Tulsa

[BoulderSooner]

Didn't realize they were in a new conference next year.

Title or not, they still straddle the mid-major/major line. I think Haith can do OK at that level, though. I think he can be a consistent 20+ game winner there, at least (similar to Wojcik, I guess).

AAC is a major conf in basketball ... with the big 5 the A10 and the big east

 

[DenverSooner]

C'mon Denver, show a hint of objectivity. Throughout most of the Norm Stewart era, Missouri really was a national power. They weren't recognized as such because of all their NCAA Tournament failures...something an OU fan should certainly be able to relate to. All Missouri did during that era was win more Big 8 titles than ANY other school in that conference. Yes, they've been a middle-of-the-pack program since the start of the Big XII, but let's not act like they never won anything.

Missouri is certainly a good job and a top 5 basketball job in the SEC. They should be able to hire a solid candidate.

I am just screwing with Sawyer. I am giving him the Villain he subconsciously wants and needs to justify his existence.

You are wrong that Missouri won more Big 8 titles during the Norm Stewart era than any other program. KU won the most. Now if you are going to define Norm Stewart's career as the 80s, he did win 5 compared to OU's 4.

 

[WTSooner]

Even after sleeping on this, I still don't like this hire for TU. It may ultimately work out okay for them, but it seems to go against what has worked for them so well in the past. Just when I thought they were headed back in the right direction.

I wonder if the TU AD thought they needed somebody more experienced with the move to the new conference next year?

 

[badger]

The MU job has always been pretty simple. Get the best kid in KC and St Louis and then hit Chicago and surrounding areas. For some reason that seems to be a big problem. I'm wondering who they are going to find to take over this mess.

They and Illinois deserve each other --- on paper they should be powerhouses in the Midwest, as they're the top state school in their well populated states with major metro areas, and yet they manage to screw that up year after year.

Illinois: I think we can win with Ron Zook!
Mizzou: Let's name our basketball arena after a Walmart heiress who never attended here!

 

[Northbase]

John Klein: Tulsa's choice of Mizzou's Frank Haith stunning
"Tulsa and Missouri have the same number of Final Four appearances (none)".

"The American Athletic Conference, where Haith will be coaching next year, had more teams in the NCAA Tournament than the SEC (four to three). And, an AAC team (UConn) won the national championship over an SEC team (Kentucky)"

"a league that has the current national championship team along with big-name coaches like Larry Brown, Kelvin Sampson and Josh Pastner."


Poll question: Is Frank Haith a good choice as Tulsa's new men's basketball coach?

"Before he became the Eastern Michigan athletic director in 2006 and the University of Tulsa athletic director in 2013, Gragg had a background in NCAA compliance. In 1995-97, working for then-Missouri athletic director Joe Castiglione, Gragg was Mizzou's director of compliance and operations"

From Bill Haisten's TU blog: Hiring of Frank Haith ends crazy Tulsa coaching search

From John Klein's blog: More risk with Danny Manning hire than Frank Haith

Click here to read Bill Haisten's analysis of the hiring of Frank Haith and the end of Tulsa's coaching search.

 

[WaymanFan]

I am just screwing with Sawyer. I am giving him the Villain he subconsciously wants and needs to justify his existence.

You are wrong that Missouri won more Big 8 titles during the Norm Stewart era than any other program. KU won the most. Now if you are going to define Norm Stewart's career as the 80s, he did win 5 compared to OU's 4.

Yup, my bad on the conference titles. I honestly didn't know that his coaching at Missouri dated to the '60s...thought he started later. Still, Missouri won 8 conference titles in his era...that's pretty impressive.

As for the Tulsa hire, it's certainly not a bad one. Haith can coach, and Tulsa will certainly be competitive.

 

[badger]

1 p.m. presser today. Fave Haith, my friend

 

[badger]

Greetings from Tulsa. Here's an update.

"What a whirlwind," Haith said when he took the podium. "It's Good Friday. I have a lot of things to be blessed for."

While TU is a private institution, they are still subject to IRS tax filings. As such, this guy has surmised that Frank Haith will make more than TU football coach Bill Blankenship, and reportedly will make far more than TU's final offer to Danny Manning.

TU better have some big money boosters funding all of this. Big boy conference sports sure are expensive for the smallest school in D1 football.

 

[Northbase]

TU has a HUGE endowment fund, and they have some very old oil money backers. At one point their endowment was much larger than OUs. That may have changed as Boren has been working it so hard the last several years.

 

[BanjoCharley]

1 p.m. presser today. Fave Haith, my friend

 

[BoulderSooner]

TU has a HUGE endowment fund, and they have some very old oil money backers. At one point their endowment was much larger than OUs. That may have changed as Boren has been working it so hard the last several years.

the endowment has little to do with athletics

and fyi .. tulsa's is 800 mil OU's is approaching 1.3 bil

 

[bocabull]

AAC is a major conf in basketball ... with the big 5 the A10 and the big east

Exactly. It's only getting stronger too with Sampson joining Houston and Larry Brown continuing to build up SMU. Uconn is the top program in the nation, Memphis & Cincy are better than every SEC program other than Kentucky & Florida. Temple is down now but has 33 NCAA tournament wins which is on par with OU, OSU & Texas and dramatically better than Missouri.

The AAC is positioning itself to be the elite basketball conference while everybody else is focused more on football.

It's also funny to hear people suggest that Cal was a step down from Tennessee for Martin. Based on what? Nonsense. Not only does Cal have more NCAA wins it's the #1 public academic institution in the nation and based in the Bay Area. The top economic region in the world and it's not even close. Housing values in the Bay Area are 8 times the national average. The place is overflowing with coin.

 

[Northbase]

Boulder "the endowment has little to do with athletics". I disagree, as it gives an indication as to the financial prowess of the institution, and their ability to raise money if needed in time-sensitive situations. About 5 years ago, TU's was greater that OUs. Like I said, Boren has been putting in the overtime.

 

[Sawyer]

Exactly. It's only getting stronger too with Sampson joining Houston and Larry Brown continuing to build up SMU. Uconn is the top program in the nation, Memphis & Cincy are better than every SEC program other than Kentucky & Florida. Temple is down now but has 33 NCAA tournament wins which is on par with OU, OSU & Texas and dramatically better than Missouri.

The AAC is positioning itself to be the elite basketball conference while everybody else is focused more on football.

The AAC has one great team, two good ones, two teams with coaches who might make them good, and one team with historical success (everything relevant was all John Chaney, but whatever). Past that, it's a bunch of trash.

It's a solid basketball conference, but it's still top heavy and far from the top tier. It's essentially the same as the SEC. Weak.

Agree completely regarding Martin, though. He was doing a nice job at UT, I thought, and he took a good job. I don't know if I'd call it a better job (I don't know if anyone at Cal really cares about basketball; I know Tennessee does), but it's certainly not a big step down.

 

[sooner4eight]

The AAC has one great team, two good ones, two teams with coaches who might make them good, and one team with historical success (everything relevant was all John Chaney, but whatever). Past that, it's a bunch of trash.

It's a solid basketball conference, but it's still top heavy and far from the top tier. It's essentially the same as the SEC. Weak.

Agree completely regarding Martin, though. He was doing a nice job at UT, I thought, and he took a good job. I don't know if I'd call it a better job (I don't know if anyone at Cal really cares about basketball; I know Tennessee does), but it's certainly not a big step down.

In less than 24 hous he goes from not knowing which conference Tulsa is in to being an expert in conference analysis. Someone's been reading, hooked on phonics - basketball edition.

 

[Sawyer]

Well I've got a step on Haith, then.

 

[bocabull]

The AAC has one great team, two good ones, two teams with coaches who might make them good, and one team with historical success (everything relevant was all John Chaney, but whatever). Past that, it's a bunch of trash.

I see. So "only" 6 good teams. heh

Question, if Tulsa is trash what does that make Missouri?

 

[Sawyer]

I see. So "only" 6 good teams. heh

Question, if Tulsa is trash what does that make Missouri?

I actually wouldn't include Tulsa with trash. They belong in that top half. That was an oversight on my part.

The trash is East Carolina, UCF, USF, Tulane and Navy (in 2015). That's a weaker bottom than any other major conference (yes, weaker than the SEC even).

Tulsa is a step above that but below Memphis/Cinci (same group as Houston/SMU/Temple).

 

[StatGeek]

In the poll linked above 71% of people think this was a bad hire. I wish Tulsa the best but I still can't believe they made this move. Sadly, the TU brass is sticking out their chest because they "stole" a coach from a more recognizable program; when they should have stepped back and realized Mizzou was letting them have him for a reason.

 

[bocabull]

So now you're up to 7 good teams with strong NCAA tournament history. Sounds like a pretty strong conference.

Question, Houston has been to 5 Final 4s. How many has little Missouri been to?