New Coach Search

[Birds of B'more]

High risk/high reward. I 100% believe we have a higher upside with Ehsan than Turgeon. If it fails we start over with a new AD picking a new coach in 3 or 4 years. That's not a bad thing.

I don't see the high-reward potential of putting a guy in a position where he is almsost certainly in way over his head. No matter who gets the job, you can start over in 3-4 years anyway. It's not like we'd be in the difficult spot of having to fire a legend like Gary.

[The Rick]

High risk/high reward. I 100% believe we have more potential with Ehsan than Turgeon. If it fails we start over with a new AD picking a new coach in 3 or 4 years. That's not a bad thing.

The Ehsan possibility is getting some traction on some other boards, but I just can't see a first-time HC taking over the MD program. We just need to learn more about Turgeon. In better recruiting grounds, will he play the game and built relationships with the AAU coaches and take advantage of amazing talent in his back yard? That could be the difference between Turgeon being an "okay" recruiter in Texas where the Longhorns will always reign #1, and being a "great" recruiter in College Park, where AAU coaches have been waiting for a coach to build relationships with.

[The Rick]

A big plus would be the ability to keep Ehsan and Ransom on the staff which would help retain the recruits that have commited and are currently recruiting. I'll give the guy a chance but I don't have a good feeling he'll work out here.

Looks like Brent Harris agrees with you...

This is turning into a PR nightmare for Maryland. Consider this, Randy Edsall is a much bigger and higher profile hire than Turgeon!

[ccbird]

It won't be Ehsan and I understand why they go after Turgeon. Bottom line is Md needs to end this ASAP and hire a guy that the media will consider a good hire. Get what egg we have on our face off of it. Turgeon does that for us as he's gained a solid rep at Wichita St and A&M. We'll see what happens but like I said it'll be very important for him to retain Ehsan and Ransom or at least one of them. We have to have someone who has ties to our commited recruits, the kids we are recruiting, and the Balt-Wash community.

[gallden]

Who was the nba coach whose name was in the mix?

[backwardsk]

Just saw that Shelvin Mack is staying. I'm sure Stevens is as well.

[CompuCoach]

Just saw that Shelvin Mack is staying. I'm sure Stevens is as well.

USA Today says the opposite.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/campusrivalry/post/2011/05/butler-shelvin-mack-nba-draft/1

[ccbird]

Stevens pulled his name out of consideration for the MD job so anything concerning Butler should not be mentioned again in this thread.

[ccbird]

Would love to hear what accinfo has to say about not only the Miller situation but the other coaches who he had heard were initially in the mix(Stevens, Wright, Barnes, Brey). Did Anderson mess things up ???

[JohnD]

So Kevin Anderson has had two big coaching changes under his watch, and neither has gone well. Is a search committee being formed for his replacement, too?

[CompuCoach]

So Kevin Anderson has had two big coaching changes under his watch, and neither has gone well. Is a search committee being formed for his replacement, too?

Don't think you can pin what's transpired thus far with respect to the basketball coach search on Kevin Anderson. What is he supposed to do? Force people to leave schools where they're already established for Maryland? It seems like he hit up all of the right people, they just don't want to budge.

[Birds of B'more]

Testudo Times had a detailed writeup on Turgeon.

Current Gig: HC at Texas A&M

Past Gigs: HC at Witchita St., HC at Jacksonville State, assistant for Philadelphia 76ers, assistant at Oregon, assistant at Kansas

HC Record: 249-158

Age: 46

*****

NCAA Tournament Appearances: Five; one at Witchita St., four in a row at Texas A&M

Sweet 16 Appearances: One, at Witchita St.

Elite 8 Appearances: None

Ties to the Area: None to speak of. Born in Kansas, played at Kansas, and has coached mostly in the Midwest or southwest. He rarely recruits in this area, though he did land Naji Hibbert from DeMatha.

Recruiting: Good, but not spectacular. There's ridiculous talent down in Texas, and he's yet to land any great talent. But in each of his four years at TAMU, he's ended up with at least one four-star commitment, including DeMatha's Hibbert. TAMU isn't a recruiting dream - no tradition, average facilities, a definite football school - which makes it tough to figure out how good of a job he's doing. He's no slouch here, but he's not a Miller, either.

Game Coaching: Hey, remember when Kevin Anderson said he wanted someone like Gary? Well, does this sound familiar?

Mark Turgeon coaches a man-on-man defensive style, with occasional zone, and a guard oriented offense.[20] Although he is known for his intense competitiveness and desire to win, Turgeon treats his players well, with some even saying they see him as a sort of father figure, as opposed to just a coach.

Yep, that's Gary. And this is Gary, too.

I'm presuming an AD would prefer to have a great recruiter over a great coach. If a coach is a great recruiter and fairly intelligent, he could hire guys to help with the X's and Os. Still, it's fun watching a guy like Mark Turgeon take a bunch of players, keep them together for a few years, build a cohesive team and watch them succeed.

Anyway, as for results: he got Witchita St. into the Sweet 16, which is impressive. And each year he's been at aTm - a school with almost no basketball pedigree - they've gone to the NCAA Tournament. He even had them ranked highly this year at times. And he tends to do well with under-the-radar guys like Khris Middleton, who was a three-star but became just a star at aTm.

Program Building: He inherited a terrible situation at Witchita St., and in six years had them in the Sweet 16. And though Gillespie left a nice base at Texas A&M, his success was far from solidified. He's done most of what he's done on his own.

Cleanliness: As a whistle. Turgeon tends to be straight-laced. He's not an amazing recruiter, and if he's cheating to get those guys we're in some serious trouble.

Other useful info: Just read this if you want to feel good (and simultaneously apathetic) about this hire. ... He's on Twitter!

Interest in Job: Presumably, really high. TAMU isn't a great place to work for a basketball coach, and Maryland is without a doubt better. He'd take the job if it was offered, almost certainly.

Is it Realistic? Yes.

Reaction to Hiring Would Be: Somewhere between apathy and happiness. Turgeon isn't taking Maryland to an elite level, or at least probably not. But he's a great coach, is a lot like Gary, and won't see Maryland regress much, if at all. Given the circumstances, things could be worse.

After reading that, I don't see how he doesn't end up on the sideline at Comcast. He sounds exactly like a Kevin Anderson-type of hire, who said he was looking for similar characteristics as Gary....and Turgeon seems to have it. I think Turgeon could probably improve over what we've seen the past few years and once he has a chance to get his own recruits in he'll consistently have the Terps in the NCAAs, and to the occasional Sweet 16. But I wouldn't book any Final Four reservations either.

[JohnD]

Don't think you can pin what's transpired thus far with respect to the basketball coach search on Kevin Anderson. What is he supposed to do? Force people to leave schools where they're already established for Maryland? It seems like he hit up all of the right people, they just don't want to budge.

If you're trying to defend him you aren't doing a very good job. Any one of us can hit up the right people. The list of "right people" is fairly easy to deduce. But part of his job description is to close the deal. And he sure as hell isn't doing that. He totally botched the Friedgen firing. And now he's botching this.

As one friend of mine said, the only thing he's been successful at is screwing up. And I really, really hate saying it, but my friend is right. This is turning into an NC State-like circus.

[JohnD]

Testudo Times had a detailed writeup on Turgeon.

After reading that' date=' I don't see how he doesn't end up on the sideline at Comcast. He sounds exactly like a Kevin Anderson-type of hire, who said he was looking for similar characteristics as Gary....and Turgeon seems to have it. I think Turgeon could probably improve over what we've seen the past few years and once he has a chance to get his own recruits in he'll consistently have the Terps in the NCAAs, and to the occasional Sweet 16. But I wouldn't book any Final Four reservations either.[/quote']

This sounds pretty vanilla. And after hearing critics of Gary say for years that this team should routinely be in the Sweet 16, at a minimum, this isn't going to get the Terrapin Club energized.

I don't miss Debbie Yow for one second. But I'm about ready to move on to the next AD now, too.

[CompuCoach]

If you're trying to defend him you aren't doing a very good job. Any one of us can hit up the right people. The list of "right people" is fairly easy to deduce. But part of his job description is to close the deal. And he sure as hell isn't doing that. He totally botched the Friedgen firing. And now he's botching this.

As one friend of mine said, the only thing he's been successful at is screwing up. And I really, really hate saying it, but my friend is right. This is turning into an NC State-like circus.

I have no love for Kevin Anderson, but I think it's kind of silly to hold him entirely accountable for people at established programs not wanting to jump ship and essentially start over again when they already have it pretty cushy. Sure, Maryland may be a better job in a vacuum from the places these coaches are at, but factoring in other things it's only a marginal improvement given the sacrifice involved.

And close what deal? You mean the one that all of the Twitter "journalists" said was imminent with Miller? For him to leave a job with a top five recruiting class next year, having reached the Elite Eight this past season and having just moved to Arizona two years ago? In retrospect we were pretty foolish to believe so readily that Miller would just drop Arizona for us. Anderson didn't drop the ball, we just got played. It's as simple as that.