Worst basketball team i've seen in 35 years

[Army of Dad]

SFA seemed to hire a coach that knew how to keep a good thing going.

It's hard to deny that only North Texas would keep an AD who hired Todd Dodge, Shanice Stephens and Tony Benford.

We have a winner! Two of those three are no doubt the worst coach UNT has ever had in their sport. Benford and Trilli are running neck and neck.

[meangreener]

We have a winner! Two of those three are no doubt the worst coach UNT has ever had in their sport. Benford and Trilli are running neck and neck.

Hiring the assistant coach from Marquette looked like a genius move. I'm by no means defending Benford. He's awful. Needs to be fired. But still.

[Mean Green 93-98]

Benford looked like a fantastic hire originally.

Only relative to what he turned out to be. Most here were a little underwhelmed with the hire. RV had sworn up and down that he was going to hire a coach with HC experience. There was a lot of chatter that we were going to hire Fran Fraschilla. Some other good names were mentioned. So when Benford was announced as the hire, it didn't sound terrible....it just wasn't nearly as good as we thought it might be. I think everyone here except one was willing to give him a chance, though.

[GRN-WHT]

Hiring the assistant coach from Marquette looked like a genius move. I'm by no means defending Benford. He's awful. Needs to be fired. But still.

A genius move to you maybe. RV said he was going to hire somebody with head coaching experience. Instead, he hired a career assistant.

[GangGreen]

Like who? What teams in our situation with no basketball history went and hired a great coach after losing a great coach to the SEC?

UTEP lost Tony Barbee to Auburn, then turned around and hired Tim Floyd.

[meangreener]

UTEP lost Tony Barbee to Auburn, then turned around and hired Tim Floyd.

Are you suggesting a team that routinely sells their arena out with a history of being a national champion is on the same level as us?

[GRN-WHT]

Settle down there on calling for RV's head.

Did it ever occur to you that the reason you have to put so much effort into selling FB tickets is because RV and his marketing "team" have no clue?

[GangGreen]

Are you suggesting a team that routinely sells their arena out with a history of being a national champion is on the same level as us?

They are in our conference. They are our new peers. We need to put on the big boy pants.

Bringing up their national championship is on the level of PMG reminding us of that glorious time we beat Tennessee. A long freakin' time ago.

[Army of Dad]

Hiring the assistant coach from Marquette looked like a genius move. I'm by no means defending Benford. He's awful. Needs to be fired. But still.

No it didn't look like a genius move. Especially when if all RV had done what he said he would do (only hire coaches with previous head coaching experience) he would not have made another disastrous hire.

RV is not above reproach when it comes to hiring coaches. All of the other things you mentioned do not have to be an either/or proposition.

Edited December 17, 2013 by Army of Dad

[GangGreen]

Not trying to be snide, greener. It is pretty obvious that we are not on the same level as UTEP or Western Kentucky. My point is these are the teams we will be competing with in our new conference and we need to make sure that we are on the same level as them if we hope to compete at all.

I have no idea what UTEP's budget is, but I would be willing to guess that it is not a lot larger than ours, if it even is.

[meangreener]

Not trying to be snide, greener. It is pretty obvious that we are not on the same level as UTEP or Western Kentucky. My point is these are the teams we will be competing with in our new conference and we need to make sure that we are on the same level as them if we hope to compete at all.

I have no idea what UTEP's budget is, but I would be willing to guess that it is not a lot larger than ours, if it even is.

Well, I agree. I'm not happy with this situation whatsoever. I just don't think RV gets fired being the AD who hired a coach of an 8-4 ballclub with 3 impressive wins over winning teams heading to the first bowl game since 2004. Football pays the bills in Texas. RV needs to nut up and accept the experiment is done and lay out the cash for Fran.

[ChristopherRyanWilkes]

Hiring the assistant coach from Marquette looked like a genius move. I'm by no means defending Benford. He's awful. Needs to be fired. But still.

"Hiring the assistant coach from Marquette looked like a genius move."

[GRN-WHT]

heading to the first bowl game since 2004.

The Dodge hire is exactly the reason we haven't been to a bowl since 04.

[UNTFan23]

The Dodge hire is exactly the reason we haven't been to a bowl since 04.

To be fair Dodge wasn't hired until 2007 (after the SLC played in the state championship game was played), so it's why we haven't played in a bowl since 2007. DD stopped recruiting and that's why we never won more than 3 games in the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

[GRN-WHT]

To be fair Dodge wasn't hired until 2007 (after the SLC played in the state championship game was played), so it's why we haven't played in a bowl since 2007. DD stopped recruiting and that's why we never won more than 3 games in the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

Fair enough, but it all tracks back to RV.

[the green rokemi]

Most people I know did not think hiring Benford was a genius move. In fact, of the three final names we heard he was #3 on the list.

Sometimes there's a reason why the hot girl in class is single

[greenit]

Most people I know did not think hiring Benford was a genius move. In fact, of the three final names we heard he was #3 on the list.

Sometimes there's a reason why the hot girl in class is single

Because she seemingly has no strategy on offense or defense?

[UNT90]

Benford looked like a fantastic hire originally. We stole our women's coach from Wake Forest. While he's struggling this year, team was showing promise last year. Facility improvements. Fanbase improvements. Publicity in DFW. Real UNT athletic apparel. McCarney.

On our old budget, it's difficult to hire solid coaches, unless you want a revolving door like Arky State which will bite them in the ass soon.

Benford did not look a "fantastic hire." He looked like the cheap option. There were experienced head coaches with skins on the wall DYING to coach this team, but they expected fair compensation. UNT decided to risk it on the cheap.

You get what you pay for.

Funny thing is, it's going to end up costing them more because of the payout they will have to make at to Benny at the end of this year.

You know it was done on the cheap when the same AD that told you time and again that we were done hiring career assistants as head coaches turns around and hires a career assistant as a head coach.

[ragpicker]

Benford did not look a "fantastic hire." He looked like the cheap option. There were experienced head coaches with skins on the wall DYING to coach this team, but they expected fair compensation. UNT decided to risk it on the cheap.

You get what you pay for.

Funny thing is, it's going to end up costing them more because of the payout they will have to make at to Benny at the end of this year.

You know it was done on the cheap when the same AD that told you time and again that we were done hiring career assistants as head coaches turns around and hires a career assistant as a head coach.

Man I miss Dan Spika.

[the green rokemi]

Because she seemingly has no strategy on offense or defense?

Exactly

[bleedgreen4ever]

The only reason I'd keep RV is if he WASN'T the sole person responsible for these terrible hires and some other issues with the department, such as marketing. Now, if it's all indeed let up to him, the he needs to go along with Benford. We need better leadership if that's the case.

[greenminer]

I understand some of the ire over RV, but it should not be about hiring Benford or Stephens. Based on initial hire, they were considered to be top 5 assistants available and very attractive on a national level for HC hires. Maybe not top tier positions but certainly in line with budgets like our's.

The head scratcher for me is his reluctance to pull the trigger...even when the ship is clearly sunk. That and not giving Kaspar so much as a sniff.

A big reason Tim Floyd is in EP is his (I believe) 10 years as an assistant to Haskins. He had a ton of success and fans already. He considers UTEP to be a second home.

[GrandGreen]

I understand some of the ire over RV, but it should not be about hiring Benford or Stephens. Based on initial hire, they were considered to be top 5 assistants available and very attractive on a national level for HC hires. Maybe not top tier positions but certainly in line with budgets like our's.

The head scratcher for me is his reluctance to pull the trigger...even when the ship is clearly sunk. That and not giving Kaspar so much as a sniff.

A big reason Tim Floyd is in EP is his (I believe) 10 years as an assistant to Haskins. He had a ton of success and fans already. He considers UTEP to be a second home.[/quote

Not sure where you get your data, but I highly doubt it. Benford was primarily a recruiter and had been around a long time, which is strange for a hot property. Stephens I doubt had any kind of national presence. Your qualification on salary available certainly doesn't jive with a national top 5 candidate even from the assistant ranks,

I honestly think Benford was hired because keeping the team intact was a major consideration and being relatively cheap didn't hurt. The Stephens hire was just an example of an employer going for fluff rather than substance.

As far as RV not pulling the trigger, it is a combo of finances and pride. The shameful thing to me, and it is a trait of RV, is the buck never stops with him.

[GRN-WHT]

I understand some of the ire over RV, but it should not be about hiring Benford or Stephens. Based on initial hire, they were considered to be top 5 assistants available and very attractive on a national level for HC hires. Maybe not top tier positions but certainly in line with budgets like our's.

The head scratcher for me is his reluctance to pull the trigger...even when the ship is clearly sunk. That and not giving Kaspar so much as a sniff.

A big reason Tim Floyd is in EP is his (I believe) 10 years as an assistant to Haskins. He had a ton of success and fans already. He considers UTEP to be a second home.

We shouldn't have been in the market for an assistant and we were told that we would not be. And we got burned.

[Censored by Laurie]

Western Kentucky lost Dennis Felton to Georgia. They then hired Darrin Horn who had 4 straight 20 win seasons and got hired by South Carolina. Their next hire wan't so hot, though.

As bad as Ken McDonald proved to be at WKU, he did still manage to take Darrin Horn's talented roster to the NCAA tournament (winning one game?) in his first season...and brought them 20 wins in his second seasons. He was, at worst, able to maintain the status quo set forth by his predecessor using mostly Horn's players. His third season was when mediocrity was realized...and perhaps buoyed by an NCAA appearance, he was given a fourth and replaced mid-year by an experienced head coach on staff...who promptly took them back to the NCAAs.

Ken McDonald's record at WKU was 67-48, 36-19 in conference. That got him fired.

Only relative to what he turned out to be. Most here were a little underwhelmed with the hire. RV had sworn up and down that he was going to hire a coach with HC experience. There was a lot of chatter that we were going to hire Fran Fraschilla. Some other good names were mentioned. So when Benford was announced as the hire, it didn't sound terrible....it just wasn't nearly as good as we thought it might be. I think everyone here except one was willing to give him a chance, though.

I can promise you, given his relationship with a certain bald, over-sweating sleaze-ball of a head coach, there were at least 2 vocal members of this forum not happy hiring Benford.

Because she seemingly has no strategy on offense or defense?

This guy is trying to bring fun back. I like you.