Tommy Amaker Fired.

[Brad]

Why would Katz list a dozen guys unstead of saying the universe is open to Michigan (as it is)?

[Brad]

This makes the USF job search interesting because guys like Grant, Lowery, and Hobbs are sure to get big time looks from the school.

Edit: Sorry flip, I meant to have the word search in there.

Joe...do you really think so?  I see them going for the proven commodity at at least a mil/mil and a half a year.  I think that AD is in the same position as DW, but multiple by $10.   ;D

I just see them going out and getting a proven big league commodity, but then again, who knows.

I think more than anything it gives DW someone else to consider for our spot, rather than taking one away.  I don't think we're looking at the same candidate pool.  There may be some commonalities, but I don't think there is that much overlap.  I'd be REAL happy if there were.

[HarveyGlass]

Good grief, Amaker at USF?

He couldn't even sniff the NCAA at a school with the advantages that Michigan has over USF.  Recruiting hotbed, great facilities, money, 6 freaking years, BigTen, etc., etc., etc.. :

Michigan should jump on Grant yesterday, and Amaker should have to sit out a year or two to think about what he has done. LOL

I would say that Michigan has proven they don't know squat about hiring bball coaches since Fischer.  And even Fischer has proven that he was merely a recruiter more than a coach.  Watch 'em get Wojo. ;D

[USFan]

Good grief, Amaker at USF?

He couldn't even sniff the NCAA at a school with the advantages that Michigan has over USF.  Recruiting hotbed, great facilities, money, 6 freaking years, BigTen, etc., etc., etc.. :

hmmm... I don't know about that.

Michigan was on probation for the first five years Amaker was coach there. He led the Wolverines to three NITs, and Michigan won the NIT in 2004.

He inherited a mess, stemming from the Ed Martin scandal, the school's lackluster facilities and Ellerbe's awful recruiting.

While Amaker fell short of helping his team reach its goal, the school has not appeared to live up to its contractual commitment to improve perhaps the Big Ten's worst basketball practice facilities.

[bulls96go]

he would be good for usf!

if we had that talent here he recruited at UM i dare say we would be in the post season now!

[TKBlue]

Ammaker may have fallen short at Michigan but he is a real quality guy. Many thought he would be the heir apparent for coach K at Duke. He did inherit a mess at Michigan but just could not push them over the top. I think Grant is a better fit for USF but Ammaker would be a fine coach.

[HarveyGlass]

I don't think I can agree that coaching USF will be easier than coaching at Michigan even with probation.  If you can't even get to the NCAA's in six years at a place like Michigan, you are not going to do better at a place like USF.

And without seeing USF facilities recently, I would think that Michigan's "worst in the BigTen" are still better.  I could be wrong, but as short as 15 years ago, UM was a basketball power and surely their facilities haven't crumbled since then.

As I said in another thread, stay away from failure.  The Bulls have seen enough bad days and they don't need someone bringing the stink of underachieving from somewhere else as well.

USF really needs to start fresh.  Blow it up and build it from scratch the right way.  Buckley, Mattis, and Richardson are gone, and who knows who else may leave.  Whoever comes in will need time to build an imposing program.  

And while someone like Grant or Gillispie can build legitimate national powers from absolutely nothing in as little as 1 and 3 years, respectively, Amaker can't do jack in six years at a school with so much more to offer than A&M and VCU.

I'm not saying Woolard should get Grant or Gillispie, because they are destined for better things right now, all I'm saying is that there are coaches out there who are special and Amaker is not one of them.  Why settle?

[SMHUSF]

Ammaker may have fallen short at Michigan but he is a real quality guy. Many thought he would be the heir apparent for coach K at Duke. He did inherit a mess at Michigan but just could not push them over the top. I think Grant is a better fit for USF but Ammaker would be a fine coach.

I agree, Amaker would be a good choice. I've thought that we would benefit more from an "established" coach. The problem was that most of those guys (Lappas, Jarvis, Lavin) were not guys we wanted. While an up and commer or a big time assistant are good options, I think we need someone with a name. Being that we don't have the money to sway a top flight coach, I think Amaker would be a good option. You have to think we are going to be last in line for the likes of Grant and some of the other mid-major head coaches.

[HarveyGlass]

Ammaker may have fallen short at Michigan but he is a real quality guy. Many thought he would be the heir apparent for coach K at Duke. He did inherit a mess at Michigan but just could not push them over the top. I think Grant is a better fit for USF but Ammaker would be a fine coach.

I agree, Amaker would be a good choice. I've thought that we would benefit more from an "established" coach. The problem was that most of those guys (Lappas, Jarvis, Lavin) were not guys we wanted. While an up and commer or a big time assistant are good options, I think we need someone with a name. Being that we don't have the money to sway a top flight coach, I think Amaker would be a good option. You have to think we are going to be last in line for the likes of Grant and some of the other mid-major head coaches.

Quality guy does not equal quality coach.  The reason he is no longer the heir apparent to Coach K or anyone else, for that matter, is that he is not very good.

It would be nice to have a "name" coach for several reasons.  However, it should be a good name.  The name, "Tommy Amaker" is synonymous right now with underachieving and all the negative connotations that come with it.  There can't be many people in the basketball industry who think that Amaker got a raw deal at UM.  He had six years there and a better coach would have had them in the dance at least once, sanctions or not.

On the other hand, if an "established" guy like Weber at Illinois, or Smith at UK were forced out, USF should jump all over them.  The national community would see those firings as unjust and would love to see them do well elsewhere.

[USFFan]

As I said in another thread, stay away from failure.  The Bulls have seen enough bad days and they don't need someone bringing the stink of underachieving from somewhere else as well...I'm not saying Woolard should get Grant or Gillispie, because they are destined for better things right now, all I'm saying is that there are coaches out there who are special and Amaker is not one of them.  Why settle?

This kind of thinking is laughable, and I can give you a perfect example.  There's a current head coach in the NFL who was fired after going 36-44 in his first stint as a head coach in the NFL.  Once he was fired, it took five years before somebody else would give him a shot as a head coach.  He now has three Super Bowl rings.  I'm not saying that Tommy Amaker could be USF's Bill Belichick, but I wouldn't dismiss him out of hand because of what happened at Michigan.  

USFFan