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Al Becker said:
Let me first say that I'm disappointed in how this has gone SO FAR, but do the critics of coach Battle have any idea of his overall accomplishments in the world of athletics/business?

He is an an extremely successful businessman and had the confidence of Coach Paul Bryant. Let's let this play out as hard as that is. Criticizing our leader at this point won't help.
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I really don't see where all the critics are coming from anyways,he tried getting a hot coach.It didn't work out,the money was there,the other vacancies filled up while he was trying to bring our BB program to a different level.Maybe some of you critics should rent a truck go to Kansas and say your coming to Alabama with me,and see how that works out for you. Point being you can't make anyone do what they don't want.
 
Rama Jama said:
Big difference. We know he has zero buyout and can leave whenever he feels the need to move on. He never said he was going to leave or stay either way. If he was considering it, I would have no problem with his wife looking for a new home. He never lied to anyone about it. Saban didn't lie about flirting with Texas and frankly it was a very real possibility. Marshall essentially lied about his interest in our job. Do you really think we'd be sitting here with no backup plan if we thought there wasn't an agreement between Marshall and Alabama? Battle didn't get to be where he is because he is in the business world without being very smart. From all reports were that Marshall wanted the job, but his wife didn't want to move. Think about it, what wife would refuse to at least check out a school who is offering her husband a 2 million dollar raise? It doesn't make sense.
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To each their own opinion, and mine is I see very little differnece other than the major official reports going public. He might of very well told BB that he was deeply intrested, but BB shouldve never gave him that amount of time to make up his mind. He shouldve either gave him 24 hrs or brought him to see Tuscaloosa. This incident made us look totally foolish.
 
I can't believe the support on this forum for Prohm, it's terrifying. IMO, his hiring would induce a nuclear winter. At best he would be gone in 4 years at worst he would have an aberrant season causing an ill-advised extension, plunging Bama into an extended purgatory. Not exactly hell but certainly not heaven. i.e., a wasted 6-10 years.

And Krazy's equating Prohm and Crean is preposterous. Grossly overvaluing one vs grossly undervaluing the other. For someone who sometimes speaks with good sense it too frequently totally abandons you 😊.

Though Crean is not an option Miller hopefully is and the difference between he and Prohm is massive in terms of coaching ability. I don't know about recruiting.
 
81usaf92 said:
To each their own opinion, and mine is I see very little differnece other than the major official reports going public. He might of very well told BB that he was deeply intrested, but BB shouldve never gave him that amount of time to make up his mind. He shouldve either gave him 24 hrs or brought him to see Tuscaloosa. This incident made us look totally foolish.
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I think most likely what happened is that Marshall was probably interested, but on the fence about it. He brought up the family thing to buy Wichita some time for an extension. I think we would've had a much better chance if we had put our foot down. We gave him too much leverage by giving him until Friday as was the rumor. If he's going to say no, make him actually say no. Don't give Wichita the time to come up with those kinds of funds. Nevertheless, what's done is done. Its not the end of the world. Now let's go out and get Miller or Prohm. RTR.
 
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The only thing I think Coach Battle, and maybe not even him directly, did badly wrong here, was to release to the media that we were going to make a strong push for Greg Marshall.
That put him in the cat bird seat, and put us in the outhouse.
We honestly, in my opinion, should have narrowed a list down to our five top candidates, met with each of them, told every single one of them they were our top choice, and played the cards from that point on.
The way we did it...there's not one coach in America who's not going to know that he wasn't our primary target.
A "proven" head coach is going to have an ego and he's going to be confident that he's just as good and probably better than Marshall, at least in his mind.
So when we offer him, he's going to say.."Nope".."Not interested"
I said at the beginning of the thread, and I still believe it, "We're going to have to take a chance on our next basketball coach".
And I truly believe we are. We're going to have to find a very good young coach, pull the lever, and hope the slot machine hits.
In my mind, there's nothing wrong with that. There's not a "proven" coach in college basketball who, at one time, wasn't a young inexperienced coach just hoping for a chance.
Not the utopia situation we were striving for, but we might as well accept it, do it, and pull like crazy for the new guy.
sip
 
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I believe that Cecil indicated weeks ago that Smart was not on Bama's radar. I don't know their reasoning, though I was glad because ever since his final 4 run they have declined yearly. He has a good personality and a fun style of play but I wonder about his development of both individuals and the team. Though frankly he might be a good hire now. The only legit name I prefer now over him is Miller.

IMO, Bama was never going to pursue Howland or Barnes. Barnes I would never want, but Howland is a good but boooooriiiing coach, and too old. Bama wants a difference maker and program builder. Marshall was the only sure thing, Miller is our only legit gamble or Smart, if he is available. Prohm, White, Williams, et al, are worse than a shot in the dark.
 
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The reality is we are still in the market. I hope Battle can find us a coach who can change the "culture" surrounding our basketball program. We've almost run it into the ground with bad hires. We need a coach who will bring Alabama to a new level. One that competes with the other top teams in america not just the SEC.
 
Rama Jama said:
The reality is we are still in the market. I hope Battle can find us a coach who can change the "culture" surrounding our basketball program. We've almost run it into the ground with bad hires. We need a coach who will bring Alabama to a new level. One that competes with the other top teams in america not just the SEC.
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Bobby Hurley. Not proven, young, but what a pedigree, and recruiting contacts all over the Northeast. He's my choice.
 
bamafan157 said:
I think most likely what happened is that Marshall was probably interested, but on the fence about it. He brought up the family thing to buy Wichita some time for an extension. I think we would've had a much better chance if we had put our foot down. We gave him too much leverage by giving him until Friday as was the rumor. If he's going to say no, make him actually say no. Don't give Wichita the time to come up with those kinds of funds. Nevertheless, what's done is done. Its not the end of the world. Now let's go out and get Miller or Prohm. RTR.
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Well said and I believe this is exactly what happened; however, I do not feel he lied to Bill Battle. Yes there were mistakes made, but we need to move on and make the best hire we can.
 
GrayTide said:
Well said and I believe this is exactly what happened; however, I do not feel he lied to Bill Battle. Yes there were mistakes made, but we need to move on and make the best hire we can.
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Lied maybe too stong a word. Mislead may be more appropriate. But again, from what I was hearing Battle thought it was a done deal.
 
Alasippi said:
Bobby Hurley. Not proven, young, but what a pedigree, and recruiting contacts all over the Northeast. He's my choice.
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We could get him while he is young and cheap. I like it, but I fear that once he has a few years of success and Coach K retires, they would come calling. Unless he wants to build something up on his own kinda like Donovan has done at Florida.
 
I don't think he will be able to pull many recruits from the NE to come to Alabama. We someone that can work the established lay of the land and the JUCO circuit in the SE. Plenty of talent.

Alasippi said:
Bobby Hurley. Not proven, young, but what a pedigree, and recruiting contacts all over the Northeast. He's my choice.
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Con said:
We could get him while he is young and cheap. I like it, but I fear that once he has a few years of success and Coach K retires, they would come calling. Unless he wants to build something up on his own kinda like Donovan has done at Florida.
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I think any coach worth his salt wants to create his own legacy. I like him a lot, and I think he could be a long term solution, which we've never had.
 
BamaInBham said:
I believe that Cecil indicated weeks ago that Smart was not on Bama's radar. I don't know their reasoning, though I was glad because ever since his final 4 run they have declined yearly. He has a good personality and a fun style of play but I wonder about his development of both individuals and the team. Though frankly he might be a good hire now. The only legit name I prefer now over him is Miller.

IMO, Bama was never going to pursue Howland or Barnes. Barnes I would never want, but Howland is a good but boooooriiiing coach, and too old. Bama wants a difference maker and program builder. Marshall was the only sure thing, Miller is our only legit gamble or Smart, if he is available. Prohm, White, Peterson, et al, are worse than a shot in the dark.
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May not want to hire two consecutive coaches from that coaching factory known as VCU.
 
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Ldlane said:
I don't think he will be able to pull many recruits from the NE to come to Alabama. We someone that can work the established lay of the land and the JUCO circuit in the SE. Plenty of talent.
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I see your point. But even with the "lay of the land", he's still young enough that prospective recruits may at least remember who he is and was, as a player.
He's got fire, he was tutored by Coach K....
I'll agree that we're taking a chance, as I've said. But I don't consider him a "long shot".
 
Alasippi said:
Bobby Hurley. Not proven, young, but what a pedigree, and recruiting contacts all over the Northeast. He's my choice.
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I agree with sip on Bobby Hurley. Based on Miller's comments we may be facing the same problem we had with Marshall. The realization is that we are not currently a basketball destination and may never be, but we have the resources to certainly be a very competitive program. As for Hurley, his college coach came from West Point and made Duke more of a destination than it was before he was hired.
 
GrayTide said:
I agree with sip on Bobby Hurley. Based on Miller's comments we may be facing the same problem we had with Marshall. The realization is that we are not currently a basketball destination and may never be, but we have the resources to certainly be a very competitive program. As for Hurley, his college coach came from West Point and made Duke more of a destination than it was before he was hired.
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I think Hurley would be a good hire, but at this point he would be my third choice. If Miller says no, and Prohm decides that mid-April is too late to make a jump, then I say we give Hurley a call. As for Miller, what has he said?
 
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