Link: Grant accepts Alabama offer

Bama323 · Mar 27, 2009

BamaFanNKy said:
Well, Mike Anderson doesn't make near that at Missouri.

Sean Miller doesn't make near that at Xavier.

Both of those are much better hires.

You're assuming of course that Mike Anderson would leave Missouri, and that Sean Miller would leave Xavier. I agree, both are great coaches, but I don't see how either one is a realistic hire for Alabama. They are at arguably higher profile jobs already.

I think Anthony Grant is an excellent hire. He is a hot name, his teams play great defense, he cut his teeth under Donovan for 11 years and was part of two NCs at Florida, and also is known as an excellent recruiter who was responsible for recruiting alot of the players that UF had when they won those 2 national titles. I think we have just made a very good choice.

Tidesq · Mar 27, 2009

BamaFanNKy said:
Well, Mike Anderson doesn't make near that at Missouri.

Yea, but we want our players to graduate....

bamacon · Mar 27, 2009

BamaFanNKy said:
Well, Mike Anderson doesn't make near that at Missouri.

Sean Miller doesn't make near that at Xavier.

Both of those are much better hires.

Sean Miller would have been 4 million for the first year. He has a two million dollar buyout. In my opinion, Dr. Witt was not going to easily accept a coach who does not mind a 0% graduation rate, or 30% in a really good year. He might have been forced by the PTB, but I think it would have been an uphill climb to get CMA.

EscaTider · Mar 27, 2009

BamaFanNKy said:
Well, Mike Anderson doesn't make near that at Missouri.

Sean Miller doesn't make near that at Xavier.

Both of those are much better hires.

Both appear to be excellent coaches. However, there is more to being a head coach at a major university than what happens on the hardwood. Don't know about Miller, but I know that Anderson's graduation rates have been horrific everywhere he has coached.

Can we at least reserve judgment until Grant actually coaches some games for Bama?

BamaFanNKy · Mar 27, 2009

Bama323 said:
You're assuming of course that Mike Anderson would leave Missouri, and that Sean Miller would leave Xavier. I agree, both are great coaches, but I don't see how either one is a realistic hire for Alabama. They are at arguably higher profile jobs already.

I think Anthony Grant is an excellent hire. He is a hot name, his teams play great defense, he cut his teeth under Donovan for 11 years and was part of two NCs at Florida, and also is known as an excellent recruiter who was responsible for recruiting alot of the players that UF had when they won those 2 national titles. I think we have just made a very good choice.

Part of one NC. He was at VCU for the second where he had his best year with Capel's players. Pelphrey was an assistant under Donovan as well and how did he do this year at Arkansas. 14 of the 34 games VCU played this year were against 200+ ranked teams. He had zero top 50 wins. Zero top 100 road wins and went 40% in the top 100.

In fact his resume read like CMG's when he came from Missouri. This talk we can't get a coach that level is something Bama fans have been fed to death with and I don't buy it.

I hope he makes me eat my words but, I wish people would look at the record of this guy. He has a hot name because Foley was going to replace Donovan with him. That's the only reason he's "hot." Look at LSU's coach. That was the prototype of who we should of been looking for. We just hired the basketball equal of Ron Zook.

BamaFanNKy · Mar 27, 2009

Tidesq said:
Yea, but we want our players to graduate....

Amazing. I guess we don't want them to win conference titles and National Championships.

If Saban has a 0% graduation rate and wins a MNC you won't say a word.

Bama323 · Mar 27, 2009

BamaFanNKy said:
Part of one NC. He was at VCU for the second where he had his best year with Capel's players. Pelphrey was an assistant under Donovan as well and how did he do this year at Arkansas. 14 of the 34 games VCU played this year were against 200+ ranked teams. He had zero top 50 wins. Zero top 100 road wins and went 40% in the top 100.

In fact his resume read like CMG's when he came from Missouri. This talk we can't get a coach that level is something Bama fans have been fed to death with and I don't buy it.

I hope he makes me eat my words but, I wish people would look at the record of this guy. He has a hot name because Foley was going to replace Donovan with him. That's the only reason he's "hot." Look at LSU's coach. That was the prototype of who we should of been looking for. We just hired the basketball equal of Ron Zook.

Before you start hammering the hire, give us a REALISTIC choice of a coach or some coaches that would have been a better hire and that would likely have come to Alabama. Mike Anderson and Sean Miller are not realistic, sorry. Izzo, Calapari, Pitino type coaches are not realistic. Give us some names that are better hires than Anthony Grant.

BamaFanNKy · Mar 27, 2009

Bama323 said:
Before you start hammering the hire, give us a REALISTIC choice of a coach or some coaches that would have been a better hire and that would likely have come to Alabama. Mike Anderson and Sean Miller are not realistic, sorry. Izzo, Calapari, Pitino type coaches are not realistic. Give us some names that are better hires than Anthony Grant.

How can you sit there and say Mike Anderson & Sean Miller are not realistic? So basically you are saying we can only get up and coming coaches at low to mid majors. Obvious you think very little of Bama hoops.

bamacon · Mar 27, 2009

BamaFanNKy said:
Amazing. I guess we don't want them to win conference titles and National Championships.

If Saban has a 0% graduation rate and wins a MNC you won't say a word.

The NCAA would. We tried the no discipline approach in terms of the classroom and the community a time or two in the recent past and it was a nightmare. I prefer the Saban approach that stresses maximum effort and model behavior on the field, in the classroom, and in the community. Maybe that's just me.

rgw · Mar 27, 2009

Great hire. Judging by his tutleage and VCU team we are getting a coach that will: play multiple defenses effectively, press wisely, focus on all players being good ball handlers for their position and shoot the ball well. We got that up-and-comer I was pining for upon exCMG firing. Great move by David Hart and Mal.

Bama323 · Mar 27, 2009

BamaFanNKy said:
How can you sit there and say Mike Anderson & Sean Miller are not realistic? So basically you are saying we can only get up and coming coaches at low to mid majors. Obvious you think very little of Bama hoops.

Because they are not. Mike Anderson may have been realistic a few years ago, but he is a Mizzouri, which is basically a basketball school. Not to mention he has some baggage. Sean Miller has a 2 million dollar buyout, and is at Xavier competing in the Elite 8. I have alot of respect for Alabama basketball, but let's not pretend we are a national power at this point. I mean really, this is Bama basketball, not football.

BamaFanNKy · Mar 27, 2009

Bama323 said:
Because they are not. Mike Anderson may have been realistic a few years ago, but he is a Mizzouri, which is basically a basketball school. Not to mention he has some baggage. Sean Miller has a 2 million dollar buyout, and is at Xavier competing in the Elite 8. I have alot of respect for Alabama basketball, but let's not pretend we are a national power at this point. I mean really, this is Bama basketball, not football.

You accept a premise that is false. Alabama has been #1 ranked and has a top 25 recruiting class year in and year out this past decade. Come on guys. This job is a sleeping giant.

Also, this thing that Mike Anderson would have a bunch of functioning mental handicap kids here is crazy.

EscaTider · Mar 27, 2009

bamacon said:
The NCAA would. We tried the no discipline approach in terms of the classroom and the community a time or two in the recent past and it was a nightmare. I prefer the Saban approach that stresses maximum effort and model behavior on the field, in the classroom, and in the community. Maybe that's just me.

No, it's not just you. I agree 100%, and I'm quite sure the majority of posters on this board feel the same way.

BamaFanNKy · Mar 27, 2009

EscaTider said:
No, it's not just you. I agree 100%, and I'm quite sure the majority of posters on this board feel the same way.

Yes. We all want them to have Cap and Gown. CMG did a great job with that. I think this Grad rate excuse is just that.

Bama323 · Mar 27, 2009

BamaFanNKy said:
You accept a premise that is false. Alabama has been #1 ranked and has a top 25 recruiting class year in and year out this past decade. Come on guys. This job is a sleeping giant.

Also, this thing that Mike Anderson would have a bunch of functioning mental handicap kids here is crazy.

I agree that it is a sleeping giant, but that fact is that it has been sleeping. I saw us play when were were ranked #1, and that ranking lasted about a week or less. Alabama basketball could definitely be a national power with the right coach. I'm not saying Grant will take us to the promised land. I hope he does, but to sit there and say that Alabama could have gotten someone better at this point is stretching it a little. Maybe we could have waited around for Anderson or someone like that, but we would have been taking a HUGE chance and may have missed out on a hot young coach like Grant. Not to mention there is a strong possibility that we reached out to someone like Anderson through back door channels and he had no interest.

KrAzY3 · Mar 27, 2009

Bama323 said:
Before you start hammering the hire, give us a REALISTIC choice of a coach or some coaches that would have been a better hire and that would likely have come to Alabama. Mike Anderson and Sean Miller are not realistic, sorry. Izzo, Calapari, Pitino type coaches are not realistic. Give us some names that are better hires than Anthony Grant.

I don't know if Alabama had a shot at him, but Tubby comes to mind. He might have had trouble recruiting in Kentucky, but he obviously did a better job with the team than Gillespie (perhaps the Kentucky struggles have more to do with Petino than the Kentucky coach) and he's proven he can take any team to the NCAA tournament. He's one guy that actually met the criteria Mal was talking about. He's not the only name but I think a guy like that would come to Alabama with more experience and expertise than any coach of Alabama ever. Alabama had a chance to go out and get a proven head at the top level and yet again they went the inexperienced/small school route (which is a trend). It's almost as though they forget they are a major conference school. How many hires in a row can you go without hiring a single head coach who's coached in a major conference?

I'm on the fence about the Grant hire. I was sweating a little bit because it seemed like he might go to another school (which in and of itself is a bit of a condemnation). It's like a double when you wanted a home run. He might turn out to be great for the school. Right now I'd put him on the same level of CMG when he arrived, he could be better but he could be worse as well. We might have to wait a decade to find out. I'd have been much happier if we had a coach that we knew from day one was absolutely a great coach.

I will say this, if Alabama chose to focus on guys like Anderson or Tubby instead of Grant I'm sure some options like that would have been realistic. It's easy to say they couldn't get so and so after the fact and after they let it be known they would prefer someone else. I hope he comes in and recruits well. Provided he's a adequate coach, if he can just bring in the top in-state talent Alabama will be one of the top teams in the SEC.

EscaTider · Mar 27, 2009

BamaFanNKy said:
Yes. We all want them to have Cap and Gown. CMG did a great job with that. I think this Grad rate excuse is just that.

The whole point of going to college is to get your education. 95% of these kids won't play beyond college. If the coaches don't make sure these kids are handling the academic side of things, then they are doing these kids a great disservice. There needs to be balance. They don't have to be All-Academic SEC. They do, however, need to graduate.

resmith · Mar 27, 2009

BamaFanNKy said:
Yes. We all want them to have Cap and Gown. CMG did a great job with that. I think this Grad rate excuse is just that.

I don't get it, but I guess there is a Debbie Downer in every crowd.
Anderson has had a terrible history of graduating players everywhere he has been. This is going to catch up with him with the recently implemented NCAA graduation rate standards in place. Saban seems to have no problems getting our football players to graduate based on the past two seasons. I don't see the two goals as mutually exclusive. He also has a very close history with Strollin Nolan Richardson, and not many people in the AD Department see that as a strong point for Anderson, and nor do I.
And, I think all of us should give pause before hiring someone with a $2 million dollar buyout like Miller, who I agree is a great coach, but let's be realistic-there is no way to justify paying that buy out just to get him.
Would I be pleased if we had hired Pittino, Calipari, or someone else with their history? You bet, but let's give Grant all of the support he deserves. HE IS OUR COACH AND I WILL BE BEHIND HIM 100%.

Bama323 · Mar 27, 2009

KrAzY3 said:
I don't know if Alabama had a shot at him, but Tubby comes to mind. He might have had trouble recruiting in Kentucky, but he obviously did a better job with the team than Gillespie (perhaps the Kentucky struggles have more to do with Petino than the Kentucky coach) and he's proven he can take any team to the NCAA tournament. He's one guy that actually met the criteria Mal was talking about. He's not the only name but I think a guy like that would come to Alabama with more experience and expertise than any coach of Alabama ever. Alabama had a chance to go out and get a proven head at the top level and yet again they went the inexperienced/small school route (which is a trend). It's almost as though they forget they are a major conference school. How many hires in a row can you go without hiring a single head coach who's coached in a major conference?

I'm on the fence about the Grant hire. I was sweating a little bit because it seemed like he might go to another school (which in and of itself is a bit of a condemnation). It's like a double when you wanted a home run. He might turn out to be great for the school. Right now I'd put him on the same level of CMG when he arrived, he could be better but he could be worse as well. We might have to wait a decade to find out. I'd have been much happier if we had a coach that we knew from day one was absolutely a great coach.

I will say this, if Alabama chose to focus on guys like Anderson or Tubby instead of Grant I'm sure some options like that would have been realistic. It's easy to say they couldn't get so and so after the fact and after they let it be known they would prefer someone else. I hope he comes in and recruits well. Provided he's a adequate coach, if he can just bring in the top in-state talent Alabama will be one of the top teams in the SEC.

Tubby Smith was in a downward spiral at Kentucky before he was forced out there. His program was in a steady slow decline. He won a NC in his first year with Pitino's players, and then slowly went downhill. If he couldn't keep the program at UK going strong, what makes you think he could come in and work miracles at Alabama?

I'm excited that we got a good young coach like Anthony Grant. I'm excited about Alabama basketball again, which I can truthfully say I have not been excited about it since around 2005.

TIDE-HSV · Mar 27, 2009

Would it help if I told you Pitino regards Grant as THE outstanding up and coming young coach in the country and that he had input? ??? Nah, I didn't think it would...

Link: Grant accepts Alabama offer

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