Eric Olen?
- Thread starter Rosegreen1
- Start date
No clue if he’s a good fit at UNLV, there has only been one that ever was even LK wasn’t , but he’s a really good coach. I like last night when things were tense this dude was as calm and collected as I’ve ever seen.i feel like he’s got that “it factor” whatever that even means.
He was "seen" in Las Vegas this A.M. Probably in for the SouthPoint Seafood Buffet and the see "Lil Wayne". Just blowing off steam.
Apparently that post on X was deleted. So this could be a case of people throwing stuff against the wall and seeing what sticks/gains traction.
NO WAY! Like if we were going to go this route we should of hired him over KK!
I think Grimala's reporting is starting to have its desired effect. He should seek a job with North Korea considering how great his propaganda is.
It's not just Grimala. Dedan tweeted about it and you know how our athletics department is a sucker for that kind of stuff.
It is absolutely the wrong decision. If he is hired, you will continue to sink the attendance. Why isn't he talked about as an option at smaller school openings... he's been in the profession for almost 30 years with coaching friends and you're saying he doesn't get a shot at even the small schools in that time?
No, I don't care if Harper has brought us football glory, this would be a huge red flag to get back into buisness with a guy whose close enough friends with Lon that he leaves a cushy P4 job in Oklahoma as an assistant to come to Vegas for a yr to help his son... no thanks
I think Harper ends up with an experienced HC, that’s his MO.
Hartman is just a fallback option, imo.
Haven’t followed CBB as much the past decade, but would certainly prefer Olen between the 2. If it’s Hartman, then I would assume we have some major budgetary constraints and truly are going “all in” on football.
You are apparently much brighter than I am or just a quicker leaner. Probably both. I must love being miserable
Who said he has not had shot at smaller schools? He may have preferred to be top assistant at more major schools. As Florida now betting fave to win it all, that makes him arguably top assistant in the country. I would not have him as top pick, but he is likely better than other fallback options.
I think you can make a case for being an assistant for an entire career. He's making nearly $ 600 K at Fla. Way less potential hate as an assistant. Fewer responsibilities. Go to the grocery store and not be recognized. etc. But why be a head coach now? There are really just a few reasons and two are: 1) he decided now was the time for some reason and 2) he's tried before and wasn't wanted.
If I was on a board of directors and was hiring a CEO for a mid size company I'd be skeptical when interviewing a COO or CFO who had worked in the second seat for 30 years and not led any company. I'd need to know exactly why - and it would need to make sense. Same for Hartman as he tries to finally transition to head coach.
There were many other candidates who should have been hired over KK. Doesn't mean we shouldn't go this route if the opportunity presents itself.
What are Hartman's specific accomplishments?
If I recall he was responsible for bringing guys like Muoka and Iwuakor to UNLV during Kevins first season...
He's been attached to some high level coaches at big P4 programs so it's not a surprise he's a "recruiting savant"... I'm just not here for "recruiting" and assistants... we've been there
Weren't those Menzies' strengths too?
It's pretty easy to recruit when your recruiting to Oklahoma and Florida woth a HOF HC and another really good HC in Golden...
What kind of recruiting class did he get as an assistant at James Madison or Rice?
They certainly didn't get a good class his only year at UNLV.
Muoka was another assistant’s recruit, if people remember we had a very young assistant named Chappell who also came from Lamar.
Do people actually think Donovan Williams and Hamm came to UNLV because of Kevin Kruger? Lol
No way Hartman makes it this many years without a HC job. Something does not sit right with me.
No, no one believes people came to Unlv because of Kevin...
But you just listed another 2 players that couldn't get UNLV into the tournament and one "left" early after the season when Hartman left after doing Lon a favor.
We don't need to be doing mental gymnastics to convince ourselves that this would be some "steal" of a hire and not an absolute failure of the AD to find someone outside the Kruger sphere of influence.
Whenever a coach obviously fails, we have some fans that would score 9.9 at the Olympics for their mental gymnastics.
Seriously, some things are over the top obvious.
What? Not a good class for Unlv year? Hartman brought in Williams and Hamm CKK first year. 2 of best 4 players brought in during CKK era. Harkless and DJ being only 2 better.
Menzies was excellent at Drais and decent at recruiting.
2016 - 2017 The two centers brought in that season by Menzies were Djordjije Sljivancanin and Cheickna Dembele. While Dembele was a better overall human being than I'll ever be, I don't think that he developed into the big that we were hoping for. Same with the Montenegrin. (Those were the two 6'10" or taller)
2017 - 2018 The two centers brought in, to go along with the two above, were Cheikh Mbacke Diong and Brandon McCoy. Again, Diong seemed like a good person. I respect that. Did McCoy live up to anything? He had some decent/good games but those were sporadic. Four roster spots to tall guys that weren't world beaters.
2018 - 2019 The one center brought in, to go along with Sliv... and Diong, was Louis Bangai. I don't remember his play, if I'm being honest.
Overall, the recruiting under Menzies was better than what we've been seeing under Kevin. I do think that Hartman is a better recruiter than what Menzies was given how Menzies' current team is performing and where Hartman landed before and after here.
Hard Pass. There is noway just because he is a good recruiter that he can sway players to come here for less money. NIL money is the only thing that matters anymore. So is he going to be able to get NIL money? His name does not resonate with most people. I know he well known in the recruiting circles IM sure he would of been much better than KK ,but that ship sailed 4 years ago. What should of happened was he should of been the HC over KK AND put AHC on KK and teach him.
Forgot about BenGay and Silvercannon. They both, well, sucked ass.
The thing I like about players from Africa is the tend to work hard (not Hamga) and they’re all respectful and personable, coachable, but they are usually so far behind. They’re raw and seldom high contributors. Tend to make good career back ups, which is fine, there’s a need. That’s a generalization but it seems to fit far more times than not.
They were almost the only ones worth watching with any talent. It’s one reason why people show up to games and as far as tournament goes, that team was NIT bound if they hadn’t completely mailed it in vs New Mexico. I’ve had several rants about how CKK completely blew it that first season.
We just watched DTJ and others that played under the previous regime for more than one season, regress in real time because there’s zero developmental progress going on at UNLV and as such, not worth watching bad basketball. Bringing in talent and developing them is a step in the right direction.
As far as Hartman goes, nobody outside of Harper knows what his ideas are, who would be on staff, who he would target in portal etc. He’s obviously made an impression on Harper to be considered, and anyone that’s been around Hartman knows he’s serious and fully capable of running a program. I’ve said as much as soon as he was hired here under CKK.
You still need to cultivate relationships to be considered by recruits though. CKK never could develop that kind of relationship and whiffed on how many recruits? There’s been a lot of whiffs, if anyone had been paying attention.
Cultivating relationships is an important skill and that will never going to change in recruiting, in fact there’s a reason why DTJ is liking posts of Hartman being considered, there’s a relationship there since Hartman has recruited him.
As a former player, I would never consider playing for a coach unless I know them well. Going to a school without any relationship with a coach and just for money sounds very risky to me.
This is an assumption not fact!
The fact is he has been an assistant for 3 decades?
No other experience as the guy in charge. We or anyone else doesn’t know how he would be as a HC!
I hope that Hartman is all just another one of your assumptions that ends up being a “moot” point. A lifelong assistant is just that until he takes a HC job and I don’t want to see this play out here, if you fired Kevin and your plan was to hire Hartman as the HC then I was wrong about Harper as an AD.
Harper can’t possibly think this type of hire will be anything other than more of the same “ice skating uphill” experience we have already seen the last 4 years with Kevin.
There are too many other guys that fit the bill as former HC with some experience winning at their previous stops and my question is what type of feedback is Harper getting when he presents UNLV basketball? If he is getting turned down by everyone, you have to wonder why?
And if that is the case there are other 2nd tier HC’s to choose from that are way ahead of hiring another assistant here. This hire is too important to trust it to Hartman, you have to go all in on Crean or someone like him before you go to your bottom of the barrel list!
I believe that is the plan, and I’m not totally disagreeing that a HC is to be considered first before Hartman. I don’t know how many times I have to point that out but I’m just saying there’s some relationship there between Harper and Hartman. Harper knows him well, obviously wouldn’t be having talks otherwise.
So Hartman is going to come here as an assistant for whoever the HC is?
That’s exciting!
Perhaps Ryan Miller will pass on Murray State to accept an assistant role here again as well.
We are putting together quite a staff, boys!
That’s exciting!
Perhaps Ryan Miller will pass on Murray State to accept an assistant role here again as well.
We are putting together quite a staff, boys!
