Welcome Kim English

[GMUgemini]

A contract extension, for one

I’d say the length of time the AD/University is taking to figure out a plan for the arena is absolutely ridiculous. And because it has taken them over a decade, they are holding the athletic facilities (re: practice gym and support infrastructure aka phase II) hostage.

Not to mention the other facilities (the soccer stadium is a mess, the baseball stadium is a mess). The area is swimming in money and we can’t figure out a way to get any of these projects funded. If we can find $50 million for an opera house in PW County and build a pointless hotel we can give our student-athletes some modern facilities to practice and play on.

And of course let’s not forget about the fact that they think the pre-game and in-game atmosphere needs to accommodating sleeping toddlers and 90 year olds.

You can see a decided lack of ambition pretty much everywhere.

 

[p8triotfan4life]

the more I think about it, I'm ecstatic. Mason gets a $1mil buyout for a coach who went 0-6 in pre-season tournaments, 1-2 in A10 Tournaments, and 0 for most road games the past two years!

only in America.

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

One phone call. Tony is in Maryland. He wouldn’t even have to move.

Make it happen quick so he can hit the recruiting ground running.

Dragging this out only guarantees we will be shopping at the bargain bin in the portal while trying to fill 7-8 scholarships. No thank you.

100%....I live in MD. I'm 20 mins from College Park and only have to be on the Beltway for 1 exit. I'll pick him up and meet everyone in Fairfax by 2 or 3 depending on traffic.

 

[JimP]

the more I think about it, I'm ecstatic. Mason gets a $1mil buyout for a coach who went 0-6 in pre-season tournaments, 1-2 in A10 Tournaments, and 0 for most road games the past two years!

only in America.

I'm not ecstatic - but don't think Providence should be either.

 

[FlPatriot]

I have had one night stands last longer than English's tenure.

What I can't figure out is there has been enough people leaving the AD dept over the years that you would think the Div III mindset would be gone. But it hasn't. We need to find who is the cancerous polyps left causing this issue.

Also please change the thread title...

This goes way back…when coach L took us to our first ncaa in years there was a complete lack of getting out the word by the AD. I sent them an email asking why they weren’t getting out the word and encouraging folks to support the team. The response I received was underwhelming, something to the effect of …‘we’re having meetings trying to figure out the best time to spread the word’… they didn’t as best I could tell.

Seems to me the AD is primarily concerned with pushing paper as an administrative function to comply with ncaa requirements.

Ugh!

 

[gmujim92]

If this is true, probably want to email Washington to tell him not to hire the acting AD because she’s part of the problem.

It appears unlikely to happen, but I find it insane that some people have been publicly advocating for her to get the permanent job. If Dr W is smart, he’ll lean on the few really sharp folks left in the AD and try to hire more like them because the basketball program isn’t the only one in need of a culture overhaul.

 

[Jack Strop]

I have had one night stands last longer than English's tenure.

What I can't figure out is there has been enough people leaving the AD dept over the years that you would think the Div III mindset would be gone. But it hasn't. We need to find who is the cancerous polyps left causing this issue.

Also please change the thread title...

I raised this exact same point two years ago when Dave Paulson was fired—I got s!ammed by a few of you (remember?). Perhaps people left because the AD department's leadership is a mess and not the fault, motivation, enthusiasm, or competence level of its staff.

 

[Patriotsince81]

It will be interesting to see what happens with the players. If I'm one of them I just learned that KE is not loyal to me, so, why return the loyalty? Maybe they like the campus, classes, etc. Maybe a hot girlfriend says stick around. Like most of you I expect the cupboard to be bare, but one can hope/dream.

 

[Verdad]

I raised this exact same point two years ago when Dave Paulson was fired—I got s!ammed by a few of you (remember?). Perhaps people left because the AD department's leadership is a mess and not the fault, motivation, enthusiasm, or competence level of its staff.

Ding Ding Ding

 

[phoenix-arizona]

The Astors can have him. I hope he enjoys his lobster rolls and cottages.

 

[Herndon]

I raised this exact same point two years ago when Dave Paulson was fired—I got s!ammed by a few of you (remember?). Perhaps people left because the AD department's leadership is a mess and not the fault, motivation, enthusiasm, or competence level of its staff.

No dude, it's because we haven't hired a young enough coach who recruits enough.

If you talk about program fundamentals on this board, and what can reasonably be expected of coaches given what they have to work with, you're "making excuses".

I have a significant portion of the fanbase from that time period blocked, so I'm sure they're still saying the same thing now. I promise your enjoyment of these boards goes way up when you liberally use that feature.

 

[Earl the Squirrel]

I'm not gonna rip, KE. We all should have known the deal going in. We were a stepping stone and we knew it. I'm only disappointed in the fact that we didn't get more out of the relationship. The old days are gone and we're not the only school to be in this position, just the latest....Let's just hire Tony and move on.

...and we didn't get more out of the relationship because Dr. W dropped the ball. You don't hire a guy like English - with his hype and national profile - without KNOWING you are going to have to match (or exceed) the offers that come his way. From Day 1.

I liked the hire and assumed Dr. W and the administration was serious (they said we were putting the A10 on notice!) about keeping English for ~5 years minimum; enough time to right the ship and demonstrate success. As it turns out they were not fully committed, incredibly naive, or both.

English is just exploiting a system to his advantage. I bear him no ill will. I'm angry and dismayed, of course, at the state in which this leaves our program, but what is done is done.

The reason I favor Skinn over other candidates is his connection to our program. Pure and simple. When Tony has success, as I hope he will, that connection may sway him from bolting, all things being equal, when future opportunities present themselves.

But let's make the hire this week. The pressure is on you, Dr. W. You have 48 hrs to "fix" the problem you created.

 

[GMU_DCU]

I'm not ecstatic - but don't think Providence should be either.

From the posts on their message board they are not. We know Kim will go and give the fans the sales pitch and they will change their tune. The guy is good at telling people what they want to hear, not so much on delivering results.

 

[bravesfan]

For those who didn't see it:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1638518028999487488

View: https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1638518028999487488

 

[hoopsjunkie75]

 

[Verdad]

From the posts on their message board they are not. We know Kim will go and give the fans the sales pitch and they will change their tune. The guy is good at telling people what they want to hear, not so much on delivering results.

And that's only going to get worse as their fans read our boards.

Part of the irony of all of this is the initial snow flake in this snow ball was Missouri hiring Frank Haith away from Miami, who the fans wanted fired and the fans were esctatic when it happened. Haith becomes Kim's HC and yada yada yada here we are now.

 

[GSII]

The AD being "satisfied" with the status quo is hard to hear. However, KE might have been exhauseted from not having a real AD in place. When you don't have a leader, shit happens. When he was AD, Brad probably cared more about what his buddies in the NFL were doing and people picked up on it and a poor culture started to evolve. A new AD should have been hired sooner. Its not that big a deal though b/c Tony Skinn is the obvious choice. Even if the new AD had been in place 2 months ago, its what they would be doing right now based off fan base demand and simple logic.

 

[Herndon]

The AD being "satisfied" with the status quo is hard to hear. However, KE might have been exhauseted from not having a real AD in place. When you don't have a leader, shit happens. When he was AD, Brad probably cared more about what his buddies in the NFL were doing and people picked up on it and a poor culture started to evolve. A new AD should have been hired sooner. Its not that big a deal though b/c Tony Skinn is the obvious choice. Even if the new AD had been in place 2 months ago, its what they would be doing right now based off fan base demand.

Honestly, who cares what the fan base demands.

We don't know what we're talking about. None of use have ever played or coached or recruited or managed a program at a high enough level to be able to evaluate in any meaningful way.

Listening to the fanbase is how you get Patrick Ewing (Gtown fans LOVED the hire) instead of Tony Bennett (UVa fans HATED the hire).

Fans are emotional, ignorant, and worst of all, deny both. I'm clearly roping myself into this as well.

to paraphrase paul johnson, fans are like mushrooms: they're best kept in the dark, and fed bullshit.

 

[GSII]

Honestly, who cares what the fan base demands.

We don't know what we're talking about. None of use have ever played or coached or recruited or managed a program at a high enough level to be able to evaluate in any meaningful way.

Listening to the fanbase is how you get Patrick Ewing (Gtown fans LOVED the hire) instead of Tony Bennett (UVa fans HATED the hire).

Fans are emotional, ignorant, and worst of all, deny both. I'm clearly roping myself into this as well.

to paraphrase paul johnson, fans are like mushrooms: they're best kept in the dark, and fed bullshit.

You are correct.

However, we are not considered 'fanbase' here at masonhoops.com.

 

[Earl the Squirrel]

I'll add that English should be grateful Providence threw him a life preserver because his reputation was dangerously close to sinking, Titanic-style. One more .500 season, which was staring him in the eyes (assuming Josh left), and the bloom is off the rose and English is just another young face in the crowd, and not the wonderkind and prodigy he had been presented as.

It will be fascinating to see what he's able to deliver over the next three (3) years at Providence now that he's swimming among the sharks.