Collins and Depaul

[CameronBornAndBred]

Good to see Collins' name mentioned for the HC job at DePaul, but I don't agree with the front page article suggestion that he wouldn't go midseason. True...it's lousy timing on DePaul's part to fire Wainwright before the season is over, but if they are going to hire a replacement before the season is out, why wouldn't you want to go ahead and get an early start? Moving early affects recruiting more than it will the outcome of their season, and if I know my team is going to struggle next year to, I want to be there ASAP so I can start talking to kids about the ship having a new captain. Plus, an early move gives that much more time for the current team to get to know Collins and his style, and vice versa. But more than anything, I'd do it for the recruiting.

[houstondukie]

Good to see Collins' name mentioned for the HC job at DePaul, but I don't agree with the front page article suggestion that he wouldn't go midseason. True...it's lousy timing on DePaul's part to fire Wainwright before the season is over, but if they are going to hire a replacement before the season is out, why wouldn't you want to go ahead and get an early start? Moving early affects recruiting more than it will the outcome of their season, and if I know my team is going to struggle next year to, I want to be there ASAP so I can start talking to kids about the ship having a new captain. Plus, an early move gives that much more time for the current team to get to know Collins and his style, and vice versa. But more than anything, I'd do it for the recruiting.

Maybe because he is loyal to Duke, Coach K, and the players we have, and doesn't want to abandon ship midseason.

[Acymetric]

Maybe because he is loyal to Duke, Coach K, and the players we have, and doesn't want to abandon ship midseason.

I'm not sure its really "abandoning." I'm quite sure Coach K, the staff, the players, and maybe even the recruits would understand and support Collins if he wanted to take a coaching position midseason.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Maybe because he is loyal to Duke, Coach K, and the players we have, and doesn't want to abandon ship midseason.

I'm pretty sure if Collins were to leave the program is still in good hands. And I'm sure the entire Duke coaching staff understands that getting a good start is vital to the next year's success. Also see it from DePaul's point of view. Would you be happy if your new coach put you off until you finished the year with your "old" team?

[WiJoe]

Tracy Webster is the interim coach.

[MHTorringjan]

Are they really talking about a coach coming in to replace the interim coach in the middle of the season now? The article on ESPN quoted the AD saying that they would be beginning their search at the end of the season. I suspect that speculation with regards to Collins leaving mid-season for a coaching gig might be a bit off.

I was a bit disappointed that Wainwright was fired, as a UNCW alum, but hopefully he'll find a better situation than the one that he inherited at DePaul.

[Jim3k]

From DePaul's POV, choosing an assistant from another school else would be more do-able than trying to lure a head coach mid-season.

Evne so, they'd be taking a chance on such an assistant because the vetting process would be too quick. Instead, what they, and most schools do, is get rid of the HC and choose one of his assistants. It throws the current season under the bus, but allows for a longer, and more complete, search.

Collins might well be a candidate for DePaul, but I'd bet on Lowrey. He's a proven HC. The question for him would be whether he'd regard DePaul as a step up. Still, if the money was significantly better, he'd probably go. Probably true of Jacobson as well.

That's why a valued assistant like Collins could be in the running at the end of the year, but not now. It's a step up for him, but DePaul wouldn't have to give him the large raise it would take to induce a current HC to leave his current job. In fact, approaching HCs might give the HCs leverage for a raise at their current school, leading to DePaul whiffing. They don't want to spin their wheels like that and would try to avoid it.

[BD80]

Recruiting would be key. What 2010 recruits are unsigned? Particularly recruits from the Chicago area or that CC has been involved with.

How about potential transfers? There are two that could turn the program around fairly quickly: Czyz and Echenique.

I think DePaul is a great place for Chris, he could recruit the heck out of that area while also offering Big East competition and exposure. He need merely get one or two recruits each year that would have gone to Marquette, IU, UI, NW, Purdue, OSU, Iowa or Notre Dame to build a contender. I'll bet a couple of transfers would fall his way from those schools because of available playing time.

To get Chris the DePaul AD would have to promise better facilities. I'll bet Coach K would help with that pitch.

[Turtleboy]

How about potential transfers? There are two that could turn the program around fairly quickly: Czyz and Echenique.

They will both have to commit real soon if they want to play next spring, unless Echenique gets a medical redshirt.

[MulletMan]

How about potential transfers? There are two that could turn the program around fairly quickly: Czyz and Echenique.

You're talking about Olek Czyz, right? You must be kidding. Look, just because the kid was recruited by and transferred from Duke, doesn't make him a 5 star recruit. There is no way that Czyz is a guy who can turn a program around. None. He may develop into a solid player at some point in the future, but the ability to dunk does not make one a great player.

There are guys at the "mid-major" level who are light years ahead of Czyz, and those guys probably aren't "program changers".

As for Collins, who can say? He's not leaving in the middle of the season. You can take that to the bank. And most schools, DePaul included, probably know that any coach worth a salt isn't jumping mid-season.

[BD80]

You're talking about Olek Czyz, right? You must be kidding. Look, just because the kid was recruited by and transferred from Duke, doesn't make him a 5 star recruit. There is no way that Czyz is a guy who can turn a program around. None. He may develop into a solid player at some point in the future, but the ability to dunk does not make one a great player.

There are guys at the "mid-major" level who are light years ahead of Czyz, and those guys probably aren't "program changers".

As for Collins, who can say? He's not leaving in the middle of the season. You can take that to the bank. And most schools, DePaul included, probably know that any coach worth a salt isn't jumping mid-season.

I meant Olek could help turn the program around from the perspective of having been through practice the way Duke does it and has experience with the kind of sets and defenses that Chris would likely carry over. Greg would be a difference maker in terms of talent, while both should be able to lead the way academically.

Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if Chris left mid-season. We have another CC waiting to move into the rotation: Graduate Assistant/Head Team Manager Chris Carrawell.

Except for the facilities, DePaul is an ideal situation for Chris. How about Daddy Doug as an assistant coach for the first year and a half? Quin Snyder would probably help out as well. That should help Chris get all the administrative duties squared away as well as the Xs and Os.

[Jarhead]

I'll have to agree with MulletMan. You can bank on it. Chris is not going to leave in the middle of the season. To think that he will is weak thinking. He hasn't been offered the position yet, and there is an interim coach. Chris, if offered, must decide if he wants the job first. Then if he does he can accept it, meet the team on an off night, and check in as head man after the season. My prediction, he will pull his name out of consideration very early. He can do better than DePaul.

[Mal]

I don't think Collins, if he's in his right mind, would even consider Depaul (no offense to any Depaul grads or anything). It's a school with little institutional commitment to the basketball program, with a student population that largely cares nothing about sports and is heavily commuter-oriented, with a basketball team that had a glorious run a full quarter century ago but has steadily fallen to below mediocrity since, is mired at the bottom of probably the most difficult conference in the country in which to make significant upward progress, and plays its home games in a delapidated building, that's impossible to access by public transportation, 20 miles from its urban campus (at least an hour's travel from campus during rush hour to get to a weeknight game). Not to mention that Chicago is a professional sports town that generally cares little about college hoops relative to most places. It's a losing proposition.

Pat Kennedy, with his unique combination of shady recruiting prowess and questionable coaching acumen, was able to get Quentin Richardson and a couple other players in a decade ago, but even that was unsustainable. That little run also preceeded the resurgance of Villanova, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame in the Big East, to go along with Syracuse and UConn, making reaching the upper half of the conference from the basement (0-18 last year) a virtual impossibility for the forseeable future for anyone not willing to cut a lot of corners or otherwise likely to make huge recruiting splashes immediately (both of which are not Chris Collins). Even local kids today have zero recollection of the Depaul teams of the mid-'80s, and their parents barely remember them, so there's really nothing to draw top talent there.

There have to be better head coaching opportunities for a guy who's apprenticed under Krzyzewski than that. I mean, seriously, take away the Ray Meyer years, and Depaul is basically Fordham plopped into the Big East.

[miramar]

I don't think Collins, if he's in his right mind, would even consider Depaul (no offense to any Depaul grads or anything). It's a school with little institutional commitment to the basketball program, with a student population that largely cares nothing about sports and is heavily commuter-oriented, with a basketball team that had a glorious run a full quarter century ago but has steadily fallen to below mediocrity since, is mired at the bottom of probably the most difficult conference in the country in which to make significant upward progress, and plays its home games in a delapidated building, that's impossible to access by public transportation, 20 miles from its urban campus (at least an hour's travel from campus during rush hour to get to a weeknight game). Not to mention that Chicago is a professional sports town that generally cares little about college hoops relative to most places. It's a losing proposition.

Pat Kennedy, with his unique combination of shady recruiting prowess and questionable coaching acumen, was able to get Quentin Richardson and a couple other players in a decade ago, but even that was unsustainable. That little run also preceeded the resurgance of Villanova, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame in the Big East, to go along with Syracuse and UConn, making reaching the upper half of the conference from the basement (0-18 last year) a virtual impossibility for the forseeable future for anyone not willing to cut a lot of corners or otherwise likely to make huge recruiting splashes immediately (both of which are not Chris Collins). Even local kids today have zero recollection of the Depaul teams of the mid-'80s, and their parents barely remember them, so there's really nothing to draw top talent there.

There have to be better head coaching opportunities for a guy who's apprenticed under Krzyzewski than that. I mean, seriously, take away the Ray Meyer years, and Depaul is basically Fordham plopped into the Big East.

That's about it in a nutshell. DePaul was a top job a generation ago, but now it's a graveyard for coaches.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I don't think Collins, if he's in his right mind, would even consider Depaul (no offense to any Depaul grads or anything). It's a school with little institutional commitment to the basketball program, with a student population that largely cares nothing about sports and is heavily commuter-oriented, with a basketball team that had a glorious run a full quarter century ago but has steadily fallen to below mediocrity since, is mired at the bottom of probably the most difficult conference in the country in which to make significant upward progress, and plays its home games in a delapidated building, that's impossible to access by public transportation, 20 miles from its urban campus (at least an hour's travel from campus during rush hour to get to a weeknight game).

Wow...except for the commute and the distance from campus, that sounds exactly like Duke basketball in the early to mid 70's. What the hell was Bill Foster thinking?!

[Duvall]

Wow...except for the commute and the distance from campus, that sounds exactly like Duke basketball in the early to mid 70's. What the hell was Bill Foster thinking?!

When Foster took over, Duke was eight years removed from going to three Final Fours in four years. DePaul hasn't done anything in three full decades.

[BlueintheFace]

It'll be Collins to Northwestern one day. Been saying it for years. Of course, if the opportunity never arises.... who knows

[CameronBornAndBred]

When Foster took over, Duke was eight years removed from going to three Final Fours in four years. DePaul hasn't done anything in three full decades.

Alright.."exactly" is stretching it but you have to see the similarities. Our basketball program then was in the dumper with little administrative support. Foster was taking a chance signing on at Duke. He and Tom Butters both deserve alot of credit for Duke being the Duke it is you know today.

[weezie]

DePaul hasn't done anything in three full decades.

Ugh...Mark Aguirre....Mark Aguirre... (shaking head)

[Duvall]

Ugh...Mark Aguirre....Mark Aguirre... (shaking head)

Fine, 29 years.