TJ Going to UNLV?

[MNJack3]

Re: TJ Going to UNLV?

An assistant I've long admired is Ben Johnson, currently at Xavier. Grew up in Minneapolis, started playing at Northwestern and transferred to Minnesota. Was an assistant at UNI for 4 years (1 year while Sell was there), was at Nebraska 1 year and then Minnesota for 5 before going to Xavier a year ago. Highly regarded as a recruiter and familiar with the Midwest. I think he will be a successful head coach in the near future. Would be worth a call.

Meant to put him in my previous post. He would be a good pick. Before he left to Xavier he was responsible for Minnesota's strong 2018 Recruiting Class. All of whom were Minnesota Kids.

Wildcard Pick - Kirk Hinrich - Don't know his full position but isn't he the head of the Sanford Basketball Program? Big name, plenty of contacts, and has player development experience. Unlikely but would be interesting.

[2002jack]

Re: TJ Going to UNLV?

Let’s drop the Tim Miles dream and look at realistic prospects.

[bigticket1]

Re: TJ Going to UNLV?

All aboard the Tim Miles train... Maybe we could start paying a dollar for every post we make to add to the pot that we can pay him? If TJ was at 350k, I'm guessing we'll have to pay Miles upwards of 450k for him to even think about it. Probably higher. I wonder how high the administration is willing to go for a hire like that.

Will the administration allow Sell to use TJ's buyout money to sweeten the pot above and beyond what we have been paying for the right candidate ? One thing that could maybe draw Miles' interest is that he apparently has two elderly (late 80's-early 90's) parents an hour from Brookings.

[RabbitObsessed]

Re: TJ Going to UNLV?

Who is the petty one? Zimmer or 91jack?

91. Maybe petty isn't the right word. Nitpicky? Just seems like a small thing to worry/care about imo.

Edit: and to be fair to 91, I was reading the wrong article. Here's where he's talking: https://www.argusleader.com/story/sp...ts/3288634002/

[MontanaRabbit]

Re: TJ Going to UNLV?

Did he edit that or am I reading the wrong article? Here's what I'm reading: https://www.argusleader.com/story/sp...ps/3290279002/



Either way, who gives a **** how it's worded? Seems petty as hell.

Who is the petty one? Zimmer or 91jack?

[RabbitObsessed]

Re: TJ Going to UNLV?

I like how Zimmer put that TJ "elevated" SDSU in his article. He took a NCAA tourney team that lost in the first round to the exact same place. He did win the conference but I look at winning a game in the NCAA tournament as a step up.

Did he edit that or am I reading the wrong article? Here's what I'm reading: https://www.argusleader.com/story/sp...ps/3290279002/

Otzelberger, 41, took SDSU to two NCAA tournaments and won three Summit League titles, helping the program remain relevant after the surprising departure of longtime coach Scott Nagy. The former Washington and Iowa State assistant went 70-33 in his three years in charge of the Jacks.

Either way, who gives a **** how it's worded? Seems petty as hell.

[bigticket1]

Re: TJ Going to UNLV?

An assistant I've long admired is Ben Johnson, currently at Xavier. Grew up in Minneapolis, started playing at Northwestern and transferred to Minnesota. Was an assistant at UNI for 4 years (1 year while Sell was there), was at Nebraska 1 year and then Minnesota for 5 before going to Xavier a year ago. Highly regarded as a recruiter and familiar with the Midwest. I think he will be a successful head coach in the near future. Would be worth a call.

[91jack]

Re: TJ Going to UNLV?

I like how Zimmer put that TJ "elevated" SDSU in his article. He took a NCAA tourney team that lost in the first round to the exact same place. He did win the conference but I look at winning a game in the NCAA tournament as a step up.
I will not say that he did worse than Nagy but I didn't see much/any improvement. I guess going to the NCAA tourney 2 of 3 years is a touch better than Nagy going there 3 of his last 5 years. He did lose as a #1 seed to a #8 seed so that would probably equal things out (in those years).
You can't blame TJ for getting out when he can and we will just have to wait and see who Sell hires next if he did leave.

[Nidaros]

Re: TJ Going to UNLV?

Not worried about Justin Sell’s judgement after picking Otzelberger. The next choice could be even better

[MNJack3]

Re: TJ Going to UNLV?

My take on who's next...

Tim Miles - Not happening, that's a huge drop from Big Ten...he'll land at a MW, MVC, MAC, Conference USA type School

Current Assistants
Eric Henderson - Surpassed Klink as top assistant and most likely to get a Final Interview
Klink - Good guy but I don't see it happening
Curtis Weathers - I would assume he follows TJ to UNLV. Don't know much about him but i think he was hired for Recruiting Purposes only

Head Coaches or Recent HC's
Saul Phillips - He is Tim Miles Jr. from a colorful character standpoint, I don't know if he was truly good at NDSU or simply a beneficiary of Miles' work. Struggle at Ohio before being fired
Matt Margenthaler - Obvious candidate pick for his SDSU ties but also built a premier DII program at MSU - Not a sexy pick but wouldn't be bad either
Tom Biliter - Popular pick last time but I don't believe he even made it to the final interview last time

D1 Assistants
Ryan Miller - SD ties phenomenal recruiter, his resume speaks for itself. Sell passed on him last time for fear he'd be gone in a few years but everyone knew TJ was bailing after Daum Graduated
Rob Jeter - Minnesota Assistant Coach & former UW-Milwaukee HC. Had some good years at Milwaukee which is a garbage school, been a bottom feeder HL team since he was let go.
Kevin Green - UNI Assistant Coach - Ben Jacobson's top Luetenant and very well respected in the coaching world. Even though UNI has yet to replicate success post Ali Farokmenesh, KG would be a good pick BUT his son AJ is a Freshman at UNI
Dane Fife - Michigan State Assistant and former IPFW HC - He did a A LOT with a LITTLE at IPFW, played a similar uptempo system that SDSU is accustomed to and is a fantastic recruiter. Dane would be my pick but i don't see it happening.
Creighton Assistants - Paul Lusk is a former D1 Head Coach but no one there on staff has ties to Justin.

Long Shots
Austin Hanson - everyone knows his story, I personally would be disappointed if we hired him. Burned a lot of bridges at SDSU. I personally know him and not fond of him at all.
Brian Cooley - Nagy's top Assistant, has the resume in my opinion but I don't know if he has the HC Persona quite yet

This one is a little more wide open, 3 years ago there were a lot of Assistants out there with ties to Justin but are now head coaches at bigger schools. Personally, I would just accept what we are as a revolving door and go after Ryan Miller hard. Roster may look different but he would bring in big time players immediately.

[Mr_Tibbs]

Re: TJ Going to UNLV?

Personally, I'm not overly concerned one way or the other with TJ leaving. Not because we are loaded for next year, but because I think it was going to be struggle without the three seniors next year regardless of who was coaching. Hopefully he doesn't pull too many players/recruits with him.

My jury is still out on TJ as a coach. There's no question that he inherited some Nagy recruits that helped his resume BIG TIME. He obviously brought in DJJ and some potential recruits this year that seemed to validate his reputation as a good recruiter. But our sample size with TJ was so small, you can't really even say he was a fantastic recruiter. Hell, we may not even see any of his better class this last year play a minute for the Jacks. I won't be surprised if he does really well at UNLV, and I won't be surprised if he flops. He's been a head coach for all of 3 years and had one the best scorers in NCAA history to help build the resume the last 3 years. Who knows how he'll do elsewhere. Good luck either way I guess.

I'm sure whoever we hire will have an uphill battle next year, but we're a pretty attractive job, and we should be able to get some good candidates at a similar level or higher than what we just lost. I don't care of the hire is "sexy" at all.

[Jacks-02]

Re: TJ Going to UNLV?

I thought TJ would be here for another year, but can't blame the guy at all if he has a chance to move up. It was prime time to do it as he was losing three big seniors and there were question marks going into next season.

That said, I'm excited about the opportunity going forward. While TJ proved to be a good recruiter, I've never been sold on his X's and O's, especially on the defensive end.

[jacksstudent]

Re: TJ Going to UNLV?

Which assistant coached our defense?

[UWMandSDSU]

Re: TJ Going to UNLV?

And then... I go back to when TJ was hired, he looked at guys with ties to Coach McDermott with Otz, and DeVries (I think it was?) Maybe JS has a good short list of Assistants from coaches or other AD's he knows and trusts?

If Sell keeps it to a similar plan as he did the first time around you could begin to look at McDermott's assistants (current and prior).

[da_coach]

Re: TJ Going to UNLV?

Listen, Miles would be a fantastic choice, and I'm sure everyone would be for that, but I'm not sure how realistic it is.
It could be, but probably not.

Currently on Staff: I hope Coach Henderson at least gets a shot to interview, if he's interested. Doesn't mean they have to hire him, and maybe he's not interested, I don't know.

A name that hasn't been mentioned here much is Saul Phillips? Won in this league. Is not going to command the $$ that Miles would, and is much more realistic.

And then... I go back to when TJ was hired, he looked at guys with ties to Coach McDermott with Otz, and DeVries (I think it was?) Maybe JS has a good short list of Assistants from coaches or other AD's he knows and trusts?