2024 SLU Men's Basketball Head Coaching Search

[DirtyRican]

1 hour ago, brianstl said:

 

If it happens this will be flying outside my house.

[JMM28]

Looking forward to it

[brianstl]

51 minutes ago, DirtyRican said:

If it happens this will be flying outside my house.

Sweet.

[Littlebill]

5 hours ago, slufan13 said:

This board is gonna be HOT this weekend

It’s got me crawling back…

[cgeldmacher]

I'm going to reiterate that I think everyone is going a bit overboard for Scherz.  The only thing Drake has going for it this season is its NET ranking.  Right now, it does not appear as if they will make the tournament.  They have beat no one other than Drake once.  They have also lost to Drake twice.  Let's dig deeper.

ISU lost to Drake by 9 on the road.  ISU beat Drake by 8 at home.  Then ISU lost to Drake by 4 at a neutral site.

SLU's worst team, by results, in many, many years lost to Drake by 6 on the road.  Sounds rather comparable.  Do we really want comparable for our next hire?

ISU's only Q1 victory is to the same team that accounts for 2 of its 5 Q1 losses.  Their other Q1 losses were to Alabama by 22 and Michigan State by 12.  Other than that, they didn't play anyone of consequence, and certainly did not beat anyone of consequence.  I question what Ford's record would have been with SLU's team this year if he played ISU's schedule.

This is all not to say that Scherz may not be a hell of a coach.  It is only to say that this season is not necessarily evidence that he is a hell of a coach.

I want SLU to make the best hire, and that guy may be someone different than Scherz.

[BrettJollyComedyHour]

3 minutes ago, cgeldmacher said:

want SLU to make the best hire, and that guy may be someone different than Scherz.

I'd want your recommendations. 

[TheA_Bomb]

27 minutes ago, cgeldmacher said:

I'm going to reiterate that I think everyone is going a bit overboard for Scherz.  The only thing Drake has going for it this season is its NET ranking.  Right now, it does not appear as if they will make the tournament.  They have beat no one other than Drake once.  They have also lost to Drake twice.  Let's dig deeper.

ISU lost to Drake by 9 on the road.  ISU beat Drake by 8 at home.  Then ISU lost to Drake by 4 at a neutral site.

SLU's worst team, by results, in many, many years lost to Drake by 6 on the road.  Sounds rather comparable.  Do we really want comparable for our next hire?

ISU's only Q1 victory is to the same team that accounts for 2 of its 5 Q1 losses.  Their other Q1 losses were to Alabama by 22 and Michigan State by 12.  Other than that, they didn't play anyone of consequence, and certainly did not beat anyone of consequence.  I question what Ford's record would have been with SLU's team this year if he played ISU's schedule.

This is all not to say that Scherz may not be a hell of a coach.  It is only to say that this season is not necessarily evidence that he is a hell of a coach.

I want SLU to make the best hire, and that guy may be someone different than Scherz.

He coached really well at DII Lincoln Memorial multiple final fours.  He took over Indiana State and led them to regular season MVC Championship, something they haven't done in 23 years, I think.

As for your comparisons using KenPom: ISU SOS 125, SLU SOS 88. ISU KenPom rank 43, SLU 196.  OU is 40.  ISU offensive efficiency is #23 and effective FG% is #1 in the nation. SLU is 89 and 143.  ISU effective defense 96, SLU 340.

 

So maybe Ford wins a few more games against a slightly easier schedule.

Also Schertz runs a 5 out system that you often see in the NBA. It's the future and the future is here. Would you like to know more?

Watch this video

https://youtu.be/DITiFB5Aft4?si=WMmpHbGMnpI0rqNo

[3star_recruit]

48 minutes ago, cgeldmacher said:

bI'm going to reiterate that I think everyone is going a bit overboard for Scherz.  The only thing Drake has going for it this season is its NET ranking.  Right now, it does not appear as if they will make the tournament.  They have beat no one other than Drake once.  They have also lost to Drake twice.  Let's dig deeper.

ISU lost to Drake by 9 on the road.  ISU beat Drake by 8 at home.  Then ISU lost to Drake by 4 at a neutral site.

SLU's worst team, by results, in many, many years lost to Drake by 6 on the road.  Sounds rather comparable.  Do we really want comparable for our next hire?

ISU's only Q1 victory is to the same team that accounts for 2 of its 5 Q1 losses.  Their other Q1 losses were to Alabama by 22 and Michigan State by 12.  Other than that, they didn't play anyone of consequence, and certainly did not beat anyone of consequence.  I question what Ford's record would have been with SLU's team this year if he played ISU's schedule.

This is all not to say that Scherz may not be a hell of a coach.  It is only to say that this season is not necessarily evidence that he is a hell of a coach.

I want SLU to make the best hire, and that guy may be someone different than Scherz.

I hear what you're saying.  But based on your criteria, then the likes of Matt Painter and T. J. Otzelberger would not have been hired by P5 programs.  Because they didn't beat anybody at the mid-major level either.  What they did do is have dominant seasons in their conference. 

The next school's job is to evaluate whether a coach's approach translates to a different level of competition.  A coach's inability to beat good P5 teams with 2 star rosters doesn't prove anything.

[Pistol]

To A Bomb and 3 Star's posts, I'd add that Indiana State is not an easy place to win. Last regular season championship was 2000, last MVC Tournament championship is 2011. They've been to the NCAA Tournament 3 times since Larry Bird was there and won 1 game. In 3 seasons, Schertz has equaled (23) and passed (26+) their highest win totals in any single season since 1979. His conference win percentage of .850 this season is the second highest in program history. This is a top-3 season in program history with a shot to be a solid #2.

It's pretty remarkable to have done that in just 3 seasons in charge.

Lastly, I'll add that his team is a blast to watch on the offensive end. They play with vision, purpose, and discipline. I'm ready for a coach with a plan and an ability to execute it. I'm not saying Schertz is the only one who offers that, but there's no question he can.

[Bizziken]

5 minutes ago, TheA_Bomb said:

He coached really well at DII Lincoln Memorial multiple final fours.  He took over Indiana State and led them to regular season MVC Championship, something they haven't done in 23 years, I think.

As for your comparisons using KenPom: ISU SOS 125, SLU SOS 88. ISU KenPom rank 43, SLU 196.  OU is 40.  ISU offensive efficiency is #23 and effective FG% is #1 in the nation. SLU is 89 and 143.  ISU effective defense 96, SLU 340.

 

So maybe Ford wins a few more games against a slightly easier schedule.

Also Schertz runs a 5 out system that you often see in the NBA. It's the future and the future is here. Would you like to know more?

Watch this video

https://youtu.be/DITiFB5Aft4?si=WMmpHbGMnpI0rqNo

To add...It's pretty damn hard to win at Indiana State. I know they play more games in this era, but ISU has only won 50+ games over a 2-year span twice in their history, once with Schertz and once with Larry. It's hard to recruit to Terre Haute and their NIL infrastructure is almost non-existent. Success through adversity.

Plus, their top 5 minutes guys are all Sophomores and Juniors. They could be loaded next year. 

I'd prefer Mack or McCollum personally, but Schertz would still be in my top tier. 

[TheA_Bomb]

7 minutes ago, Bizziken said:

To add...It's pretty damn hard to win at Indiana State. I know they play more games in this era, but ISU has only won 50+ games over a 2-year span twice in their history, once with Schertz and once with Larry. It's hard to recruit to Terre Haute and their NIL infrastructure is almost non-existent. Success through adversity.

Plus, their top 5 minutes guys are all Sophomores and Juniors. They could be loaded next year. 

I'd prefer Mack or McCollum personally, but Schertz would still be in my top tier. 

Yeah I've only recently looked into it, yeah he lost vs Drake.  Drake has an NBA player think Kyle Korver who could've went pro early but returned. It was still a close game.  Avila is a 2 star coming out of HS and just has a great basketball IQ #2 in the nation in assists by players over 6'10

[JMM28]

1 hour ago, cgeldmacher said:

SLU's worst team, by results, in many, many years lost to Drake by 6 on the road.  Sounds rather comparable.  Do we really want comparable for our next hire?

 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, but if you take the other common opponent, SLU lost to SIU by 40 at SIU. Indiana State beat SIU by 29 at SIU. That is a 69 point difference. 

[Soderball]

1 hour ago, cgeldmacher said:

I'm going to reiterate that I think everyone is going a bit overboard for Scherz.  The only thing Drake has going for it this season is its NET ranking.  Right now, it does not appear as if they will make the tournament.  They have beat no one other than Drake once.  They have also lost to Drake twice.  Let's dig deeper.

ISU lost to Drake by 9 on the road.  ISU beat Drake by 8 at home.  Then ISU lost to Drake by 4 at a neutral site.

SLU's worst team, by results, in many, many years lost to Drake by 6 on the road.  Sounds rather comparable.  Do we really want comparable for our next hire?

ISU's only Q1 victory is to the same team that accounts for 2 of its 5 Q1 losses.  Their other Q1 losses were to Alabama by 22 and Michigan State by 12.  Other than that, they didn't play anyone of consequence, and certainly did not beat anyone of consequence.  I question what Ford's record would have been with SLU's team this year if he played ISU's schedule.

This is all not to say that Scherz may not be a hell of a coach.  It is only to say that this season is not necessarily evidence that he is a hell of a coach.

I want SLU to make the best hire, and that guy may be someone different than Scherz.

Mack, Schertz, and McCollum would all have me excited.

[wgstl]

1 minute ago, Soderball said:

Mack, Schertz, and McCollum would all have me excited.

people forget McCollum owns Schertz. 2-0 all time head to head. 

[Box and Won]

1 hour ago, Bizziken said:

To add...It's pretty damn hard to win at Indiana State. I know they play more games in this era, but ISU has only won 50+ games over a 2-year span twice in their history, once with Schertz and once with Larry. It's hard to recruit to Terre Haute and their NIL infrastructure is almost non-existent. Success through adversity.

I can't overstate the importance of this, as creating adversity is the one thing SLU does exceptionally well.

Knowing our luck, our NIL money is probably invested in BeetCoin (Howard Stern Show star Beetlejuice's cryptocurrency).

[slufan13]

3 minutes ago, Soderball said:

Mack, Schertz, and McCollum would all have me excited.

Agree. I'm honestly not super high on Moser but obviously he's solid too as is Devries. Beyond that...yikes

[GoSluBills]

11 minutes ago, JMM28 said:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, but if you take the other common opponent, SLU lost to SIU by 40 at SIU. Indiana State beat SIU by 29 at SIU. That is a 69 point difference. 

Nice. 

[Box and Won]

Here's a quote from Drake's AD in Ben Hochman's column this morning.  Maybe we should just hire DeVries, the Drake AD, and the Drake president as a package deal.

Quote

“With his background of being at Creighton,” the athletics director Hardin said, “and I came from Marquette and our president came from Gonzaga, I think we saw what having success at a small private institution can do. And he has exceeded our expectations.”

 

[wgstl]

3 minutes ago, slufan13 said:

Agree. I'm honestly not super high on Moser but obviously he's solid too as is Devries. Beyond that...yikes

I think Moser is a great coach, but I also think he comes with the slowest turnaround time. 

[brianstl]

I freely admit I like certain guys more than others, but we are just talking just subtle differences in the names most commonly believed to be the in the running for the job.  I would be happy with any of those guys getting the job.  I just hope they don't get played along by someone as other candidates go off the board.  McCollum would make me the happiest, but I have accepted the fact that a D2 coach is probably viewed as too big of a reach.  I don't anyone thinks this should be finished by now, but I really was hoping the Ford not coaching during the tournament story was true. 

I do think if Chris Mack is/was their top choice, they should know where they stand with him at this point.  He currently doesn't have a job, so there are less complications.  If he was the top guy the should have made their best offer to him already and if he didn't say yes, it is time to move on from him.  You can't play games and get strong along by a guy saying something like, "I can't commit to you while someone still has the job."   

[ACE]

12 minutes ago, Box and Won said:

Here's a quote from Drake's AD in Ben Hochman's column this morning.  Maybe we should just hire DeVries, the Drake AD, and the Drake president as a package deal.

 

Drake has major financial troubles, athletics may not be their biggest priority now, so there could be some folks looking to jump ship...

From Forbes:

Drake University is facing a budget deficit that will reach $10.3 million by 2026 according to the Iowa Capital Dispatch. Provost Sue Mattison announced the need for the university to make substantial cost reductions at a recent faculty senate meeting. According to the draft minutes of that meeting, Pattison said the university’s operating budget was the main source of the deficits.

 

Drake had already made budget cuts to lower its budget shortfall, which stands at $4.3 million for Fiscal Year 2024, but “considering enrollment challenges across the country … the cuts that have already been made, and the cuts we plan to make, we are at the point where we have to cut academic programs,” the minutes indicated. “This will start with a streamlining of the curriculum and a reduction of adjuncts and overloads.”

[Crewsorlose]

Do people here have an opinion of Blake Ahearn? He went to De Smet and is an assistant on the Spurs. Would this be an attractive gig for him? Sorry if it's been covered earlier but scrolling through 40 pages seemed daunting. 

[Slu let the dogs out?]

1 minute ago, Crewsorlose said:

Do people here have an opinion of Blake Ahearn? He went to De Smet and is an assistant on the Spurs. Would this be an attractive gig for him? Sorry if it's been covered earlier but scrolling through 40 pages seemed daunting. 

Lol?

[Soderball]

1 minute ago, Crewsorlose said:

Do people here have an opinion of Blake Ahearn? He went to De Smet and is an assistant on the Spurs. Would this be an attractive gig for him? Sorry if it's been covered earlier but scrolling through 40 pages seemed daunting. 

Just don't, man. It's not even funny anymore.

[brianstl]

Schertz in one way reminds me of a young Bruce Weber.  It sure isn't the style of play, but with how bad Schertz supposedly wants the job.  Weber's time has now passed, but Weber desperately wanted the the SLU job when both Romar and Soderberg were hired.  Weber thought the job was the perfect fit for him.  SLU passed on him both times. If they would have hired Weber on either of those occasions, especially following Spoon, SLU might (probably?) makes the Big East cut in 2005.  Romar without a doubt was a good hire, but Bruce Weber would have been the great hire.  I think there is something to be said about a coach who really does view the job as the perfect fit for himself.