And The Winner Is...

[Censored by Laurie]

This screams "low budget" like everything we do around here.

What have you seen that would indicate that we can afford anything less than "low budget" and for womens basketball no less. Would Capps, Shaeffer or the other candidate sell considerably more seats to merit spending more on a coach? This isn't like football where you can take a risk by opening up the purse to get a "name" coachwho will automatically sell seats.

Like it or not this was more than likely a business choice...which at this point is all our women's basketball program is.

[meangreendork]

BIG mistake, but what do you expect from a pizza man.

Geez, you wanna give her a shot? I mean, I'm sure at some point in your career you were thinking, "hey, I might not be the best qualified person, but I know I'm right for this". I'm sure she's the same way.

Come on, it's not even fair. We have her, let's support her and see what she can do. Hey, we've seen lots of folks come through here that did far better expected. Come on, you Hurd me. Better than expected.

Edited April 15, 2008 by meangreendork

[CMJ]

Hey, I'm a bit disappointed too. But doesn't practiclly every head coach start as an assistant somewhere? As I said before...she's one of us now. Time to circle the wagons around Coach Stephens.

Edited April 15, 2008 by CMJ

[forevereagle]

What have you seen that would indicate that we can afford anything less than "low budget" and for womens basketball no less. Would Capps, Shaeffer or the other candidate sell considerably more seats to merit spending more on a coach? This isn't like football where you can take a risk by opening up the purse to get a "name" coachwho will automatically sell seats.

Like it or not this was more than likely a business choice...which at this point is all our women's basketball program is.

Besides, she could end up being a great value for us. You know, not spending as much as other schools, but getting the same, if not better performance. I am sensing a theme...

[SUMG]

I have no idea why people are assuming that we got Stephens, because we could pay her less. Surely, Capps and Schaefer (the most qualified of the 4 finalists) knew what the job paid. Hell, Capps was at UTA.....think they were paying her, even what we offered? Doubtful.

Anyway, it's a done deal now. We can only hope for the best. Welcome aboard Coach Stephens.

Edited April 15, 2008 by SUMG

[Go_UTA]

I don't think the salary requirements of Capps and Stephens were at all different. Do you think Capps was making a fortunate at UT Arlington? No. Nice salary, yes, but I can guarantee she wasn't demanding anything that you won't already be paying to Stephens. This choice may be a lot of things, but it wasn't made as a business decision.

I find it very hard to disagree with anything Rick and Emmitt have said on this.

[UNTLifer]

You pass a proven local coach, who has taken a program that uses a high school auditourium for an arena, to the NCAA tournament, not once, but twice. And she wanted to come to NT.

NT hires an unproven assistant.

Edited for wrong information, but my opinion is still it was still the wrong hire.

I'm sure you know all of the details involved in the interview process, too. Were you a part of the search committee? Maybe money was an issue? No one knows except the parties involved.

The least you could do is welcome Coach Stephens and give her a chance instead of letting your hatred of all things RV deem the hire a failure prior to her coaching a single game.

[Quoner]

Besides, she could end up being a great value for us. You know, not spending as much as other schools, but getting the same, if not better performance. I am sensing a theme...

30 wins or its free?

[CaribbeanGreen]

30 wins or its free?

Genius.

Avoid the Noid.

For the record, the money thing makes no sense to me. Is an experienced ACC associate head coach moving across the country to take the job really cheaper than a former short-term Southland coach who left UTA in a cloud of drama, hasn't taken a job anywhere else since, and is working in administration at Mesquite ISD? Not on any planet I know of.

No reason not to give Coach Stephens a chance. More than a year, too; she deserves every bit of what Dodge gets. I'm glad to have her here, reserve any judgement til well down the road, and trust that people who know a whole hell of a lot more than any of us made this decision.

We should all welcome our new Coach with open arms. There's plenty of time to Dickey her to death after a few years. No more sudden expertism in Women's Basketball allowed.

[Green Mean]

Genius.

Avoid the Noid.

For the record, the money thing makes no sense to me. Is an experienced ACC associate head coach moving across the country to take the job really cheaper than a former short-term Southland coach who left UTA in a cloud of drama, hasn't taken a job anywhere else since, and is working in administration at Mesquite ISD? Not on any planet I know of.

No reason not to give Coach Stephens a chance. More than a year, too; she deserves every bit of what Dodge gets. I'm glad to have her here, reserve any judgement til well down the road, and trust that people who know a whole hell of a lot more than any of us made this decision.

We should all welcome our new Coach with open arms. There's plenty of time to Dickey her to death after a few years. No more sudden expertism in Women's Basketball allowed.

Great post! I love you.

[CaribbeanGreen]

Great post! I love you.

Wanna see a movie? popcorn trick?

[Green Mean]

Wanna see a movie? popcorn trick?

Please...pretty please....

[SUMG]

I bet less than half of the women's b-ball experts on this thread....have ever been to a women's game.

So, if you support Coach Stephens' hiring.....show up at her games.

Edited April 15, 2008 by SUMG

[KRAM1]

WOW! Some of the folks on this site are really "challenged" to ever say or think in a positive way when it comes to decisions from the athletic dept. Too bad....I hope they do not get the personal "oversite" and "supervision" that the7y seem to want to give to those in cahrge at UNT. Come on...give it a bit of a rest here...and give Stephens a chance for goodness sakes. Could very well turn out to be a great hire for UNT....Yes, the team was going to have a female coach...no doubt about that...and based on some other "inside stuff" the hire was probably destined to be a minority female coach. SO WHAT???? Who cares??? Not me, I want the best coach we can get...and RV and his team...and those "supervising" this hire....found a good one in Coach Stephens. She has shown that she can coach (Rice) and she does have ties to the area for recruiting. Let's see if she gets out and sells her program to the locals in the DFW area, and gets on the recruiting trail.....great players make great coaches...recruiting is so very important when the roster size is as small as it is in BB. You "miss" on a couple of scholarship players and you are "toast"...you pick up one lke a Michael Beasley, a Shaq, LeBron, etc., etc. and you have your program made...at least for one year if it is the men...but probably longer on the women's side. I have not seen either of OU's Paris sisters leaving the program.

Come on...some of you folks lighten up...I say, WELCOME COACH STEPHENS...and let's get on with the building of a solid women's BB program at UNT.

[Pen Yan Fan]

So, if you support Coach Stephens' hiring.....show up at her games.

I don't and I won't. Pretty soon RV will remove any reason for me to continue to be a fan. Do any of you remember the great coaches that wanted the men's basketball job before RV hand picked JJ? He picked the least qualified for the the job then to.

Edited April 15, 2008 by Pen Yan Fan

[CMJ]

I don't and I won't. Pretty soon RV will remove any reason for me to continue to be a fan.

I'm gonna remember this post if she turns the program around I assure you. She deserves the opportunity for success or failure we'd give any new coach. I mean she wasn't my choice either, but some of yall are just going overboard.

Give her a chance people. If in 3 years time we are still stuck in nuetral raise hell. But c'mon...she hasn't even met the damn players and you wanna run her outta town on a rail.

Edited April 15, 2008 by CMJ

[KRAM1]

Sorry Pen Yan Fan, but from where I sit, it looks like your days of being a fan are pretty much over anyway. Why not try to see the positive in things...could work out real well for the program. hey, for me, I was not the biggest fan of hiring a football coach from the HS ranks...I wanted a proven winner at the college level...see, wrong, wrong, wrong...Coach Dodge is, in fact, the best hire for us...he's a quality coach and a quality person...and he will build a great program with quality players (both on and off the field and in the classroom). What makes YOU think Coach Stephens will not be the same type of coach for us? Give her that chance...man, she hasn't even been officially named coach as yet......WOW!

Too many folks holding too many grudges for things long past and preceived currently.....let me let you in on a secret...the folks at UNT are trying to do a good job...sometimes there is more to the story than folks like us (looking in from the outside) understand. It is never as "balck and white" a decision as the "Monday morning QB's" think it might be.....lots and lots of things go into such a decision...and, guess what, sometimes it comes down to compromise when you are not the only "decision maker".

Man, where would the Cubs and the Red Sox be with fans like some of the folks who post on this site?...I'm just saying..........

[Quoner]

Man, where would the Cubs and the Red Sox be with fans like some of the folks who post on this site?...I'm just saying..........

Is that a shot at bstnsportsfan?

[Pen Yan Fan]

Sorry Pen Yan Fan, but from where I sit, it looks like your days of being a fan are pretty much over anyway. Why not try to see the positive in things...could work out real well for the program. hey, for me, I was not the biggest fan of hiring a football coach from the HS ranks...I wanted a proven winner at the college level...see, wrong, wrong, wrong...Coach Dodge is, in fact, the best hire for us...he's a quality coach and a quality person...and he will build a great program with quality players (both on and off the field and in the classroom). What makes YOU think Coach Stephens will not be the same type of coach for us? Give her that chance...man, she hasn't even been officially named coach as yet......WOW!

Too many folks holding too many grudges for things long past and preceived currently.....let me let you in on a secret...the folks at UNT are trying to do a good job...sometimes there is more to the story than folks like us (looking in from the outside) understand. It is never as "balck and white" a decision as the "Monday morning QB's" think it might be.....lots and lots of things go into such a decision...and, guess what, sometimes it comes down to compromise when you are not the only "decision maker".

Man, where would the Cubs and the Red Sox be with fans like some of the folks who post on this site?...I'm just saying..........

Yea, I didn't think you remembered all the coaches that were interested in the unt job when RV hired JJ. History is on my side.

[SilverEagle]

Look, this hire has nothing to do with her having a child...though if anyone can try to tell me honestly that family concerns don't weigh on your mind in your free time (and yes your work time) then they are crazy."

Since I don't go to basketball games, I don't feel very qualified to assess the selection or make critical remarks about it...coaching skills wise.

However, family dynamics IS an area that I know something about. There are now four or five young children in her home. Even with a stay-at-home husband, unless she has super-human energy, and is the best multi-tasker in the world, someone is going to get the short end of the attention stick.

Edited April 15, 2008 by SilverEagle

[KRAM1]

History???? Say, what? You aren't old enough to know that much UNT history...I'll bet I have LIVED the history longer than you have even been able to spell North Texas! Ha! Just joking around...I liked the JJ hire...and, to me, it has turned out to be a pretty darn good hire for UNT...so, I think that is a point in my favor here about giving a new coach time to settle in and get the program going under their leadership BEFORE people start yapping about the hire! I can tell you that the folks actually making the decisions about such things are doing a tough job and looking to do the best for UNT. Just because there is something in your history that keeps you holding a grudge does not mean that the folks ae not doing a good job with what they are given to work with...Sure, I've been "snubbed" and I've been "ignored" and I've been "wrtiien off as a no body" by folks in charge from time to time...BUT, that does not mean that I withdraw my "fan status", my support and/or my participation from MY SCHOOL. Heck, there are very few D-1 schools in the country where folks at the level of many of folks donations even get close enough to the powers that be to "BE SNUBBED" in the first place...how much face time do you think you get with the AD at ZeroU for a $500 donation????? Heck, you don't even get a shot at sideline seats for football and/or basketball...much less the satisfaction of at least having the AD and his staff know who the heck you are!

Come on......let's get behid this new coaching hire and let Coach Stephens know how glda we are to have her here at UNT!

GO MEAN GREEN! It's a GREAT DAY to be a Mean Green fan!

[MeanGreen61]

BIG mistake, but what do you expect from a pizza man.

Typical Green Bat sour grapes post.

Edited April 15, 2008 by MeanGreen61

[Quoner]

Typical Green Bat sour grapes post.

Is public scorn and belittlement now the accepted punishment for crimes against Sexy Time?

[GoMeanGreen1999]

I don't and I won't. Pretty soon RV will remove any reason for me to continue to be a fan. Do any of you remember the great coaches that wanted the men's basketball job before RV hand picked JJ? He picked the least qualified for the the job then to.

Well some on this board realize that RV is not that good. Some of us do remember the hand picking of JJ, and without the last two seasons of many cupcakes on the schedule, along with the lucky run through the tourney last year, more would remember than they are willing to admit.

Edited April 15, 2008 by GoMeanGreen1999

[GoMeanGreen1999]

Typical Green Bat sour grapes post.

I sure don't see it as sour grapes - I just see it as him calling it as he sees it, just as anyone else calls it as they see it. You can sugar coat this hire all day long, but with those that were finalists, this is a bad hire.