While I still get the feeling that the decision not to renew Karen's contract (for whatever reason) was made months ago, tonight's loss at Kansas left no doubt in my mind in my that Karen won't be returning after this season concludes next month.
I find myself thinking back to when Aston was hired by Plonsky. It just didn't seem fathomable to me that a coach with just a handful of years as a head coach at UNC-Charlotte and North Texas (with zero post-season success) was gonna be able to hold her own against coaches at Baylor and A&M who had just recently won a national title. That's like someone bringing a knife to a gun fight.
Yet, it sure seems that several posters on here (and on other Texas message boards) "expected" her to get the job done (and, I'm honestly not sure why). But, others knew good and well that her inexperience would be a huge obstacle.
So, you fast forward to when she started signing highly-ranked recruiting classes; I guess that's what raised fan expectations even higher; it sure did for me. And, that's basically what happens for those who follow recruiting -- it sets expectations for the future. But, she was winning on the court in the form of Sweet 16 and Elite 8 stepping stones.
We have some posters who assume that top recruiting classes guarantee success at the collegiate level. We have some posters who assume that recruits designated as a high school "All-American" by one subjective panel or recruiting site guarantees that they will be "all-conference" or "all-american" in college. It just doesn't work that way, in any sport.
The year we beat Baylor in Waco was 2016. Based on how inconsistently we had been playing the in prior games, I never would have predicted a win. Yet, we somehow manage to perhaps play our best game ever under Aston and win in upset fashion. That win in itself set expectations even higher. Unfortunately, that was the peak; we never played that well again for a full game, IMO. But, we still achieve an Elite 8 appearance.
Yes, Texas had like 9-10 high school McDonald's all-americans on its roster come the 2017-18 season. But, let's be real. Jordan Hosey was a tweener who didn't have the "it" factor, IMO; watching her in the McDonald's All-American game, I could honestly say that she wasn't at the skill level of her teammates. Joyner was suspended the Fall semester, and could not find her form in her return come Spring. Jatarie White was playing her first year of college basketball at Texas after having sat out the previous season due to transfer rules; and, she had been injured at South Carolina so didn't play much the 2 years she spent in Columbia. Sutton was a sophomore who we know had an ACL injury in high school, and was used sparingly her freshman season at Texas as she tried to get 100% healthy; she was taking a back seat to Brooke and Lashann, which is understandable. Freshmen, Rellah and Destiny were so very unprepared with their physical conditioning to contribute immediately; and, Rellah had attitude problems, and Destiny struggled with injuries. I still don't know why Chasity's minutes were so limited, but they were. That's 7 of the "all-americans" who were non-factors that season. Are those factors Coach Aston's fault? I'll let each poster have their own opinion on that; I have my own.
That leaves the other 3 "All-Americans" on the roster. Lashann Higgs was so gifted athletically and quickness was her greatest asset; she didn't grow up playing basketball in her early youth, so she was a very raw player skill-wise and hoops IQ-wise; but, she could dominate at times just based on superior athleticism. Ariel and Brooke were warriors, as they were all 4 years at Texas. But, 3 elite back-court players can only get you so far, and if they are not at their best on a given night (like against UCLA in the round of 16), those other 7 "all-americans" weren't prepared to pick up the slack for the team leaders. So, for folks to throw out blanket statements like "Texas has 10 All-Americans on its roster", it is just so very misleading if you don't know the details of their individual situations.
As we all think beyond this season, and who can lead our program going forward, I still read so many comments on several Texas message boards that we need to "hire someone who can beat Baylor" and "hire someone who is at Mulkey's level". Child, please. Who are these head coaches who meet that criteria, and whose current employer is gonna let them leave their current schools for Texas? I know some posters have this obsession (perhaps jealousy) because Baylor is accomplishing what we want our program to accomplish. Unfortunately, you first have to learn to walk before you can run. Our new head coach will basically start at the same level Karen did 8 years ago as it pertains to the talent on the roster (and that's only if players don't transfer out of the program, which is common during head coaching changes).
Unlike softball and volleyball, basketball is the one women's sport where transfers are not guaranteed immediate eligibility. So, even though Mike White was able to immediately upgrade the talent on his first-year roster via the transfer market, our new hoops coach won't have that luxury. Anyone who expects our new head coach to start consistently beating Baylor in 2-3 years is not being realistic with their expectations, IMO. And, was it ever realistic to put those expectations on Karen?
Last edited: Feb 16, 2020