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Lee's out
Mar 11, 2022 10:12:24 GMT -6
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Post by sd4life on Mar 11, 2022 10:12:24 GMT -6
So what are some of the off the court rumors?
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Post by nccyote on Mar 11, 2022 10:26:19 GMT -6
I will jump on the grenade and be the first to put out the obligatory "Ryan Miller to USD" post. I believe he is an assistant at Creighton this year. If we want a good recruiter who is high energy, I think he checks those boxes. However, I know a lot of people with much better connection than I have to USD basketball that say this ship has long since sailed, perhaps in both party's minds.
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Lee's out
Mar 11, 2022 10:41:45 GMT -6
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Post by teamsd on Mar 11, 2022 10:41:45 GMT -6
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yote18
Senior Member
Posts: 536
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Post by yote18 on Mar 11, 2022 10:42:31 GMT -6
I know a few are really defending Lee, and that’s totally fine. But at the end of the day what did he accomplish? If you’re basing his success on smiths please remember that Smith was recruiting to the Dome to start his time at USD, and didn’t inherit a stellar program. But still within 4 years got us to the top 3. Lee inherited a top 2 program and took us to middle of the pack. Lee was set up for success in terms of players, fan buy in was growing, and a still new arena to recruit to. And as others have said the excuse of “he took what he had and made it work” well he’s the reason we have what we have.
Lee was an off the radar hire 4 years ago, and it didn’t pay off. Time to move on. I just hope the next person can get the fan buy in growing again.
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Post by nccyote on Mar 11, 2022 10:45:30 GMT -6
Just started a new thread for candidate discussion, admins can feel free to delete if we'd rather keep the Lee firing and candidates discussion in the same thread.
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Post by caliyote on Mar 11, 2022 11:45:50 GMT -6
Wow! This is really big news and a bit surprising. I have to say my heart goes out to Coach Lee and his family during this difficult time. Only in athletics and maybe politics a person can lose their job and have people willing to criticize and belittle them at their lowest point. It is quite obvious he did not lose his job on his coaching or team performance. Remember Coach Lee had a better conference record than Coach Smith.
Many have been critical of Coach Lee’s recruiting or lack of four year players. This may be a area where some action plans could have been established to improve in that area but surely not bad enough to lose your job. Arguably the three players that turned around the program for Coach Smith were transfers. Mooney, TBH, Carlton Hurst. Tristan and Tyler Peterson were very good complimentary players but not any better than where we currently are now. Stanley I would give Coach Lee all the credit for as he did not play under Coach Smith and he even burned a red shirt year by playing him a minute in mop up time. You do not do that to a player if you think they will be a major contributor in the future. Tyler Hagedorn was also a good recruit but struggled on the defensive end and at times just played horse with the person who he was guarding.
How good of a job is USD? People on the board think we should consistently be going to the NCAA tournament. I do not have any facts in front of me but it is my understanding that we do not charter fly anywhere, we do not have training tables, we do not travel strength coach on road trips for recovery purposes, along with many more travel restrictions that may not always put the athletes in the best position to be successful. If I was guessing I would say that at best we are in the middle of the league in financing our mens program. On the basis of financial support Coach Lee is probably outperforming his job.
Atmosphere and attendance: It sure appeared the support by fans was lacking this year more than ever. Coach P’s team consistently outdraws the men but that has been the case even in Coach Smith’s years. The argument would be win and people will come. Not sure that is the answer! Our football team hosted a playoff game and the attendance was very poor. Women’s basketball had good attendance but not outstanding and nobody can question their culture of winning and connection to the community.
Expectations sure seem high without the finances and support of the fans. Obviously we have great fans but getting 3k fans to every home game or 5k for a big home game completely out of the realm of possibility for a division 1 basketball team?
Next coach: with the limitations we currently face I think fans need to be realistic on who would be willing to accept the challenge. This is a great community with great people supporting it and is a wonderful opportunity for the right person. Some interesting names have been thrown out, some who are realistic and some who are probably dreams. If I was making a prediction I would say Eric Peterson from Utah would be a home run and a safe pick. Lots of people thought he was ready when Coach Smith left for Utah. Who knows he might have been our Eric Henderson. With the success Coach Lee has at USD and the obstacles he faced daily it is obvious he was not let go on his coaching performance. If he was, not many people will want this job,and despite its shortcomings it is still a desirable job.
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Post by kiyoat on Mar 11, 2022 11:46:31 GMT -6
As for the reason, Zach Dosch (Sportscaster) was giving some vague hints. Nothing very clear, but I thought I'd share anyway.
...Of course "Extra-curricular" could refer to all manner of infractions. Infidelity, tampering/cheating (recruiting or adademic), fighting/arguing with the wrong people, or misconduct of any kind, really.
If Dosch isn't going to spill it, he should probably just shut up about it. He kinda comes off as a little girl "I've got a secret....".
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Post by usdguy99 on Mar 11, 2022 11:50:16 GMT -6
Here are names that could be in the mix: Austin Hansen (currently unemployed after Milwaukee coaching not staff not retained)- Does he want to get closer to home? Does he want to be a head coach or higher level asst? Craig Doty (Emporia State HC)- SD native and lower level HC with nice winning percentage Armon Gates (Nebraska Asst)- Chicago native, Big 10 and SEC asst. coaching experience, recruiting responsibilities at most of the schools he was at Saul Philips (Northern State HC)- Former HC at NDSU & Ohio and knows the Summit. Sundance Wicks (Wyoming Asst)- Northern State alum, HC experience at Missouri Western
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Post by kiyoat on Mar 11, 2022 11:52:17 GMT -6
... If I was guessing I would say that at best we are in the middle of the league in financing our mens program. On the basis of financial support Coach Lee is probably outperforming his job. Not sure about the program as a whole, but Coach Lee had a competitive salary compared to the conference average. I believe it was 3rd or 4th best in the league, as I remember. Your other points are valid. Just wanted to correct this one point. He wasn't being underpaid. And he had some of the best facilities in the league to recruit to.
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Post by dakotadump on Mar 11, 2022 11:53:29 GMT -6
Coach Brian Cooley needs to be looked at. Coached with Nagy at SDSU and Wright State. Current assistant at Colorado State which is having a phenomenal year. Originally from Omaha.
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Post by coyoterj on Mar 11, 2022 12:22:58 GMT -6
Bruce Weber from Kansas State is unemployed right now.
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yote18
Senior Member
Posts: 536
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Post by yote18 on Mar 11, 2022 14:30:21 GMT -6
As a few others said, and I agree, this seems planned. And it got me thinking, (fair warning I’m just going down a rabbit hole and have no inside info at all) the coaching stepped up towards the end of the season and we all just said well they’re finally buying in. What if Lee knew this was coming for a while now and was just hoping that a run in the tournament or at the end of the season would change Herbsters mind?
Lots of questions to be answered…
Was Lee told his time is up before the season was over? Is there a new coach waiting in the wings? What happened that the administration wanted him out so quickly? Will we ever know? (Not likely)
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yote18
Senior Member
Posts: 536
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Lee's out
Mar 11, 2022 14:36:37 GMT -6
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Post by yote18 on Mar 11, 2022 14:36:37 GMT -6
Bruce Weber from Kansas State is unemployed right now. He did say he hoped for the opportunity to continue coaching when he resigned. His records in the big12 were average at K state, but i think he’d be able to do decent in the summit. Being 65 I doubt he’s looking for a long term gig, so a 5 year stint to rebuild wouldn’t be a bad option and one he’d maybe consider.
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Lee's out
Mar 11, 2022 18:14:54 GMT -6
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Post by irishyote on Mar 11, 2022 18:14:54 GMT -6
Coach P will have suitors every year. It's just a matter of time before the opportunity and the $$ are too good to turn down. I guess I expect her to wait till AJ graduates and Michigan comes calling…… It’s home for her and a trebling of her salary would make it pretty tough to turn down…
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Lee's out
Mar 11, 2022 18:22:18 GMT -6
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Post by irishyote on Mar 11, 2022 18:22:18 GMT -6
So what are some of the off the court rumors? This has been referenced by Zim at AL and others in many forums but I’ve not heard anything concrete. He was an outspoken opponent of comparatively mild SD Covid protocols, but right-leaning views of the world don’t get people fired- certainly not in SD. Rumblings of compliance issues come up maybe because of traction and maybe because of projection- not sure. I felt like he was a very good X/O’s coach, wasn’t a top recruiter though, and wasn’t known to be at GCU before the whole group was bounced there either. I don’t care how local someone is- can they recruit at places where strong HS talent would come to USD? That’s my bigger interest.
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