TheTastyGreek

Officially, Benford, Lundy, Evans, Anwar, and Luster make 5. Hopkins, assuming he's not busy with study hall, makes 6. There are 2 other guys who popped up last year who I've never seen before. No idea if they're not-coaching, trainers, or consultants. I hope they were not-coaches like Hopkins and not miscellaneous staff, because one of them seemed to have a lot to say during huddles and timeouts.

You win the thread.

We've always been big on raising better hunters and foragers at North Texas.

Fixed.

I believe that the coaches and not-coaches now outnumber the players. Tough to say for sure... There were a lot of new faces who officially do who-knows-what. But, at minimum, it's a tie.

Only? Optimist.

I'm still proud that we had a streak of 20+ win season only exceeded by half a dozen non-BCS programs. Very proud. We won two tournaments, came within 5 and 60 seconds of winning two others, and won a regular season title. And we won consistently at a high level, surpassed in duration only by schools like Memphis, Gonzaga, Utah State, BYU, and San Diego State. Not bad for a 6 year run. You can keep trying to shit on it if you want, but we did something pretty exceptional for a good run of time. I wish it had been more, but that doesn't mean I'm not proud of what it was. Especially building it from almost zero history of success... If we won 8 games 6 years in a row and won two bowl games, I'd say that's a pretty big deal, too. And I don't think that's anywhere near what we did from 2007-2012 in basketball.

Most of them were already a lot more successful than we were then, too. Wichita State made the Final Four and Elite Eight (twice) back when we were in the MVC. And I bet even Dodge could have beaten the crap out of their football team when he was here. Memphis made it to the championship (among 5 other appearances). Louisville made 3 Final Fours while we were in the MVC. 8 Sweet Sixteens before we left in 1975, 9 total appearances. Cincinnati won the NCAA tournament twice and lost in the championship game once during the time we were in the MVC with them. 5 Final Fours, 8 total appearances. Not a defense of the program, but just pointing out that they haven't passed us by if they were already past us back then. They were already successful far beyond anything we've done then or now before we parted company with them.

For anyone keeping score, we had 9 potential returning players (meaning, scholarship guys with eligibility remaining). 8 if you don't count Tony, who isn't leaving for Central Montana Tech just to get out of here. So, 8 guys, and 2 of them have already jumped ship. Of the remaining 6, two are going to be seniors with no redshirt year option remaining (meaning, they're stuck here unless they quit basketball or drop down from D-1). And another is TJ Taylor, who has already enrolled at 4 different colleges and probably couldn't afford to leave unless he was willing to drop below D-1, too. That leaves Jordan, CJ, and Coleman. What odds would you need in order to bet that all three of them stick around?

Does he still send Benford a like-a-Father's Day gift in a few weeks?

I was a little confused by the hire when I first heard about Benford as a candidate, but honestly, I was on board when he got the job. By far, the biggest thing I was looking for in a new coach was someone who could keep the roster together and let us field the team JJ had spent 10 years building. I thought and still think that last year was the brass ring, our once in 2 or 3 generations shot at the sort of year that would cement us as a real basketball program, and redefine our ceiling in terms of postseason success and high level recruit awareness. Absolute worst case, I thought any caretaker coach who had our lineup could basically roll the ball out on the court and get out of the way, and we'd get to 20 wins and contend for both the NIT and NCAA auto-bids. When Benford was hired and managed to keep the roster intact (which I thought and still think was less than 50/50, depending on our hire)... I thought it was a solid hire. The Marquette thing was a concern, and I did expect an experienced coach (even though my top choice, the one I was very vocal in advocating for, was an assistant with no prior head coaching experience). But Priority 1, by far, was keeping the team together so that we could take our shot at the brass ring. That happened, and because of that, I don't second guess the process or fault the reasoning that led to Benford's hire. I have no problem with the initial hire, given what we knew at the time. But, just like with Dodge, I have a lot of problems with what we've allowed to happen since the hire. I think we've made different, but potentially much worse mistakes, with how we've allowed Benford to run things. And they aren't the sort of choices that are exclusively at Benford's discretion... The most galling one (worse than Trey, in my opinion) needs RV or someone in academic administration (not sure which) to approve cutting a stipend check. And at this time, I think we know what we've got. Beyond just blowing our shot at the brass ring, I think that even 2 or 3 full years of this is going to set our program back 10 years. But I don't think we've got $1.7 million to throw at Benford to make him go away now. I had a long post in mind when Western Kentucky got added to CUSA about why I respect them so much and what sets them apart from us with respect to success, expectations, history, and financial support. Never made it, but those differences are very relevant to how we're handling (and financially able to handle) what's happening in basketball.

I was skeptical when FIU hired him, but he definitely proved something last year.

I may be paraphrasing instead of quoting, but... So... We still suck?

If our next basketball coach manages to hover around .500 in conference and earns 2 NCAA berths in his first two years of rebuilding what I expect he's going to inherit... I'm willing to commission the statue RIGHT NOW. Just let me know what he's going to look like.

+1

Didn't sign in the early period, regular signing period doesn't open for 2 more weeks. He's nothing but a verbal anywhere, and the word has been Tech for the past few weeks.

Seems like most of the time recently, it was a one bid league WITH Memphis. Best addition yet. Bringing something to the table other than geography, compromise, or the whimsical prospect of major market presence.

Best addition CUSA made

The end result of a lifetime of training and intense focus.

Not unless it's the drop lever on a gallows. Don't even joke about rooting for that guy.

Whenever you edit the post on page 4 with added names, they should also show up in the top-of-page "solved" post whenever someone else loads the thread.

Flagged as "solved", so now it should show up at the top of every page for anyone checking the thread.

And if you're wondering about a discount rate... 30=12. By conversion, 16=6.4. Even I think 7 wins is pessimistic, Andrew.

I wish I had a screencap of the 23 win prediction from a game chat back in January... Basically, just give it another 10-12 weeks, and reality will finish sinking in.

Does that mean Snoop Johnson isn't interested in graduate school?