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Next VT Basketball Coach


Ryan4VT
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It won't be Gregg Marshall.  His name comes up virtually every time a quality job comes open.  It's easy to forget or overlook the fact that Marshall makes over a million dollars more at Wichita State than Buzz did at VT and doesn't have to contend with football.  And by all outward appearances, VT isn't going to offer a coach what Marshall makes at Wichita State.  Plus, I don't see Babcock going after a 56 year old head coach.  As an AD, you only get so many shots at getting these things right.  Babcock has a great track record in replacing coaches (golf excluded) but the percentages suggest he has to get one wrong at some point.  Replacing the most successful basketball coach in school history only to have to replace him in a few years due to retirement isn't a very attractive proposition for Babcock, I would imagine. 

Ryan Odum has an ACC pedigree and his son is a sophomore at Oak Hill Academy.  That would be my best guess.  Word out of Texas is Shaka Smart isn't well liked by the ridiculous Longhorn "boosters."  He would be another interesting choice.  Then again, Babcock hasn't gone "chalk" on many of these coaching hires in his tenure at VT.

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I wouldnt be worried about a 56 yr old retiring anytime soon.  Most of those guys are going to coach beyond 70 if they are successful.  That being said Marshall is stuck in Wichita due to the money he makes and the honeymoon may be over there anyway but neither can really get out of it very well.

Odom, Miller, Mike Young (rumor is he and the Wofford AD arent on good terms at the moment for some odd reason) John Brannen, and the even further out in leftfield pick that I think could be a hit would be Jon Coffman.

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33 minutes ago, 1inStripes said:

I wouldnt be worried about a 56 yr old retiring anytime soon.  Most of those guys are going to coach beyond 70 if they are successful. 

That's what everyone said about Bill Guthridge when Dean Smith retired!

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32 minutes ago, Ryan4VT said:

I think I’d take a look at Dawkins from UCF. ACC ties. Good coach. I’d like that hire. 

He’s made 2 NCAA tournaments in 11 seasons despite coaching all of them in multi-bid NCAA conferences.  He gets far too much credit for 1 fluke Sweet 16 appearance.  His ceiling is lower than it should be.

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13 hours ago, 1inStripes said:

To loosely quote Clarence from Coming to America:  Bill Guthridge was 137 years old when Dean Smith retired.

Actually, he was 3 years older than Gregg Marshall is right now.

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4 hours ago, Canes00 said:

I wonder if Anthony Harris or any of the other 2019 recruits will decommit now that Buzz is gone 

I'm pretty sure mcneily will decommit since his uncle will be going with Buzz to A&M....probably Harris as well but who knows

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53 minutes ago, GMan said:

He was 61 when he took the HC job at UNC...

We're both wrong!  Bill Guthridge was named head coach on October 9th, 1997.  He was born July 27, 1937.  He had turned 60 a little more than 2 months before becoming head coach.  I mistakenly thought he turned 60 after becoming head coach.  Gregg Marshall was born February 27, 1963, making him a little over 56 years of age.  Only 4 years older than Guthridge at the time of his hire at UNC.  

My point remains, with so many other attractive candidates, why hire someone nearing retirement age?

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55 minutes ago, sixcat said:

 

My point remains, with so many other attractive candidates, why hire someone nearing retirement age?

The retirement needle hasnt hit the 10 year mark left on Marshall or many others who are in their mid 50s.  Either way, Tech can hire an older proven coach who may have 10 years in the tank and see it out, or hire a young up and comer who will leave them in 5 for something better.  Does it really matter either way?

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1 hour ago, 1inStripes said:

The retirement needle hasnt hit the 10 year mark left on Marshall or many others who are in their mid 50s.  Either way, Tech can hire an older proven coach who may have 10 years in the tank and see it out, or hire a young up and comer who will leave them in 5 for something better.  Does it really matter either way?

Probably doesn't matter from a variety of standpoints.  

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1 hour ago, Hokiebird7 said:

Another Jim Weaver type hire....good grief

I'll give him a chance but think this will lead to seven more years of bad VT basketball...

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I think it's both a good hire and a wise one.

Tech is likely staring down the barrel at a drop off next year.  Would have been true even if Buzz had reversed course and decided to stay (never a realistic option -- but one that Whit Babcock was forced to view as such).  That dynamic probably chased away several bigger names, who are past the point at which they want to tolerate a losing year on their resume.

After doing a reality check and identifying the pool of options who would be willing, it appears that Babcock zeroed in on his top choice there and landed him.

No guarantee of success on the court (there never is, of course).  But that's a pretty shrewd way to do business.

And if Young can get the Hokies back in the big dance within 3-4 seasons, this might be the hoops equivalent of a Beamer-esque hire (given Young's SW VA roots).

Completely open to what would have been a better realistic option, but hard to imagine one.

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2 hours ago, RichlandsAlum said:

I think it's both a good hire and a wise one.

Tech is likely staring down the barrel at a drop off next year.  Would have been true even if Buzz had reversed course and decided to stay (never a realistic option -- but one that Whit Babcock was forced to view as such).  That dynamic probably chased away several bigger names, who are past the point at which they want to tolerate a losing year on their resume.

After doing a reality check and identifying the pool of options who would be willing, it appears that Babcock zeroed in on his top choice there and landed him.

No guarantee of success on the court (there never is, of course).  But that's a pretty shrewd way to do business.

And if Young can get the Hokies back in the big dance within 3-4 seasons, this might be the hoops equivalent of a Beamer-esque hire (given Young's SW VA roots).

Completely open to what would have been a better realistic option, but hard to imagine one.

Roy Williams. Duh.

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8 minutes ago, Bro Code said:

I thought Steve Forbes would have been a candidate. 

I like Forbes a lot and if this stuff comes true with Barnes and UCLA (holy moly the life of a TN fan) I wouldnt be disappointed with UT hiring him but for Tech, Young is a better hire.  I think they knocked it out of the park and I am not a Tech fan by any stretch of the imagination.  I may be proven wrong in the end but I think Young will do very well at Tech. Im not going to say they are going to go for national titles in 2 years but I think they will be a consistently ranked team long term.

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3 minutes ago, Bro Code said:

I thought Steve Forbes would have been a candidate. 

The only names that appear to have been on the "list" that we'll ever know about are Young, Ryan Odom, and Kevin Willard.

But I think it's reasonable to believe that Forbes was at least on the radar.  He is doing a great job at ETSU and probably gets some looks from ADs at "higher level" schools.  My opinion is that the combination of relatively short tenure as a Division I head coach and his age probably work against him.  Seems like a fantastic fit for the job he currently holds.  (Of course that last statement applies just as much to Young at Wofford -- but he had some other intangible qualities that moved the needle, comparatively speaking.)

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