AJ is coming back!

[SiouxFallsJack]

Re: AJ is coming back!

This is great news!  What a swing of emotions over the last 24 hours.  I was mad when I first heard the news last night(glad I didn't post my opinion then), then disappointed that he didn't want the chance to take us to the tournament.  This morning I was excited over who the next coach might be, and now relieved that he is coming back.


Now lets work on getting rid of the 1 year contracts for our coaches.  

[Cadsev]

Re: AJ is coming back!

Dana Altman syndrome all over again..........wow great news for SDSU!

[trueblue]

Re: AJ is coming back!

It is great news! After a not so great day at work- some sunshine! I hope AJ does stay for a long time, but the point about AJ and Altman being in different positions is true. Going back on Arkansas is not the same as going back on UWGB. The mens coach at Winthrop went back on going to College of Charleston (?)- one year later he is now the coach at Wichita St. Others will come calling with what they believe are better offers and the belief that they won't get burned.

[BTownJack]

Re: AJ is coming back!

You can add Tim Miles to the list as well. He turned down UNC-Greenboro last year at this time and now he's at Colorado. Let's not expect to see AJ here forever, but if he does, I sure won't complain!

[thebluehatman]

Re: AJ is coming back!

Guess I now know why there was a smile but serious look on Oien's face when he walked through the Union towards the HPER Center around 9:20 this morning.

[thebluehatman]

Re: AJ is coming back!

http://www.sdsucollegian.com/news/20...-2884758.shtml

Kimmes with another good story.

[g_mandakota]

Re: AJ is coming back!

AJ is back, which is great news.  A very classy coach performed even classier yesterday in all his interviews.

Here are some articles from Green Bay Gazette:

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/...704270593/1225

Women's basketball: History reverses itself

Two years after Borseth returned to UWGB, his replacement goes back to South Dakota State

By Scott Venci and Rob Demovsky
svenci@greenbaypressgazette.com; rdemovsk@greenbaypressgazette.com

The search is back on.

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay will continue looking for a women's basketball coach after Aaron Johnston had a change of heart and returned to South Dakota State University on Thursday, one day after accepting the position at UWGB.

Johnston was one of six coaches in a pool of candidates to replace Kevin Borseth, who on April 9 was hired as Michigan's coach.

That group includes Michigan Tech coach John Barnes, UW-Stevens Point coach Shirley Egner and Illinois assistant coach Marsha Frese.

......

While sitting in a Minneapolis airport on his way to Green Bay on Thursday morning, Johnston phoned Bothof to say he had begun to have some feelings of anxiety that he hoped would go away but didn't.

Johnston was contemplating whether he should board his plane to Green Bay or go back to South Dakota. Bothof asked him if he wanted more time to think about it and gave him the option of taking a plane later in the evening.

Johnston decided to board the flight to Green Bay to meet with Bothof, but told Bothof when he arrived that he had decided to go back to South Dakota State.

"I think what I ran into probably in the last 24 hours was just trying to walk away from South Dakota State," Johnston said in a telephone interview with the Press-Gazette on Thursday evening. "Green Bay is a special place, and I think South Dakota State is a special place. Some of the connections that I have here were just too strong to leave right now.

"I thought it was a little bit of nerves (that come) anytime you take a job. As I got through my goodbyes here in town, I felt like things were going to be like they were supposed to be, but I just didn't have that settled feeling."

Bothof was disappointed with the decision, but never attempted to talk him out of it.

...........

"We certainly talked through how he got to where he was at, and had he thought through it all, but I wanted someone who wanted to be here. Who had an appreciation for our program and the success we have had and the student-athletes that are here. I want them to come in here and be ready to go. That's what we expect. That's what we want. That's what we will find."

Johnston, 32, was set to become the third coach in team history. He would have faced the difficult task of replacing Borseth, who guided the Phoenix to the NCAA Tournament seven times and the WNIT two times during his nine seasons with the team.

Johnston instead returns to SDSU, where he's led the Jackrabbits to a 170-55 record in seven seasons, including the Division II national title in 2003. He was instrumental in guiding the program to a successful transition to Division I at the start of the 2004-05 season.

.....

"I do want to apologize to everyone there," Johnston said. "No question things went as far as they did because everything and everyone there was first class. I owe everyone there an apology."

An editorial from the same paper:

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/...704270591/1225

Rob Demovsky column: ADs enable a growing problem
 
By Rob Demovsky
rdemovsk@greenbaypressgazette.com

So, is the next women's basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay the third or fourth in school history?

.........

Johnston backed out of the job on Thursday morning, six hours before he was scheduled to be introduced as UWGB's coach. A day earlier, the school proudly announced it had plucked one of America's rising stars away from a growing South Dakota State program that Johnston had led to a Division II national title in 2003 and was in the process of taking to the Division I level.

..........

Two years ago, Borseth backed out of the Colorado job on the day of his introductory news conference to return to Green Bay. Altman, the men's basketball coach at Creighton, earlier this month went through the news conference at Arkansas, only to go back to Omaha the next day. Anderson, the longtime men's basketball coach at UW-Eau Claire, took the Wisconsin job for four days in 1982 before he bailed out.

........ cont.

[SUPERBUNNY]

Re: AJ is coming back!

Here is a link where you can listen to the press conference where AJ is reintroduced as SDSU Head Women's Basketball Coach!

http://brookingsradio.com/Mambo/inde...2&Itemid=2

It is great to listen to!

GO JACKS!

SUPERBUNNY

[RaiderInTheZone]

Re: AJ is coming back!

Congratulations on keeping Aaron Johnston in Brookings! I was kind of surprised that he decided to take the job at Wisconsin-Green Bay to begin with. The Horizon isn't a very strong league beyond Green Bay and SDSU has so much potential to be greater than that. It looks like you'll be able to keep your goals steamrolling forward! Best wishes!

[tmh8286]

Re: AJ is coming back!

Congratulations on keeping your coach. Sounds like he is the real deal, and will really add a spark to the Mid-Con next season. It's always heartwarming to see a coach that is loyal to the program that's brought him success. Our own Jerry Finkbeiner put his name in the ring for the same job, but today's paper says he's staying at ORU - only thing is, I don't know if the interview where he said that was before or after Coach Johnston reversed his decision! Hope Jerry sticks to that!

We look forward to seeing Coach Johnston and the SDSU women's basketball team in Tulsa this coming year!

[joeboo22]

Re: AJ is coming back!

Does anybody know the terms of the offer AJ accepted to stay with the Jacks?

[JimmyJack]

Re: AJ is coming back!

Came across these on YouTube. Video of the news conference last night:

Pt. 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n0CZZfU0X8

Pt. 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HYUGhBoz-Q

[89rabbit]

Re: AJ is coming back!

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs...33/1002/SPORTS

Johnston 'right where he wants to be'
'Long, quiet ride down I-29' resulted in change of heart

By Stu Whitney
swhitney@argusleader.com
Published: April 27, 2007

BROOKINGS - If Aaron Johnston looked a little exhausted Thursday night, he had every reason to be.

The South Dakota State women's basketball coach had been through a 24-hour maelstrom of his own making - leaving on a jet plane to face his future, only to learn he left it behind.

It was a stunning turn of events, with Johnston accepting the job at Wisconsin-Green Bay on Wednesday night, only to change his mind Thursday morning.

By the time he arrived in Green Bay, offered his apology, and then flew back to Brookings to face the media and his players, the 32-year-old Minnesota native seemed ready to sink into his chair.

But that's the tough part about these coaching about-faces, as Creighton's Dana Altman discovered after his recent dalliance with Arkansas.

Those left in the wake are exhausted, too. And they want to know what the heck you were thinking.

"I don't expect just to pick things up where they were," said Johnston to the assembled throng at Thursday's somewhat surreal press conference. "It may take some time for everybody to really feel comfortable and understand that this is where I want to be.

"If there's anything that I really regret, it's letting the process get this far. But let me just say that I'm not on the fence. I'm not in between. I'm right where I want to be." . . . (read more)


Go State!

[89rabbit]

Re: AJ is coming back!

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs...37/1002/SPORTS

A challenge for Johnston
Task of reconnecting can take some effort for teams, coaches

By Terry Vandrovec
tvandrovec@argusleader.com
Published: April 29, 2007

The women's basketball program at Wisconsin-Green Bay would have been a new challenge for Aaron Johnston without being a reclamation project. That was a big part of its appeal.

But now that the coach has decided to stay at South Dakota State, a program he helped morph first into an NCAA Division II national power and then into a top 50 team in its third year in Division I, there is suddenly some rebuilding to be done.

The healing process began Friday with a team meeting; most of the players attended Thursday night's welcome back news conference, but nobody was up for another emotional get-together afterward.

So how does a there-and-back coach go about reconnecting - assuming being away for 24 hours creates issues that linger longer than 24 hours?

It's difficult to exactly say because few who have been through it seem to want to talk about it. . . . (read more)


Go State!

[Haldersham]

Re: AJ is coming back!

Is there any more to say about AJ coming back? No except that I am very happy he changed his mind, I think the media tries too much of a reversal of decisions.

Hundreds of people accept and reject job offers every day. As it was said AJ learned a great deal about himself in this process and that is all that matters.
I still think he is a great coaching mind with a winning personality to go with that mind. As far as how long his career will continue at SDSU I have no clue, but wish him well no matter where the future takes him.