2024 SLU Men's Basketball Head Coaching Search

[brianstl]

If Cronin gets fired, I don't think there is any chance that SLU could land him.  He has a huge buyout.  He can afford to sit and wait until what he believes is the perfect job for him.

[TheA_Bomb]

1 minute ago, brianstl said:

If Cronin gets fired, I don't think there is any chance that SLU could land him.  He has a huge buyout.  He can afford to sit and wait until what he believes is the perfect job for him.

SLU is an attractive job. The support is there, the facilities the location decent conference. Get to the tournament 3x and we'll build a statue of you.

[brianstl]

25 minutes ago, TheA_Bomb said:

SLU is an attractive job. The support is there, the facilities the location decent conference. Get to the tournament 3x and we'll build a statue of you.

I think there are a bunch of really good candidates SLU could get.  I just don't think Cronin is one of them.  Let's just say he does get axed at UCLA after the season and the Ohio St. job would open up, is he picking SLU or OSU?  I think jobs like the OSU job would be what Cronin would hold out for.

[3star_recruit]

41 minutes ago, brianstl said:

I think there are a bunch of really good candidates SLU could get.  I just don't think Cronin is one of them.  Let's just say he does get axed at UCLA after the season and the Ohio St. job would open up, is he picking SLU or OSU?  I think jobs like the OSU job would be what Cronin would hold out for.

Exactly.  And the coach he would replace -- in this example, Chris Holtmann -- would be a guy we would have a legitimate shot at.

[Old guy]

As far as Yuri Collins goes, I think Ford gave him way to much freedom in the court which lead to losses. That is my opinion. As far as how good Yuri really was, I would suggest to follow his professional career and let the NBA to decide whether he belongs in their ranks like Goodwin, or not. I wish him well, but do not see the utility of discussing what is water under the bridge.

[willie]

Speaking of Goodwin I see his minutes are being cut recently. Is it purely a result of Beal being able to play or has someone else on the bench getting the time?

[VeniceMenace]

On 1/8/2024 at 7:57 PM, slufan13 said:

How long until someone says today's social media antics hurts our recruiting or coaching search 

Was that a personal attack?!?!?!

[cheeseman]

1 hour ago, willie said:

Speaking of Goodwin I see his minutes are being cut recently. Is it purely a result of Beal being able to play or has someone else on the bench getting the time?

I think their plan always to do this once Beal returned

[Billikenfan]

Ahearn would be a home run hire IMO… Relationships locally. Would do a great job recruiting our home base and beyond. Background is off the charts from playing and coaching. NBA relationships would help bring kids into the program. Won a G-League champ as a HC. If he wanted the position I would go “all in”. Could see him staying and building it for the long run

[TaLBErt]

45 minutes ago, Billikenfan said:

Ahearn would be a home run hire IMO… Relationships locally. Would do a great job recruiting our home base and beyond. Background is off the charts from playing and coaching. NBA relationships would help bring kids into the program. Won a G-League champ as a HC. If he wanted the position I would go “all in”. Could see him staying and building it for the long run

Agreed. I don't want a retread. I want someone with something to prove. That's the formula for success for programs like SLU. Who cares if they leave us for something bigger down the road? If that happens, the Billikens will have seen major success. However, in the case of Ahearn, St. Louis is home, and leaving might not be that appealing. I'd be willing to roll the dice for a chance at finding our Mark Few.

 

[slu92]

43 minutes ago, Billikenfan said:

Ahearn would be a home run hire IMO… Relationships locally. Would do a great job recruiting our home base and beyond. Background is off the charts from playing and coaching. NBA relationships would help bring kids into the program. Won a G-League champ as a HC. If he wanted the position I would go “all in”. Could see him staying and building it for the long run

Zero chance a young, up and coming coach in NBA would even consider the SLU job. It would be a huge boost for program, recruiting and NIL but I don’t see a guy like that going to SLU to work for Chris May. Cronin and Mack too. Ahearn is always being mentioned as one of the top under 40 up and coming future NBA coaches list.  Also heard he turned down the Mo State job that went to Dana Ford and he played there too. Last year didn't even take interview with Wichita State to stay at Memphis. Again why SLU? lol 

[slu92]

15 minutes ago, TaLBErt said:

Agreed. I don't want a retread. I want someone with something to prove. That's the formula for success for programs like SLU. Who cares if they leave us for something bigger down the road? If that happens, the Billikens will have seen major success. However, in the case of Ahearn, St. Louis is home, and leaving might not be that appealing. I'd be willing to roll the dice for a chance at finding our Mark Few.

 

100% agree if you can get our Mark Few at SLU this makes sense. Not many guys go from high school coach to G League to NBA without being good at what they do. If guy wants to stay at slu long term and live here then that does make sense. However, I just don’t see it happening. NBA coaches are being paid small fortunes, no recruiting, no NIL, transfer portals to deal with. Again agree it would be a dream hire, on par with a Mack or Cronin but I don’t see it happening. Big East assistant or P5 assistant is more realistic, just be prepared for that guy to leave for a better opportunity one day. That or another retread like Travis, can see Chris May hiring Tubby Smith and thinking he just out smarted entire world. Scary but true. More realistic Ford is given a lifetime contract by Chris May and Fred. 

[TaLBErt]

4 minutes ago, slu92 said:

Zero chance a young, up and coming coach in NBA would even consider the SLU job. It would be a huge boost for program, recruiting and NIL but I don’t see a guy like that going to SLU to work for Chris May. Cronin and Mack too. Ahearn is always being mentioned as one of the top under 40 up and coming future NBA coaches list.  Also heard he turned down the Mo State job that went to Dana Ford and he played there too. Last year didn't even take interview with Wichita State to stay at Memphis. Again why SLU? lol 

I'd argue that there is at least a slightly better than zero percent chance. In the video I posted, Ahearn mentions that any time you get the chance to be a head coach, you take it. He seems like a family man, and St. Louis is home. MO State is 3 hours away from STL.

Stranger things have happened. Personally, my hopes are up.

[TaLBErt]

4 minutes ago, slu92 said:

100% agree if you can get our Mark Few at SLU this makes sense. Not many guys go from high school coach to G League to NBA without being good at what they do. If guy wants to stay at slu long term and live here then that does make sense. However, I just don’t see it happening. NBA coaches are being paid small fortunes, no recruiting, no NIL, transfer portals to deal with. Again agree it would be a dream hire, on par with a Mack or Cronin but I don’t see it happening. Big East assistant or P5 assistant is more realistic, just be prepared for that guy to leave for a better opportunity one day. That or another retread like Travis, can see Chris May hiring Tubby Smith and thinking he just out smarted entire world. Scary but true. More realistic Ford is given a lifetime contract by Chris May and Fred. 

Hey, I'm with you. It's tough being a Billiken fan and history would point to you being exactly right. However, I choose optimism on this snowy Sunday morning. I'm going to cling to that, at least for today. 

[TheChosenOne]

I clicked on this somewhat rolling my eyes, but hearing the interview and thinking through his background, if we do make a coaching change I would like to see Blake considered. At least gauge his interest and get a sense for how he would approach building the program. Typically I would prefer someone who has run a college program, but with NIL and the transfer portal changing the landscape a bit, consider this an intriguing name to me. There could be value in a guy who has that pro experience with regards to how professional teams run things from the top down as that might become more of the model at the college level.

[brianstl]

24 minutes ago, slu92 said:

Zero chance a young, up and coming coach in NBA would even consider the SLU job. It would be a huge boost for program, recruiting and NIL but I don’t see a guy like that going to SLU to work for Chris May. Cronin and Mack too. Ahearn is always being mentioned as one of the top under 40 up and coming future NBA coaches list.  Also heard he turned down the Mo State job that went to Dana Ford and he played there too. Last year didn't even take interview with Wichita State to stay at Memphis. Again why SLU? lol 

Ahearn is interested in the job.

[TheChosenOne]

44 minutes ago, brianstl said:

Ahearn is interested in the job.

Within the past half hour I went from why would we consider him to being quite intrigued. It is an interesting option that I would like to see explored whenever we move on Ford.

[SLU_Nick]

1 hour ago, Billikenfan said:

Ahearn would be a home run hire IMO… Relationships locally. Would do a great job recruiting our home base and beyond. Background is off the charts from playing and coaching. NBA relationships would help bring kids into the program. Won a G-League champ as a HC. If he wanted the position I would go “all in”. Could see him staying and building it for the long run

Welcome to the board Blake.  
 

As long as you don’t get thoroughly out coached regularly I’ll add you to my list of potential SLU coaches.  I want a splash though.  
 

maybe we do splash Jim Boeheim-like hire and then you are assistant coach in waiting and take reigns in 2 years.  Need splash hire so that we first stabilize the program to make sure we don’t slip to D2. 

NIL bag needs to be healthy for portal guys this spring.  

[Billikenbooster]

1 hour ago, slu92 said:

Zero chance a young, up and coming coach in NBA would even consider the SLU job. It would be a huge boost for program, recruiting and NIL but I don’t see a guy like that going to SLU to work for Chris May. Cronin and Mack too. Ahearn is always being mentioned as one of the top under 40 up and coming future NBA coaches list.  Also heard he turned down the Mo State job that went to Dana Ford and he played there too. Last year didn't even take interview with Wichita State to stay at Memphis. Again why SLU? lol 

$$$&

[VeniceMenace]

2 hours ago, brianstl said:

Ahearn is interested in the job.

Prefer the F’er from Minnesota. Uncle Sodaberger assistant coach and lead recruiter.

[VeniceMenace]

1 hour ago, VeniceMenace said:

Prefer the F’er from Minnesota. Uncle Sodaberger assistant coach and lead recruiter.

Darren Clarke! Uncle Brad passed on Ahearn and Josh Harrelson.

[cheeseman]

1 hour ago, VeniceMenace said:

Darren Clarke! Uncle Brad passed on Ahearn and Josh Harrelson.

He did not pass on Harrelson.  He wanted him but Josh picked KY.  Brad thought he had him but Josh wanted to go on a trip for fun to KY and surprise surprise something happened that changed his mind - wonder the pix we saw of him drinking with pretty KY coeds hanging on him had anything to do with it.  Brad did tell him not to sign early but he did with Western IL.  Brad probably screwed that up but he wanted to look around a bit and get him the spring but it was not to be.

[billikenfan05]

4 minutes ago, cheeseman said:

He did not pass on Harrelson.  He wanted him but Josh picked KY.  Brad thought he had him but Josh wanted to go on a trip for fun to KY and surprise surprise something happened that changed his mind - wonder the pix we saw of him drinking with pretty KY coeds hanging on him had anything to do with it.  Brad did tell him not to sign early but he did with Western IL.  Brad probably screwed that up but he wanted to look around a bit and get him the spring but it was not to be.

Went to high school with the kid for a couple years before he transferred who went with JH as a walk on “package deal”. Good player, was bizarre to see him on the bench at Kentucky. 

[billikenfan05]

Great coaches come out of all different places, going with Ahearn would be a HELL of a risk but the potential is there. 

[slu92]

1 hour ago, billikenfan05 said:

Great coaches come out of all different places, going with Ahearn would be a HELL of a risk but the potential is there. 

Totally agree with everything. Very high risk, but IF you get a young guy who actually wants to be and stay long term at SLU. How do you not consider it? Earlier I said no way he’d come, I still can’t imagine a guy leaving nba for A10, BUT if it’s for like family reasons or lifestyle and genuinely wanted to be at SLU….it could work. Guy worked his tail off, knows area, coached locally, played nba and Europe, coached G League, NBA coach, young offensive guy. If we didn’t have NIL and transfers, I’d say no way without college experience but now…any coach we get needs NIL and I’d think having a young coach from nba would appeal to recruits in 2024. I just don’t want another retread who became famous from in the 20th century. If Chris May isn’t fired I’d tell Steve Kerr stay away from slu if he wanted the job!