New coaching candidates

UNTnewbie · March 9, 2016

Sean Sutton - Currently ORU Assistant Coach. Yes, he has baggage but I think he's been clean for the last 6 years and he has the pedigree and experience to get another chance.

DeepGreen · March 12, 2016

Impressive.

southsideguy · March 12, 2016

please ax him on the 30th i can use a free sub.

FirefightnRick · March 12, 2016

I hear the guy at Ranger Junior College is fairly good...went 28-5 this year.

Rick

FirefightnRick · March 12, 2016

Well when you mentioned warts that's all I could come up with.

Rick

Edited March 12, 2016 by FirefightnRick

GMG24 · March 12, 2016

Can we fly Ernie down and have him bring the coach back to UNT? Lol that's impressive!!

TreeFiddy · March 12, 2016

So...no Texas ties?

meh

http://twemoji.maxcdn.com/svg/1f61c.svg

GMG24 · March 12, 2016

@TheTastyGreek JJ should become available after todays collapse... yikes.

untjim1995 · March 13, 2016

Stony Brook pays $25k less for a basketball coach than we do...thank about that point when you realize that $325k is apparently considered too much to absorb to make a 4-year loser go away.

UNT'd

Mean_Green09 · March 13, 2016

All these conference tournaments have put out some really good basketball games. The quality of play has been really good especially in the mid major games. Hopefully the big dance can produce the same close hotly contested games.

UNT90 · March 13, 2016

13 minutes ago, Mean_Green09 said:

All these conference tournaments have put out some really good basketball games. The quality of play has been really good especially in the mid major games. Hopefully the big dance can produce the same close hotly contested games.

Usually does. That's why the first weekend of the tournament is the best 4 day event in sports.

ADLER · March 16, 2016

I have a name that I'd like you guys to consider, former VCU and Alabama coach Anthony Grant.(currently an assistant for the OKC Thunder)

anthony_grant.jpg_384074a4c9748d7d583e15

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Grant

His success as an assistant at Florida alone is enough to warrant consideration as a head coach, but he has also been very successful as a head coach. He has a wealth of experience and is still only 49 years old.

From Wikipedia:

Anthony Grant posted an impressive 76–25 record in his three seasons as the head men's basketball coach at VCU. He was an outright dominating 52–10 versus CAA opponents, including conference tournaments, capturing three straight CAA Regular Season Conference Championships and two CAA Conference Tournament Championships. He led VCU to two NCAA Tournament berths and one NIT berth before departing the program to take over the head coaching position at the University of Alabama.

Season Team Overall ConferenceStanding Postseason

VCU Rams (Colonial Athletic Association) (2006–2009)

2006–07 VCU 28–7 16–2 1st NCAA 2nd Round

2007–08 VCU 24–8 15–3 1st NIT 1st Round

2008–09 VCU 24–10 14–4 1st NCAA 1st Round

VCU: 76–25 (.752) 45–9 (.833)

Alabama Crimson Tide (Southeastern Conference) (2009–2015)

2009–10 Alabama 17–15 6–10 T–4th (West)

2010–11 Alabama 25–12 12–4 1st (West) NIT Runner–up

2011–12 Alabama 21–12 9–7 5th NCAA 2nd Round

2012–13 Alabama 23–13 12–6 T–2nd NIT Quarterfinals

2013–14 Alabama 13–19 7–11 T–10th

2014–15 Alabama 18–14 8–10 T–8th NIT 2nd Round*

Alabama: 117–85 (.579) 54–49 (.524)

Total: 193–110 (.637)

An ideal situation would be to hire Anthony Grant as head coach and retain Tony Benford as Associate Head Coach. I think that North Texas could quickly build something very special.

Arkstfan · March 16, 2016

On ‎3‎/‎4‎/‎2016 at 2:06 AM, Maduro said:

For some strange reason, i kind of wish we would consider Steve Shields. I used to love when our student section would give him a hard time. He seemed to always have an angry "Gene Keady look" on his face, but his teams always tormented us to no end and once got the best of us at the worst possible time (2011 sun belt tournament). I know UALR got rid of him, but It just seems like he was able to get a lot out of nothing while he was there. Looks like he's currently part of the staff at Mizzou.

Did you notice how much better UALR got after getting rid of him?

untjim1995 · March 16, 2016

I think we better start looking at who will be available in 2017...

UNT90 · March 16, 2016

18 hours ago, ADLER said:

I have a name that I'd like you guys to consider, former VCU and Alabama coach Anthony Grant.(currently an assistant for the OKC Thunder)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Grant

His success as an assistant at Florida alone is enough to warrant consideration as a head coach, but he has also been very successful as a head coach. He has a wealth of experience and is still only 49 years old.

From Wikipedia:

Anthony Grant posted an impressive 76–25 record in his three seasons as the head men's basketball coach at VCU. He was an outright dominating 52–10 versus CAA opponents, including conference tournaments, capturing three straight CAA Regular Season Conference Championships and two CAA Conference Tournament Championships. He led VCU to two NCAA Tournament berths and one NIT berth before departing the program to take over the head coaching position at the University of Alabama.

Season Team Overall ConferenceStanding Postseason

VCU Rams (Colonial Athletic Association) (2006–2009)

2006–07 VCU 28–7 16–2 1st NCAA 2nd Round

2007–08 VCU 24–8 15–3 1st NIT 1st Round

2008–09 VCU 24–10 14–4 1st NCAA 1st Round

VCU: 76–25 (.752) 45–9 (.833)

Alabama Crimson Tide (Southeastern Conference) (2009–2015)

2009–10 Alabama 17–15 6–10 T–4th (West)

2010–11 Alabama 25–12 12–4 1st (West) NIT Runner–up

2011–12 Alabama 21–12 9–7 5th NCAA 2nd Round

2012–13 Alabama 23–13 12–6 T–2nd NIT Quarterfinals

2013–14 Alabama 13–19 7–11 T–10th

2014–15 Alabama 18–14 8–10 T–8th NIT 2nd Round*

Alabama: 117–85 (.579) 54–49 (.524)

Total: 193–110 (.637)

An ideal situation would be to hire Anthony Grant as head coach and retain Tony Benford as Associate Head Coach. I think that North Texas could quickly build something very special.

Crazy talk. No head coach wants the former head coach on his staff. And Benford has done nothing to warrant even that position.

golfingomez · March 16, 2016

Tony Denton for next year?

Maduro · March 16, 2016

3 hours ago, Arkstfan said:

Did you notice how much better UALR got after getting rid of him?

Every team typically gets better or worse following a coaching change... unless you are Duke, UNC, or Kansas and you are always good. Sadly, my school is on the wrong end of this situation. Could we find a better candidate than Shields, ABSOLUTELY, but i wouldn't complain if we landed his experience and gave him a chance to operate with a reasonable budget.

Your post sounds as if they were not good when he was there. He's the winningest coach in that school's history, had a +.500 overall record, had a winning record in half the season's he coached, had 5 sbc west 1st place finishes, and mixed in a couple 20 win seasons. That's not a bad effort for a small university competing against football schools with a bit more money to spend. Like him or not, he would be a substantial upgrade from what we are currently dealing with in Denton.

Did you ever get to watch your team lose a conference tourney championship game to him on a last second 3 in OT? If you still choose to not appreciate the work he did, just know that he was a pain in the rear for UNT fans and (if ever hired by unt) would deserve a chorus of boo's (for good measure) from the home crowd during the player/coach introduction during his first game at the pit.

dml7007 · March 17, 2016

I know you mentioned Bob Hoffman. I know he talked to North Texas back when Johnny Jones was hired, I still think he would have been a better pick and talked to the Athletic department about that. I know he was extremely interested in it back then, and I imagine if it comes available again he would be too. He loves this area. Not sure his buy out on his current contract, but if I had a choice this would be the coach I would want. He has won everywhere he has been, and with little resources at them . I think he could come in and if we keep the same players we could win 20 games next year and compete for the league title. We have talent we need them to play together.

untjim1995 · March 17, 2016

Why not talk to the coach at Tarleton? If he is building up a strong D-2 program, he obviously knows how to coach. That would be a thought...he would be inexpensive (Priority #1 around here) and has Texas ties. Obviously, it doesn't appear as if that will happen this year, but by next year, that should be an option, assuming nobody else has already picked him off...

Arkstfan · March 17, 2016

16 hours ago, Maduro said:

Every team typically gets better or worse following a coaching change... unless you are Duke, UNC, or Kansas and you are always good. Sadly, my school is on the wrong end of this situation. Could we find a better candidate than Shields, ABSOLUTELY, but i wouldn't complain if we landed his experience and gave him a chance to operate with a reasonable budget.

Your post sounds as if they were not good when he was there. He's the winningest coach in that school's history, had a +.500 overall record, had a winning record in half the season's he coached, had 5 sbc west 1st place finishes, and mixed in a couple 20 win seasons. That's not a bad effort for a small university competing against football schools with a bit more money to spend. Like him or not, he would be a substantial upgrade from what we are currently dealing with in Denton.

Did you ever get to watch your team lose a conference tourney championship game to him on a last second 3 in OT? If you still choose to not appreciate the work he did, just know that he was a pain in the rear for UNT fans and (if ever hired by unt) would deserve a chorus of boo's (for good measure) from the home crowd during the player/coach introduction during his first game at the pit.

Well it is easier to be the "winningest" coach when you are allowed 12 years to coach. Other than Happy Mahfouz who guided them from NAIA to the NCAA and then Division I (and was also AD) no one else has coached 12 years there, in fact of the 21 coaches they have had only three served more than 6 years there (Shields and Mahfouz 12 years each, Longstreth 8 years). Shields coached 72 more games at UALR than any other coach. Sort of had to be their winningest coach by default.

If you want to measure winngest by percentage of games won Shields was fourth at .519 behind Wimp Sanderson .594, Ron Kestenbaum .620 and Mike Newell .689

In 12 seasons at UALR they reached post-season once 2010-11 with a team that finished 7-9 in the Sun Belt and was 5th in the Western Division in 2011. They then lost the play-in game. Contrast that with Mike Newell who in six years went the NCAA tournament three times (1-3 record including a double OT loss to Valvano and NC State) and NIT twice (3-2 in the NIT).

AState fans vividly remember the SBC tournament where UALR knocked off UNT for the title because we remember that we the West Division champs and thought it was our tournament to win until three days before the tournament when Trey Finn blew his knee on a layup in practice. We had handled UALR without much trouble in the two prior meetings then lost by 7 without Finn.

That Sun Belt championship game was awful. UNT who finished three back in the west and five back of league best FAU was playing UALR who finished four back in the west and six back of FAU. UNT had tied for 6th best record in the league and UALR had the 8th best.

I may be a bit daft but winning the conference tournament by one point over the 6th best team in the league being the highlight of guy's career wouldn't put him high on my hire list. That year the top four seeds in the conference tournament went 1-4.

Army of Dad · March 17, 2016

Tasty is writing about Mean Green basketball again.

I approve.

CMJ · March 17, 2016

We under performed the year we lost the title game to UALR - but I still thought we were the best team going in to the tournament and if we suddenly jelled we had a good shot. We nearly pulled it off. I am not sure if it or the WKU loss hurts worst to be honest.

southsideguy · March 17, 2016

might as well wait for next year we are stuck with Bennie for another year.

Harry · March 17, 2016

30 minutes ago, CMJ said:

We under performed the year we lost the title game to UALR - but I still thought we were the best team going in to the tournament and if we suddenly jelled we had a good shot. We nearly pulled it off. I am not sure if it or the WKU loss hurts worst to be honest.

WKU loss hurt more because of how sad Tony was with the confetti falling down on him at the end. Still those were great times. Really miss those days.