Pat Kelsey

[Bay Area UMie]

We don't need to hire anyone who had any kind of connection to UMass. We need a whole new clean move forward

Hey Berkman,

I really admire your passion for all things UMass-we need more loyal, vocal alums like you. But, you continue to post the assertion that "we need a break from the past" or "don't hire anyone who had any kind of connection to UMass" etc. How about providing us with some rationale, reasons, premises behind your position/assertion. Thank you.

Here is my reasoning on Barbee.

2010–11 Auburn 11–20 4–12 5th
2011–12 Auburn 15–16 5–11 T–10th
2012–13 Auburn 9–23 3–15 14th
2013–14 Auburn 14–16 6–12 12th

It doesn't matter how hard it is to win at Auburn, or if others have done so or not. Tony Barbee took the job willingly and finished 49–75. I don't think we should consider anyone with a stat line like that at their last job. He can prove this wasn't his fault at another school in my opinion and join Umass next time around if the timing is right.

Based on your pure W/l logic, the Spurs should never have hired Gregg Popovich as a head coach-his record was 33/65 his first 4 years in College and won 37% of all collegiate games as a head coach over an 8 yr period. The only head coaching experience he had prior to taking over the Spurs was the 8 poor performance years in the collegiate ranks.Pop talks openly about constantly growing as a coach and what you learn from your experiences.That's a legitimate question for Barbee what happened and what did you learn at Auburn.The facts are undeniable, Auburn has played SEC basketball for 85 yrs, they have had 15 hc's and only 2 have had winning records. Simply dismissing Barbee and his solid record of accomplishment (see my response to DEM's post) because of his experience at Auburn or he is a UMass guy is shortsighted. Based on the list of candidates we have supposedly interviewed, I think his credentials warrant an interview. I certainly am not saying he is the next Gregg Popovich but if you are only going to point to won/loss records I believe there are many other factors to address. Let's give him an opportunity to present his powerpoint or whiteboard his vision for UMass basketball and then question the hell out of him and see how he holds up. Now that we have been wowed by a complete fraud maybe Barbee has some credible things to present. Conversely, maybe his interview will be a dud. My argument is his background warrants an opportunity.

[Bay Area UMie]

We don't need to hire anyone who had any kind of connection to UMass. We need a whole new clean move forward

Hey Berkman,

I really admire your passion for all things UMass-we need more loyal, vocal alums like you. But, you continue to post the assertion that "we need a break from the past" or "don't hire anyone who had any kind of connection to UMass" etc. How about providing us with some rationale, reasons, premises behind your position/assertion. Thank you.

I know you're not addressing that question to me, but I'll respond as if I was the one who made the statement "we need a break from the past". We can't be distracted by history. We need to hire the best available and hit this out of the park. People have mentioned the names Tony Barbee and Al Skinner. Are they really the best available, or are people mentioning them because they like them as UMass guys? Go out and get the best available. If he happens to be from UMass, great, but in all likelihood, they're from somewhere else, and that should be just fine with us if it means having a successful program.

DEM,
Thanks for the reply. I agree with you completely that: 1) We need to hire the best available/best in class coach because we are UMass and we aspire for and deserve excellence in everything we pursue and 2) in all likelihood our next coach will not have UMass lineage-the pure numbers dictate that. My position on Barbee (Al Skinner at 55 would be very attractive to me, but not at 65. I think the college game is a young name's job. I know, here come the accusations of age discrimination.) is that his credentials are attractive enough that we need to get him into the interview queue. My definition of attractive credentials include: a) top assistant and recruiter at one of the storied collegiate programs, b) 8 years HC experience including a P5 job, c) averaged 21 wins at perennial loser UTEP d) went 17-1 his last year in Conference USA e) 21 years out of 24 as a player, and coach he has advanced on to post-season play during his career f) scored an impressive 1,700 pts during his collegiate career-played in 2 NCAA tournaments during his career including the sweet 16 (take that Syracuse) g) knows UMass the institution better than any other candidate with the exception of Al Skinner h) is media savvy-the guy was absolutely outstanding and very comfortable as a color man during UMass broadcasts, i) his teams play exciting fast break basketball and hard nosed defense-they mirror Tony's personality. I am not a Barbee sycophant or apologist and I don't easily dismiss his disappointing record at Auburn as not relevant but I think the less-than-ideal circumstances at Auburn might have contributed to his poor record. These are questions he needs to address and an admin considering hiring him needs to probe in an interview. My position once again is how do we look at these credentials and conclude he is unworthy of an exploratory interview? I agree with you, we deserve and should aspire for the "best available" be that a coach with UMass affiliations or not. But how do we know what best available is if we don't interview this guy with strong UMass ties and a solid record of accomplishment?

[TruBluMaroon]

Maybe Tony and DK can switch jobs

DK doesn't have a job!

[wmmmfan]

I guess this is why it's called March Madness.

my favorite quote sums this situation up this situation neatly:

"The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind."

Personal reasons my ass.

[TruBluMaroon]

Winthrop should also think long and hard about whether they want him back – the last guy who left there and went back bolted after one year – that can’t be good for their program either.

What a dick.

I wouldn't count on that for exactly the GM reason. I have no idea how often this happens......going out on a limb and saying, hardly ever.....but it has happened to the last two (2) Winthrop guys!

[TheInsider]

Tony would probably hire DK as an assistant and keep mosthe of the staff...

[Butterfield76]

This really bites. PK is a real D$CK and this is a bona fide black eye for the BB program and the school to some degree. Off the top of my head, I remember Bobby Crimmins, Dana Altman, and Billy Donovan pulling this stunt. In the end, it wasn't a cataclysmic tragedy. No lives were lost and programs survived. I hope that Fogler and Bamford have someone else on speed dial because the longer this festers, the worse for the perception that something is amiss in western mass.
I have always liked the idea of Joe Dooley but that might be a reach now.
I have mentioned the name John Pelphrey before without much traction.
Now, I'll throw out another retread with good bloodlines: Mark Gottfried. He beat Duke in Cameron this year and still got fired.
The last two names have a common thread, The University of South Alabama. Mark is the son of Joe Gottfried, former AD at USA. I used to play league tennis there and we had practices bright and early on Saturday mornings. One morning, while USA was in the middle of a search, Steve Fisher (from Michigan) and Larry Finch (Memphis) were each shuttled into the Athletic Department for interviews on the same day and separated by only an hour. It was all hush-hush and not a peep in the local news. Alas, that was before the internet and Twitter! In the end, Joe hired an old friend- Bill Musselman.
I still have hope that someone is out there and everything will work out. This definitely is one of those Life is a crap shoot moments and we will just have to see what's in store.

[minutefanjsf]

Actually I read it this year on a Dayton Blog and didn't find it in the bowels of the Internet. It was on the Blackburn blog previewing the game between Dayton and Winthrop. I had forgotten about it, until his quick exit today, reminded me I had read about his exit from Xavier and subsequent statement he was leaving basketball only to come back as HC at Winthrop. So, yes, this story was out there this year.

So this is the lame rationale you use to justify disparaging a man's wife under the cowardly veil of anonymity?

So, let me get this straight. Kelsey leaves a jobs years ago under a cloud of suspicion because there is nothing more than personal reasons given and there are rampant rumors and reports that still exist saying it was based on infidelity and then a similar vague walk away happens and I am a bad guy for thinking there may be a parallel?

[twisters tavern]

If I were a previous candidate, I wouldn't pick up the phone if they called tomorrow. I think it absolutely affects the search.

I agree 100%. This and the unknown as to which players are going to stay or leave makes this a tough sell.

[NilesGold]

^ Yeah sure, forget about tripling their salary or giving them a great professional opportunity. Any smart person would turn the job down because they weren't the first choice.

There are probably about 50-100 guys that Bamford would've hired over Kelsey if they had agreed to take the job. If they would've accepted the job 3 dayd ago, it would be foolish on their part to turn it down now.

[DEM]

^
Agreed. I'll just repeat what I said before. Successful people don't take these things personally or reject good opportunities out of spite. It's happened to me and others many times - when a good opportunity opens up, you take it.

[UMassHoops]

I don't have any concern that Bamford will find us a very strong coach, many candidates out there still. My only concern is the effect Fragile Pat had on the psyche of the players with his hit and run act. Hopefully it doesn't affect transfers if we line someone up quickly.

[DTM80]

^+1 Exactly as much as this sucks now an intelligent and mature individual will jump on the opportunity.
This is probably a blessing in the long run if handled correctly. Kelsey would have screwed us over soon as as an opportunity presented itself.

[MikeUMA]

http://bearcatnews.com/forum/general/11 ... ach-s-wife

It's not made up at least not by us Tu Holloway had his wife....

There's absolutely no need to take this road. True or not, that's none of our business, had nothing to do with us, and any of our crew who brings it up looks like a dick.

Emotions are raw, but remember we still need a coach. What is the next guy going to think when he sees our camp bringing up shit like that?

Kelsey deserves the ire of anyone connected to UM, but there's a line.

[TheOFFSeason]

Dooley or Shewsberry weren't offered the job...Mike Rhodes was going to be the new coach until Wade got involved with LSU...once that happened it went to Kelsey...both were Fogler guys. I don't know where Matt got Dooley or Woj got MS, but that's the way it went down.

My sources indicate differently. Rhodes was never mentioned as a candidate and definitely not a finalist.

Your sources are incorrect