2024 SLU Men's Basketball Head Coaching Search

[ACE]

I have no doubt that the reports of SLU's interest in Mack and Schertz are credible - they are from a good source (not the of the Ahearn BS variety), BUT I question how attractive the SLU job is in today's college basketball environment to those candidates. They figure to be on a lot of wish lists. Good facilities and nice pay, but it's getting harder for the mid-majors. Not sure Schertz would leave from what is typically a one-bid league to another. Also, I would think Mack could land a P6 job. Hope I'm pleasantly surprised and we get one.

A more realistic target may be a guy like Alan Huss - currently 22-7 at High Point. He's only been there one season, but some Midwest connections - played and was an assistant at Creighton,  and is from Decatur, IL.  He's in the SoCon - same league where they had some success getting the women's coach from. And, if you are looking for a situation where you could also poach some players to quickly rebuild your team, this is an interesting roster. A lot of very productive players and not one senior among their core. Plus, a very intriguing freshman 7-footer who is averaging 9rpg and nearly 2bpg.

  https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/stats/_/id/2272

 

[cgeldmacher]

2 hours ago, brianstl said:

My top two would be McCollum and Schertz.  I favor McCollum slightly over Schertz, but I can convince myself Schertz is the better hire.  Then Mack and Moser, either would be great hire. 

Because of the pieces he would potentially bring with him, Schertz would be the guy that would offer you the best guarantee of having a tournament team next season out of any of the candidates.  I think it is probably tougher for any other candidate to build a tourney roster that could gel that quick.  I think there is just a huge advantage to being able to bring 4 or more guys along with the coach.  They all don't even have to be stars or all even starters, but it just helps so much in setting the culture and helps everyone else understand what the coach wants.  It paid off for Mizzou with Gates and the Cleveland St. guys last season.  Schertz has a better and younger roster at ISU that you can build from than Gates.  Robbie Avila alone is worth the price of admission and is a future All-American, IMO.

McCollum is my top choice because in the new world of NIL, you hire the best basketball mind to coach your team and worry far less about the coach's ability to recruit at a high level.  I think McCollum is the best basketball mind we can hire.  We aren't talking about Kim Anderson and we shouldn't be worried if he can recruit at this level.  Give me the guy that has had the best run of any coach at any level of NCAA basketball since John Wooden.  Give me the guy that can spot the talent in Justin Pitts, Ryan Hawkins and Trevor Hudgins that every D1 coached missed.  Give me the guy that keeps losing talent like that to graduation or transferring Creighton, but just keeps piling up the victories year after year. 

Here are my concerns with McCollum and Schertz.  Division II players and D-I players necessary to win a MVC title without really beating anyone of note outside of the MVC, are coachable on a different level than they guys you need to recruit and then coach to be a Top 25 D-I program.  Mack knows how to recruit and coach at a Top 25 level.

[slufan13]

I think anything outside the SEC, Big 12, Big 10, Big East, ACC is a much harder sell than it was even 12 months ago. I am fine with SLU being a springboard for a bigger job for candidates though (would maybe apply to Schertz but not Mack). And as backwards as it sounds, the contract given to Ford should appeal to candidates. To get that kind of money/years/security after one NCAA run should make us more marketable. Ford had some other solid years in there but if you aren't dancing and still getting that kind of security, it's pretty impressive. To be the highest paid coach in A10 history having never won the league is pretty appealing. And I'm guessing the next coach will be pretty well paid too unless SLU is going to budget shop. 

[billikenfan05]

1 minute ago, slufan13 said:

I think anything outside the SEC, Big 12, Big 10, Big East, ACC is a much harder sell than it was even 12 months ago. I am fine with SLU being a springboard for a bigger job for candidates though (would maybe apply to Schertz but not Mack). And as backwards as it sounds, the contract given to Ford should appeal to candidates. To get that kind of money/years/security after one NCAA run should make us more marketable. Ford had some other solid years in there but if you aren't dancing and still getting that kind of security, it's pretty impressive. To be the highest paid coach in A10 history having never won the league is pretty appealing. And I'm guessing the next coach will be pretty well paid too unless SLU is going to budget shop. 

I think SLU is as attractive job as much as the next coach wants to work for Chris May. I think it's a top 5 non-P5 job in a vacuum. 

[slu72]

2 hours ago, brianstl said:

My top two would be McCollum and Schertz.  I favor McCollum slightly over Schertz, but I can convince myself Schertz is the better hire.  Then Mack and Moser, either would be great hire. 

Because of the pieces he would potentially bring with him, Schertz would be the guy that would offer you the best guarantee of having a tournament team next season out of any of the candidates.  I think it is probably tougher for any other candidate to build a tourney roster that could gel that quick.  I think there is just a huge advantage to being able to bring 4 or more guys along with the coach.  They all don't even have to be stars or all even starters, but it just helps so much in setting the culture and helps everyone else understand what the coach wants.  It paid off for Mizzou with Gates and the Cleveland St. guys last season.  Schertz has a better and younger roster at ISU that you can build from than Gates.  Robbie Avila alone is worth the price of admission and is a future All-American, IMO.

McCollum is my top choice because in the new world of NIL, you hire the best basketball mind to coach your team and worry far less about the coach's ability to recruit at a high level.  I think McCollum is the best basketball mind we can hire.  We aren't talking about Kim Anderson and we shouldn't be worried if he can recruit at this level.  Give me the guy that has had the best run of any coach at any level of NCAA basketball since John Wooden.  Give me the guy that can spot the talent in Justin Pitts, Ryan Hawkins and Trevor Hudgins that every D1 coached missed.  Give me the guy that keeps losing talent like that to graduation or transferring Creighton, but just keeps piling up the victories year after year. 

What guarantee can Schertz provide that Avila will follow him? If he’s that good wouldn’t the portal look attractive to him? An All American in the portal’s basically goona be handed a blank check. He may indeed love Schertz but more than a pot full of gold? 

[billikenfan05]

1 minute ago, slu72 said:

What guarantee can Schertz provide that Avila will follow him? If he’s that good wouldn’t the portal look attractive to him? An All American in the portal’s basically goona be handed a blank check. He may indeed love Schertz but more than a pot full of gold? 

I realize this is a message board and splitting hairs is what it's all about. Even if Avila doesn't want to follow Schertz, he's a symbol of a JS being a guy that recruits to a system not just out there grabbing best available and figuring it out on the fly. 

[billiken_roy]

11 minutes ago, cgeldmacher said:

Here are my concerns with McCollum and Schertz.  Division II players and D-I players necessary to win a MVC title without really beating anyone of note outside of the MVC, are coachable on a different level than they guys you need to recruit and then coach to be a Top 25 D-I program.  Mack knows how to recruit and coach at a Top 25 level.

im too lazy to look it up, but who of substance did mccollum and schertz get the opportunity to beat? knowing how none of the big boys will typically play slu (what do we have to gain?  grrrrrrr) im guessing they didnt get any opportunities.   particularly mccollum who would be playing up one division.   the big boys definitely dont want to play a top D2 team especially at the onset of the season.  

all coaches start somewhere and as ive pointed out a number of times, one of the biggest b!tches i read on this board all year about ford was his big salary.   but now you want to hire a big salary instead of saving maybe a million plus to gain a higher aclaimed floor, practice and development coach and be able to use more money in the portal?

[Old guy]

3 hours ago, TheA_Bomb said:

However it gets done. Yes they don't have to actually do it but it needs to happen in the organization.

I just do not trust May as someone that is capable to do what needs to be done.

[Old guy]

13 minutes ago, slu72 said:

What guarantee can Schertz provide that Avila will follow him? If he’s that good wouldn’t the portal look attractive to him? An All American in the portal’s basically goona be handed a blank check. He may indeed love Schertz but more than a pot full of gold? 

It is not love if what you want is a pot full of gold. 

[willie]

1 hour ago, RamJAMTIME said:

And how do transferring players work with our NIL? I thought SLU's plan was to use the BVF for players that stick with SLU for multiple years, not to entice players (like every other university).

So if that was the plan How did that work? 

[VeniceMenace]

3 hours ago, slufan13 said:

Mack would be great. I understand the concerns of him being out of the game in the biggest change in NCAA history and needing to be a part of a rebuild. But it is easier to rebuild in this environment. He's probably my #2 behind Schertz at this point but any of the top 3 or 4 are pretty interchangeable. 

If tonight on the inbounds pass Medley bonks the ball on Holmes's face, guarantee Mack is coming.

[ACE]

The more I dig in about Huss, the more I like. 

https://nsjonline.com/article/2024/01/leap-of-faith-alan-huss-building-a-winner-at-high-point/

The part I'm really impressed about is how quickly he was able to assemble a roster and work the portal...

He brought in 11 newcomers, and Huss clearly has an eye for talent. High Point’s top two scorers, Duke Miles and Kimani Hamilton, transferred from Troy and Mississippi State, respectively. Their third-leading scorer, Kezza Giffa, came from junior college, and Trae Benham, another double-figure scorer, transferred from Lipscomb.

Freshman 7-footer Juslin Bodo Bodo has been one of the biggest surprises in the class of 2023, coming from seemingly nowhere to win the Big South freshman of the week award five times already this season.

 

[brianstl]

2 minutes ago, VeniceMenace said:

If tonight on the inbounds pass Medley bonks the ball on Holmes's face, guarantee Mack is coming.

This is a deep cut.  

[slufan13]

4 minutes ago, ACE said:

The more I dig in about Huss, the more I like. 

https://nsjonline.com/article/2024/01/leap-of-faith-alan-huss-building-a-winner-at-high-point/

The part I'm really impressed about is how quickly he was able to assemble a roster and work the portal...

He brought in 11 newcomers, and Huss clearly has an eye for talent. High Point’s top two scorers, Duke Miles and Kimani Hamilton, transferred from Troy and Mississippi State, respectively. Their third-leading scorer, Kezza Giffa, came from junior college, and Trae Benham, another double-figure scorer, transferred from Lipscomb.

Freshman 7-footer Juslin Bodo Bodo has been one of the biggest surprises in the class of 2023, coming from seemingly nowhere to win the Big South freshman of the week award five times already this season.

 

He or others like him are a good move if you want to keep the basketball budget the same but greatly enhance the NIL program. Or if boosters/BOT say we are on a tighter budget after such a large buyout. And I'm not opposed to getting a good floor coach and letting NIL do the recruiting. Just depends on what guys like Schertz or even Kerns are looking for. I assume Mack is looking for the moon. 

[slufan13]

1 hour ago, ACE said:

I have no doubt that the reports of SLU's interest in Mack and Schertz are credible - they are from a good source (not the of the Ahearn BS variety), BUT I question how attractive the SLU job is in today's college basketball environment to those candidates. They figure to be on a lot of wish lists. Good facilities and nice pay, but it's getting harder for the mid-majors. Not sure Schertz would leave from what is typically a one-bid league to another. Also, I would think Mack could land a P6 job. Hope I'm pleasantly surprised and we get one.

A more realistic target may be a guy like Alan Huss - currently 22-7 at High Point. He's only been there one season, but some Midwest connections - played and was an assistant at Creighton,  and is from Decatur, IL.  He's in the SoCon - same league where they had some success getting the women's coach from. And, if you are looking for a situation where you could also poach some players to quickly rebuild your team, this is an interesting roster. A lot of very productive players and not one senior among their core. Plus, a very intriguing freshman 7-footer who is averaging 9rpg and nearly 2bpg.

  https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/stats/_/id/2272

 

I've actually watched probably 5 or 6 High Point games this year because I've been betting on them as they frequently cover the spread. They're kind of entertaining. Really good and efficient offense (better than ours by all metrics) and pretty bad defense (still better than ours by all metrics). Their offense plays with decent tempo but it's also just pretty smooth flowing and they get open looks. It would be interesting to see how he'd do with an even better roster. 

[ACE]

4 minutes ago, slufan13 said:

I've actually watched probably 5 or 6 High Point games this year because I've been betting on them as they frequently cover the spread. They're kind of entertaining. Really good and efficient offense (better than ours by all metrics) and pretty bad defense (still better than ours by all metrics). Their offense plays with decent tempo but it's also just pretty smooth flowing and they get open looks. It would be interesting to see how he'd do with an even better roster. 

Thanks for the insight. It's impressive how quickly he was able to build a roster from a team that was 14-17 and losing their best players. Being able to build a roster that quickly is a crucial skill in today's game. Plus, his experience at Creighton also demonstrates that he knows how to recruit at a high level at a private school in the Midwest.

[slufan13]

1 minute ago, ACE said:

Thanks for the insight. It's impressive how quickly he was able to build a roster from a team that was 14-17 and losing their best players. Being able to build a roster that quickly is a crucial skill in today's game. Plus, his experience at Creighton also demonstrates that he knows how to recruit at a high level at a private school in the Midwest.

Can't say I know anything about their coach but I definitely like the team. I prefer a Mack or Schertz or Kerns (apparently there's mutual interest there although I think he has better geographical fits) but he'd be a very interesting name if we get priced out or bullied out of the top guys.

[slufan13]

2 minutes ago, slufan13 said:

Can't say I know anything about their coach but I definitely like the team. I prefer a Mack or Schertz or Kerns (apparently there's mutual interest there although I think he has better geographical fits) but he'd be a very interesting name if we get priced out or bullied out of the top guys.

They do run "the weave" a decent amount though so I know that's a big red flag on this board.

[ACE]

4 minutes ago, slufan13 said:

Can't say I know anything about their coach but I definitely like the team. I prefer a Mack or Schertz or Kerns (apparently there's mutual interest there although I think he has better geographical fits) but he'd be a very interesting name if we get priced out or bullied out of the top guys.

Here's his bio. Has been given credit for helping develop bigs, including Kalkbrenner. Earlier I said born in Decatur, he actually grew up in KC, but still from the Midwest region. Daughter plays at Truman State, so this would get him closer.

https://highpointpanthers.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coaches/alan-huss/1538

[slufan13]

2 minutes ago, ACE said:

Here's his bio. Has been given credit for helping develop bigs, including Kalkbrenner. Earlier I said born in Decatur, he actually grew up in KC, but still from the Midwest region. Daughter plays at Truman State, so this would get him closer.

https://highpointpanthers.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coaches/alan-huss/1538

Going from Travis Ford to the 6'9 Alan Huss would also be interesting. 

[NextYearBill]

Mack.

[JettFlight5]

1 hour ago, slufan13 said:

I think anything outside the SEC, Big 12, Big 10, Big East, ACC is a much harder sell than it was even 12 months ago. I am fine with SLU being a springboard for a bigger job for candidates though (would maybe apply to Schertz but not Mack). And as backwards as it sounds, the contract given to Ford should appeal to candidates. To get that kind of money/years/security after one NCAA run should make us more marketable. Ford had some other solid years in there but if you aren't dancing and still getting that kind of security, it's pretty impressive. To be the highest paid coach in A10 history having never won the league is pretty appealing. And I'm guessing the next coach will be pretty well paid too unless SLU is going to budget shop. 

I agree with this quite a bit. I don't think SLU is all that attractive right now. Horrible AD and a 200ish NET team will probably hurt quite a bit. On the plus side, SLU has very strong facilities, money to make improvements, and a galling lack of accountability for performance. 

[Soderball]

1 hour ago, slu72 said:

What guarantee can Schertz provide that Avila will follow him? If he’s that good wouldn’t the portal look attractive to him? An All American in the portal’s basically goona be handed a blank check. He may indeed love Schertz but more than a pot full of gold? 

Why did Jimerson and Parker waste their time coming back here?

 

Players very often follow a coach. Just how it is. Parker especially has absolutely lost money and wasted his time this year. He could have gotten a medical redshirt. Bad move. Oh well. Too bad CTF and friends were advising him.

[Bilzz]

10 minutes ago, JettFlight5 said:

I agree with this quite a bit. I don't think SLU is all that attractive right now. Horrible AD and a 200ish NET team will probably hurt quite a bit. On the plus side, SLU has very strong facilities, money to make improvements, and a galling lack of accountability for performance. 

I don't think the current team is all that relevant. Anytime there is a coaching change the assumption will be that most of the roster will leave. If you can convince Gibby, Parker, and Ezewiro to return, a new coach bring in a few of their top players at their last stop, and hits gets a solid committment or two in the transfer portal and you'd be in the top couple of the A-10 for next year.

Mack is clearly in my Tier-1 along with Moser and Wade. I like DeVries, McCollum, Schertz, but if you can get a guy of Mack/Moser/Wade's caliber, along with the commitment of resources it would take to land them (NIL money, salary, etc..), I don't think you can pass on that for an up-and-comer.

[Bilzz]

3 minutes ago, Soderball said:

Why did Jimerson and Parker waste their time coming back here?

 

Players very often follow a coach. Just how it is. Parker especially has absolutely lost money and wasted his time this year. He could have gotten a medical redshirt. Bad move. Oh well. Too bad CTF and friends were advising him.

Gibson came back because he got a bag. Parker was not in position to cash in substantially last year. He will be next year. SLU will have to pony-up to keep him.