How about this guy.

[odux]

His overall coaching record is 325-254 and at his last school he was 235-174. He has taken his teams into the NCAA tournament 5 of 13 years. Been to the Elite Eight twice. He went into the NIT semifinals twice. Has a good recruiting class almost every year he has coached. Not always able to get the blue chip recruits, but does get quality ball players and quality young men. Cares about them on the court and in the class room. His players have a great graduation rate. At his last school he gave his heart and soul to the University. He may not be the biggest name out there, but he coaches to the fullest of his ability.
I dunno, just wondering if you've guys would think he'd be a good hire.

[UOducksTK1]

His overall coaching record is 325-254 and at his last school he was 235-174. He has taken his teams into the NCAA tournament 5 of 13 years. Been to the Elite Eight twice. He went into the NIT semifinals twice. Has a good recruiting class almost every year he has coached. Not always able to get the blue chip recruits, but does get quality ball players and quality young men. Cares about them on the court and in the class room. His players have a great graduation rate. At his last school he gave his heart and soul to the University. He may not be the biggest name out there, but he coaches to the fullest of his ability.
I dunno, just wondering if you've guys would think he'd be a good hire.

People look way too much into those 2 elite 8 runs. Outside of those, he has been a HORRIBLE coach. 3 NCAA first round exits, and another 8 seasons of mediocrity.

Normally, I'd settle for that in Oregon basketball, but with all the money flowing around the basketball team and with this knew stadium coming up, we need something new and someone who can raise the bar higher. And IMO there's no way Ernie Kent could make this team into consistent winners. These last 3 seasons have been a disgrace to our basketball team/fans, this isn't Oregon State..

Sorry if I sound cold, but outside of two nice seasons, watching Oregon basketball has been a pain under Kent's system. I never liked the way he coach the team (if you even call it coaching lol).

[duckgrad99]

Kent had more seasons at Oregon where the team underachieved than he had success. Maybe the coaching job at Oregon wouldn't look so bad if Kent's teams had done what was expected. One good season out of 4 or 5 doesn't cut it. Brooks and the Luke's saved Kent from really looking bad.

[UOducksTK1]

I also laugh when people call Oregon a football school. Our program was awful until about the 90s when Brooks finally started winning more. Then when MB took over, we shot up and look where we are now.

I see a possibly similar scenario happening with the basketball team. Ernie Kent did a good job getting use on the map, now it's time for us to add a coach who we think can get us to the NCAA tournament on a more consistent basis. Obviously I'm not demanding an NCAA tournament every year, but it'd be nice to make it more than 38% of the time..

[gregspechtismyhero]

He has taken his teams into the NCAA tournament 5 of 13 years. Been to the Elite Eight twice. He went into the NIT semifinals twice.

Those are not impressive stats...5 of 13 isn't even half, which should be a given at a school like Oregon, and the NIT means about as much as my city-league championship game. Kent has been coaching on borrowed time for a few years now and it's good to see a change.

[odux]

He has taken his teams into the NCAA tournament 5 of 13 years. Been to the Elite Eight twice. He went into the NIT semifinals twice.

Those are not impressive stats...5 of 13 isn't even half, which should be a given at a school like Oregon, and the NIT means about as much as my city-league championship game. Kent has been coaching on borrowed time for a few years now and it's good to see a change.

His overall coaching record is 325-254 and at his last school he was 235-174. He has taken his teams into the NCAA tournament 5 of 13 years. Been to the Elite Eight twice. He went into the NIT semifinals twice. Has a good recruiting class almost every year he has coached. Not always able to get the blue chip recruits, but does get quality ball players and quality young men. Cares about them on the court and in the class room. His players have a great graduation rate. At his last school he gave his heart and soul to the University. He may not be the biggest name out there, but he coaches to the fullest of his ability.
I dunno, just wondering if you've guys would think he'd be a good hire.

People look way too much into those 2 elite 8 runs. Outside of those, he has been a HORRIBLE coach. 3 NCAA first round exits, and another 8 seasons of mediocrity.

Normally, I'd settle for that in Oregon basketball, but with all the money flowing around the basketball team and with this knew stadium coming up, we need something new and someone who can raise the bar higher. And IMO there's no way Ernie Kent could make this team into consistent winners. These last 3 seasons have been a disgrace to our basketball team/fans, this isn't Oregon State..

Sorry if I sound cold, but outside of two nice seasons, watching Oregon basketball has been a pain under Kent's system. I never liked the way he coach the team (if you even call it coaching lol).

You really think top dollar is going to get a top name coach to come to a school where basketball isn't prevalent? Yeah you guys are right, going to the NCAA tourney 5 of 13 years isn't very good, if your UCLA or Kentucky. You guys are all delusional. Was Kent the best coach, no. But guess what, Oregon is not a dominate basketball program. Now I am a die hard Duck fan, but I also live in reality. Stevens, Izzo, Donavon, Pitino, Dixon were never going to come to Oregon. Why would they? Because Oregon basketball is on the up and up? No way. Did I think it was time for Kent to go, yeah, and your right, these last 3 years have been a disgrace. Its just a shame that the success that Kent had and the bar that Kent raised, got him fired. I feel that the entire Athletic Department (mainly Bellotti) really screwed this up.
I have to laugh when people make the U of O out to be one of the greatest athletic schools in the country. Lets be honest, it wasn't until the mid 90's that football started to have success. The football team has gone to the Rose Bowl twice in 15 years and yet there is talk of a national championship. And there are going to be people pissed off if they don't go to the NC. Why?
All I am saying is that we as fans need to live in reality with this whole finding a new basketball coach. We are going to overpay some second tier coach. We will not get a big name coach, we might be able to go get a washed up old pro coach. But we are not going to get the newest, hottest, youngest head coach out there.
I don't want to sound like negative Nancy, but honesty tells me that we as fans need to re-evaluate how we perceive the Oregon basketball program.
Go Ducks!!!!

[woundedknees]

OK, geniuses... If Oregon was an elite program, it would have meant EK was doing a helluva lot better job than any of us have witnessed over the last 13 seasons.

This was not going to get better by sitting on our collective hands waiting for the sizzle to set in all by itself.

Where's my #3 scoop shovel. Looks like there's a stall to muck out.

[odux]

Thats my point. Oregon is not an elite program. But there are people who think it is. And there are people who are confused about why no one wants to coach here. Because its not an elite program. And besides money, there is nothing to draw any big name coaches out here to coach.

[Boom]

His overall coaching record is 325-254 and at his last school he was 235-174. He has taken his teams into the NCAA tournament 5 of 13 years. Been to the Elite Eight twice. He went into the NIT semifinals twice. Has a good recruiting class almost every year he has coached. Not always able to get the blue chip recruits, but does get quality ball players and quality young men. Cares about them on the court and in the class room. His players have a great graduation rate. At his last school he gave his heart and soul to the University. He may not be the biggest name out there, but he coaches to the fullest of his ability.
I dunno, just wondering if you've guys would think he'd be a good hire.

People look way too much into those 2 elite 8 runs. Outside of those, he has been a HORRIBLE coach. 3 NCAA first round exits, and another 8 seasons of mediocrity.

Normally, I'd settle for that in Oregon basketball, but with all the money flowing around the basketball team and with this knew stadium coming up, we need something new and someone who can raise the bar higher. And IMO there's no way Ernie Kent could make this team into consistent winners. These last 3 seasons have been a disgrace to our basketball team/fans, this isn't Oregon State..

Sorry if I sound cold, but outside of two nice seasons, watching Oregon basketball has been a pain under Kent's system. I never liked the way he coach the team (if you even call it coaching lol).

I agree with TK, but I'm starting to wonder if we would have been better off waiting one more season to fire Kent.

We would have had a full year to showcase the new arena to potential hires and the new coach wouldn't have to wait so long to get "his guys" into the program.

We only have 2 open roster spots this year and 1 next year. That might not be ideal for a new coach.

[UOducksTK1]

He has taken his teams into the NCAA tournament 5 of 13 years. Been to the Elite Eight twice. He went into the NIT semifinals twice.

Those are not impressive stats...5 of 13 isn't even half, which should be a given at a school like Oregon, and the NIT means about as much as my city-league championship game. Kent has been coaching on borrowed time for a few years now and it's good to see a change.

His overall coaching record is 325-254 and at his last school he was 235-174. He has taken his teams into the NCAA tournament 5 of 13 years. Been to the Elite Eight twice. He went into the NIT semifinals twice. Has a good recruiting class almost every year he has coached. Not always able to get the blue chip recruits, but does get quality ball players and quality young men. Cares about them on the court and in the class room. His players have a great graduation rate. At his last school he gave his heart and soul to the University. He may not be the biggest name out there, but he coaches to the fullest of his ability.
I dunno, just wondering if you've guys would think he'd be a good hire.

People look way too much into those 2 elite 8 runs. Outside of those, he has been a HORRIBLE coach. 3 NCAA first round exits, and another 8 seasons of mediocrity.

Normally, I'd settle for that in Oregon basketball, but with all the money flowing around the basketball team and with this knew stadium coming up, we need something new and someone who can raise the bar higher. And IMO there's no way Ernie Kent could make this team into consistent winners. These last 3 seasons have been a disgrace to our basketball team/fans, this isn't Oregon State..

Sorry if I sound cold, but outside of two nice seasons, watching Oregon basketball has been a pain under Kent's system. I never liked the way he coach the team (if you even call it coaching lol).

You really think top dollar is going to get a top name coach to come to a school where basketball isn't prevalent? Yeah you guys are right, going to the NCAA tourney 5 of 13 years isn't very good, if your UCLA or Kentucky. You guys are all delusional. Was Kent the best coach, no. But guess what, Oregon is not a dominate basketball program. Now I am a die hard Duck fan, but I also live in reality. Stevens, Izzo, Donavon, Pitino, Dixon were never going to come to Oregon. Why would they? Because Oregon basketball is on the up and up? No way. Did I think it was time for Kent to go, yeah, and your right, these last 3 years have been a disgrace. Its just a shame that the success that Kent had and the bar that Kent raised, got him fired. I feel that the entire Athletic Department (mainly Bellotti) really screwed this up.
I have to laugh when people make the U of O out to be one of the greatest athletic schools in the country. Lets be honest, it wasn't until the mid 90's that football started to have success. The football team has gone to the Rose Bowl twice in 15 years and yet there is talk of a national championship. And there are going to be people pissed off if they don't go to the NC. Why?
All I am saying is that we as fans need to live in reality with this whole finding a new basketball coach. We are going to overpay some second tier coach. We will not get a big name coach, we might be able to go get a washed up old pro coach. But we are not going to get the newest, hottest, youngest head coach out there.
I don't want to sound like negative Nancy, but honesty tells me that we as fans need to re-evaluate how we perceive the Oregon basketball program.
Go Ducks!!!!

Your original post was basically hinting at how we would have been better off with Kent as our coach right now. I'm not asking for Izzo or Donovan. While those would be exceptional hires, I agree that it's unrealistic and even I got caught up in some of the rumors. However, with what we have to offer, I certainly expect us to compete for coaches like Turgeon, Bennett, Stevens (had he not done so well in the tournament), and others. It sucks the way things have go so far with the coaching situation, but there's NO way I regret firing Kent, which I thought was clearly what you were hinting to.

And you can't compare going 5 out of 13 times to an NCAA tournament to two rose bowls in 15 years. To me, finishing top 3 or 4 in the Pac-10 in football is basically equivalent to making it to an NCAA tournament in basketball. In this case, we would be 11 out of 16, which by my standards is great! We've had one losing season in college football in the last 16 years. Ernie Kent has had 7 losing season in the Pac-10, in the last 13 years. How is that good at all? With what we have to offer, there's no reason for Oregon to finish with a .500 record in better in the Pac-10 ever year. Only UCLA/Arizona should be the teams far superior. It's great that Ernie made it to a couple elite 8s, but I think if he had made the NCAA tournament 9 out of 13 times instead of 5, he'd still have his job.

Time to turn the page. You bring up the 90s in football, which I think is a perfect example to support my argument! Rich Brooks wasn't a great coach but did enough to get Oregon football going. I feel the same way about Ernie Kent. Not a great coach, but good enough to get the wheels rolling. Now it's time to hire a Mike Bellotti of basketball and get this basketball program going like our football program. There's NO reason we can't do that. If you don't believe that's a possibility, then IMO you should just go listen to rick roll'd for a few hours to get your thinking straightened.

[DucklandicWarrior]

Thats my point. Oregon is not an elite program. But there are people who think it is. And there are people who are confused about why no one wants to coach here. Because its not an elite program. And besides money, there is nothing to draw any big name coaches out here to coach.

I don't think people think our program IS elite, but they want it to BECOME elite, or at least taken to the next level, which was not going to happen w/EK. And why would someone want to coach here? How about unlimited potential in a major (if down the last year or two or...) conference w/seemingly unlimited resources and a chance to build an elite program? I'm not sure I'd want to see someone who will only coach at an already 'elite' program come here. Oregon presents a great opportunity for someone to prove his coaching mettle.

[bellsduck]

Thats my point. Oregon is not an elite program. But there are people who think it is. And there are people who are confused about why no one wants to coach here. Because its not an elite program. And besides money, there is nothing to draw any big name coaches out here to coach.

I don't think people think our program IS elite, but they want it to BECOME elite, or at least taken to the next level, which was not going to happen w/EK. And why would someone want to coach here? How about unlimited potential in a major (if down the last year or two or...) conference w/seemingly unlimited resources and a chance to build an elite program? I'm not sure I'd want to see someone who will only coach at an already 'elite' program come here. Oregon presents a great opportunity for someone to prove his coaching mettle.

+1

[dthomas=ddixon]

Thats my point. Oregon is not an elite program. But there are people who think it is. And there are people who are confused about why no one wants to coach here. Because its not an elite program. And besides money, there is nothing to draw any big name coaches out here to coach.

I don't think people think our program IS elite, but they want it to BECOME elite, or at least taken to the next level, which was not going to happen w/EK. And why would someone want to coach here? How about unlimited potential in a major (if down the last year or two or...) conference w/seemingly unlimited resources and a chance to build an elite program? I'm not sure I'd want to see someone who will only coach at an already 'elite' program come here. Oregon presents a great opportunity for someone to prove his coaching mettle.

+1

+2

[odux]

Thats my point. Oregon is not an elite program. But there are people who think it is. And there are people who are confused about why no one wants to coach here. Because its not an elite program. And besides money, there is nothing to draw any big name coaches out here to coach.

I don't think people think our program IS elite, but they want it to BECOME elite, or at least taken to the next level, which was not going to happen w/EK. And why would someone want to coach here? How about unlimited potential in a major (if down the last year or two or...) conference w/seemingly unlimited resources and a chance to build an elite program? I'm not sure I'd want to see someone who will only coach at an already 'elite' program come here. Oregon presents a great opportunity for someone to prove his coaching mettle.

+1

+2

+3

ok, so my original post was meant to be sarcastic. But as I re-read what I wrote, I can see how you all think its my rant on how Kent should still be the coach. I was all for Kents firing. And so after realizing how my post was mis-understood. I decided to have a little fun and play devils advocate. So with that said, I do think we all want our program to be elite. And I think that we can get there with the right hire now, and even later down the road. Thanks for all the fun!!

[justducky0]

odux you are hilarious!! haha totally had me going!