Let's review DePaul... & Leitao Replacement Discussion...

[OmahaGuy]

Yup. DePaul is set to hire Stubblefield. Pretty underwhelming hire IMO as he wasn't on my short list but he and Dana took a mediocre Oregon program and built them into one of the premier programs in the country. He should absolutely be given a chance

[GoldenWarrior11]

Next big question is who does Stubblefield hire as assistants? And, most importantly, is he being pressured to keep the assistants on staff?

[ArmyVet]

Yup. DePaul is set to hire Stubblefield. Pretty underwhelming hire IMO as he wasn't on my short list but he and Dana took a mediocre Oregon program and built them into one of the premier programs in the country. He should absolutely be given a chance

Out of the box hire for sure. Has the potential to be either a brilliant move or another in a line of questionable hires by Depaul.

[Demon22]

For what it's worth, Stubblefield's resume is similar to the most successful post-Meyer coach in school history - Dave Leitao v1.0. He's also got a very similar profile to Kenny Payne, who was always considered a favorite:

* Highly-paid, high major assistant coach
* Limited/no Head Coaching Experience
* Known as excellent recruiting and player development coaches
* Close ties to Nike
* Both were assistants at Oregon

One theory... Highly-paid assistant coaches at high major schools are something of a market inefficiency. How so? The theory as to why Kenny Payne never got offered a job goes something like this... Payne was already earning $900,000/year at Kentucky. In order for him to leave a stable, high-paying coaching job, he'd have to be compensated financially. There aren't a lot of mid-majors out there that can afford to pay more than $900,000/year. And the high-major schools that can afford it, are usually looking for coaches with head coaching experience.

I saw someone suggest that Stubblefield is the kind of hire that someone like UIC or Bradley would have made. I checked the salaries - Stubblefield was making more as an assistant coach at Oregon than either Brian Wardle (Bradley) or Luke Yaklich (UIC) are making as Head Coaches. The schools that he has been connected to in the past (New Mexico State, Fresno State, UNLV) all tend to be on the higher end of the spectrum in terms of salary for mid-major head coaches.

I think this is a swing for the fences. I think this is DeWayne Peevy trying to identify someone who was in the same awkward professional situation as Kenny Payne was for a number of years at Kentucky.

Apparently, assistant coach Tim Anderson is sticking around. Not sure that's being forced on Stubblefield as much as Anderson's earned his stay, especially considering the work he put into developing Max Strus and Paul Reed, and the fact that he was the lead recruiter for Ahamad Bynum, who I think is a Top 50 high school senior.

Wouldn't be shocked if Marc Hsu sticks around, as well.

I hope Shane Heirman is renting.

[GoldenWarrior11]

For what it's worth, Stubblefield's resume is similar to the most successful post-Meyer coach in school history - Dave Leitao v1.0. He's also got a very similar profile to Kenny Payne, who was always considered a favorite:

* Highly-paid, high major assistant coach
* Limited/no Head Coaching Experience
* Known as excellent recruiting and player development coaches
* Close ties to Nike
* Both were assistants at Oregon

One theory... Highly-paid assistant coaches at high major schools are something of a market inefficiency. How so? The theory as to why Kenny Payne never got offered a job goes something like this... Payne was already earning $900,000/year at Kentucky. In order for him to leave a stable, high-paying coaching job, he'd have to be compensated financially. There aren't a lot of mid-majors out there that can afford to pay more than $900,000/year. And the high-major schools that can afford it, are usually looking for coaches with head coaching experience.

I saw someone suggest that Stubblefield is the kind of hire that someone like UIC or Bradley would have made. I checked the salaries - Stubblefield was making more as an assistant coach at Oregon than either Brian Wardle (Bradley) or Luke Yaklich (UIC) are making as Head Coaches. The schools that he has been connected to in the past (New Mexico State, Fresno State, UNLV) all tend to be on the higher end of the spectrum in terms of salary for mid-major head coaches.

I think this is a swing for the fences. I think this is DeWayne Peevy trying to identify someone who was in the same awkward professional situation as Kenny Payne was for a number of years at Kentucky.

Apparently, assistant coach Tim Anderson is sticking around. Not sure that's being forced on Stubblefield as much as Anderson's earned his stay, especially considering the work he put into developing Max Strus and Paul Reed, and the fact that he was the lead recruiter for Ahamad Bynum, who I think is a Top 50 high school senior.

Wouldn't be shocked if Marc Hsu sticks around, as well.

I hope Shane Heirman is renting.

I am happy for new leadership at DePaul and I genuinely hope this works out. However, at this stage, DePaul cannot afford to invest in an unproven commodity. They have finished in last, or near the bottom, of the Big East for over a decade. Keeping any of the assistants, especially more than one of them, is a major red flag. Desiring to keep an assistant coach, or two in this case, because of their work with former players does nothing to change the reality that those coaches were part of a losing program that continued to finish last in the conference for multiple years. We all have heard and seen this song and dance before. It frankly does not matter if they have close ties to incoming recruits because the former staff, led by the former head coach, did nothing with the recruits they were bringing in. If anything, it only fuels the perception that DePaul admin continues to force its way onto head coaches without letting them choose a staff to place around them. No proven head coach, or up-and-coming head coach, will ever want to take a job if it is mandated who they keep or hire on staff, and that's not what high-major basketball programs do or how they operate. If that is what ultimately kept Payne from taking the job (as Woodson left for IU), that is a red flag.

Frankly, touting the Stubblefield as a solid hire because he is similar to Leitao is a losing argument. Leitao never should have been brought back a second time (as many media in Chicago argued when it happened). He made the tournament his second year thanks to the players that Pat Kennedy recruited (Delonte Holland, Drake Diener, Quemont Greer and Andre Brown). I give DePaul credit for actually hiring Purnell (who bombed out), because they paid-up to get him, and he was a proven winner at every prior stop in his career (Clemson, Dayton, Old Dominion and Radford). DePaul cannot afford to continue finish in last place every year. Neither can the Big East.

In summary, this hire does nothing to change perceptions about DePaul Men's Basketball in the near term. I hope it works out and he is successful long-term. Unfortunately, this hire is eerily similar to past hires at DePaul (underwhelming with no local ties). Fingers crossed.

[Demon22]

However, at this stage, DePaul cannot afford to invest in an unproven commodity.

What proven commodity wants the DePaul job? Because as of right now, it's a bad job. It doesn't have to be, and it might not be in the future, but we're hiring a coach right now.

Keeping any of the assistants, especially more than one of them, is a major red flag.

I trust DeWayne Peevy. He comes from a winning program, and he knows what high quality coaches look like. If he believes Tony Stubblefield is the guy, then I don't have any reason to doubt him. If Tony Stubblefield looks at Tim Anderson and Marc Hsu and believes they're assets and not liabilities, then I don't have any reason to doubt him, either. Say what you want about them, but by all accounts, Peevy and Stubblefield were key pieces of big time basketball programs. I"m willing to let things play out a little while before I start criticizing.

If anything, it only fuels the perception that DePaul admin continues to force its way onto head coaches without letting them choose a staff to place around them.

No one who was around for any previous coaching hires is still in a position of power at DePaul. You're judging Peevy and Esteban based on the actions of Lenti-Ponsetto and Holtschneider. Not fair.

No proven head coach, or up-and-coming head coach, will ever want to take a job if it is mandated who they keep or hire on staff, and that's not what high-major basketball programs do or how they operate. If that is what ultimately kept Payne from taking the job (as Woodson left for IU), that is a red flag.

I agree. And there is absolutely no evidence that this is the case.

Frankly, touting the Stubblefield as a solid hire because he is similar to Leitao is a losing argument. Leitao never should have been brought back a second time (as many media in Chicago argued when it happened). He made the tournament his second year thanks to the players that Pat Kennedy recruited (Delonte Holland, Drake Diener, Quemont Greer and Andre Brown).

I agree that Leitao should not have been brought back the second time - that's not what I was talking about. I was talking about the first time he was hired when he won an NCAAT game and used that to springboard to the Virginia job.

And he didn't exactly leave the cupboard bare for Jerry Wainwright. DePaul under Leitao v1.0 was a program on the rise.

In summary, this hire does nothing to change perceptions about DePaul Men's Basketball in the near term.

Perception is crap. Tony Stubblefield won't succeed or fail based on the outside perception of the program. I'm fairly confident he'll recruit at a high level. It all comes down to whether or not he can coach. If Stubblefield can coach, then it'll work out. If he can't, then it won't.

[billyjack]

Congrats on the hire DePaul. Fresh start. Good to get someone new.

I tend to take the route of GW11...

I'll look into this, but i like the idea in the Midwest of (if no himerun hires are possible) using the MAC as a coaching feeder league for the Big East. In the Northeast, i like grabbing from the A-10 or the MAAC...

Ideally, get a guy with a handful of years as head coach, hopefully someones whose trendlines are going up.

Also, i prefer the new coach to clean house, and take in his own people. Don't worry about recruits leaving. Go in, meet the players, set goals and a 3 year plan, and build from the ashes. if guys want to leave, let them.

Having said all that, i love that Stubblefield coached under Altman, a really excellent coach.

[MUPanther]

Let's hope it works. Bit of a messy past. Stubblefield was implicated in the Brian Bowen bag dropping recruitment.

[MarquetteRustler]

Let's hope it works. Bit of a messy past. Stubblefield was implicated in the Brian Bowen bag dropping recruitment.

Kelvin Sampson is coaching in the final four so who really cares? Just win baby!

[GoldenWarrior11]

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/oregons-run-to-2017-final-four-has-disturbing-backdrop-that-cant-be-overlooked/

What a disaster.