Ed Cooley’s associate head coach at Fairfield, Bob Simon, met with athletic director Gene Doris, Senior Associate Director of Athletics & Senior Woman Administrator, Alison Sexton, and Vice President for Administration & Student Affairs, Mark Reed, on Friday, regarding the vacant men’s basketball head coaching job.
Simon, when contacted by the Connecticut Post late that afternoon, said the interview lasted around seven hours and that he thought “it went well.”
One source close to the search said that Princeton’s Sydney Johnson is a potential candidate but to me, that seems somewhat unlikely. Johnson, a 1997 graduate of Princeton and former player, was hired by his alma mater four years ago and has done wonders during that time, going 25-7 this season (and nearly knocking off Kentucky in the NCAA tournament) and 22-9 in 2009-10, making the CIT. Princeton — like Providence was to Cooley — was his “dream job.” Why would he leave the Ivy (ranked 15th by Jeff Sagarin) for the MAAC? (ranked 16th). No offense, Stag Nation, but Fairfield isn’t that much of a step above Princeton (it might even be a slight step back).
Doris said that after interviewing four candidates Thursday in New York City — The Post’s Bill Paxton said that a Fairfield source told him Friday that former Virginia coach Dave Leiato, former St. John’s coach Norm Roberts and that LIU’s coach Jim Ferry, have interviewed with Doris — that one person took himself out of the running. That might have been Johnson. Like I said, I just can’t see him leaving Princeton.
However, Doris also interviewed two candidates on Wednesday in New Jersey and will interview three more on Sunday before paring down his list to four finalists.
Those four will come to campus, along with their wives, to see what kind of fit Fairfield would be for them. For there, Doris has a decision to make: who replaces Ed Cooley?
I continue to crusade for Simon. He’s been with Cooley from the start, he’s a solid recruiter and it would make the players transition a smooth one. I just hope that Doris ends up feeling the same way.
My Two Cents
Archive for March, 2011
Stag coaching interviews: Seven down, three to go
Simon to meet with Doris on Friday
The Connecticut Post has learned that former Fairfield associate head coach Bob Simon is scheduled to meet with Stags athletic director Gene Doris and other members of the administration on campus Friday, sometime in the morning. The Post has also learned that Doris has already interviewed (or at least spoken with) two other potential coaching candidates.
When asked if the names that appeared in today’s CT Post story were accurate — LIU’s Pat Ferry, Princeton coach Sydney Johnson, former Virginia coach Dave Leitao and former St. John’s coach Norm Roberts have been named as possible successors to Ed Cooley — a source close to the search said those names were “in the ballpark.”
Late night Cooley conversation
Driving home from the UConn women’s second round NCAA blowout in Storrs Tuesday night, I spoke with new Providence coach – and former Fairfield coach — Ed Cooley. He had actually called me around 9 p.m. just as the Huskies game was ending and I told him after I finished I’d call him back.
It was after 11 p.m. when I called but the coach quickly answered and we talked for close to 20 minutes (don’t worry, I had my Bluetooth on).
Cooley said first and foremost that he was “tired.” But added that he was “sad, happy, thrilled, excited and disappointed.” The Friars job was indeed “his dream job” but that he “will always be a Stag in his heart.”
He talked about growing up in the shadows of PC’s Alumni Hall, how he snuck into games there as a kid. He talked about winning two Rhode Island state championships in the old Providence Civic Center (1987 and ’88 with Central High). He said how he knew this was going to be a hard job but what he wanted more than anything was to “roll up his sleeves” and get to work on getting Providence back to respectability in the Big East.
He talked about his five years at Fairfield and how much he appreciated that myself and Bill Paxton were always honest and truthful (and occasionally critical) but that the stories the CT Post did went a long way to help with the positive outlook the program received from recruits (and other programs) all over the country these last five years.
He told me he was taking his entire staff – including Bob Simon – to Providence but that Simon would indeed be a candidate for the Fairfield job. Hopefully, he will be a very strong candidate. Hiring Simon would allow for what I think would be a very smooth transition within the program. Simon knows the players and vise versa. It would make the pain of Cooley leaving a lot easier.
Cooley also said that he was going to hire another assistant, someone with experience at this kind of Division I level (Al Skinner, perhaps?) because he admitted that neither he nor any of his staff have worked at this level before. He needs someone that knows the ropes.
He asked if I was coming to the press conference today (at 1:30 p.m.) and I admitted that I didn’t know. But then Cooley said, “I really want you to be there. Our relationship has been special these last five years and I want to thank you for helping me build this program with all the positive things you’ve written. I want to tell people that.”
Paxton and I will both be there.
I told him as long as we have each other’s cell phone numbers, that we’d continue to keep that same kind of relationship but I have to admit I’m going to miss those rare, but always welcome, phone calls around noon, going, “Dog, what are you doing? Let’s go play golf … meet me 45 minutes.” And we’d go play golf and have a hell of a time.
This is a great day, and a sad day, for Fairfield basketball. For the first time – ever – a Stags coach has left for a better job. He wasn’t fired. He didn’t resign. He was hired to a better position because he won. Hopefully the next guy (Doris told me on Tuesday that his short list of possible replacements had “10 names” on the list, in varying ranks. Simon was one of those names, will do just as well.
To me, Simon is the obvious choice. He stood by Cooley’s side for the last five seasons and deserves a chance to take Fairfield to the next level.
You can bet that Doris’ phone is ringing off the hook with prospective candidates. Keep you fingers crossed that He takes Simon’s phone call first.
More to come …
Alex Oriakhi story
And here’s my sidebar on Alex Oriakhi …
WASHINGTON – The first night of the season, back in November, he grabbed 18 rebounds against Stony Brook and of course, the comparisons started again in earnest. But just when you thought Alex Oriakhi was morphing into the next Jeff Adrien, his rebounding numbers fell back to earth with a resounding thud.
Seven against Vermont. Four against University of Maryland-Baltimore County. One against Pitt. Three against South Florida. Two against Marquette.
Inconsistency, thy name was Oriakhi.
He needed some toughness. He needed a mean streak.
He needed some Adrien DNA.
And while he may not have gotten a transfusion of Adrien’s mojo, at least Oriakhi has discovered where his mean streak was. In the five Big East tournament games last weekend, the sophomore forward attacked the boards with the determination of Adrien, coach Jim Calhoun’s former warrior. Oriakhi grabbed 19 against DePaul, seven against Pitt, 11 against Syracuse and eight against Louisville. Fifty boards in all, giving him a 10.0 per game average.
And in Saturday night’s 69-58 NCAA third round win over Cincinnati – a victory that put the Huskies into the Sweet 16 for the 15th time – Oriakhi had that mean streak working again. He went head-to-head against the Bearcats big man 6-foot-9, 265-pound Yancey Gates, and despite battling through foul trouble, grabbed 11 rebounds, his 12th double figure rebounding game of the season, and held Gates to just 11 points and six rebounds.
“I know he’s their best player and I just kept trying to make it tough for him,” Oriakhi said of his battle with Gates. “I tried to wall up on him, dig down at the ball, whatever I could do to get him out of his game. I just told myself, ‘rebound and be a defensive presence.’ “
Against Bucknell in Thursday’s NCAA opener, Oriakhi captured 12 rebounds and fell one point shy of a double-double.
“Back at the Big East tournament I told myself I wasn’t going to be denied and if I have to grab every rebound, that’s what I’m going to do,” Oriakhi said after the Bucknell game. “When I’m confident and have that mean streak in me, I’m telling myself that I’m going to get it done, I do it.”
The last time Oriakhi and Gates battled it out, on February 27 in Cincinnati, a 67-59 UConn win, Oriakhi only grabbed three rebounds. He admitted that the “mean streak” that so aptly described Adrien, was missing. He knew that had to change.
“I definitely have to be aggressive in the first half, second half, basically the whole game because there is no tomorrow,” Oriakhi said after practice Friday.
And there have been times this season where the Adrien came flooding out of Oriakhi. He grabbed 17 against Michigan State, 11 against Kentucky, 21 against Texas, 12 against Rutgers and 15 against Marquette.
But … there was also the five against Syracuse, two against Notre Dame and those three rebounds against Cincinnati in their first meeting.
“We expect an awful lot of him. And at times he gets 20 rebounds against Texas and then gets two rebounds against next team,” Calhoun said the other day. “He’s improved greatly. But, yeah, his aggressiveness — his play, by the way, will determine a lot what happens to us (in the NCAAs). He has to play pretty well, and he did during those five days, by the way.”
In the Big East tournament, that mean streak was back, with 50 rebounds.
So far, in the NCAA tournament, Oriakhi has kept that mean streak going, grabbing 23 rebounds.
“I think it comes from this guy over here,” Oriakhi said, pointing to Walker during the Friday’s pre-game press conference. “Just watching him play. A lot of times it doesn’t matter who he’s going against, he always finds a way. So that’s what I have to tell myself, find a way to get it done.”
Sidebar on Jamal Coombs-McDaniel
Here’s my game sidebar on the effort of Jamal Coombs-McDaniel ….
WASHINGTON – When Jim Calhoun storms down the bench, points his finger at you and tells you to get into the game, you’d better be ready. But even Jamal Coombs-McDaniel didn’t expect his head coach to be screaming at him to get his warm-ups off after just 14 seconds.
But in that time span, Roscoe Smith had missed a jumper and committed a stupid foul and Calhoun, with his ever-quick trigger finger, yanked the freshman off the floor.
In his place came Coombs-McDaniel, a sophomore with loads of talent but not a lot of consistency to his game. He can give you flashes of brilliance, like he did against Providence, Georgetown and Louisville earlier in the season when he lit up all three teams for double figures. But most times, when he enters the game, not even the head coach knows what he’s going to get.
But this time, Calhoun got some of that consistency he so badly needed. Coombs-McDaniel gave the Huskies a solid overall performance with 10 points in 19 minutes in UConn’s 69-58 third-round NCAA win over Cincinnati that propelled the Huskies into the Sweet 16 for the 15th time.
Coombs-McDaniel’s lift off the bench was something the Huskies sorely needed. With Tyler Olander and Charles Okwandu giving Calhoun next to nothing in a combined 23 minutes, another front-line presence was vital against the Bearcats 6-foot-6 Rashad Bishop, 6-9 (and 265 pounds) Yancy Gates and 6-11 Ibrahima Thomas.
“They tell us every game for everyone to be ready because you never know whose day it’s going to be,” Coombs-McDaniel said. “And a bunch of different guys have had days and this was just a great team effort.”
It was a big 3-pointer from the right corner from Coombs-McDaniel with just 28 seconds left in the half that gave UConn its 36-28 halftime lead. And when he came in to replace Smith after just 14 seconds, it was the sophomore that got the Huskies on the scoreboard – and took away the opening tip jitters – by driving the baseline for the first basket and then later drew a foul and made a free throw to get the offense out of neutral and into first gear.
It was just the spark the Huskies needed against the Bearcats, who’s zone defense had UConn sputtering for about the first seven minutes before Kemba Walker came alive with eight straight points – he finished with 33 — and Alex Oriakhi and Jeremy Lamb each added four points as the Huskies took the lead for the first time at 23-20.
In addition to six first half points, Coombs-McDaniel added a couple of rebounds and a steal, while playing some decent defense against Cincinnati’s Rashad Bishop, who did score 10 points in the first half, but did not grab a single rebound.
“I had a long talk with my mom and my dad last night and they said that it looked like I was relying on my 3 ball to much and that I had to attack the basket and take better shots and try to play tough defense and I did that today,” Coombs-McDaniel said.
Coombs-McDaniel has had these kinds of moments before. There was the 25-point game against Providence, the 23-point game against Georgetown and the 16-point game against Louisville – all back-to-back-to-back – and double figure games against UMBC, DePaul and the Hoyas (again) but heading into the NCAA tournament, he hadn’t made much of an impact.
On Saturday night, Coombs-McDaniel gave the Huskies solid minutes when they needed them most.
Give the edge to Diana over Maya
Great story by the Post’s Rich Elliott detailing the epic question: who’s better? Diana Taurasi or Maya Moore.
Back in September during a USA Basketball event, a couple of reporters asked Geno that same “who’s better?” question. Here was his answer:
“Diana is (the best female player in the world). I try to tell that to people all the time. And no disrespect to anyone, even Maya, but I get asked a 100 times a day, you know? Who’s better, Maya or Diana? It’s unfair to ever compare two players but when you watch Diana play, all of a sudden realize that she’s at a whole another level than everybody else. In every area, passing, shooting, rebounding, smarts. And you just marvel at how good she was and how much better she’s gotten.
“She’s in better condition, she’s quicker. She’s just an amazing individual. I don’t think there’s anybody that’s won more than her that’s ever played this game. Three NCAA championships, two WNBA titles, two Olympic gold medals, all those titles in Europe. Player of the Year over there, over here. Every league she’s been in she’s been MVP. I don’t think there’s ever been anybody that has won more and in more places than D.”
And if the two ever played one-on-one, who’d win?
“D would win. (1-on-1 to 20). No one can beat D in one-on-one. You can’t. You just can’t beat her. Somebody that shoots the ball like that and from where she shoots it, someone who’s that big and physical and likes to hit people and get hit, it’s hard to beat someone like that. She grabs, she punches, she cheats. You are you going to beat her? Maya would try to do it nicely, by the book.”
