no one knows ****. He could’ve been looking into this weeks ago. Writing has been on the wall for months.
Official Announcement of TJ as the New Iowa State Mens BBall Coach
- Thread starter werdnamanhill
- Start date
no one knows ****. He could’ve been looking into this weeks ago. Writing has been on the wall for months.
But he’s our friend and we know him better!
Sooo Bobby Lutz quit Nebraska. Wondering
If he will be in our bench next season
If he will be in our bench next season
Wait a second, I thought TJ wasted Duam and did nothing with his career. Why is he supporting him?
Another great ambassador, from an era we remember and miss all too well. Rooting for Coach Prohm, too, to find a 'fit' for another university.
I like this hire. In fact I’m pretty psyched about it!
Yeah,Holberg was my absolute favorite option but that was probably a pipe dream for several reasons. I think Otz is much preferable to all the mid major options that many posters liked. For example, I don’t believe that getting Utah State into the dance as an 11 seed, or winning the Horizon means someone is more suited to the ISU job than a coach who has proven he knows how to successfully recruit here.
Let’s do this! Time to bring back the Magic!
Yeah,Holberg was my absolute favorite option but that was probably a pipe dream for several reasons. I think Otz is much preferable to all the mid major options that many posters liked. For example, I don’t believe that getting Utah State into the dance as an 11 seed, or winning the Horizon means someone is more suited to the ISU job than a coach who has proven he knows how to successfully recruit here.
Let’s do this! Time to bring back the Magic!
Nearly every program with a lot of turnover struggled (see Duke, Kentucky, etc)
The words of these former players carries weight, and their support behind the program matters. All these guys love Iowa State, and will continue to help TJ along the way.
Also, it’s just awesome watching March madness again!!
For those who subscribe to The Athletic, I just read a past article that was linked to the current article about TJ being hired at ISU. The past article was written (by everyone’s favorite, Seth Davis...) when he was hired by UNLV. Very interesting and pretty positive/hopeful. Gets into his relationship with his dad, starting AAU team at age 15, coaching path, time at ISU, Alison, time at SDSU, what makes him tick and key themes for his teams (about commitment/focus; article doesn’t get into Xs & Os or O&D philosophy), mentions buddy/mentor Tony Bennett at UVA. Good read. Seems like a good guy who’s very competitive, relational, and focused. We’ll see what happens. Hope he does well at ISU.
I would guess he'll keep the alumni meetup going that Prohm started. Especially with so many guys playing professionally, can't hurt to keep them close to the program if possible.
I think that is a fantastic thing, and I sure hope so. There's a tremendous amount of value in keep those guys involved.
On UNLV's Covid Pause
UNLV's problems started before Covid hit the program, they were 1-4 at the time. They beat K-State and lost to Montana State, North Carolina, Bama and Davidson before their shutdown. I would say they were 1-2 against teams they should have beat.
*****
IMO the TJ justifiers need to stop. Whether by the ISU Athletic Department or individual fans the excuses just doesn't look good.
All Jamie needed to say was: TJ was my guy from the start. I have worked closely with TJ for close to 10 years. I witnessed firsthand his ability to recruit, coach and lead a group of young men. He is a coach with passion and integrity. He's a Cyclone through & through. I realize that TJ's record this past season at UNLV might underwhelm some Cyclone fans, but after working in college athletics for over 25 years, I am confident TJ has what it takes to make ISU one of the premier Big12 basketball programs.
I might not have agreed with the hire, but AD's hire coaches they are familiar with all the time, whether it be at their current school or a previous school (Gard, Izzo, Painter, Boynton, Beard, etc.).
The excuses don't resound with the ISU fanbase, because all the excuses that TJ justifiers have been using, are issues that all 365 D1 basketball programs dealt with this season and most season. It doesn't create confidence that TJ can rise above adversity!!
Excuse 1 - Covid shutdown for over 30 days. A lot of schools were shutdown for an extended period: Baylor (multiple times), Drake (1 Month), Michigan, Iowa State (16 days). UNLV missed 30 days, but when they came back there weren't missing any players due to Covid. Iowa State had 4 key contributors miss a total of 8 games.
Excuse 2 - UNLV's walk-on starting PG Coleman went down with an injury and missed entire MWC schedule. Xaiver Foster ISU's 4 star freshman PF missed 17 games, Rasir Bolton missed 3 games and Tre Jackson missed 8 games due to injuries.
Injuries are part of the game, and lacking depth at a key position falls on the head coach.
Excuse 3 - UNLV's roster included 10 new players this season. This included 6 freshman, 2 immediate eligible transfer and 2 sit-out transfers. But as shown below returning players, sit-out transfers and immediately eligible transfers scored 84% of UNLV's points. Freshman only scored 16% of UNLV's points. Having freshman score more would be great, but TJ had 7 guys who were returning players or transfers who played significant minutes. Five of those guys practiced last year.
UNLV Breakdown of Points Scored:
Returning Players (3) -38%
Sit Out Tfr (2) -30%
Immediate Elig. Tfr/JUCO (2) - 16%
Freshman (6)- 16%
I would think most coaches would expect sit-out transfers to have a big impact since they have already adjusted to school and practiced a year. I know ISU expected guys like Shayok, Jacobson and Nixon to contribute immediately. Same goes for immediately eligible transfers.
By comparison, ISU freshman only scored 6% of our points. Again, I feel there were a lot times during the last 4 years that ISU was relying on transfers and freshman to be impactful. Seems like the TJ justifiers have a double standard- OK for TJ, Failing of Prohm.
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I know people are already detached and "over it" because we were excited about TJ once when he was "our" hot new assistant prospect, but now that he's not "new" it's boring and too safe, too tight with the AD, etc. But given the last two years I'd say it's a good thing we got a coach other schools would want, instead of some three-week farce trying to find someone to take the job. Yes ISU's solid legacy should preclude that, but a couple misses and crossed wires and it could happen.
If he has a good reputation from former players and B-ball columnists (not just Fred and Pollard), that seems promising! He had a few "meh" years at UNLV, and three good tournament years at SDSU. Scouts go off young potential as much as peak current results, and it's seems like the "young coach scout judgment" is still universally favorable.
Moreover this article says UNLV passed over Pitino when they hired Otzelberger! Yes Pitino has some baggage to rebuild from, but when have you thought UNLV would be the school whose "standards were too high"?!?
www.reviewjournal.com
If he has a good reputation from former players and B-ball columnists (not just Fred and Pollard), that seems promising! He had a few "meh" years at UNLV, and three good tournament years at SDSU. Scouts go off young potential as much as peak current results, and it's seems like the "young coach scout judgment" is still universally favorable.
Moreover this article says UNLV passed over Pitino when they hired Otzelberger! Yes Pitino has some baggage to rebuild from, but when have you thought UNLV would be the school whose "standards were too high"?!?
Front-runners to be next UNLV basketball coach
With the departure of T.J. Otzelberger, UNLV is looking for its sixth head coach in 10 years.
www.reviewjournal.com
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You're correct but Pollard blew smoke up everyone's ass in both videos to say the "right" things" when everyone knows different.
Well I don't think most of us 'KNOW' different. But I will admit that in the last few hours I have taken a step back to reassess my blind loyalty in believing everything JP shared. I may have been very wrong. Not that anyone cares. And we all want to move forward & hope for good outcomes.
Maybe the haters should stop. He’s the Cyclone coach now.
