AmericanBB USF V ECU Pregame LIVE

[WhoRUSF]

59 minutes ago, raptorcj said:

Much as I might have liked the result, I did NOT think Tulane had a snowball's chance against UCF. The Knights were doing pretty well in the second part of the season, so they must have found a way to let that one slip away...at home. Fans had to be miffed.

They fired their HC Donnie Jones immediately after their loss. The fans seem pretty happy about it

[Sellular1]

14 minutes ago, NavyUSFGuy said:

They fired their HC Donnie Jones immediately after their loss. The fans seem pretty happy about it

Article from Mike Biotchy

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/ucf-knights/os-ucf-basketball-mike-bianchi-0311-20160310-column.html

[Triple B]

15 minutes ago, Sellular1 said:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/ucf-knights/os-ucf-basketball-mike-bianchi-0311-20160310-column.html

UCF coach Donnie Jones on getting fired: 'I understand the business'

UCF’s basketball season ended Thursday night and so, too, did the tenure of basketball coach Donnie Jones.

Jones was fired by athletics director Danny White shortly after the 65-63 loss to last-seeded Tulane in the first round of the American Athletic Conference Tournament at the Amway Center. Sources confirmed the news to the Orlando Sentinel and UCF formally announced the decision soon afterward.

“I haven’t been told anything [about being fired,]” Jones told me during the long, losing walk down an empty arena hallway after the depressing defeat. “Will they tell me later? I hope not, but I understand the business.”

Turns out White did tell him later, which was no surprise to anybody. It was common knowledge the conference tournament was Jones’ final stand. The only way he could save his job was if he pulled off a miracle run and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

Instead, the complete opposite happened. UCF, the hometown host of the tournament, bowed out in the first round after losing to a terrible Tulane team it had swept during the regular season.

Welcome to March Sadness.

It’s always a somber occasion when a coach loses his job; especially a coach like Donnie Jones.

You see, everybody loves Donnie. He is a nice and decent man, but there’s no denying his program has been down and out since joining the American three years ago. In that time, the Knights are 15-40 in conference play, 37-54 overall.

When I asked Jones before the tournament if he felt he was coaching for his job, he replied: “In this profession, you always feel that way. Every year, you wonder what’s going to happen if you don’t win enough.”

With White being hired as the new AD in November, it seemed crystal clear what was going to happen. White is a former guard at Notre Dame who takes basketball very seriously. His brother, Mike, is the head coach at UF and his father, Kevin, is the AD at Duke.

Moreover, UCF’s athletic department is in a massive state of transition ever since the bottom fell out of George O’Leary’s football program last season. O’Leary unexpectedly stepped down in the middle of an 0-12 season and has since been replaced by Scott Frost. Long-time women’s basketball coach Joi Williams was fired earlier this week. And now Jones is the latest casualty.

Quite simply, he lost too many games and missed on too many recruits. And it certainly hasn’t helped that UCF was saddled with NCAA scholarship sanctions at the same time it was making the jump into the American.

“Coming out of probation and trying to re-establish the program has been the hardest part,” Jones admitted. “We lost six scholarships moving into a league that had five top 25 teams our first year.”

But here’s the thing: It’s going to take more than hiring a new coach to make UCF’s basketball program competitive in its league and relevant to its fan base. There’s no doubt the hiring of Frost, the pyrotechnic offensive coordinator at high-flying Oregon, has created an immediate buzz within UCF’s football program.

But basketball is different. Basketball is mostly an afterthought in this football-fanatical state. In basketball, it takes more than just a coach; it takes a commitment.

And, frankly, UCF’s financial commitment doesn’t stack up to the top schools in the American. UCF’s coaching salaries, its practice facility, weight room, academic support stuff and travel budget pale in comparison to the American’s top basketball schools.

A perfect example is this: Many programs in the American charter flights for away games, whereas UCF flies commercial. Three times this season, UCF’s bleary-eyed team arrived back in Orlando from a road trip after its next opponent landed hours earlier. Jones says chartering is something recruits often inquire about.

“Absolutely, they ask,” Jones said, “and you have to tell them the truth.”

The truth is this: UCF is right back to where it was on the day Jones was hired. At his introductory news conference in 2010, there was all this administrative rhetoric about how the Knights weren’t just hiring a new basketball coach, they were going to invest in a big-time basketball program.

“Everybody talks about UCF as a sleeping giant,” Jones said then. “Well, it's time to wake up the giant and let people know about this place.”

Six years and four ADs later, the giant is still snoozing and snoring.

It makes you wonder if UCF’s basketball program will ever wake up and smell the coffee

 

[footnfan1]

AD Danny White can make a decision. Fired both B ball coaches. Let's see how he does with replacements. Frost for football may be a good hire, time will tell.

[smazza]

you gotta believe

[Apis Bull]

Turns out White did tell him later, which was no surprise to anybody. It was common knowledge the conference tournament was Jones’ final stand. The only way he could save his job was if he pulled off a miracle run and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

If this is true, then he was fired before the tourney even started.  I'm sure that was just Bianchi, being Bianchi.

[George_Bullnard_Shaw]

Win today and it just gets easier!

[Sellular1]

36 minutes ago, George_Bullnard_Shaw said:

Win today and it just gets easier!

Right you are!  We've played Temple tough this season.  7point loss at home and by 12 on the road.  This could be a trap game for them.