[UNHFan]

Becker would be an interesting choice as many have said BC went the mid-major route the past two times and it hasn't worked out. That being said look at what Pikiell has done at Rutgers is amazing at the program was a doormat for the Big Ten and he has had them nationally ranked and would have been in the NCAA's last year if not for the pandemic. I think it would take a few years but Becker could have the same success and whoever took over UVM would just keep that train moving.

This is a big hire for the new BC AD and it will be interesting to see what he does.

 

[green gold and grey]

BC is a wood chipper of a coaching job.

Agreed, you're rarely, if ever, going to get a top 5 ACC recruiting class and anyone who is ACC top tier and will play up north in the winter is probably going to Syracuse. With NC, Duke, VA, Miami, NCS, and Syracuse, you are already looking at 10 to 12 conference losses a year. You'd have to run the table against FSU, Wake, Clemson, VaTech, Louisville, Pitt and ND and your non-conference schedule to have a shot at the tourney.

 

[ball_of_rubber]

Agreed, you're rarely, if ever, going to get a top 5 ACC recruiting class and anyone who is ACC top tier and will play up north in the winter is probably going to Syracuse. With NC, Duke, VA, Miami, NCS, and Syracuse, you are already looking at 10 to 12 conference losses a year. You'd have to run the table against FSU, Wake, Clemson, VaTech, Louisville, Pitt and ND and your non-conference schedule to have a shot at the tourney.

Just one more of the many reasons that the near-20 year stint of BC in the ACC was a mistake.

 

[BingGrad]

Agreed, you're rarely, if ever, going to get a top 5 ACC recruiting class and anyone who is ACC top tier and will play up north in the winter is probably going to Syracuse. With NC, Duke, VA, Miami, NCS, and Syracuse, you are already looking at 10 to 12 conference losses a year. You'd have to run the table against FSU, Wake, Clemson, VaTech, Louisville, Pitt and ND and your non-conference schedule to have a shot at the tourney.

Or, you have to do something unique. Trying to out-recruit the big guns in the ACC and beat them at their own game is a fools errand. You have to go with something different style-wise and then get the athletes that fit that style. It is what has worked for Virginia and Wisconsin in recent years and worked many years ago for Arkansas.

 

[UNHFan]

Or, you have to do something unique. Trying to out-recruit the big guns in the ACC and beat them at their own game is a fools errand. You have to go with something different style-wise and then get the athletes that fit that style. It is what has worked for Virginia and Wisconsin in recent years and worked many years ago for Arkansas.

I think you make a great point. I always thought Steve Donahue was going to use that approach and be successful at BC but it didn't work out. You're right you can't out-recruit the blue bloods of the ACC but playing a certain style with the right players could pay off. My thought is if Pikiell could do it at Rutgers it can be done at BC it will just take the right guy.

 

[booger]

The Athletic says that Becker is the best bet for the BC job

John Becker, Vermont head coach. It won’t be a one-call search for Kraft, of course. But it could be. The 52-year-old Becker has won 71 percent of his games in nine-plus years at Vermont, reaching the NCAA Tournament three times (and the Catamounts were the favorite to secure the America East bid last season). Becker knows the region intimately. He prioritizes academics. As for the basketball, you’re going to get high-end defense that would create a strong, sustainable foundation and essentially raise the floor for a downtrodden program. More than anything? Boston College is the sort of dirt-under-your-nails opportunity Becker might truly covet, which might not be said for other coaches in the mix.

Who Brian Hamilton would hire

Don’t overthink it. Bring in John Becker and place your bets on a guy who can build a program with a backbone.

 

[GoCatsGo]

The Athletic says that Becker is the best bet for the BC job

For those who may not remember, Brian Hamilton is the one who wrote that big profile on Becker for The Athletic during the 19-20 season, so he's certainly familiar with him...and perhaps a little partial. Appreciate the recognition, still think he's a super longshot.

 

[UVM Hoop Cat]

If BC has learned anything about last two hires, is they need to bring in a coach that can recruit the ACC. Because Steve Donahue can really coach, but if he brought in 10 players to BC, maybe 2-3 were truly ACC-caliber players. Christian I don’t think of as highly for coaching but he brought in probably 4-5 out of 10. The new coach is going to have to hit consistently 7-8 ACC caliber players out of 10 scholly’s for BC to have a prayer at 20 wins in that conference.

 

[Catamaniac]

If Becker goes to BC, does Stef follow for grad year?

 

[barneybearcat]

if i am BC AD the easy choice is Eisley. BC alum, nba player, michigan assistant where they are having alot of success under former NBA player...not sure if it is the right choice but certainly the easy one.

Becker is in a tough spot. he wins at Vermont but Vermont has been winning since 2000 and as a couple other posters have said he doesnt have the mentor to help him. Pikiell has calhoun, wojo/chapel/collins have coach K, Danny and bobby hurley have their dad and coach k, pitinio has pitino, chambers had wright, etc... Also i do not know becker but he comes off as very standoffish and grumpy. he may have a great personality but i do not get that from watching him coach and on tv...

All this being said my gut would tell me to hire becker. He is from the region, is a grinder, consistently wins, and people seem to like him... i would low ball him, pay him 1.2M or 1.3M, guarantee him a couple years and then extend him if he has them on track. basically exactly what rutgers did with pikiell,

 

[VT Cats Fan]

If Becker goes to BC, does Stef follow for grad year?

No.

 

[GoCatsGo]

HoopDirt's odds on the BC search...

Boston College Men's Basketball Coaching Search Odds - HoopDirt

Here are VERY early opening odds on the search at Boston College. This is a very important search for new Eagles AD Pat Kraft. He has brought on Bob Beaudine from Eastman + Beaudine to help with this one. Opening odds are high because there is no legit info coming out of Chestnut Hill...

hoopdirt.com

I believe these numbers are strictly the estimation of the guy who runs HoopDirt (who is a Boston/Mass/New England guy), so for entertainment purposes only. But I'd take a flier on Mark Schmidt at 40/1.

 

[UVM Hoop Cat]

LoL @ Brad Stevens and Rick Pitino.

Like the Shrewsberry call, that's a legit good candidate.

 

[GoCatsGo]

LoL @ Brad Stevens and Rick Pitino.

Like the Shrewsberry call, that's a legit good candidate.

Yeah, but Pitino at 750/1! I'm listening.

Elsewhere, Wichita State dropped the interim tag on Isaac Brown. Not unexpected: having a good year, program was generally moving in the right on-court direction anyway, and I'm sure when you factor in pandemi-nomics he's probably the best value option they had.

 

[umainealum]

Shrewsberry is interesting. He may not want to leave Purdue as that team is crazy young and poised to be a Final Four darkhorse next year with so much talent coming back. BC may be too much of a black hole/rebuild for him to consider leaving the great situation he is in right now. Though he spent 6 years in Boston with the Celtics, he is a native of Indianapolis and he has 4 kids, all in school. I just don't know if BC can offer the enticement he will need to move the family. His base salary is $350,000 as the Associate Head Coach with bonuses of up to $115K along with all sorts of other perks that I'm sure put his total compensation over the $500k mark.

He may want to hang on another year or 2 and see what opens up as there are several jobs that will almost assuredly open between now and 2024. In the ACC alone, you have 5 coaches in their 70's (Duke, North Carolina, Miami, Syracuse, Florida State). Now, he may not be a candidate at those schools, but some other jobs will open up after they make their hires which may be of more appeal or more attainable for him.

I believe there are several others that are in their mid to late 60s (Lon Kruger - Oklahoma, Bob Huggins - West VA, Kelvin Sampson - Houston, Rick Barnes - Tennessee, Tom Izzo - Mich State, Bruce Weber - KState, Ben Howland - Miss State) and others in their early 60s (John Calipari - Kentucky, Fran McCaffrey - Iowa, Dave Leitao - DePaul, Bruce Pearl - Auburn, Kermit Davis - Ole Miss, Dana Altman - Oregon). That doesn't take into account all the mid-majors that may have older coaches as well.

I guess that is a long way of saying that a BC jump this year may not be in his best interest given where he is at right now and the potential jobs that will open within the next few years.

 

[ball_of_rubber]

Honestly, how do Becker and Odom have better odds than Stevens and Patino?

 

[GoCatsGo]

Honestly, how do Becker and Odom have better odds than Stevens and Patino?

Only in America!

But honestly, while the odds that either Becker/Odom will be offered the BC job are on the low side, the odds that they'd accept the job if offered are probably fairly high (in my opinion, anyway). Whereas the odds Pitino would ever be offered the job is probably quite low (although I think he'd jump at it), and the odds that Stevens would ever take this job are...less than zero? Yeah, let's go with less than zero.

You gotta be in it to win it, and Becker/Odom are closer to being in it because of where BC's at these days.

 

[catpower]

Just my feeling on who you hire who realistically says yes, it's JT3. No, he's not going to land top 10 recruits like he did during those Jeff Green/Roy Hibbert days, nor probably an Austin Freeman or Chris Wright. But I think he and the right staff are certainly capable of landing maybe a couple who fall in the 75-150 range, and finding guys who fit, because he does play a certain system with the Princeton Offense variation, and a team like BC likely needs an identity like that. Also, he competed in a Big East that featured many current ACC teams and won. BC would gladly take his last 4 years at Georgetown over anything they've had the last decade. I think he'd get enough excitement as there can be for BC basketball, would probably be a good fit that appeals to the grassroots orgs in the area, and might actually give BC a chance at some of the more talented guys in New England, and there's enough talent to go around in the DMV area which he knows that he could probably snag a couple.

Another person I'd put on the list as a "he probably doesn't hang up the phone" is Frank Martin. It sounds like if Miami opens he's going to be all over that, and possibly is looking for a soft land at New Mexico if that opens up. But, he does have a Boston connection from his Northeastern days. Getting out before South Carolina decides to make a move seems to be on his mind. Outside his Final 4 run it's been competitive but pedestrian there, which again, BC would take a 44% ACC winning percentage over a 9 year period like he's had in the SEC any day of the week.

 

[UVM Hoop Cat]

Honestly, how do Becker and Odom have better odds than Stevens and Patino?

Because Becker & Odom are realistic candidates and Stevens/Pitino is just a joke.

Stevens is currently the head coach of the winningest franchise in NBA history, and BC doesn’t care enough about hoops to sell its soul to hire Pitino.

 

[UVM Hoop Cat]

Shrewsberry is interesting. He may not want to leave Purdue as that team is crazy young and poised to be a Final Four darkhorse next year with so much talent coming back. BC may be too much of a black hole/rebuild for him to consider leaving the great situation he is in right now. Though he spent 6 years in Boston with the Celtics, he is a native of Indianapolis and he has 4 kids, all in school. I just don't know if BC can offer the enticement he will need to move the family. His base salary is $350,000 as the Associate Head Coach with bonuses of up to $115K along with all sorts of other perks that I'm sure put his total compensation over the $500k mark.

He may want to hang on another year or 2 and see what opens up as there are several jobs that will almost assuredly open between now and 2024. In the ACC alone, you have 5 coaches in their 70's (Duke, North Carolina, Miami, Syracuse, Florida State). Now, he may not be a candidate at those schools, but some other jobs will open up after they make their hires which may be of more appeal or more attainable for him.

I believe there are several others that are in their mid to late 60s (Lon Kruger - Oklahoma, Bob Huggins - West VA, Kelvin Sampson - Houston, Rick Barnes - Tennessee, Tom Izzo - Mich State, Bruce Weber - KState, Ben Howland - Miss State) and others in their early 60s (John Calipari - Kentucky, Fran McCaffrey - Iowa, Dave Leitao - DePaul, Bruce Pearl - Auburn, Kermit Davis - Ole Miss, Dana Altman - Oregon). That doesn't take into account all the mid-majors that may have older coaches as well.

I guess that is a long way of saying that a BC jump this year may not be in his best interest given where he is at right now and the potential jobs that will open within the next few years.

Can think of $10M reasons why Shrewsberry would be interested in the BC job. He tried to get the UMass job back in 2017, and BC is a much better gig.