DFW HOYA
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Post by DFW HOYA on Apr 20, 2004 20:43:09 GMT -5
Thanks to those who have talked with me today and share their comments on the news of the day.
I have not commented publicly on this and do not intend to do so at this time. If you are expecting a positive, "rally around the flag" post, please realize that, in good conscience, I cannot and will not do so.
I have a series of strong, visceral concerns about the search process which need to be answered. The concerns are not as much "who", but "how" this process took place.
Clarification: Not the need for a search period per se, but what followed from it.
Until I can meet with some people who are closer to the situation, discretion is probably the best thing for me right now and I hope to speak more about it next week and that's all I'll say.
You can read into that whatever you want.
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watsonry
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Post by watsonry on Apr 20, 2004 20:45:04 GMT -5
I take it that you are less than pleased with the result....
I'm happy, I think we got the right man at the right time.
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SaxaCD
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Post by SaxaCD on Apr 20, 2004 21:00:15 GMT -5
Doesn't sound like he's not pleased with the results, but the process, since he explicitly stated it wasn't the "who" that was the main concern. I have to admit, I care way more about results than processes anyway, so I'm pretty happy about the day's events. I will be interested to hear DFW's thoughts when he feels he can post them sometime down the road. I'm sure he's privvy to more things than I am (well, to be privvy to anything outside of the press conference would pretty much do it), but I am curious.
I will, however, rally around the flag -- GO GU! Onward and Upward!
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GUHoya07
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Post by GUHoya07 on Apr 20, 2004 21:04:17 GMT -5
I will rally around the flag as well! I like JTIII a lot and I can't wait for next season, GO HOYAS!!!!!
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Post by jerseyhoya34 on Apr 20, 2004 21:09:06 GMT -5
I share some of DFW's apparent concerns, but I support JT3 wholeheartedly right now, as he is the coach of GU and deserves our support as he walks into his new office and begins the transition period from scenic Princeton/Lawrenceville to Georgetown and the nation's finest city (IMO).
We are Georgetown! I am looking forward to seeing what he brings to the table and look forward to seeing our guys bring it all to the court and leaving it all on the court. Hoya Saxa!
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Post by StoneColdHoya on Apr 20, 2004 21:26:12 GMT -5
I concur with the general sentiment of the string. I found it a little odd that Georgetown made a point to always say "national search". It seemed to me like they were trying to gloss over the fact that JTIII is already so close to the program that a 'national search' probably would not have been needed to hire him anyway. That said, I only know what I know from watching the press conference and reading press releases, so I definitely don't know much.
I would be very intrested in hearing DFW's concerns and if he found any satisfactory answers.
In the meantime, I'm happy with the JTIII hire - I think he's a very good fit for Georgetown: somebody who knows, respects, and understands the tradition and expectations, but also brings in new and varied ideas and experiences.
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millerj9
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Post by millerj9 on Apr 21, 2004 0:16:06 GMT -5
I find it odd that news of the hiring has not yet been posted on hoyasaxa.com...DFW, could you put the news on the front page for those who dont normally or cant find their way to the talk board?
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Post by michiganhoya on Apr 21, 2004 6:52:40 GMT -5
I have to say, it reminded me of the "national search" conducted by ML Carr of the Celtics in the early nineties. Apparently, ML didn't search much farther than a reflection in the mirror.
That being said, I am very happy with JTIII. He's got the resume and experience. He's won. And, he's got ties to DC (to say the least).
Hopefully, he'll be able to recruit on the national level for players a little more skilled than your typical Ivy Leaguer.
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Post by HoyaDestroya on Apr 21, 2004 7:27:45 GMT -5
i think there are some questions to be answered about the how... reminds me of the recent retirement of a Senator from Alaska who conducted a statewide search for a replacement and settled on his daughter (to his credit she was the State House Majority Leader prior to being selected). when things are so secret and decisions are left to a few it is hard to tell whether there there truly were real intentions of conducting a nationwide search or if nepotism won the day. i know that has negative connotations – but i must say when you give someone favoritism b/c his father was the greatest thing to happen to your basketball program it is not necessarily a bad thing. i am with dfw here though, it’s not the who but the how or even the perception of the how that upsets me. if you were going to keep it in the family why even make overtures that you were going to do otherwise?
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SaxaCD
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Post by SaxaCD on Apr 21, 2004 7:52:27 GMT -5
I think the reason you make overtures is because you're not sure the guy that's been targeted is going to accept. I take JT3 at his word that this was a very tough situation for him. He's leaving a place where he's been his entire adult life, and where he's got a great shot at getting an automatic bid every year for a place that has fallen off its lofty perch and has a lot of institutional problems to overcome. I think because of his family connection, resume, and temperment he was always the primary candidate, and deserved to be, but that doesn't mean it's a lock the guy's going to come. As it turns out, it took a while, so there must have been a decent amount of negotiating, and when that happens, it is only prudent to be interviewing other candidates from all over the country. I think he would have been a very strong candidate with no connection to GU (if people were talking Scott and Dunphy, then the head coach of Princeton -- a more successful team the past few years -- would have come up in that context no matter who he was). Therefore, yes, it looks like a "closed" search, but I think it can still be called "national" -- albeit in a modified way.
Either way,. I'm happy with the choice, and hope he's up to the job in the Big East.
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Big Dog
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Post by Big Dog on Apr 21, 2004 8:15:08 GMT -5
So now DFW is seemingly upset about the decision-making process.
I think he puts the administration in a no-win situation here. All of you who think that this hiring could not have been possible if a true national search was conducted confuse me. I have yet to see a single name out there who could provide Georgetown with successful prior head-coaching experience and the requisite concern for academics at the sort of salary the school is capable of paying that would be a clearly better choice than JTIII. Anyone else that we really had a shot at (Joe Scott, Willie Wilson, Fran Dunphy) is in no way a clearly superior choice to JTIII. It is very reasonable to me to believe that the hiring committee determined that John Thompson III, an experienced head coach coming off an NCAA appearance, a man who had assisted a coaching hall-of-famer, who comes from a system that has proven successful in a number of places and at a number of levels, was the best choice for the job. And even if all of JTIII's qualifications make him an equal, and not a superior candidate to all of these other people that have been mentioned, his DC and Georgetown connections are certainly a reasonable thing to consider for tilting the balance in his favor.
The fact is, we're probably never going to know all of the details of the search, who wasn interviewed, how seriously and when they were interviewed, whether JTIII was the choice from the beginning, etc. That is a consequence of the highly secretive search process THAT DFWHOYA HIMSELF CONSTANTLY PRAISED. You can't have it both ways: a top-secret search process and a search process that outsiders are satisfied with. If a fair and balanced search process is required to give this hire legitimacy, then its going to have to be a transparent one. If you want secrecy, then you've got to put the faith in those who made the decision.
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Post by RaleighHoya on Apr 21, 2004 8:17:34 GMT -5
I agree with the first paragraph. If his last name was not Thompson, and people were looking at his resume alone, they would love this hire.
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KHoyaNYC
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Post by KHoyaNYC on Apr 21, 2004 8:41:07 GMT -5
DFW- Respectfully, I don't think you can have it both ways - there was a tight lid on this search process, no one really knows how "national" the search was. But, if I remember correctly, you were praising the "secretive" search process. How can you now question its legitimacy in good faith? Either you trust the Admin or you don't.
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Post by DCHoya on Apr 21, 2004 8:59:52 GMT -5
Maybe there is more "intrigue" to the situation than meets the eye, although I doubt it. That being said, I see no reason whatsoever to bemoan the loss of Esh and the hiring of JTIII, or the manner in which that was accomplished.
I don't care enough about the political implications of how the search was conducted to sit here and complain after we have just been given a good coach that we should all be happy about. Get over it.
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TC
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Post by TC on Apr 21, 2004 9:00:17 GMT -5
I agree with the first paragraph. If his last name was not Thompson, and people were looking at his resume alone, they would love this hire. However, his name is Thompson. His father is responsible for the program's two biggest weaknesses - schedule and media/fan communication in the program's culture. And yesterday he made no overtures at changing either. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and wait until we see the 2005-2006 schedule (next year's schedule probably is halfway decided).
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Big Dog
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Post by Big Dog on Apr 21, 2004 9:09:51 GMT -5
Schedule and media/fan interaction are the program's two biggest weaknesses? That's news to me. Here I thought it was our rapidly declining on court performance, leading to our total irrelevance on the basketball scene, aided by questionable administrative support, a University hemorraging money, and our lack of any home-court advantage.
But maybe that's just me. If the real problems are those I have mentioned, a Thompson has dealt with them before, or at least not caused them. More reason to be optimistic.
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Massholya
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Post by Massholya on Apr 21, 2004 9:12:06 GMT -5
While I believe JTIII is a good choice and has a resume which is appropriate for this position, I also must agree that I have doubts as to what sort of "search" was actually done. Let us not forget that this is Georgetown that we are dealing with. Be that all as it may, it is my sincere hope that this will be a successful change and my belief that JTIII brings all the right things to the table.
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the_way
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The Illest
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Post by the_way on Apr 21, 2004 9:16:09 GMT -5
Listen, can we ever deal with anything positive here!! I mean really, we hired a perfectly good Candidate, and now we STILL have to find something wrong about it. What kind of climate do we have here. We should be happy we have a new coach. Instead we are still in this complain mode. I don't get it. It is obvious something bigger is going on here. I will say this, if Johnny Dawkins was hired instead of JTIII, with the same process, nobody on this board would be complaining about "the search". I'm quite sure of that.
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Grandpa
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Post by Grandpa on Apr 21, 2004 9:24:59 GMT -5
However, his name is Thompson. His father is responsible for the program's two biggest weaknesses - schedule and media/fan communication in the program's culture. And yesterday he made no overtures at changing either. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and wait until we see the 2005-2006 schedule (next year's schedule probably is halfway decided). One can't argue that those are areas of weakness, but I don't think it would have been the appropriate venue for him to make "overtures" or air out too many specifics of his "plan" for the program. However, I do feel as though JT III "signaled" that he is at least aware of these weaknesses: (1) Media / Fan Communications - According to the account that all personnel related to the basketball program have been "released" to me clearly indicates that he will try to shake-up things such as the SID and the program culture. One could argue (based on the report of that Jon Solomon guy from Princeton) that whatever staff he puts in place may very well provide more of the same, at this point I think we need to give him the benefit of the doubt. (2) Schedule - While he didn't make any specific comment that he will be dramaticallly upgrading the caliber of non-conf opponents, his jocular allusion to "Pops and St. Leos" indicate the fact that he is not oblivious to our notoriously soft-schedule. His track record as Head Coach at Princeton do seem to indicate an approach to scheduling that would make a lot of folks on this board happy. Now the question remains whether or not he can get the AD or other powers that be understand the importance of upgrading the schedule. I must admit, though, that I was a little unnerved in listening to him discuss the fact that he'd alter his schedule based on the type of team he has, as it struck a familiar chord to something Esherick said regarding this past season's schedule. But nonetheless, I think as you've said, we'll likely have to wait till '05-06 to really see what direction JT III will be taking the program on this front.
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HOYAPLAYA
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IT'S TIME FOR A RUNNNNNNN!!!!!!
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Post by HOYAPLAYA on Apr 21, 2004 9:26:08 GMT -5
His father is also responsible for the only strengths that the program has. Let's be realistic here. We just got a coach that spent a good amount of time as an assistant on a successful program and then coached that program successfully for the four years that he was there. This coach also is the son of the only reason that this coaching change was news yesterday and covered as much as it was. We all know that there were other candidates that had similar credentials, but there wasn't one name that I heard that I can honestly say would have been a better choice. Everyone talks about the first step in returning to glory as getting better recruits to come to Georgetown and I'd like to know who thinks that any of the coaches mentioned have a better shot at getting recruits to come to Georgetown than John Thompson III. For now, our past is the only selling point that we can sell a top recruit given that there are other schools out there that can provide a good education and big time basketball. Until we start winning again and possibly improve our facilities, that's the card that is going to have to be played. Had we hired Ronny Thompson, then I would be irate right now but I believe this hire was the best decision and will make a lot of the fans extremely happy in the years to come.
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