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New Asst. (to the) Head Coach


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After successful stints with North Dakota State and Eastern Washington, Giacoletti was named the head coach of the University of Utah Utes. He replaced the legendary Rick Majerus, who retired in the middle of the 2003–2004 season. In his three seasons at Utah, Giacoletti led Utah to a 54–40 (.574) record.

In Giacoletti's first season, the Utes went 29–6 (.829) and won the Mountain West Conference regular season championship. After beating UTEP in the first round, the 6th seeded Utes upset 3rd seeded Oklahoma in the 2nd round to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16. It was the school's first Sweet 16 since the 1998 season, when Utah finished as the NCAA runner-up to Kentucky. Ironically, it was Kentucky who would beat Utah once again, ending the 2nd winningest season in school history.

During Giacoletti's tenure, Andrew Bogut was named the John R. Wooden Award winner[2] and became the #1 draft pick in the 2005 NBA draft – joining fellow University of Utah student-athlete Alex Smith as the only time that two athletes from the same school were selected #1 in their respective drafts in the same year. Giacoletti was named the 2005 Mountain West Coach of the Year, after guiding the Utes to a 13–1 conference record, the best record in conference history.

Giacoletti's second season was dramatically different from his first. Gone was All-American Andrew Bogut, starting point guard Marc Jackson graduated, Justin Hawkins decided to transfer to New Mexico State and Richard Chaney transferred to Troy State, all major players in Utah's Sweet 16 run the season before. The Utes struggled with a young team and finished with the school's first losing record since the 1989 season, with a record of 14–15.

Giacoletti's third season saw a further decline and the Utes had their worst season since 1983–84 (11–19). His approval rating among fans plummeted and many Ute fans sought his resignation. There were even a few anti-Giacoletti web sites that popped up including Giacolettimustgo.com. A day before Utah's final regular season game, versus conference rival BYU, he resigned as Head Basketball coach effective at the end of the season.[3]

At Drake, Giacoletti's teams got worse each season, just as at Utah (based on won-loss records). He resigned after 3+ seasons at Drake with a 32–69 record.

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In other words, he was to Utah what Jim Crews was to SLU.  He's knowledgeable about basketball strategy but is wanting when it comes to developing a program (and recruiting to plan) and in relating to younger players.  Just the kind of guy for a head coach to bend the ears of about plays (and game planning) but have no responsibility for recruiting or managing an actual game.

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2 hours ago, Speyburn said:

After successful stints with North Dakota State and Eastern Washington, Giacoletti was named the head coach of the University of Utah Utes. He replaced the legendary Rick Majerus, who retired in the middle of the 2003–2004 season. In his three seasons at Utah, Giacoletti led Utah to a 54–40 (.574) record.

In Giacoletti's first season, the Utes went 29–6 (.829) and won the Mountain West Conference regular season championship. After beating UTEP in the first round, the 6th seeded Utes upset 3rd seeded Oklahoma in the 2nd round to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16. It was the school's first Sweet 16 since the 1998 season, when Utah finished as the NCAA runner-up to Kentucky. Ironically, it was Kentucky who would beat Utah once again, ending the 2nd winningest season in school history.

During Giacoletti's tenure, Andrew Bogut was named the John R. Wooden Award winner[2] and became the #1 draft pick in the 2005 NBA draft – joining fellow University of Utah student-athlete Alex Smith as the only time that two athletes from the same school were selected #1 in their respective drafts in the same year. Giacoletti was named the 2005 Mountain West Coach of the Year, after guiding the Utes to a 13–1 conference record, the best record in conference history.

Giacoletti's second season was dramatically different from his first. Gone was All-American Andrew Bogut, starting point guard Marc Jackson graduated, Justin Hawkins decided to transfer to New Mexico State and Richard Chaney transferred to Troy State, all major players in Utah's Sweet 16 run the season before. The Utes struggled with a young team and finished with the school's first losing record since the 1989 season, with a record of 14–15.

Giacoletti's third season saw a further decline and the Utes had their worst season since 1983–84 (11–19). His approval rating among fans plummeted and many Ute fans sought his resignation. There were even a few anti-Giacoletti web sites that popped up including Giacolettimustgo.com. A day before Utah's final regular season game, versus conference rival BYU, he resigned as Head Basketball coach effective at the end of the season.[3]

At Drake, Giacoletti's teams got worse each season, just as at Utah (based on won-loss records). He resigned after 3+ seasons at Drake with a 32–69 record.

This does not sound good to me.

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Every team needs a guy who can help teach and take care of the mundane.  This guy clearly has the experience to do that but is not a recruiter.  It is not like he will be recruiting and coaching the games.  You can find lots of guys like him on teams doing just this kind of stuff.

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old guy,   ford and his staff are all primarily recruiters.   i contend ford's biggest weakness thus far as the head coach is x's and o's.    giacolleti is reputed to be all x's and o's and likely has no interest in recruiting as he has failed twice as a head coach reportedly because of his poor recruiting.   it sounds to me like this is a perfect fit to the staff assuming he is truly allowed input in the way the current roster is practicing and playing and suggesting style of play etc.   

Major Majerus and SLU_Lax like this
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I really like the hire and like the idea of this position in general. Like someone mentioned above, some coaches don't quite have the ability to successfully run a program, but that experience sitting in the seat is big and can be a rather valuable resource for a head coach to lean on.

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1 hour ago, dennis_w said:

Coach ford has this program trending upwards and has made good hiring decisions along the way. if he wants him i am all in

Exactly my sentiments.

Old guy, I think you should write a sternly worded letter to Coach Ford laying out exactly what you think is wrong with this hire. And tell him you are on record as not liking it.

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I'm supportive of the hire at first I was skeptical given all his Western US experience.  However,  it appears much of his experience is in the Mid-west.  Also that might be moot if he has no recruiting duties.   Gonzaga is a first rate program and he has years of assistant experience there so that is a good apples to apples comparison to SLU, it's even Jesuit.

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2 hours ago, Pistol said:

Good hire. Strong resume for this position. He replaces Chris Tifft, who went to Central Michigan. Here's his Twitter account, for anyone who likes following the coaches.

This. 

This guy isn’t being hired to recruit. His position probably doesn’t even allow him to travel to recruit. He’s there to offer experience in dealing with day to day stuff. 

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As we talked about on the podcast, there is not much that Giacolleti can do to hurt this program quite honestly. It is Travis Ford's team, he is the decision maker. He is going to be a guy who helps get the most out of players in practice, maybe a voice of reason when someone like Ford or Tate is making life hell. Simply put, Giacolleti is not going to bring about the downfall of SLU men's basketball. Comes with a good pedigree of experience at bigger schools.

An interesting side note, Giacolleti has been doing color commentary for college sports between his time at Drake and his hiring by SLU for anyone interested in learning more.

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