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Harper....The next UNLV head basketball coach

I’m skeptical that UNLV has the $$$ to buyout CKK and pull in a decent coach. Putting that aside Marshall would be my top choice. Guy can flat out coach and his teams play hard-nosed basketball. I used to enjoy watching Wichita State bc they reminded me of how Tark’s Rebels played. Not worried at all about him being out of coaching. It’s definitely a new dynamic than the system he left but it’s not rocket science either. So long as UNLV helps him build a NIL fund and he brings on his staff assistants who are deep in the recruiting world he’ll be fine.
I am 100%. Also, who else is available? Marshall? Wade? After that there is a big drop off. I am not tied to Marshall. But like you, I remember some of Marshall's WSU teams and they had "toughness" as you pointed out.
 
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I’m skeptical that UNLV has the $$$ to buyout CKK and pull in a decent coach. Putting that aside Marshall would be my top choice. Guy can flat out coach and his teams play hard-nosed basketball. I used to enjoy watching Wichita State bc they reminded me of how Tark’s Rebels played. Not worried at all about him being out of coaching. It’s definitely a new dynamic than the system he left but it’s not rocket science either. So long as UNLV helps him build a NIL fund and he brings on his staff assistants who are deep in the recruiting world he’ll be fine.
Marshall has baggage but his would be intriguing.

But who knows, maybe Harper has another Odom out of left field type of hire up his sleeve, for hoops!
 
Why is everyone so worried about Harper, you act as if he just started on the job yesterday?

If anyone deserves the benefit of the doubt, it is him! He hired Odom and not one person here posted his name beforehand.

The fact is none of us know what’s in play or who so let’s see what happens.

He either keeps Kevin because or he moves on from because.

And I think it’s the later and TimothyC3 laid out Harper’s potential plan beautifully!
Nobody’s worried about Harper.

People are just believing there’s millions of dollars just sitting around at unlv and can easily afford Wade’s buyout plus 3-4 million in annual salary. Marshall, same thing.

Have we not learned anything from the Rick Pitino sagas? Not to mention there’s P5 options for these coaches. I can see more than a few openings like Arizona State and that’s a school that Kruger may end up at as a staff member. IMO.
 
Kelvin Sampson was fired at Indiana after the 2007-08 season. He was treated like a leper and didn't coach again until 2014-15 at Houston and I don't remember seeing him involved in college hoops at all . That's 7 years and he hit the ground running. At the end of the season it will be 5 years for Marshall. The time off doesn't matter IMO. Marshall can coach and has won every where he has gone. He would have a Sampson like impact at UNLV IMO.
I call this trickle down, college basketball. The more publicly that college players get paid..the less I want to watch.

Putting my economics class that I took to use here. My thoughts are inelastic and it’s not going to change.
 
But the Odom hire didn't spark much interest either.

Hell our best season in 2 decades barely moved the needle for his second year on opening day.

Those types of cats like Porter Moser? Your punchline for 5 years who is doing just fine right now?
You can’t have a name that doesn’t win. You can have a no name that wins. That’s long term stuff.

But if you want early interest, you don’t hire Horton Poser. I don’t even know how the guy is doing, tbh, I’d be surprised if he was anything other than a slow growther type. But I wouldn’t want him here. I’d rather have him than your stamps of approval like Menzies, but still wouldn’t want him here.
 
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Nobody’s worried about Harper.

People are just believing there’s millions of dollars just sitting around at unlv and can easily afford Wade’s buyout plus 3-4 million in annual salary. Marshall, same thing.

Have we not learned anything from the Rick Pitino sagas? Not to mention there’s P5 options for these coaches. I can see more than a few openings like Arizona State and that’s a school that Kruger may end up at as a staff member. IMO.
I get it, you and maybe a few others here don’t believe there’s money but I believe if there is a move in the works and Harper has it all laid out.
TimothyC3’s original post laid it out here.
You can re-read it if you need clarification.

Rehashing what happened in the past is just that, the past! Your opinion is there’s no money and Kevin may be coming back because of it. I think the opposite!

We will see who’s right in a month, see you then!
 
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You can’t have a name that doesn’t win. You can have a no name that wins. That’s long term stuff.

But if you want early interest, you don’t hire Horton Poser. I don’t even know how the guy is doing, tbh, I’d be surprised if he was anything other than a slow growther type. But I wouldn’t want him here. I’d rather have him than your stamps of approval like Menzies, but still wouldn’t want him here.
It made me look up Poser. Oklahoma was an NCAAT regular before Poser. Three years of NO NCAAT, an NIT, mediocre record, poor in conference (both deviations from prior years). Maybe he makes it? If so, perhaps it’s an argument for slow growth? But the program has, with great evidence, DROPPED since he took over.

It’s relatively similar to the results we are producing right now.

IMG_3769.jpeg
 
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It made me look up Poser. Oklahoma was an NCAAT regular before Poser. Three years of NO NCAAT, an NIT, mediocre record, poor in conference (both deviations from prior years). Maybe he makes it? If so, perhaps it’s an argument for slow growth? But the program has, with great evidence, DROPPED since he took over.

It’s relatively similar to the results we are producing right now. Kevin at .590. And Hoser Morton had 17 years of fluffy league play to really pump that sucker up.

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2 NCAAT’s in his 20 years of head coaching. Sign me up. Career .554 winning percentage. It’s relatively similar to the results we are producing right now. Kevin at .590. And Hoser Morton had 17 years of fluffy league play to really pump that sucker up.

Yeah, yeah, the poster child for slow growth, lol. I’m all in. I can see why you were so high on Poser and Menzies and why I wasn’t. And you can toss Turner into that pile. Same with Pastersack.
 
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Nobody’s worried about Harper.

People are just believing there’s millions of dollars just sitting around at unlv and can easily afford Wade’s buyout plus 3-4 million in annual salary. Marshall, same thing.

Have we not learned anything from the Rick Pitino sagas? Not to mention there’s P5 options for these coaches. I can see more than a few openings like Arizona State and that’s a school that Kruger may end up at as a staff member. IMO.
KK won’t be back. The media might not be saying it. But he won’t be back.
 
On the $$$$ issue, if you told me 90 days ago that Odom will leave for Purdue at the end of the season and that UNLV will pay his replacement $3.5 mill it would have tough to believe based on history. But it happened! Also, I do recognize that Vegas is rapidly changing and it appears the Resort Association and Gaming see value in college athletics and more specifically UNLV. I don't think UNLV goes cheap this time and I would think Harper has a lot of good will with the $$$$` people. We shall see.
 
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While a proven big name would be nice, do you all realize many of you dog all kinds of successful people from small stature schools, while forgetting the guy from a smaller stature school that did kinda well? His name was Tark.

You need to pick a winner for a few years who wants a bigger stage.
 
I THINK FANS WILL BE DISAPPOINTED NO MATTER WHAT. check the record of coaches available. NOBODY WINS AT THE LEVEL TARK DID AND NO ONE WILL MEET OUR EXPECTATIONS. K.K. HAD 3 WINNING SEASONS IN A ROW SOMETHING VERY FEW NEW COACHES HAVE HAD. I realize no ncaa tournaments and not suggesting we keep him. And I know Utah st. Has been lucky. But UNLV needs to decide what they want. Most any coach you suggest will have had mediocre seasons. What are your expectations.? And what suggest to you that they can be met? I'M NOT SAYING WE SETTLE BUT THIS IS A BIG DECISION.
 
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I THINK FANS WILL BE DISAPPOINTED NO MATTER WHAT. check the record of coaches available. NOBODY WINS AT THE LEVEL TARK DID AND NO ONE WILL MEET OUR EXPECTATIONS. K.K. HAD 3 WINNING SEASONS IN A ROW SOMETHING VERY FEW NEW COACHES HAVE HAD. I realize no ncaa tournaments and not suggesting we keep him. And I know Utah st. Has been lucky. But UNLV needs to decide what they want. Most any coach you suggest will have had mediocre seasons. What are your expectations.? And what suggest to you that they can be met? I'M NOT SAYING WE SETTLE BUT THIS IS A BIG DECISION.
That’s a fair question. Expectations translate to quality of a new coach and therefore price. We’re not getting another Tark. He was once in a lifetime, maybe two or three lifetimes (and I feel very fortunate to have lived thru it; it truly was magical.) I don’t expect that.
I haven’t given this question extensive thought but my initial take would be NCAA tourney by year two, win MWC by year 3 or 4, and be a tournament team most years (6-8 out of 10) and be top 3-4 in conf every year (challenging for the title most years). I don’t think any of that is unreasonable. But, it does require a coach with a winning pedigree which means my expectations would likely require a higher priced coach unless Harp hits another jackpot like Odom.
 
I THINK FANS WILL BE DISAPPOINTED NO MATTER WHAT. check the record of coaches available. NOBODY WINS AT THE LEVEL TARK DID AND NO ONE WILL MEET OUR EXPECTATIONS. K.K. HAD 3 WINNING SEASONS IN A ROW SOMETHING VERY FEW NEW COACHES HAVE HAD. I realize no ncaa tournaments and not suggesting we keep him. And I know Utah st. Has been lucky. But UNLV needs to decide what they want. Most any coach you suggest will have had mediocre seasons. What are your expectations.? And what suggest to you that they can be met? I'M NOT SAYING WE SETTLE BUT THIS IS A BIG DECISION.
My expectation is San Diego St. level of success and consistency. Compare our facilities to any in the MWC. With the exception of SDSU none approach our media footprint. I imagine our budget is in the top 3 or 4 in the MWC. So why does CSU and Utah St. always seem to have an overachieving top 3 MWC team following a coaching change but we can't sniff a top 1-2 finish in the last decade? There's no excuse. Finishing in the top 3 even in off years is a must. Getting to the NCAA tournament outright(no 3 or 4 win streak mwc tourney bs) every other year on average also more than doable. These teams blow and that we're constantly looking up at them from 5th or 7th place is pathetic.
 
Why give it to someone nobody else has wanted as a head coach? If we tank it will be another beloved alum that will be hard to fire. He should've been the intern coach but he wasn't because they knew it would be hard to let him go. He hasn't proven to be a hot commodity however he couldn't be any worse than Kruger. He may have got crapped on but I think his time has passed unfortunately.
 
After this convincing win at Wyo, I don’t think that we need to look elsewhere for next season!
 
2 NCAAT’s in his 20 years of head coaching. Sign me up. Career .554 winning percentage. It’s relatively similar to the results we are producing right now. Kevin at .590. And Hoser Morton had 17 years of fluffy league play to really pump that sucker up.

Yeah, yeah, the poster child for slow growth, lol. I’m all in. I can see why you were so high on Poser and Menzies and why I wasn’t. And you can toss Turner into that pile. Same with Pastersack.
Hmmmm … from lauding Poser to silence.
 
Hmmmm … from lauding Poser to silence.
This is the danger of hiring a coach who has a mediocre record for years and then gets hot for a couple of years. He's the new shiny thing. But shiny things can get rusty.

Take Sprinkle. An overnight miracle worker at USU. But before that he was a first year head coach at Montana State. His first two years there were mediocre. But then he latched on to a couple of good recruits who blossomed. Got to the dance his next two years and from that got picked up by USU. Rode Osobor to the top of the conference and now he's the poster boy of what an AD can do if he hires right.

But now, after leaving USU, he's next to last in conference at Washington. The BIG 10 is just different competition and just 5 years ago he was an assistant at Cal State Fullerton.

Bottom line - it's really difficult to hire a coach you can be sure of, even a little. Every few years there is a shiny thing that doesn't rust ( Nate Oats, Otz?) But they area crap shoot. In general, I don't think there are 10 coaches you can hire and be really comfortable they will get us to standard SDSU type performance - year after year. And each of those coaches will require a big buyout plus a big contract. If they suck we are hobbled for years to come.

Look at Pitino to St. Johns. His contract is $ 3.3 mil a year but The previous coach sued for $ 45 million in a contractual dispute based on how he was fired. That suit has been settled, but there isn't any info on how much cash St. Johns had to fork over.

When the time comes I don't envy Harper.
 
This is the danger of hiring a coach who has a mediocre record for years and then gets hot for a couple of years. He's the new shiny thing. But shiny things can get rusty.

Take Sprinkle. An overnight miracle worker at USU. But before that he was a first year head coach at Montana State. His first two years there were mediocre. But then he latched on to a couple of good recruits who blossomed. Got to the dance his next two years and from that got picked up by USU. Rode Osobor to the top of the conference and now he's the poster boy of what an AD can do if he hires right.

But now, after leaving USU, he's next to last in conference at Washington. The BIG 10 is just different competition and just 5 years ago he was an assistant at Cal State Fullerton.

Bottom line - it's really difficult to hire a coach you can be sure of, even a little. Every few years there is a shiny thing that doesn't rust ( Nate Oats, Otz?) But they area crap shoot. In general, I don't think there are 10 coaches you can hire and be really comfortable they will get us to standard SDSU type performance - year after year. And each of those coaches will require a big buyout plus a big contract. If they suck we are hobbled for years to come.

Look at Pitino to St. Johns. His contract is $ 3.3 mil a year but The previous coach sued for $ 45 million in a contractual dispute based on how he was fired. That suit has been settled, but there isn't any info on how much cash St. Johns had to fork over.

When the time comes I don't envy Harper.
The move “up” in conference can be daunting and usually does not equate to success. And that’s if you are successful in the lower conference. When you are poor to mediocre in that lesser conference and hit some serious paydirt for two years, it becomes risky. I don’t blame him, he struck when the iron was hot and made the most of his career financially. It was a huge risk for OU. They went from success with Lon K to a very mediocre coach with a couple of fluke years. They could have done better. They have resources. They have support. They REALLY rolled the dice on Poser and it hasn’t panned out for them, far below what they had achieved just a couple seasons prior.

Who knows? Maybe he becomes a candidate here? I hope not.

But ironically, it seems like he would thrive at some place like Utah State, seems to fit that mold. But for whatever reason, Utah State doesn’t operate at all like UNLV.
 
I know Moser isn’t a top choice, but at unlv price point, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s considered. The seeet 16 and final four run still carries weight and it was with a podunk basketball school.

His stint at Oklahoma kind of mirrors his other stints. So it’s a roll of the dice with Moser, imo.
 
I know Moser isn’t a top choice, but at unlv price point, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s considered. The seeet 16 and final four run still carries weight and it was with a podunk basketball school.

His stint at Oklahoma kind of mirrors his other stints. So it’s a roll of the dice with Moser, imo.
The question is what is the UNLV price point? The price point for UNLV football a few years back under Sanchez was $600K, now they are paying 6X that! My expectation is they are smart enough to know that it wouldn't take a huge increase in attendance to pay for a much better coach!
 
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