New Evansville AD gives pink slips to entire mens basketball coaching staff. 6-24 last year
OT: UE fires Lickliter, entire staff
- Thread starter GeddyHoosier
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Won’t be an easy job for anybody coming in. Hate to see the program that down, plus they have a very nice arena for games. Any idea who will be interested in the job? Thanks
Can't imagine there are many good choices at this point in the year. Who'd want that job anyway? Nice downtown stadium yes, but no staff, probably no players, USI moving to DI. That program is a far cry from the Jim Crews years.
I’ve heard that he’s basically going through the motions at this point.
As he should have. The direction of that program was horrific. Nobody understood anything about sports on that entire BOD. The previous AD
I do not believe there was any serious talk, or should there be as long as they decide to stay D1. The money provided by being in the MVC is too great.
With that note, U of E needs to decide what they want to be. Do they want to be an Iona, Davidson, Belmont type of school or a DePauw. None of the admins outside of the previous AD know anything about or are invested in college athletics. That is how the previous guy was allowed to last so long and degrade the premier program to such levels. I am guessing that by firing the prev AD and firing the entire MBB staff indicates that the admin understands just what I said.
I believed that to be pretty obvious observation. He had only one recruit coming in until just a couple of weeks ago and no momentum in recruiting at all.
I didn't realize until I read in that article I posted that he'd suffered a head injury and retired as a result before eventually coming back after McCarty got canned.
I wonder how much something like that plays into the "going through the motions" observations.
I didn't know boo about the injury, and he might be Einstein as far as bball knowledge, but my goodness, he had the personality of a dishrag when I heard him speak while at Iowa.
Honestly, I didn't either... and had the same thoughts.
It was kind of kept quiet…whether out of HIPAA concerns or whatever. He fell off a ladder at his home.
I hope they can do better. He's alienated most of the AAU and HS coaches in the state, if the reports are to be believed. That would be a tough recruiting gig.
My wife.... non-basketball knowledge!!!... is sending me all these links about Crean getting looked at. hahahaha
si.com...... 247sports.com
So are they putting these stories out there as a Joke????? I think so!!!!!!!
It has been known for a long time that the change would happen after an AD was hired. Lickliter's contract had run out. He probably would have been fired last year but UE has a recent pattern of waiting so they don't have to pay off contracts. Their main recruiter took another job and I was surprised they somehow picked up a recent portal transfer..
My son sent me a tweet today from Jeff Goodman that Crean talked about the UE and WKU jobs. There are enough IU/UE fans that would hate the idea. I don't see it happening. I could see Fife as an option.
My son sent me a tweet today from Jeff Goodman that Crean talked about the UE and WKU jobs. There are enough IU/UE fans that would hate the idea. I don't see it happening. I could see Fife as an option.
Crean would be nuts to take this nearly impossible job. What top flight recruits will be bowled over by the campus, lack of being a college town, little TV coverage and having to drive downtown to get to a stadium with a few thousand fans (few of them students but a fair amount of which saw Jerry Sloan play at UE LOL). Not to mention that landing a guy that has a decent freshman year will just lead to an 80% chance of that player then moving on to the portal/NIL$$$.
He would be better off taking a tv gig.
He would be better off taking a tv gig.
Tom is perfect for TV- he loves to talk and talk and talk.
Sorry to those of you who live in the toe…. But who would choose to live and coach in Evansville?
Having lived there for 20 years, I agree-not the greatest quality of life. I suppose they could get some really young guy who'd be thrilled to have a DI (at least for now) job or somebody with ties to the city (Ragland) or school. They should have just left Marty Simmons in there-he wasn't spectacular, but decent enough for a school that size.
I think the whole university is teetering in the brink of insolvency. They have eliminated several academic departments recently.
I do not know if Fife is guilty of the things they said about him at IU but he has been an assistant for a long time. Seems like he deserves a HC chance.
I lived in Eville and thought it was a nice town. Warmest winters in Indiana. Two schools, Southern Indiana (where Bruce Pearlstarted) and UE. Several ex IU guys have failed there - Marti Simmons and Crews I believe.
Maybe a hard place to get success?
Grew up in Evansville but left in 1980. Went to ISUE now USI. Hope they get the UE team on track and USI does well too. I never hope to move back though I missed Turoni's Pizza.
Simmons had a young video coordinator who has been very impressive. Kidd hired Sean Sweeney in Milwaukee days and now he is his right hand man on Mavs. Mavs are now one of the better defensive teams in the league. When Kidd got COVID, Sweeney took over and did a really solid job. IMO, he is a rising star but may want to remain in the NBA. I think the Hornets are checking him out. He at least has ties to UE but would the job be to risky to the impressive resume he is building. I'd take him over Fife.
www.milwaukeemag.com
Simmons had a young video coordinator who has been very impressive. Kidd hired Sean Sweeney in Milwaukee days and now he is his right hand man on Mavs. Mavs are now one of the better defensive teams in the league. When Kidd got COVID, Sweeney took over and did a really solid job. IMO, he is a rising star but may want to remain in the NBA. I think the Hornets are checking him out. He at least has ties to UE but would the job be to risky to the impressive resume he is building. I'd take him over Fife.
The Rise of Sean Sweeney
How 31-year-old assistant coach Sean Sweeney went from being a “coach on the floor” in his playing days to being the architect of the Milwaukee Bucks’ blitzing defense.
www.milwaukeemag.com
Yeah its a tough place to win-very small school in a mid-major conference. Crews had a great run from about '88-'93 (3 NCAAs I believe), but not much success outside of that. I always thought he would have ended up at IU if RMK left somewhere in the mid 90s.
ISUE 1980-1985. As far as food goes, what I miss the most are the west side Pizza King stroms.Grew up in Evansville but left in 1980. Went to ISUE now USI. Hope they get the UE team on track and USI does well too. I never hope to move back though I missed Turoni's Pizza.
Simmons had a young video coordinator who has been very impressive. Kidd hired Sean Sweeney in Milwaukee days and now he is his right hand man on Mavs. Mavs are now one of the better defensive teams in the league. When Kidd got COVID, Sweeney took over and did a really solid job. IMO, he is a rising star but may want to remain in the NBA. I think the Hornets are checking him out. He at least has ties to UE but would the job be to risky to the impressive resume he is building. I'd take him over Fife.
The Rise of Sean Sweeney
How 31-year-old assistant coach Sean Sweeney went from being a “coach on the floor” in his playing days to being the architect of the Milwaukee Bucks’ blitzing defense.
Crean's SEC mark in Georgia, is 15-57. Why would ANY school hire him?
Georgia has incredible high school talent, and Crean failed miserably.
Not sure I understand the "several IU guys failed there" comment. Crews had wonderful success at UE. From 88-94 he went to 3 NCAAs and 2 NITs (when it was still worth something). He also went back to the NCAA in '99 after winning the Valley. Crews had opps to move elsewhere, but wanted to stay at UE.
Simmons on the other hand did not really "fail," but wasn't a real success either. In his 10 years he had 3 20+ winning seasons. And finished above :500 as a career.
So that's two ex IU guys, well really one since Simmons finished at UE. Hardly several... and hardly failures.
Your last statement I agree with. UE may be a hard place to get success now-a-days. They have seemed to lost their purpose after joining the Valley. The school itself as much as anything. The admins have to decide what they are. The have acted like they want to be a very small exclusive liberal arts school. That makes it hard to bring in D1 talent. I am guessing with them dumping the previous AD, and bringing in somebody who recognized quickly that they had to drop the entire MBB staff means that realize the importance of sports to their viability.
Fail was no doubt too harsh. I think both were fired but then most coaches get fired. I wonder what percent of coaches retire?
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