Author: Coach Z (Page 1 of 38)

Indiana Atheltic Director Rick Greenspan will resign at the end of the calendar year. The NCAA has basically said he didn’t do his job in administering the athletic department he oversaw. I’m glad to see that Kelvin Sampson won’t be the only fall guy in this case.

In my opinion the NCAA has wasted its time going after some extra phone calls. How about all of the money that changes hands? How about the Final Four ticket scam that the NCAA takes part in? Time to move on and start from scratch.

Groce Hired at Ohio U
Ohio State Asst. John Groce was announced as the new head coach at Ohio University. Let me start off by saying that I am sure John Groce is a good coach and a good guy, at least from my experience.

But new Athletic Director Jim Schaus made a huge mistake in his first official decision at Ohio. He had the best candidate sitting two doors down. Associate Head Coach John Rhodes was the perfect fit for the job, but for some inexplicable reason, Schaus thought that Groce was the better fit. Neither has head coaching experience, but let me give you a little of Rhodes background and let you make your own decision.

Rhodes was ranked as one of the top assistant coaches in the country by Fox Sports and Hoop Scoop. He recruited last year’s conference player of the year and this year’s preseason player of the year. He has served for nine years under two different head coaches. During that time he went to the NCAA tournament twice (once with each head coach).

Rhodes is an alum who had the total support of the Bobcat community. He played on an NCAA tourney team at Ohio and is one of their most beloved players. To throw in a little more ammunition, he served on the St. Bonaventure staff that went to the NCAA tournament the last time the Bonnies were there.

If there is any assistant who deserved a chance at a job at his alma mater, it is John Rhodes. Unfortunately, Jim Schaus who spent the last decade at Wichita State, failed to understand that he had the right man under his nose. Too often, ADs try to win the press conference. At least that is the only way that I can explain why they would take an Ohio State assistant. Little does he realize that most people at OU don’t want to hear about the Buckeyes. Finally, I don’t think this hire is going to help Schaus on the fund raising trail when he tries to explain why he didn’t hire one of their own. Especially one of their own that has tasted such success.

I will make a prediction right now… Schaus’ stay at Ohio U will be short lived and this decision will come back to haunt him.

It is crazy that search firms are being used to hire athletic directors. It is absolutely nuts that search firms are being used to hire coaches. But it is outrageously absurd that new Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins used a search firm to hire his coaching staff.

Why are college administrators allowed to waste money on search firms to do the job they are hired to do. And come on, Coach Dawkins, if you don’t know 5 people well enough who you think could be good assistants you have no business being a head coach. It is not like you were hiring someone to coach at NJIT for a cup of coffee. You were hiring a staff for Stanford with an unlimited budget. What’s next? Hire a search firm to decide what type of defense and offense to run.

Two former Duquesne basketball players are looking to hit the lotteryKojo Mensah and Shawn James left school a year early to put their names in the NBA draft. Seems they were poorly advised by their mentors back in Brooklyn. Neither player will be drafted this week. Now they want to earn the same type of money by suing the school that gave them an opportunity to get a college degree. Another bad idea by their mentors back in Brooklyn. Two wrongs don’t make a right…

In other Court news: Kansas guard Sheron Collins was charged with assault on a woman that stems from an incident that occurred in May 2007. That’s the correct date. I guess the wheels of justice run slow in Kansas.

The NABC has come out against the recruitment of 8th graders in college basketball. The coaches association has said this is not a good thing. What will Tim Floyd and John Calipari do now? Also, how about the recruiting services who rank kids as low as the 5th grade? Like they really know how good a player is going to be 10 years from now.

Unfortunately, this is only a suggestion from the NABC and not a rule. Why not make it a rule and put some teeth in it? Then the public will take the organization more serious. Come on Jim Haney, make it a rule….

In another bizarre coaching move, Tim O’Shea has left Ohio University to become the head coach at Bryant University in Rhode Island. On the surface, it’s strange that a coach would leave a solid mid-major job for a school that will be playing their first year in Division I.

However, when you look closely you will see a couple of good reasons to make the move. First, he would have had a new boss at Ohio University. Jim Schaus was hired as the new athletic director a couple of months ago, which isn’t a good thing for a coach who only has a couple of years left on his contract. Also, he is a New England guy who has a home in Newport News, Rhode Island.

With O’Shea’s departure, Schaus should just walk over to the office right next door and hire Associate Head Coach, John Rhodes.

Rhodes is a former OU player who has been an assistant for both O’Shea and Larry Hunter. He has played in the NCAA tournament and coached in them while working for the Bobcats. He is one of the top recruiters in the country and an excellent teacher of the game. The current players and people in the community would rally around such a choice. But most importantly, he would produce championship teams both on and off the court.

Here’s hoping Schaus makes the right decision.