Welcome Kim English

[masonhoops1984]

No idea CofC was paying him that much. Good for him.

I would be fine with Knight. For some reason it’s been very difficult to be successful at Rutgers, yet Pikiell and staff found a way.

With that said Hofstra just beat Rutgers in the NIT. It won’t be long before Speedy Claxton gets an opportunity for a bigger/better gig.

Knight looks interesting. Webster no thanks would rather avoid Ivy League guy, doubt he would come to Fairfax anyway. Knight who knows if he’ll come since he’s a jersey guy. He could take FDU and stay home. Why isn’t Webster linked to American? That seems like solid fit.

 

[MASONscott]

I’m a CKE fan and want him very much to stay. Still weird that KE being hired away without actually doing anything special. I think he will be a good coach but the bar was set low for his pay day.

 

[gmujim92]

Knight looks interesting. Webster no thanks would rather avoid Ivy League guy, doubt he would come to Fairfax anyway. Knight who knows if he’ll come since he’s a jersey guy. He could take FDU and stay home. Why isn’t Webster linked to American? That seems like solid fit.

While he’s a Harvard grad, Webster is a DC native and has been an asst at Va Tech for 7 years. Not really a “Ivy League guy.” He’s got deep connections in the DMV and would almost certainly accept the Mason job if offered.

Tony should be Option 1, it’s his time, but Webster would also be a great choice. Young, charismatic, exceedingly smart and would recruit very well in Fairfax. This should be our coaching model going forward — if we have to find a new one every 3-4 years so be it.

 

[JimP]

Middle of the night twitter check led me to the fact that PC has made 7 of last 9 ncaa tournaments. I can see why their fans are upset about losing Cooley.

 

[MasonMojo]

My initial realistic replacements ideas would be Skinn, Mike Lonergan or Pat Kelsey.

I’m not opposed to giving Simpkins a shot either. Jason Williford (uva assistant) also deserves a HC opportunity.

Kelsey has earned a real upgrade, he won't be looking at a George Mason at all. Probably wouldn't even return the call.

 

[gmujim92]

Kelsey has earned a real upgrade, he won't be looking at a George Mason at all. Probably wouldn't even return the call.

New phone, who dis?

 

[GSII]

IF all this does NOT (or if it does, for PC sake)go down, how does KE handle the fact he has tried to bounce each year he has been a coach? 2yrs @ Tulsa, 2yrs @ Colorado, 2yrs @ Tenn, 2yrs @ Mason?? To be gone after 2yrs, means you always had one foot out the door from day one, imo. Commitment issues? And should these be a red flag?

 

[mkaufman1]

I’m a CKE fan and want him very much to stay. Still weird that KE being hired away without actually doing anything special. I think he will be a good coach but the bar was set low for his pay day.

Yeah same thoughts here. I always thought he’d do something at mason first before he’d jump. But I guess I could be very wrong. It seems as if Providence would take growing pains for a bit before he really wins. Get him now before he’s too costly sorta thing.

 

[Five Two]

I heard Mike Brey was listening to South Florida. I thought that if he is going to listen to them, he would be willing to listen to us. The American next year will be without Cinci, UCF and Houston, so you could argue that the American and A10 are, at worst, equal and at best, the A10 is better. Tampa is great weather during the season but the DMV has the best high school players in the country. Point being, USF seems on par with GMU. Until I saw that USF's former coach, Brian Gregory, was making $1.6M.

 

[NewPatriot]

In the back of my mind, I've been thinking Jamal Brunt.

 

[gmujim92]

I heard Mike Brey was listening to South Florida. I thought that if he is going to listen to them, he would be willing to listen to us. The American next year will be without Cinci, UCF and Houston, so you could argue that the American and A10 are, at worst, equal and at best, the A10 is better. Tampa is great weather during the season but the DMV has the best high school players in the country. Point being, USF seems on par with GMU. Until I saw that USF's former coach, Brian Gregory, was making $1.6M.

Brey signed a deal with USF, he’s off the market again

 

[gmujim92]

In the back of my mind, I've been thinking Jamal Brunt.

If our administration hired a first-time HC from vcu over a Mason Final 4 legend, my fandom would end on the spot and I’m not even kidding.

No effing way.

 

[MasonMojo]

IF all this does NOT (or if it does, for PC sake)go down, how does KE handle the fact he has tried to bounce each year he has been a coach? 2yrs @ Tulsa, 2yrs @ Colorado, 2yrs @ Tenn, 2yrs @ Mason?? To be gone after 2yrs, means you always had one foot out the door from day one, imo. Commitment issues? And should these be a red flag?

all he cares about is climbing the ladder, that's it. He probably thought he would have to actually accomplish something at this rung before abandoning ship, no doubt he is jumping for joy at this turn of events!

 

[gmujim92]

all he cares about is climbing the ladder, that's it. He probably thought he would have to actually accomplish something at this rung before abandoning ship, no doubt he is jumping for joy at this turn of events!

If you had an opportunity to more than double your current salary and compete in one of the best basketball conferences in the nation, would you take it or would you be worried that people might criticize you for changing jobs too often?

I’m taking the job.

 

[mkaufman1]

As much as we say ewww a vcu guy like Jamal Brunt, he did coach at Miami for a few years as well. Known as a good recruiter.

Not sure he’d touch mason at this juncture, but it’s not a terrible thing for names to have diligence done. He’d obviously be further down the list though. I like Tony, Christian Webster, williford etc first.

 

[GSII]

If you had an opportunity to more than double your current salary and compete in one of the best basketball conferences in the nation, would you take it or would you be worried that people might criticize you for changing jobs too often?

I’m taking the job.

Assuming he gets offered the job and money is a factor then he should accept it.

Curious why Coach L turned down PC.

Still think this is all him and his agent blowing smoke.

If he stays, is the trust gone?

 

[gmutom]

I've been reluctant to chime in here, but the reality was we all knew that Mason was always going to be a mere stepping stone for English. And I honestly don't mean that in a bad way. He did and said the right things about being here — he even did a coach's show he didn't have to do — but the reality is he would gladly follow the Rick Barnes model of hopping from Providence to Clemson to Texas to Tennessee.

Truth be told, my biggest concern these days with players not having to sit a year to transfer is another 3- or 4-year rebuild. We could literally lose every scholarship player on our roster and incoming recruits to Kim's new team or the portal. You know where that leaves us? Paulsen's first year when he was trying to find warm bodies to fill out the roster — also known as Square 1.

 

[GMUgemini]

I've been reluctant to chime in here, but the reality was we all knew that Mason was always going to be a mere stepping stone for English. And I honestly don't mean that in a bad way. He did and said the right things about being here — he even did a coach's show he didn't have to do — but the reality is he would gladly follow the Rick Barnes model of hopping from Providence to Clemson to Texas to Tennessee.

Truth be told, my biggest concern these days with players not having to sit a year to transfer is another 3- or 4-year rebuilt. We could literally lose every scholarship player on our roster and incoming recruits to Kim's new team or the portal. You know where that leaves us? Paulsen's first year when he was trying to find warm bodies to fill out the roster — also known as Square 1.

Portal cuts both ways. Dambrot was in the pillow fight last season and almost finished top 4 this season after completely rebuilding the roster.

Mason basically lost all but, what, 3 players over a two year span when Paulsen left. Are we in a bad spot?

As for why L didn’t jump. Providence college wasn’t a great job in the old new Big East of the early 2000s when they had to compete with the likes of Syracuse, Louisville, West Virginia, Pitt, et al. They went 10 years without a tournament appearance. Cooley basically rebuilt that program.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

I've been reluctant to chime in here, but the reality was we all knew that Mason was always going to be a mere stepping stone for English. And I honestly don't mean that in a bad way.

True and I would do/have done similiar moves to improve my career. But I had to perform at a very high level and prove myself in order to get that oppurtunity. And the company I was with benefitted from my performance.

I thought English leaving would be a result of us getting back to the tournament.

Losing a possibly great coach to a higher level program wihtout getitng any of the benefits of being a stepping stone, hurts. It hurts really bad.

If that happens, we would have been better off not hiring him in the first place. If Kim leaves this year, I wish nothing but the worse for him. I hope he hangs out in the doldrums of the coaching world until he's relegated to doing color commentary for local basketball teams.

That move would set us back so incredibly much , it's cruel.

 

[GMUgemini]

I don’t think getting into the tournament fundamentally changes the attractiveness of the job here. The infrastructure is what it is. Our conference is what it is. The school is what it is.

Look at the bright side, if he leaves he’s going to give us $1,000,000 that we can give to the next coach. Take his salary and bump it up an additional $200k per year to attract a better quality candidate who might not jump so quickly.