't expect that for women's hoops (for so many reasons). Some people have the idea that he can pull it off again; we'll see.

I followed the softball coaching search closely, and the ultimate reason why Mike White left Oregon is because he felt under-appreciated (from a compensation standpoint). Yes, the huge financial salary Texas offered was the lure, but he stated publicly that he told the Oregon AD he would remain at Oregon for less money than Texas was offering, but he wanted Oregon to at least pay him a Top 5 salary nationally. The Oregon AD said no (and part of that reason was because White had flirted with Arkansas during their head coaching search a year or two prior, and Oregon gave him a raise).

Sometimes, timing is everything. Mike White built the Oregon program into a conference champion (not easy in the PAC with goliaths like UCLA and Arizona always present). He built them into a #1 national seed and consistent Women's College World Series participant. But, he left the program he built, one with a spanking brand new stadium, for Texas. People across the country were stunned. Oregon softball has suffered short-term for the AD's arrogance and ego; Texas softball has fluorished immediately, but it almost didn't happen. And, to make things worse, Oregon had to pay their new head coach (an assistant coach from OU with zero head coaching experience) more money than what they were paying Mike White.

 

Really? I guess it's just the players he has who makes it happen. Well to replace him I would say..
Sue Semrau(Florida state)?

 

Kentucky, with their SEC TV money, and passion for both women's and men's basketball, won't be outbid by Texas for their head coach. Now, if Mitchell is sick of playing second fiddle to Louisville in his own state, then maybe that's an intangible which can be exploited; but, he'll have Baylor and A&M to contend with in the state of Texas.

 

Why Matthew Mitchell? In 12 seasons (now in his 13th), his teams have not gone beyond the elite eight, which they have done 3 times. In 2017/2018, Kentucky did not make the tournament at all. This season, Kentucky currently has a Massey rating of 30 to Texas' 32.

Doug Bruno? Run and gun, shoot a lot of threes and never mind about defense? Who likes defense?

 

It's an interesting time for Texas athletics.

I think the writing is on the wall that CDC is going to have to fire Shaka Smart in one month, and eat a huge financial buyout. Does that benefit Coach Aston if she wants to stay at Texas?

Technically, CDC wouldn't have to fire Aston with any years remaining on her contract as she is in the last year of her current contract; but, if he doesn't renew her, he then has to hire 2 new head coaches for our hoops programs; what a big, simultaneous task to undertake. There will be plenty of media attention (and not good coverage) if/when announcements are made that both our hoops' coaches are out.

If both hoops coaches are dismissed, the big winner could be our baseball head coach. He might keep his job simply to keep the media off our backs, even if he fails to qualify for the post-season a second consecutive season.

 

In the meantime, there’s a WBB game in about 90 mins. Horns Up!

 

Shaka smart is currently trending on Twitter so that's how you know it's bad.. there is no coming back from this so it's time to give up the money and cut all ties with smart

 

I believe that Karen was the one who convinced Mulkey to hire Damion McKinney, which led to the signing of all those DFW Elite AAU players (including Griner).

It seems KA thought she could repeat that same recruiting success by hiring George and then Tina. While it did result in great recruiting, the X's and O's were missing from the equation unlike at Baylor. Also a great KM hire has been Bill Brock, who has proven to be one of best at developing post players. I also wish KA had chosen a more experienced staff.

I was very excited when KA was hired... but I thought she'd surround herself with competent assistants. Travis was a great hire but left for the HC opportunity. I've heard it said by folks connected to the inside that KA wouldn't listen to her assistants and that was a big factor in him moving on, as was the case with Tina. Just hearsay though...

 

I hate to tell you, but I could care less about Ketchum or that message board. I don't go on that board, nor do I really care. FYI I have never said Mulkey was a saint. I have never been particularly impressed with her sideline antics (although she has toned it down as of late) and I didn't think what she did to Empress was classy at all. What I have said is that the few times I was around her, she was extremely gracious and engaging (and no it was not in passing as I have a good friend who knows her personally). She asked us to sit down with her at a high school game and we had some great conversation. I appreciated that about her. I absolutely respect her coaching ability, accomplishments, and the fan base she has built in tiny Waco!!! I also did not think what you said about her holding her grandchild was in good taste at all, considering she had lost one roughly a year or so earlier. I stand by that.

Everything myself and another on here said about Karen Aston has come to fruition and now sticks out like a sore thumb (lack of any real offensive philosophy, player development, etc....... I told you that recruiting was about to take a nosedive and it did. I supported her and this program 100%, until I saw the writing on the wall which was a lot earlier than most on here.

And FYI @Moooooo, I actually enjoy some of your posts and appreciate your knowledge and insight. I hope you have a great weekend~~~

 

So, @Bobcat and @brnkj, each of you has posted on several occasions, and recently, the infamous "I told you so's" regarding Aston. Here's what Karen did for our program:

2014 - Round of 32
2015 - Sweet 16
2016 - Elite 8
2017 - Sweet 16
2018 - Sweet 16

To me, that's the best or second-best 5-year run our program has had in the last 30 years. I can admit that I never would have predicted she could/would accomplish that in years 2-6 after how year 1 went, and the average talent she inherited.

So, your predictions of our program's demise and Karen's recruiting flailing began when, exactly? I mean, after she signed her 2017 recruiting class (in November 2016, although Littleton was like summer 2017), the sky seemed to be the limit as she was finally bringing in a bunch of desperately-needed long-range sharp-shooters. After she signed her 2018 recruiting class (in November 2017), which brought us Prince, and a late big-time defection from UConn in Charli Collier, who couldn't be excited and optimistic about the future? At that point, it sure she seemed to me like she had everything going in the right direction as far as assembling an extremely talented roster at every position, and lots of possible mismatches for our opponents.

We all knew Karen was hired despite not having much head coaching experience, or any post-season tournament success at UNC-Charlotte or North Texas. So, there were always questions about her actual coaching skills and ability to learn on the job. She was hired because of her familiarity with our university and women's basketball program, her recruiting success as an assistant coach at Texas, and her superior understanding (compared to Goestenkors) of the state of Texas high school and club ball culture.

Just curious to know your point in time as to when you began to sour on Karen's abilities to lead this program to the next level, or to maintain her consistent level of having a Top 16 program.

 

I was all about KA for those first few years... especially in the first year when she had inherited such a mess. Although I noticed that she wasn't real innovative, I loved her passion and her tireless work ethic on the recruiting trail. I assumed that same obsession with greatness would manifest itself in self-improvement also.

For me the doubts didn't just all of a sudden happen, it was a very gradual process because I wanted so badly for her to succeed. I kept thinking "next year" she'll incorporate some new strategies, "next year" we'll have this recruit coming in or that recruit coming in, "next year" this or that opponent won't be as good because of what they're graduating... blah, blah, blah.

There's just too much that I've observed over the gradual process to write about here, but if you asked me to try and pinpoint when I gave up saying "next year," it would've had to been when we had a bench FULL of high school All-Americans that could've played anywhere they wanted and Baylor (OMG I'm so fkg sick and tired of saying Baylor) only had seven healthy players... and they still swept us all three games like a back porch. I felt like that was the chance... a very small window of opportunity... to pounce on them and snatch it away. We had out-recruited them for a couple of years and that was our chance to kick the door in, and we missed it.

Again, it wasn't that single thing that turned me, there were many signs that there was some much needed improvement with the coaching, but that's when I pretty much gave up on her. I still held a glimmer of hope last year because I knew we had incredible talent -- more than most (and still do), and I thought perhaps that talent would develop itself and get us by. But that talent, I believe, gave up on her coaching abilities (psychologically speaking) last year too.

I find it very sad that Karen hasn't been able to maintain what she started. But you've got to be able to do more than just sign them, you've got to coach them too. A coaching staff is a team itself and, as you pointed out, other than Travis she failed to surround herself with folks who could cover her weak areas. I don't know if it was due to arrogance, or insecurity, or what... But the way it's turned out is really disappointing for the players, for us as fans, and for Karen and her staff as well.

 

People have talked about this but I really don't understand the reasons.

Why didn't Karen bring in experienced collegiate coaches (other than Travis) for her staff? Is it because she would've felt threatened by them? Is it because she felt a first-time collegiate coach would be easier to keep in a box or they'd be less likely to move on to another job?

 

People refer to these kind of hires as "comfort" hires. Tom Herman made many of them 3 years ago, and he has paid the price dearly, especially this past season.

Some head coaches feel "comfortable" hiring coaches and other administrative staff with whom they have a prior working history/relationship. Sometimes those hires make sense; it just depends on each individual's resume', and on the move up in competition, IMO. Some head coaches want to be loyal to those assistant coaches who helped them become successful at previous programs, and thus played a part in head coach landing a more prestigious job; and, offering them an opportunity to move up the ladder with them and earn a higher salary at new program is the way to do it.

Tom Herman came from Houston. Aston came from UNC-Charlotte and North Texas. The majority of coaches and staff who they brought with them had not really coached at a high level like the Big 12 conference. So many of them were extremely young and relatively inexperienced in the coaching profession.

Aston compounded the inexperience level of her coaching staff each time there were new openings by hiring very green coaches like Carey and Jackson; perhaps she felt an obligation to help them in their young coaching careers as their success as players at Texas helped Aston get to this point in her career.

But, last season's coaching staff of Carey, Jackson, and Washington had to be one of the most inexperienced at a Power 5 conference school. I mean, these are the coaches coaching our players. These are the coaches helping Aston gameplan and strategize. These are the coaches helping Aston make in-game adjustments. It is what is, unfortunately.

 

She did bring in Alan Major a year or two ago.

 

I honestly don't even remember that name, and I pride myself on having a good memory. You'll have to refresh my memory when you have some time.

 

Alan Major - Women's Basketball Coach - University of Texas Athletics

 

Overreaction Thursday for me. The permanent ban that Ketchum placed on Moooooo was rescinded later that night. Ketchum and Mooooo, were in some folks opinions, both at fault for the dust-up. I think Ketchum calmed down and in his unique way acknowledged that. So Moooo is now welcome to participate on OB discussions. Glad that happened. And glad Moooooo is active on Hornsfan.

 

Please get a New Men's and Women's Coach.
This is Texas.
Hokem'

 

At least for now, I am joining the "Karen needs to go" crowd. It's just not working anymore. To be flattened by ISU and Kansas in back to back games is just too much. I heard part of the game on the radio. If I heard her right, Kathy Harsten said the biggest problem was our letting them drive to the basket too much. That is just unacceptable defense in my book. Nothing makes me wince like having our players standing flat footed or running along side someone going to the basket, rather than staying between them and the basket (if that is what Harsten was talking about). That happened several times with that small guard from ISU.

Just to be blunt, I don't think Joyner should ever have been a McD All-American or so high on the national recruiting lists. She is interesting to watch and can occasionally do some remarkable things, but any great basketball player has to have a good shooting touch, and she just flat doesn't. I think Sug and Lashann are truly great guards, but they have been strangely up and down this year, especially Lashann, which can maybe be explained by her coming back from the ACL.

I love watching Celeste and she works as hard as any player I have ever seen, but her shooting needs to improve. I'll watch them every game and cheer them on, no matter how bad it gets, but it has been a truly weird, down year.

 

So for me, it wasn't just one particular point in time, but the culmination of many things I saw AND heard.

First, let me say that when Aston was first hired, a former player's father who was an ex-AAU coach told me she would never succeed. He said great recruiter, but can't coach. Two of my closest friends who are partners and have followed the program since the early 90s both said she could not get it done. I wasn't crazy about the hire, but wanted to believe she could get it done.

When we made the Elite 8, I had high hopes. Like many, I was excited for the first time in years. I first questioned her the year we beat Baylor in Waco and had a golden opportunity to win the Big 12 on our home floor against Baylor and flopped. Then we lost the next game to Iowa State. Doubt crept in. When we had 10 McDonald's All Americans on our roster and Baylor only had seven players on their entire roster and beat us all three times, I began to really doubt her. We were handling Baylor quite well in the first half in the Big XII tourney that year, and LaShann was unstoppable. What did she do??? She yanked her out toward the end of the first half, Baylor took the lead, and never looked back. For me, she has never shown a good "FEEL" for the game, when to substitute, and when to ride the hot player. The constant in and out routine not only affects a player's confidence and psyche, especially when being pulled for a mistake, but it never allows the player and team to get into rythm. In some ways, the in and out routine was like watching Jody all over again. I observed the lack of adjustments, and how other coaches DID indeed make adjustments, some beating her with far less talent!!! As you stated, her decisions regarding the hires of assistant coaches was never impressive and showed me that it was either outright arrogance or insecurity on her part.

I had been told by a couple of AAU coaches in Dallas that it wasn't going to happen with Aston at the helm and that recruiting was about to take a big nosedive. To be honest, I kept thinking/hoping she would evolve and grow....get a brilliant offensive mind, etc. , but it never happened. I wanted to see her succeed. I just could not comprehend how she had this incredible opportunity to grow and evolve, surround herself with knowledgeable and capable assistants, yet she refused to do so!!!! I'm disappointed for Karen, for Texas, the players, and the fans!!!! I wish it was different......

 

If the AAU coaches said it was not going to work with Karen back when she was hired, then who do they say would work now?

 

It was ONE ex-AAU coach that told me he didn't think she could get it done from a coaching perspective, and that was upon her initial hire. The other two expressed their sentiments to me later on in the process. I have not spoken with any of them regarding a potential new hire....

 

So, you got now Cynt? The last time another school looked at Dawn Staley, the SOUTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR called her to encourage her to stay! And she earns a lot of money. And she has said she thinks she can do a lot good being at South Carolina. So, people in the know may know a reason Staley would leave South Carolina but I do not.

Folks have mentioned Adia Barnes. She looks like a winner. Would she leave her Alma mater this soon?

 

After yesterday’s loss, barring a conf tournament title or a deep run (sweet 16+) in March, we have to assume it is an end of the KA and Shaka Smart era’s in Austin. For the purpose of this board I’ll focus on the WBB perspective.

One thing that’s important for context is to understand that these combined searches will cost Texas about $23 million dollars ($10million for Shakas buyout, $5 million for new MBB coach buyout, $1 million for new WBB coach buyout and $5 million annual salary for new MBB coach and $2million salary for WBB coach.)

While $23 million isn’t an astronomical number for a capital rich institution like Texas, it’s certainly isn’t a small feat.

As it relates to WBB, the $2 million dollar figure is what I estimate it would take to pry a top coach from their current situation based on today’s salary landscape. That being said, what could that $2 million get us? My wishlist in order including their current salary.

1. Jeff Walz | Louisville ($1.15million) - His long-standing feud with KM is certainly a plus. They don’t like each other one bit, and I am here for it. While he certainly has a good thing rolling in Louisville with his 2 conference titles (on pace for a 3rd), 3 final 4’s and consistent top 3 finishes in attendance, he flirted with the Tennessee opening this past off season. Their AD was unwilling to invest those kind of resources. With best in the world facilities on the horizon, access to the most talent rich state in WBB, and a $2million payday he would assuredly give Texas a listen. The real question is would CDC break the bank to get a deal done? History says he’s certainly willing to take the shot.

2. Brenda Freese | Maryland ($1.01 million) - With 3 final 4’s 4 COY awards and a national title on her resume, a list without her on it would be incomplete. Things have started to stagnate for her at Maryland and this could be a situation similar to Mike white in softball where she could be feeling under appreciated and interested in making a change.

3. Kelly Graves | Oregon ($665k) - When looking for a coach to take a program to the top of any conference, you have to consider KG. What he was able to do at Gonzaga and then what’s he’s done currently at Oregon (2 pac12 titles 10 COY awards and a final 4) combined with what he’s poised to do this season adding another pac-12 title and final 4 run he’s certainly enticing. Another really attractive piece attached to KG is the number 1 recruiting class he’s got coming into Oregon. You would assume most, if not all of them would follow him to Texas. For some reason Oregon refuses to invest in their women’s coaches and that could create an opening. Since their so far behind the 8-ball in what their paying KG and other women’s coaches, it’s hard to imagine they want to get into a bidding war with Texas when CDC is determined to get the best of the best. Is he willing to swipe a top coach from Eugene twice? Time will tell.

I will proactively address the commentary in Dawn Staley’s notable absence from this list. It’s not that she’s unwanted, she would certainly be #1 on any credible list. The simple fact of the matter is that it’s not very realistic. UofSC has the best fans in the country, and one of the few WBB programs in the black financially and a steady pipeline of recruits. That’s not even factoring in her insane compensation package. She’s currently making $1.55 million in base salary (second only to Geno) with another $800 in performance incentives. Then they have built in longevity bonuses, as well as loan based investment incentives that could push her total compensation to $3.1 million dollars this season if they win the title. Texas would have to offer MBB coaching money (probably $3.5-4 million annually) for us to even be worthy of consideration. Is Texas ready to set the new standard and break the preverbal financial “glass ceiling” and re-shape the market forever? My guess is no

 

Someone brought up Sue Semrau, I think she would be a very good hire. Her contract is up and she doesn’t make that much money compared to what Aston is making now.

 

Semrau is "meh". She's hit the same Sweet 16/Elite 8 ceiling that Karen's hit. Her best teams (such as the current one) have underachieved imo.

 

Not to mention she’s not that great of a “primary” recruiter. He best talent has come via the transfer market. Tough way to make a living given the headwinds you face at Texas

 

Wonder if any WNBA coaches or assistants would be interested in coming to Texas? Plenette Pierson (TTech, Lynx), Jennifer Gillom (Ole Miss, Mercury) are currently in assistant positions. I would guess the recruiting grind might be a big negative. Becky Hammond is still down the road with the SA Spurs. I don't know that successful NCAA head coaches at big schools would want to come to Texas and start over though, for enough money, some might.