might not get the job. Not even a serious candidate at this point. Recruiting relationships is hurting him.
So Steve had a post yesterday hinting that Novak...
- Thread starter dawgstudent
- Start date
The guy is doing a phenomenal job going up against ridiculous circumstances. Plus - it's women's basketball. Like I've been saying - it's fun when we win but I don't lose sleep when we lose. We lost $$$ on our program even with Schaefer.
This is a damn shame if true. Cohen will show his inability to be an actual AD if he doesn’t even give serious consideration to Novak. I’d rather have a coach whom the players love to play hard and smart for and have them go get assistant coaches to recruit than the other way around.
So now recruiting is important to Cohen. Funny because Howland has only signed
3 classes ranked inside the top 38 in 7 years. He did have another ranked 39th. He's also never won an NCAA tournament game here and only coached in 1. He's been allowed to hang around so I'm not sure how that puts any confidence in our administration's decision making.
3 classes ranked inside the top 38 in 7 years. He did have another ranked 39th. He's also never won an NCAA tournament game here and only coached in 1. He's been allowed to hang around so I'm not sure how that puts any confidence in our administration's decision making.
If Novak is not retained....
The person cohen hires better get it done because JC has already whiffed on one WBB hire. If he blows this one after passing on phenom Novak there will be hell to pay.
Cohen could get away with passing on henderson because of the gravitas of our baseball program. WBB not so much. Then again I think the next MBB hire is going to make or break him in the end.
The person cohen hires better get it done because JC has already whiffed on one WBB hire. If he blows this one after passing on phenom Novak there will be hell to pay.
Cohen could get away with passing on henderson because of the gravitas of our baseball program. WBB not so much. Then again I think the next MBB hire is going to make or break him in the end.
Has Novak indicated he's interested in the job? That could be an important issue. I haven't heard anything to indicate he wants the job.
I think this explains the different attitudes within the fanbase when it comes to considering Novak. If this was baseball, football, or basketball, the anti-Novak people would be absolutely correct that Novak doesn't have the resume and it's a massive risk to give a former DIII head coach with practically no DI experience the head coaching job just because he overachieved as interim. You have no clue whether he can recruit or maintain a program. The best you could do for him is to encourage the eventual head coach to keep him on and give him a raise. If you feel confident he will stay for a raise, it might even open up some potential candidates that are strong recruiters if you feel like Novak can help shore up x's and o's.
But it's not football, basketball, or baseball. It's women's basketball. He's shown some aptitude. If you're not a national championship caliber program bringing in exposure, the most important thing for your women's basketball program is to not be too big of a money drain. If you can get a coach that has proven they can produce a national championship caliber program, you should get that. If you can't (and I'm assuming we cannot), then nothing wrong with giving Novak a chance to see if he can recruit in addition to coach, and that's better than paying a good bit of money to poach a coach from a lower tier program in hopes that they will turn out like Vic and not more like NMP. LIkelihood is just too low to be spending money on that kind of risk.
I have often thought about this. It is pretty easy to look at the X's and O's and say bottom line the athletic department lost money. On the other hand I wonder if anyone ever measured the economic benefits that WBB brought to the community and how that benefited our AD donations through local business donations. I can remember attending a many of games where there had to be 7K plus in attendance and restaurants and hotels where full for the weekend. It would definitely be good to see what kind of impact if any happened during the WBB run.
Serious question because I don't follow women's basketball recruiting (does anyone?) How well did Vic recruit other than Vivians and Big T?
Outside of those two I always assumed he was coaching mostly 3 star players. Just my observation of the very little wbb I've watched is that if you can get 1 great player surrounded by a solid group of 5-6 more, you can be a sweet 16 / elite 8 type team.
Outside of those two I always assumed he was coaching mostly 3 star players. Just my observation of the very little wbb I've watched is that if you can get 1 great player surrounded by a solid group of 5-6 more, you can be a sweet 16 / elite 8 type team.
Same here. Mainly because a mouthpiece isn't going to say anything but they're a
home run recruiter. If that's the narrative they want pushed.
home run recruiter. If that's the narrative they want pushed.
I think if you can get a national championship caliber program, there's no doubt that's good for the university and starkville, even if the university shows it losing money. The problem is the return isn't linear. If you have a top 5 and beat an undefeated UConna nd make it to a couple of national championship games, you get a ton of exposure and you get people traveling to Starkville to watch games. If you have a top 15 program and occasionally make it to the elite 8 but aren't really competing for a national championship, you get practically nothing.
He came and took a position as an assistant after being a head coach in men's DIII. I mean, it's certainly possible he's decided women's basketball and/or DI basketball isn't for him, but it would be shocking if somebody that came in as an assistant wouldn't want to be a head coach.
That move seems like what you'd do if you decided you probably aren't going to reach your goals as a men's coach and the women's game might make sense.
I'm thinking he wants the job.
Recruited well. Matharu, Mingo-Young, Jessika Carter. All were highly rated. Plus getting Howard to transfer from TAMU
But yes, his big 2-3 year run was with a lot of little known players outside the two you named.
But yes, his big 2-3 year run was with a lot of little known players outside the two you named.
Last edited by a moderator:
We are idiots if we don't give Novak a VERY serious look to be the head coach. I'm sick of this 'on paper' crap like we had with NMP when we have a guy that has already proven he can do way more with less ON THE COURT. He can develop relationships and hire recruiting assistants who already have them but nobody will have a clue when we bring someone else in if they can coach at this level like Novak can. We didn't get a proven P5 HC after Vic left and we sure as heck ain't getting one now. But I'm sure we will pass on Novak in order to bring in some G5 HC or P5 assistant that knows the AAU circuit but will suck as an actual head coach just like NMP did.
He also whiffed on Mullen's replacement and even his own baseball replacement (granted for off the field reasons). WAY too much of a risk for Cohen to go hire the best person 'on paper' when you don't have a clue how they will run the program. Novak's already given us a pretty good insight into how he would run it.
The best you could do for him is to encourage the eventual head coach to keep him on and give him a raise. If you feel confident he will stay for a raise, it might even open up some potential candidates that are strong recruiters if you feel like Novak can help shore up x's and o's.
This absolutely would NEVER work!! This would put both coach Novak and the new head coach in very awkward and potentially ineffective positions. I don't think either of them would agree to this arrangement, and rightfully so.
You know this is the athletic admin having Steve run up a test balloon ahead of time to see what the people think first. Or greasing the skids before it happens.
He did, she had to leave, he came pick who he wants. I would go deeper but I don't want to fight tonight.
Last edited:
I think Steve know's less and less about what is going on the further time moves and the further away he gets from recruiting.
Man, I have never met anybody so down on Tony Hughes. I feel like he's been pretty good for us and the coaches he's worked for.
17 u for not wanting to see who we can get first?? Never limit yourself to one option. And I'm fine if Novak gets the job, but I want to see if we can do better. I'm almost positive Cohen has his guy already anyway. He's been working on it since Nikki left. And I'm a Cohen basher, but he's doing the right thing.
Latest posts
Get unlimited access today.