Tulsa to hire Eric Konkol from La Tech

[MJSooner]

Looks like TU is going to hire Konkol. Good hire for TU. I remember several on this board having him on a shortlist last year for us.

https://www.ktbs.com/sports/reports...cle_bdb23302-a959-11ec-b3d7-f3a8ac22500c.html

 

[thebigabd]

This is a total home run hire in every sense of the word... This guy was my top pick to be OU's head coach, and he ends up at Tulsa... He's a great coach and has won a lot of games at LA Tech.

I am a bit surprised at this from his perspective... LA Tech to Tulsa is a weird move when you win like 23 games a year at LA Tech. It seems lateral to me. In fact, probably easier to win at LA Tech than at TU.

Either way, thrilled for the TU program. They got a total steal here. Very risky move on Konkols part though. I think he could have gotten into the P5 if he held out, but oh well.

 

[AnotherSoonerInTX]

This is a total home run hire in every sense of the word... This guy was my top pick to be OU's head coach, and he ends up at Tulsa... He's a great coach and has won a lot of games at LA Tech.

I am a bit surprised at this from his perspective... LA Tech to Tulsa is a weird move when you win like 23 games a year at LA Tech. It seems lateral to me. In fact, probably easier to win at LA Tech than at TU.

Either way, thrilled for the TU program. They got a total steal here. Very risky move on Konkols part though. I think he could have gotten into the P5 if he held out, but oh well.

Great hire for them. He did very well at La Tech. His first job out of college was as a student assistant at TU.

He had to get out of La Tech. Conference USA is losing 9 schools, while adding New Mexico State, Liberty, Jacksonville State, and Sam Houston. In basketball, that's a wash (especially for a one-bid league), but it's unstable and losing some overall prestige.

TU, on the other hand, sits in the American, who is losing Houston, Cincinnati, and UCF, while adding North Texas, Rice, Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, UAB, and UTSA. The AAC is definitely going to be weaker, but TU is still a move up from La Tech.

 

[TINY]

Really good hire for TU!

 

[Seymore Cox]

He’d be a great hire if he brought the big kid. He has never been to the tournament so that’s hard for me to classify as a great hire. He may do very well, but the reality is he hasn’t proven anything in coaching.

 

[StoopsBros]

He’d be a great hire if he brought the big kid. He has never been to the tournament so that’s hard for me to classify as a great hire. He may do very well, but the reality is he hasn’t proven anything in coaching.

If you're talking about Lofton...bad news, he'll probably end up at Texas. His cousin = Jamaal Charles, former UT RB.

 

[Seymore Cox]

If you're talking about Lofton...bad news, he'll probably end up at Texas. His cousin = Jamaal Charles, former UT RB.

Or Texas Tech. The slapdick assistant that recruited him to La Tech is there.

 

[thebigabd]

He’d be a great hire if he brought the big kid. He has never been to the tournament so that’s hard for me to classify as a great hire. He may do very well, but the reality is he hasn’t proven anything in coaching.

7 years in LA Tech
No losing seasons
5 Top 3 finishes in C-USA
Won 23+ games in 5 of 7 years
Won nearly 70% of his games as a first time head caoch

It's a great hire. It's a one bid league, but he is incredibly consistent.

 

[WTSooner]

7 years in LA Tech
No losing seasons
5 Top 3 finishes in C-USA
Won 23+ games in 5 of 7 years
Won nearly 70% of his games as a first time head caoch

It's a great hire. It's a one bid league, but he is incredibly consistent.

Consistently average-ish.

There is some upside there, but it's a pretty middle of the road hire for me. What is his formula going to be? Nothing in his pedigree suggests he'll recruit really well. Is he a really good X's and O's coach? He just seems kind of average at everything. I think to win at a school like TU, you have to have something you are really good at.

 

[thebigabd]

Consistently average-ish.

There is some upside there, but it's a pretty middle of the road hire for me. What is his formula going to be? Nothing in his pedigree suggests he'll recruit really well. Is he a really good X's and O's coach? He just seems kind of average at everything. I think to win at a school like TU, you have to have something you are really good at.

When I was promoting him as OU's coach, what I liked about him was balance.... C-USA is a 14 team league... I think when you combine that kind of consistency at the right program, in the right league, it will lead to consistently good results.

If you are consistently in the top 5 in offense and defense at OU, for example, you will always be a good team.

2016-2017
#3 offense
#3 defense

2017-2018
#6 offense
#6 defense

2018-2019
#6 offense
#4 defense

2019-2020
#5 offense
#2 defense

2020-2021
#6 offense
#3 defense

2021-2022
#3 offense
#5 defense

Let's look at that for the same time period at OU... In a 10 team league.

2016-2017
#9 offense
#9 defense

2017-2018
#4 offense
#10 defense

2018-2019
#9 offense
#8 defense

2019-2020
#7 offense
#9 defense

2020-2021
#4 offense
#6 defense

2021-2022
#4 offense
#6 defense

You mention being really good at one thing... Like elite on defense, or elite on offense. That is certainly one way to go about it. But I think there is a lot to be said for being really balanced in both, and in the top 3-5 of your league every year on both sides of the court. The results speak for themselves.

In that time period OU won on average 17 games. LA Tech won an average of 22 games per season in that stretch. The fewest amount of total wins Tech had in that stretch was 17, which was the only time they were under 20 wins.

In summary.... He recruits well, and he's very consistent on offense and defense. Always good on offense, always good on defense.

 

[WTSooner]

Ken Pom would disagree. Their O and D numbers are all over the place year over year.

Also not sure how you can make the comment that he "recruits well." Based on what?

And looking at total wins/losses doesn't mean much either, without the context of what their OOC schedule has looked like. They beating up on cupcakes?

Like I said, I'm not 100% writing the guy off, but I don't see anything about him or his past results to suggest he is going to return TU to the level I'd like to see TU return to. Matter of fact, I'd probably wager he won't get TU to the NCAA Tournament in the next 5 years.

I certainly hope he proves me wrong though. I like TU having a good men's bball team/program.

 

[NickZepp]

Ken Pom would disagree. Their O and D numbers are all over the place year over year.

Also not sure how you can make the comment that he "recruits well." Based on what?

And looking at total wins/losses doesn't mean much either, without the context of what their OOC schedule has looked like. They beating up on cupcakes?

Like I said, I'm not 100% writing the guy off, but I don't see anything about him or his past results to suggest he is going to return TU to the level I'd like to see TU return to. Matter of fact, I'd probably wager he won't get TU to the NCAA Tournament in the next 5 years.

I certainly hope he proves me wrong though. I like TU having a good men's bball team/program.

AAC will probably be getting a lot easier with Houston, Cincinnati, and UCF leaving. So I think they'll be pretty good for the tournament there in a couple years. I don't think they'll get anywhere like they were in the say the 90s to early 2000s where they were a tournament team almost every year.