Running Down Potential Maryland Assistant Coach Candidates
by Ben Broman on Apr 26, 2010 5:05 PM EDT
in Basketball
Email
Print
- Rob Ehsan, current assistant/Joe Harrington, current psuedo-assistant - Ehsan is everyone's favorite assistant coach, for a variety of reasons: he's young, he's energetic, he's personable, and he's a great recruiter. I'm not in love with giving him the recruiting coordinator job, however, because that's almost like taking him out of his best role and giving him a role that he has no experience in. I know he'll have to get it at some point, but would Gary want to put his best in-person recruiter in a position where he has to watch a ton of film? Then again, Ehsan appears to be in the Josh Pastner mold, so it might not be such a bad idea after all. If Ehsan moved over to RC, then current semi-assistant Joe Harrington could take an official role and become a full-time assistant.
- Dino Gaudio, former Wake Forest HC - Gaudio's not much to look at when it comes to gameday, but the man is a heck of a recruiter. When you consider that recruiting was Driesell's main duty, Gaudio makes perfect sense. He's yet to find a new place to call home, and Maryland would be a nice temporary destination to reel in a few big time recruits. The negatives abound, however: he'd be expensive, probably wouldn't jibe with Gary's personality, and would likely be out of town one way or the other relatively quickly.
- Billy Hahn, current West Virginia HC - You may remember Hahn as the former Maryland assistant that recruited Walt Williams, Joe Smith, and Steve Francis. After finding a ton of success with Gary Williams at Maryland, he moved onto La Salle, where scandal wrecked the program. Forced out, he took a break from coaching before ending up at West Virginia with Bob Huggins. Still a respected, experienced recruiter and coach, Hahn might have interest in returning to his alma mater where he first built his legend. I wouldn't count on him leaving a good thing at West Virginia, but keep your eye on it.
- Orlando "Bino" Ranson, current Xavier assistant - Ranson might be the most sensible of the potential hires listed here. A former assistant for JMU and Loyola (MD), Ranson has connections in the area and grew up in Baltimore. His presence in Charm City isn't hard to see when you look at his targets for Xavier: in 2010 he landed Baltimore big man Jordan Latham and was the lead guy on Will Barton and Victor Oladipo, and in 2011 he's heading the recruitments of Mikael Hopkins, Durand Johnson, and Greg Lewis. Even though he's been tucked away in Cincinnati for awhile, he would bring connections to the region and has a decent amount of experience.
- A Potential HCIW - Though it's highly unlikely that Maryland would officially name anyone Head Coach in Waiting, this is a chance for Gary Williams and Debbie Yow to find a sort of HCIW candidate, a big name that can get set in the area for the next couple of years. Think Russ Springmann, a Maryland native that currently coaches at Texas, or someone of the like.
- Former Maryland Coach or Player - These tend to get the fuzziest of warm, fuzzy feelings. For the first half, it would probably require something unexpected to happen: would Jimmy Patsos or Mike Lonergan, both of whom coached at Maryland and now head mid-major programs, leave their respective gigs to return to Maryland? That's extremely doubtful, even if they do afford Maryland some much-needed experience. The opposite end of the spectrum is the former player route, like adding Juan Dixon or Matt Hahn. Both would offer next to nothing in terms of experience (although Hahn is a current assistant at Vermont), which is problematic. It would be nice to see them return to the program, but it might not be the best possible thing for the program.
- Local High School Coach - Talk about local connections. Imagine DeMatha's head man Mike Jones or Montrose HC Stu Vetter joining the Maryland staff. Obviously there are financial issues there, but even a "lesser" coach would still bring in a ton of local connections without a lot of work in getting acclimated to the area. Not sure about the lack of experience, of course.
- Other Local College Assistant - Probably the most likely of hires is the little-known local (or non-local) assistant - think Chris Caputo at George Mason, Brian Ellerbe at George Washington, Jamal Brunt at Richmond, or attempting a steal of James Johnson at Virginia Tech. All of these guys are good recruiters and already have connections to the area.
17 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Everyone seems to focus on Recruiting...
…for this fill. It is easy to see why w/ Callipari stealing headlines and Tweeting his recruits to keep it on the DL. (loved that…sent to about 50 people who all loved it)
Let’s not forget the true reason that Gary has been the Man at Maryland for years: Nobody can run the X’s and O’s like Gary WIlliams. Look at his Big Game #’s against #1 seeds/etc. Gary can break down an opponent and design a game plan to beat them and make halftime adjustments with the best of them.
Let’s not be short sighted about bringing some wow factor and be sure that the man we bring in has a basketball mind at least in the mold of GW. I won’t even suggest it’s possible to find someone w/ 1/2 of his passion for the game and his team, but you can add that to the list if you want.
I do agree that this is a VERY big hire for the program, both now and in the years ahead.
I would have liked to get Dave Dickerson back if he hadn’t just taken another job…Dave was the man too…Recruiting (I know—contradicting myself) tandem of DD and Eshan would be solid.
Best of luck at Citidel Chuck!
Gaudio is my choice
He is a great recruiter and has some traction in NC where it would be nice to finally steal some talent from the enemy’s backyard for a change.
I like him
but it would be probably a short term thing. We need to find a person who is an experienced recruiter who wants to learn under Gary.
Rob Moxley!!!
How about bringing Moxley back to College Park. He was responsible for bringing in Osby, Vasquez, Hayes, and Milborne.
He was in the running for the Citadel job but that seems to be going to Chucky. Since Lutz got axed at UNC-Charlotte, Moxley is looking for a job. He is a great recruiter with local ties. He was doing a great job @ CP before he was lured back to Charlotte by a “head assistant” title and more money.
Yeah, forgot about that
Might add him to the virtual list. He’d be a very good hire. Also got Jeff Jones, IIRC.
Forgot to mention....
Moxley’s father-in-law is a faculty member at College Park. He came to Maryland to be closer to his grandkids and decided to stay even after Rob took his family down to Charlotte.
Speaking of Jeff Jones...
American University head coach for the hire?
(Only half-kidding…)
GW isn't coaching now just to get a few more 20 win seasons
Gary has bigger goals and the program has momentum we can’t afford to lose. Whoever comes in needs to hit the ground running and also needs to have GW’s confidence. The new RC needs to be able to both sell GW on a recruit and close a deal with a recruit. Selling GW is the ttoughest task so the RC needs to be someone he respects. An on-the-job-training candidate won’t do. I don’t think it will be an HCIW either. Who knows how much longer GW will coach or if Debbie Yow will still be AD when GW retires (we can only hope she won’t be)? My guess is that it will be someone with some history with the program.
by wmterp on Apr 26, 2010 10:19 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Fire Ehsan
And rehire him as recruiting coordinator with a big ****ing pay raise.
How about.....
Walt Williams…great recruiting tool for Gary to use. Or Adrian Branch?
Is is time for Football?
Billly Hahn
Hahn and Gary aren’t exactly on the best of terms. Add that to the fact he’s in a good situation under Huggins at WVU and you can take him off this list.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.