Hey everyone. Auburn's search for a new basketball coach is beginning to take shape.We know, courtesy of the Denton (Texas) Record-Chronicle, that North Texas coach Johnny Jones has been contacted and is expected to interview for the Tigers' gig this week.
I haven't yet been able to confirm this on the record, but we believe Jones will be on campus Thursday for an interview. He will be the first candidate to meet face-to-face with athletic director Jay Jacobs.
So who is this guy?
Here's what UNT has been doing ...
2000-01: 4-24 (year before he arrived)
2001-02: 15-14
2002-03: 14-17
2003-04: 13-15, 8-8
2004-05: 14-14, 6-9
2005-06: 14-14, 6-9
2006-07: 23-11 10-8 (made NCAAs)
2007-08: 20-11, 10-8
2008-09: 20-12, 11-7
2009-10: 24-9, 13-5 (made NCAAs)
Jones is 47 years old. He played at LSU from 1980-84. He also coached under Dale Brown and played a significant role during the days of Shaquille O'Neal, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and Randy Livingston. He spent time as an assistant at Memphis prior to John Calipari's arrival and spent the 2000-01 season as an assistant at Alabama.
What can we glean from his record? There are two explanations. One is that he's a decent mid-major coach who occasionally takes a team loaded with experience and challenges for an NCAA bid. Call it Jeff Lebo Syndrome.
The other is that Jones is a guy who needed a few years to learn how to build teams and now has reached a certain level of celestial understanding. He has at least 20 wins in each of his last four seasons, which is significant given the UNT context.
Which is it? I really don't know.
Yo
ReplyDeleteA nice guy to interview ... but not hire.
ReplyDeleteYO YO MA
ReplyDeleteI'm with Jet on this one, though that's what I believed about Lebo in 2004.
ReplyDeleteplays the cello.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure all these names are good and all, I'm expecting out of nowhere, Chizik style.
ReplyDeleteCincy, you going to support the Tigers tonight in Bammerham?
ReplyDeleteJay G ... I'll say that I have a little more confidence in those running the search today than when Lebo was hired. The handling of Mike Anderson was, as Michael might says, "poopcoolerish."
ReplyDeleteWonder if there will be more UAB or UNC fans at Bartow Arena tonight?
ReplyDeleteI will not be wearing green.
Jet, I think that's fair.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a Hal Baird fan or basher, but he is (and was) too nice to handle a coaching search. Lebo was a poor choice. Slater was a poor choice. Nell was an outstanding choice, but I'll chalk that up to serendipity.
'serendipity'.... good Cusack movie.
ReplyDeleteThis guy doesn't seem any more impressive than the Dude. Whoever they hire, I'll support him, but this doesn't seem like a significant upgrade.
ReplyDelete...as far as chick-flicks go anyhow.
ReplyDeleteI may be wrong, but I've always thought that Big Ed screwed up the Mike Anderson deal.
ReplyDeleteScottie...
ReplyDeleteI need to ask you something. What would be the best way to get in touch with you?
uh-oh, a bammer wants to ask me something. this could be trouble!
ReplyDelete*click arnold
*click email
*email scottie
:)
An idea for Scott Chocolate, the Auburn coaching search chocolates. With chocolates resembling each candidate, feel free to eat them as they are eliminated.
ReplyDeleteNote: Which coach chocolates contain nuts and which contain fruit filling will not be revealed until you eat them.
ReplyDeleteLOL. Email sent.
ReplyDeleteIn related news, UA's appeal to the latest NCAA thing was denied today. Shula is still "close"....and winless against AU.
ReplyDeleteTo me that means a loss by UAT today. That in itself makes today a good day in my mind.
ReplyDeleteShula was just misunderstood. He was one of my favorite Alabama coaches.
ReplyDeleteyup, Shula & Curry. love those guys.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget Dubose and the screen pass from hell. That has to be one of the greatest moments in Iron Bowl history.
ReplyDeleteGreat Day!! - Just dropped my SEC Championship ticket renewal form in the mail. I struck thru the "Western Division" preference and wrote in "Auburn Section". Here's hoping (praying) my selection comes to pass.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't sound like that this is the man.
ReplyDeleteDid scottie B really say serendipity was a good movie earlier? 1) It's a chick flick, where are your balls man? 2) I don't know that a chick flick has made me more angry than that movie, and I still remember how mad it made me 10 years later.
ReplyDeleteSerendipity = Poopcoolerish.
ReplyDeleteMJT - it didn't bother me a bit because I've never seen it and never will. So, mine are right where they're supposed to be.
ReplyDeleteJay G ...
ReplyDeleteA theory/question: my sense is that when Hal Baird was running the hoops search he was more symptomatic of an overall problem. Auburn flat out didn't understand basketball, and perhaps it has a better understanding today because of the Lebo experience.
It's no Hugh Fidelity.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, watching Serendipity made me more angry than if I had opened my cooler to find human poop.
ReplyDeleteLoganville,
ReplyDeleteIf it doesn't work out, I'll buy the tickets from you next year.. :-p
*click Me
ReplyDelete*click email
*email LT
Works pretty much the same way Faker!!
You can have first dibs - if you meet the reserve on eBay that is ;-)
Someone send FSJ a digital slap.
ReplyDeletePerhaps Apple could make such a product and call it iSlap. It has a better ring to it than iPad.
Poopcoolerish-great word, brings a smile to my face.
How far has our basketball program fallen? Are we really trying to steal a guy from North Texas?
ReplyDeleteWhat if he turns us down...do we go after the waterboy from Tulane?
football tomorrow!!! why are you folks talking basketball?
ReplyDeleteEmmett, where did the program start? I'm not sure it's fallen that far. ;)
ReplyDeleteHigh Fidelity is by far the best.
ReplyDeletesorry MJT. considering most of the crap i am subjected to by mrs. scottie, Cusack movies are the better ones.
I'm all about discussing other sports, THT, but spring football is just a tease. I did check out some minor league hockey on Saturday and I had a blast.
ReplyDeleteTsk Tsk... Better off Dead is the go to Cusack movie.
ReplyDeleteSeanzie -
ReplyDeleteI still like to think we are higher than this.
Also,
Did you see that the FA denied Vermaelen's red card appeal. So he is out for Arsenal's game in Birmingham.
Emmett, remember that we snatched Pat Dye away from Wyoming.
ReplyDeletejz beat me to the punch. Better Off Dead is it.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Better Off Dead and, since I am a chick, I have to throw Say Anything in there as well.
ReplyDeleteOne Crazy Summer is 2nd
ReplyDeleteI don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that.
ReplyDeleteehyou's just saying that because Demi Moore is in One Crazy Summer.
ReplyDeleteI want my two dollars!
ReplyDeleteEmmett ... if I were hiring, you'd be cussing me because I'm inclined to hire the coach from IUPUI.
ReplyDeleteCusack's character, Hoops McCann, is mentioned in the Steely Dan song Glamour Profession....for whatever that's worth.
ReplyDeleteMy dog spit out her pills when I gave them to her, so I coated them in peanut butter. She swallowed them both. Hooray.
ReplyDeleteI don't keep up with basketball near as much as football--I was always a basketball player growing up and nearly went to play in college, but the game has transformed into something I'm not fond of. The skill of shooting, ball handling, and systems has been tossed in favor of pure athleticism/dunking and blatant disregard for the most simple rules of the game.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, hence, I've posted very little, but I have been reading and keeping up.
With that said, I'm with Jet and Jay G here...this doesn't seem like the hire AU needs. I don't think Tubby is the hire we need either. I can only hope Jay J. can find a common middle ground that works. We need to open that arena with a BANG!
Interesting.
ReplyDeletei had no idea there were such strong feelings for John Cusack in this arena.
ReplyDeletecongrats PF. peanut butter always does the trick in my house!
This is pure snow! Do you have any idea what the street value of this mountain is?
ReplyDeleteWhat about 1408?
ReplyDeleteIt does have the bonus of America's greatest actor, Samuel L. Jackson.
If you shove the pills far enough down their throat, they can't spit them out.
ReplyDeleteJet I am a Ron Hunter Fan...I would be happy to hire him.
ReplyDeleteI read the book, but never saw the movie. I'd like to.
ReplyDeletePF, get pill pockets. You can get them at Petsmart and they make give dogs pills easy.
ReplyDelete...or I could just coat them in peanut butter, which I already have, and which apparently works. Geez.
ReplyDeleteOr you could get those pill pockets
ReplyDeletePeanut butter isn't exactly dog food. Pill pockets make it simple and dogs love them.
ReplyDeleteOr I could shove my finger way down her throat so that she hates me and runs when the pills come out.
ReplyDeleteOr you could do what I do and just take the pills yourself. No worms here.
ReplyDeleteOr you could shoot your dog.
ReplyDeleteYeah, there's that option too.
ReplyDeleteIf you shoot the dog, be sure to cover her in peanut butter first. Once that's done and she's been shot, YOU swallow the pill pocket you got from PetSmart.
ReplyDeleteDogs love peanut butter. Most of her favorite treats that I spend big money on are 90% peanut butter. My vet says peanut butter is fine as dog food. Are you a vet?
ReplyDeletePF, you should get pill pockets.
ReplyDeleteI have been trying to teach her to play dead with the shotgun app on my phone. Shooting her may be easy.
ReplyDeleteI recommend suppositories.
ReplyDeleteIf I get pill pockets, I'm going to buy the expired ones off of Amazon.
ReplyDeleteehyou - do you coat them in peanut butter and do they taste better than pill pockets?
ReplyDeleteWhat if I give her a suppository, and she just poops it out. Do they make pill pockets for that end? Should I coat the suppositories in peanut butter to make them stick.
ReplyDeleteOnly creamy peanut butter, PF. Crunchy is considered animal abuse.
ReplyDeleteI need a Flugtag team. It's on my bucket list, and this summer actually works well for me. Miami July 10. Anyone want to join my awesome team? I'm thinking we could make a giant pill pocket or something.
ReplyDeleteNorm...
ReplyDeleteThey're awful, I don't know why they can't make them taste better.
That's funny PF. I saw the tour was going to be in Miami and I wondered if you were planning to enter.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIf I can get a team together, I very much want to. It really has been on my bucket list (in writing) for a long time. Well, it reads "Compete in a Red Bull sponsored event: Flugtag, AirRace, or SoapBox." I'm guessing I'm not going to ever make the the Air Race, and Flugtag seems like more fun than Soap Box, so I'm considering going for it.
ReplyDeletesoooo..... 2010 HABOTN FLUGTAG TEAM?
ReplyDeleteDoes that mean you're in, Scottie? We'll probably just need a weekend to build it (why spend more time than that for something that we're just going to throw in the ocean and destroy).
ReplyDeleteCan suppositories fly?
ReplyDeleteI saw a peanut stand, heard a rubber band,
ReplyDeleteAnd seen a needle wink its eye
But I be done seen about everything
When I see a suppository fly
PEANUT BUTTER...
ReplyDeleteBEASLEY!
ReplyDeletesounds fun PF, but i see no way i can make it to miami. thanks for the invite, though.
ReplyDeleteI had to Google Flugtag. Looks like a perfect excuse for drinking. I think they held a soapbox event last summer at Piedmont Park in ATL, but since it was raining and about 30 minutes away from me I didn't go watch.
ReplyDeletei can't build anything, but i can drink a lot
ReplyDeleteSame here Norm - I had no clue what FlugTag was/is.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there's anything flugtaggian enough to get me airborne.
ReplyDeleteThat record does seem very Leboish.
ReplyDeleteI see we are back to being the Randomest Auburn Blog on the Net.
ReplyDeleteEvidently Jacobs will also interview Bob Marlin of Sam Houston State.
ReplyDeleteWasn't Sam Houston State one of the nobodies that beat us last season?
ReplyDeleteZookeeper, I'm not necessarily saying the randomness is your fault but you haven't been around to keep us in check for awhile. So, yeah, maybe I am gonna blame you.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind. Blame me. I love random.
ReplyDeleteThe little voices inside my head continue to disagree over what to set fire to first.
ReplyDeleteIf the football search is a worthy guide, then we will see a few interviewees, then a name will emerge from nowhere, interview the next day and be hired the following day. That person has likely been identified.
ReplyDeleteNorm ... the voices are saying to light AE's arrow, so he can shoot it into roof of your biology teacher.
ReplyDeleteNew thread UPZ. This happened while I was at lunch. Bummer.
ReplyDeleteHE SAID NEW THREAD UPZ.
ReplyDeletewhat'd he say?
ReplyDeleteHe who?
ReplyDelete