I am no expert on basketball, and I made it abundantly clear in the discussion Johnson that I felt Babcock should retain him and use the $800,000 buy out money to building the football infrastructure. I also am not a passionate VT basketball fan, as I grew up a fan of Syracuse, Arizona (Sean Elliott was my favorite college player of all time) and my beloved East Tennessee State Buccaneers (if you are in your 30's and from the very SW tip of VA or from East Tennessee you understand why.)
That being said, I love to watch and play basketball and I want the overall health of the VT athletic program to be well. A great basketball hire is a great first step into turning the basketball program into a REVENUE GENERATOR, not a loss leader as it currently is. Winning, of course, is the best first step, and that comes with bringing in a good coach. Second of course is improving Cassell Coliseum (I couldn't go to a game if I wanted too because I am way too tall and too fat to fit in the seats) but that is a secondary discussion.
It is easy to throw out speculative names and hot mid-major coaches, but the focus of the AD should be identifying coaches that fit a checklist. If I were Mike Babcock, this is the checklist I would put together.
1) Any new hire must be a well-established recruiter in the DC area private/prep school system. Washington DC has been one of, if not the top, area for high school talent outside of the specialized "basketball factory schools" like Oak Hill and Huntington Prep.
2) Said coach needs to establish a foothold at Oak Hill. No school is better positioned to engage with Oak Hill players than VT, yet I can't recall the last time VT got a lauded Oak Hill player. I don't pay as close attention, but I recall Jeff Allen being the last Oak Hill guy they got.
3) Coach must have a proven record of coaching strong defensive basketball.
4) I am less worried about offense, but I would like to see a track record of coaching offensive sets built around pick and roll basketball. Your post players have to shoot from 15 and out. Your guards need to drive the ball. Virginia Tech won't be able to recruit perimeter shooters that make Princeton and motion offenses viable.
5) Market price of $1.3-1.6 million dollars. Add incentives tied into Cassell attendance to sweeten the deal.
I know there are folks who know more about basketball than me, but that would be my wish list. Let the discussion begin. What is your wish list? And who meets this criteria.
Comments
Even French is talking basketball now??
Either we talk about basketball, or we start looking at baseball. That would be scary. After that I think comes making plonk noises with our lips while we wait for the draft.
But...but...French just said he had more recruiting film reviews, and possibly more "learn about football concepts" posts...
and...football...
I know. I know. But we all have to pace ourselves or else we'll run out of what paltry little football conversing there is to do.
While I agree that gaining a foothold in the DC Metro area is imperative for the next coach, I think its importance in the context of a coaching candidate is significantly less than your Oak Hill note. Love it or hate it, basketball recruiting is much more of a national practice than it is in football because of AAU. Though JJ was a known opponent of the extensive influence AAU programs and coaches have on players, he still recognized that great players can be recruited across the nation. During the last two years, JJ brought in players from Florida, Ohio, Alabama (2014), Texas, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Germany (2013).
While the AAU circuit is a dirty, dirty system, it is an extremely important element to basketball recruiting. As a counter to your first point, I would like to see the next coach:
In addition to your points, I would add that I would love to see a coach that is engaging and affable, but brings a blue-collar approach to the program. In order to justify the dollars at stake, the coach needs to be able to appeal to alumni and fans, the media, and most importantly the past, current and future players. Brian wrote a great piece about what can be done to improve the environment surrounding the program, but most (if not all) of these elements rest on Whits shoulders. The character aspects, though identified by Whit during the hiring process, must be conveyed by the next head coach. The rest will (hopefully) fall in place.
In general, aren't players going to Oak Hill already committed to a school?
Not really. Oak Hill recruits kids as early as middle school to their program. When I was in high school as a freshmen, they came to Potomac to get two of our star players that were also freshmen. Almost every graduate of their program does however end up on a Division I scholarship somewhere.
I agree with a lot of what you say, but if you're setting your target for success at practically turning Oak Hill into a funnel for the VT basketball program the way we use Hargrave for football, then you're only setting yourself up for disappointment.
There are too many elite schools in this region annually dipping their hands in that well for us to expect to routinely get guys out of that program. We may get one kid every 5 years or so, but we're never going to have that school a pipeline for our basketball program.
Hargrave used to be the funnel school for VT basketball as well.
Why don't you believe VT could recruit the perimeter shooters?
Think the new coach needs to be able to recruit in the DC area but also North Carolina as well with the proximity, only 1 out of the top 5 in North Carolina ended up with a in-state ACC school. Definitely agree Oak Hill needs to become a huge priority with the proximity that VT has.
Mainly because other than JJ Reddick, Virginia outside of the DC area has not produced a significant number of elite outside shooters that I can recall. The best perimeter shooters from much of the state were not good enough all-around players to play DI ball. From Roanoke-westward, the best players mostly end up at mid-major schools, ala ETSU (Calvin Talford), Western Carolina (Neil Rasnake and VHSL's all time leading scorer Stacy Ervin), and Appalachian State (Tyler Webb.) As far as I know, the Roanoke area has not produced many DI players besides Reddick (Cave Spring) Curtis Staples (Patrick Henry) George Lynch (Patrick Henry) and JR Reynolds (Roanoke Catholic).
Only a third of our current roster is from Virginia though and if we get the right coach it might be less than that even in the future. Not sure where you put the Curry brothers into this discussion, but I would put them up there with perimeter shooting. Still not a large number.
While his dad is all-Hokie, the Curry's were born and raised in Charlotte. But Charlotte is another area where we need to make recruiting inroads, especially with it being so accessible (right up 77.)
I'm not sure the Curry brothers are relevant to French's point, seeing as they are from Charlotte (though they would be to HokieJoe's)
Would add that Justin Bibbs is at Monteverde Fla, which is becoming an Oak Hill- something like 7 D-1 signees on this years team. So we got that going for us, which is nice. :-)
The same Justin Bibbs who is quite upset that JJ was fired and keeping his options open, to see who the Hokies hire?
I would counter that whoever the candidate is should either have what you are looking for in terms of DC/Oak Hill or should have/will get an assistant that has these key ties. These are two areas that would be directly tied to the Tech program with their proximity. I would not however become focused on these areas alone. We need to have the ability to recruit the best players regardless of their location. JJ didn't hesitate to do that, and the next coach shouldn't either. Chicago, DC, NYC, Florida, and other hotbeds all have to be options. Making a connection again with AAU programs is also essential. Keeping our dealings with those programs all above board critically important.
I absolutely agree that the next coach needs to be a proven defensive minded coach to be successful in the ACC. (See Tony Bennett) Limiting transition baskets and holding opponents near 40% shooting is critical to winning in this conference.
The head coach needs to be composed and well spoken when dealing with the media, families of recruits and people in general. He has to have that switch to be able to be fiery on the sideline and put a fire in his players belly. He has to be able to handle running the entire program from an administrative aspect of things. He needs to be able to understand the community he is a part of and while not necessarily having to be "one of the people" he has to be able to not upset the progress that Whit makes in establishing a positive attitude around the program and be seen as a positive contributor to Tech in general.
Early on to be successful, he needs to be able to adjust his plan according to the talent he has available and transition to his style as his recruits begin to come into the program. He needs to continue JJ's focus on the importance of Academics and take pride in Academic All Americans almost more so than just All Americans.
Lastly I want a coach capable of handling the one and done phenomena if a recruit of that caliber is coming to Tech and have the balanced approach to recruiting to recover regularly if necessary from the rotation of that kind of talent. It may not be necessary but I want to know that the program wont fall apart if they bring in a class of that nature.
All of that said:
I think that Derek Kellogg would be an outstanding hire to meet almost all of these criteria, even the money level that you propose above as long as his assistants are taken care of.
As far as Oak Hill and a New York City funnel, bring Kellogg in, and suggest he bring Rod Strickland (player at Oak Hill, administrator at Kentucky, also was director of basketball operations at Memphis, recently inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame) in as an assistant coach. Both are now firmly Calipari guys and Kellogg brings exactly the type of defense you are looking for. He currently calls it P.A.I.N (Pressure Agitate Interrupt Neutralize) (speaking to his ability to establish an identity) and has some firm roots in what Shaka is doing at VCU defensively. He has been quite successful at UMass in working with the community, winning basketball games, and making post season play the last three seasons after a slightly rocky start.
Recruiting, he already has major ties to NYC, he used to coach at George Mason, and currently has two DC players on his roster. He seems to also have a major pipeline into Texas. He also took in Donte Clark, JJ's top recruit from last year who failed to qualify academically at Tech, which speaks to some similarity in player types for their systems.
I think he could be a great fit and after coming up under Calipari and showing he can deliver at UMass, I have no doubt he could compete in the ACC.
One other add... be a presence at important regional HS basketball tournaments. I never saw James Johnson or Seth Greenberg at The Arby's Classic in Bristol, but we ALWAYS would see Bruce Pearl (still glad we didn't get him though) and Cuanzo Martin. We regularly saw Pete Gillen when he was the head coach at UVA, and before he passed away Skip Prosser (Wake) was always there. VT did land Malik Muller from Urspring (Arby's MVP in the 2012 tourney) but if JJ was there, we didn't see him and he wasn't making his presence known.
Guys playing at the Arbys in this year's tournament:
Isaiah Wilkins- Greater Atlanta Christian (committed to UVA)
Keelon Lawson and his brother Dedric Lawson (both top underclassmen recruits most likely to go to Memphis)
Braxton Blackwell (an elite sophomore guard who has an offer from VT, along with UNC, Michigan State, and a ton of other schools).
This is a great point. Seth should have made the effort, JJ may have gotten there eventually but it probably was far down the administrative side of him learning the business that it would have taken awhile. Any top tier tournament the new coach/coaches can make an appearance at is bound to help bringing in talent.
I wouldn't oppose Kellogg, although anything that has to do with Calipari makes me physically ill.
I am not the biggest fan of Calipari, but the man can recruit with the best of them, coaches near the top of the game, and leaves you feeling all slimey. Kellogg seems to be the balance of learning coaching from Calipari while retaining his soul. Does not appear to have signed any blood pacts with the Shiny Haired Devil for his time in tutelage.
My recommendation of trying to get Rod Strickland involved in our program goes for any Head Coach that comes in.
Calipari's ability to get elite players to commit to playing defense consistently is quite impressive. He may not have the cleanest past, but he's a fantastic coach.
I also think Wichita State got screwed because Kentucky appears to be a terrible matchup for them. All season, Wichita State's bigs were bigger, stronger, and more athletic than everyone they played, giving Van Vleet and Baker a lot of room to work. Kentucky won't have to double Early or any of their other bigs and should also win the rebounding battle.
Mike Babcock?
Getting kids from Virginia, DC/Baltimore, and North Carolina should be a focus of recruiting because there are a lot of good to great players coming out of areas within a 6 hour drive of Blacksburg. But, like has been said, basketball players really come from everywhere a lot more than football players. Having a footprint in NYC and Florida would be good for a new coach but whoever it is would be wise to develop a footprint in Toronto and Ottawa too.
Yes the last Oak Hiller we had was Jeff Allen (even though he played only his senior season there. Spent the rest of his time at DeMatha)
Think the last shot we had at anyone from Oak Hill was Mo Mo Jones, but that probably went south for the best.
JJ's staff was focused on bringing in two from Oak Hill for next year. Terrence Phillips a point guard, Brandon Jennings little brother and Trevor Manuel, a 6'9 200lb power forward. Manuel is the 47th player in next years class and Phillips comes in at 161. The other school that JJ had multiple offers out to was the next class from Paul VI in Fairfax.
im two years removed from graduating from Paul VI, still follow the team, and I will personally tell you that next year's senior class is absolutely loaded. they will be in the national title picture next year and have multiple 4* recruits
I wouldn't mind grabbing some players from PVI.
Paul VI
2013-2014 Record 31-6 (14-4)
They had two seniors this year that were Top 10 in Virginia but were not nearly as highly ranked as the junior class.
Those two are Quadree Smith, 6'7" 290 Lbs Power Forward, ranked 78th at his position and 9th in the state and Evan Taylor, 6'4" 180 Lbs Point Guard, ranked 62nd at his position and 7th in the state.
2015 Candidates
Marcus Derrickson is a 6'7" 225 lbs Power Forward out of Paul VI in Fairfax, VA. He is currently ranked 50th overall, the 13th Power Forward, and the number 2 recruit from Virginia. He is verbally committed to play at Georgetown as of Oct 2013. He has led Paul VI to a 20-5 record this season. He is averaging 12.2 PPG while shooting 78.7% from the FTL. He has surprisingly made 20 three point attempts this season.
Franklin Howard Has an offer from Virginia Tech. He is a 6'4" 185 lbs Shooting Guard. He is currently ranked 65th Nationally, 12th as a Guard and is the number 3 prospect from Virginia. He is currently seen as being split between Georgetown and Syracuse for his final destination. He had to sit out this season due to an ACL tear so does not have any stats for this season.
Josh Reaves, 6'4" 185 Lbs, the starting shooting guard for Paul VI due to Howards injury is currently ranked 127 Nationally for the class of 2015. He is the 27th best shooting guard and 6th best recruit in Virginia. He does have Tech listed among his interests on 247, but doesn't show an offer. Reaves averaged 12.6 PPG as the leading scorer for the Panthers.
Kevin Dorsey, 6' 170 Lbs is the starting Point guard for this loaded roster. He has an offer from Virginia Tech. He is rated a four star by 247, ranked 94th Nationally, 25th PG, and 4th in the state of VA. He averaged 12.4 PPG this season. His leading school right now would either be Creighton or UConn more than likely but he has given no indication of where he stands.
These four players that if Tech could land them as a group, would be a top 15 recruiting class.
If I were Mike Babcock, this is the checklist I would put together.
After looking at Itrepeter's earlier list of candidates, It looks like Tommy Ammaker would also be a good fit for the list of criteria outlined by French. What do you guys think?
My only concern with Amaker was how he performed at Michigan in a big conference. It wasn't pretty. Right now he is the big fish in a teeny pond in the Ivy League. Not sure if its that he has improved that much as a coach or if he is benefitting from the lesser talent. His teams do play tough defense though.
I also think Amaker's wife is faculty at Harvard, which will make it tough for anyone to pry him away.
The new President of Virginia Tech's wife was a senior faculty member at Purdue and my understanding is that they were able to come to some agreement on her moving to Tech as well. I would imagine they would do the same for the head basketball coach if that was a sticking point.
The majority of the Athletic Department seems to have spouses in the Athletic Department, so that would fit right in here. I'm sure they would accommodate the best they can.
Amaker's wife is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist. She received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Vanderbilt and did her postdoc fellowship at Duke University Medical Center. Impressive.
While I would argue she has a pretty damn good gig right now, she also did at UM. On the surface she would appear to be a talented Doctor that earns her positions wherever her husband goes. If things were to go in that direction, we would be lucky to add both Tommy and Stephanie to the Hokie Family.
Laura Sands was school of Nursing at Purdue, and got all her degrees from Berkeley. Bring #allTheWives to the medical school!