I was told that the Columbia players were told today about a coaching change.
Amaker may be stepping down and Harvard may be bringing in a Va Tech assistant.
Can’t imagine Donahue lasts and if so, who gets Klatsky first?
Tomorrow will be a great day if I see an announcement saying that Jim is out. It would be even better if that doesn’t mean our players, specially the freshman, will want to leave. Lets hope for the best and try to bring someone that builds a decent program that can at least show up in Ivy Madness and schedules something more than a bunch of DIII teams
You’ve been pushing hard for Klatsky.
Does anyone know if Dalen Cuff interviewed for the job when Kyle Smith left? He’s a very intriguing candidate imo.
Cause he’s a tv announcer?
Amaker stepping down would be shock. His salary is supposedly near 1M and he and his wife are both well-entrenched in the Harvard community.
He’s only 59 so I don’t think he’s looking at retirement. Possibly a power conference job opening up for him?
Where do I begin? He knows Columbia and the Ivy League well… was a color analyst for Columbia games shortly after his playing career ended in 2006, and has been covering basketball on ESPN for the past 10 years.
He’s relatively young (just turned 43, about the same age as Kyle Smith when he started at Columbia), so can likely relate well to the younger generation. He’s fit/energetic, charismatic, and well spoken. If he’s motivated for the job (and I have no idea if he is), then I think he could turn the program around.
Bonus points: Since he’s a Columbia grad, he might be less inclined to jump ship in 4-6 years like Kyle Smith and Tom Penders, and be committed (hopefully) to building something long-lasting like Griffith has done with the women’s program.
Pay cut from his tv gigs.
Think a lot about Kevin Houde at Columbia.
I assume you meant Kevin Hovde, the assistant at Florida. He has the resume, and ties to Columbia (on Kyle Smith’s staff for 5 seasons)… my only hesitation about him is that while he’s probably eager to become a head coach, he’s got a “one and done” vibe to me… meaning, he’ll move on to a higher profile program after he has one successful season.
Columbia is in dire need of a coach who won’t bail after one or two successful seasons… someone like Boretti, Griffith, and James Jones.
I think that is super hard to find, even more on the men side. And I guess what Columbia can offer in terms of salary as a basketball coach cannot compete with Big 5 teams, so you are always going to have the same problem. I’d rather have a good coach for a couple of years than Jim for 8. And maybe you can add someone that loves this program but doesn’t have the experience yet as an assistant hopping that they will eventually inherit the project
Unfortunately, hiring the right guy means someone who does well enough to have the opportunity to move on. It’s probably 3-5 years down the road, not 1-2. That’s what happened with Meg and probably will happen with Poppe. Meg has been great, has stuck around but she’ll leave. Her next job will pay $1 million.
PeteD - I’ve also wondered about Dalen as a coach. In addition to the points you’ve made, I think he would be a very good recruiter. I also think he really knows the college landscape and is well-suited to address NIL, the transfer portal and similar issues. He could hire an ex-head coach to assist with tactics and strategy. His current coworker Seth Greenberg would actually be a perfect match. Former Columbia asst, successful head coach and we all remember when he took Long Beach State to Kansas and upset the Jayhawks. That said, Dalen already has a better job. Probably makes more $ and has plenty of time to talk about his other love - soccer. I don’t think he was interested in the job when Kyle left and don’t think he’s interested now.
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Isn’t Jesse Agel available?
I have no idea what he would want to do. I expect an articulate and telegenic person could find a comfortable spot as commentator.
But on the larger question of who replaces him or any other ivy coach, I have a hard time seeing any D1 assistant who aspires to be HC at a prominent program take on an ivy position given the NIL disparity and consequent effect on OOC record that probably would be needed to advance beyond an ivy position.
Any other tv stars might make good coaches?
Engles news
I tend to agree that Cuff is likely not interested, but you never know what motivates an individual.
This is just my perception (and opinion), but from the outside looking in, ESPN has not elevated him to the level that he deserves… he doesn’t get to broadcast any of the headline college basketball games, and I think he’s one of the best around… so that seems like a slight by the ESPN brass.
If Dalen has a desire for more or something different… a phone call from the AD could be all that it would take to get him in for an interview.
Here’s Dalen’s call of the golden goal to give Vermont its first national championship.
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D2 could be a great place to look.
Ben McCollum, a 15-year D2 coach, did a NCOY-worthy job at Drake this year. Tobin Anderson was D2 before leading FDU to their upset of Purdue (and near Sweet 16). Solid job at Iona so far.
Unless something changes, former players and D2 might be the best options for Ivies going forward.
Ken Howard.
But he’s deceased.