READ TODAY'S STORIES AND E-EDITION SUBSCRIBE |  CONTACT US |  SIGN IN
Sports Extra!



SPORTS EXTRA BLOGS

FOR THE RECORD
LOCAL PROS

ALL SPORTS

PHOTOS & VIDEOS

OUTDOORS

FIND A STORY

EMAIL ALERTS

SOCIAL MEDIA

RSS FEEDS

CONTACT US
BUY PHOTOS & PAGES

ADVERTISE ON SPORTS EXTRA


Print story only Print story with comments Email Twitter Facebook Pinterest
Stepping Stone Garbage
Published: 3/29/2012 3:29 PM
Last Modified: 3/29/2012 9:34 PM

The reaction to TU's hiring a 45-year old man who has never coached a basketball game has been predictable: How great, how wonderful, even if turns out he can coach and is only around a few years.

What nonsense.

A stepping stone program is at the bottom of the tank. It's an admission of being a minor player in the big leagues. A stepping stone program is one that says it can't afford to pay top salaries for a proven coach.

Guess what. TU is made of money. Its endowment is beyond flush. Have you seen what that campus looks like? It's picture-perfect. Yet TU has done a great job of playing the poor boy of college athletics, particularly when it comes to signing head coaches. Poor us, time to go fishing again.

Going into a major gamble coaching hire looking to lose him if he's bad or lose him if he's good, what a joke.

Tiny schools become major hoop players all the time.

When it comes to basketball hires, go big or go home.






Reader Comments 10 Total
Danomite Dandy Dan (11 months ago)
Perhaps TU is too focused on it's educational offerings?
229092 (11 months ago)
Can we have the haltime show where the performance artists danced around with cups again?
241362 (11 months ago)
They probably spend more on the out of town landscaping company than hoops.
Tulsabills (11 months ago)
Wait a minute. Yesterday, you suggest TU should rehire a coach who didn't come close to making the NCAA tournament in 7 years & drove attendance & fan interest in to the ground. Today, you say TU is too good of a school to take a chance on Danny Manning !

Should TU listen to your advice from yesterday (retain a 7 year proven failure) or today (spend 2+ mil./yr. on a big name guy) ?
Tulsabills (11 months ago)
Just remembered that the Picker is an OU grad & Danny Manning kept OU from winning the 1988 National Championship. That would've been OU's only basketball National Championship.

Now these columns make more sense !
JS (11 months ago)
Picker, for you every silver lining has a cloud. Every program is a potential stepping stone for an ambitious coach. Look at this week's Final Four. How many jobs has Self had? 4? How many has Calipari had? 4? How many has Pitino had? 7, counting college and pro gigs. For him, Kentucky was a stepping stone job. Thad Matta is the only one with fewer than four.

Tulsa had its forever coach several times. Ken Hayes, Jim King, J.D. Barnett, John Phillips, and most recently Doug Wojcik. All were good people with more basketball knowledge than you or I could absorb in a lifetime. All had to eventually be pushed out for the good of the program. Not one left the program in as good a shape as the rising stars that left for bigger programs left it.
                    
Dr. Strangelove (11 months ago)
Good comment JS.
                    
LaffALot (11 months ago)
Exactly, now a days, almost every coaching job is a stepping stone. Roy Williams 1st head coaching job? KU Lon Kruger? Pan American. OU is his 7th head coaching job. Travis Ford? Cambellsville. Ok State is his 4th Head coaching Job

Manning has Huge up side. He’ll garnish alot of attention w/ local recruits.
ouisok (11 months ago)
You boys lay off The Picker. He is about the only writer in the World to make any sense 99% of the time. The rest are go along to get along drones.
The Picker (11 months ago)
OU, sorry about that other 1 percent. Will try to improve on it.
10 comments displayed


To post comments on tulsaworld.com, you must be an active Tulsa World print or digital subscriber and signed into your account.


Out Pick The Picker

The Picker began entertaining – and infuriating – sports fans in 1993. Each week during football season, he writes about his picks of college and NFL games in his Thursday Sports column. He's never afraid of sharing his opinions about the game and the personalities who play it. Readers have a chance to go against him each season in the Outpick the Picker contest. He welcomes the competition.

Follow The Picker on Twitter

Subscribe to this blog


Archive

Past Articles By The Picker

1/31/2013
      The Picker: Super Bowl merely a distraction from OU woes
 
The Picker's Blog Archive:

2/2013  1/2013  12/2012  11/2012  10/2012  9/2012  
8/2012  7/2012  6/2012  5/2012  4/2012  3/2012  
2/2012  1/2012  12/2011  11/2011  10/2011  9/2011  
8/2011  7/2011  6/2011  5/2011  4/2011  3/2011  
2/2011  1/2011  12/2010  11/2010  10/2010  9/2010  
8/2010  7/2010  6/2010  5/2010  4/2010  3/2010  
2/2010  1/2010  12/2009  11/2009  10/2009  9/2009  
8/2009  7/2009  6/2009  5/2009  4/2009  3/2009  
2/2009  1/2009  12/2008  11/2008  10/2008  9/2008  
8/2008  7/2008  6/2008  5/2008  4/2008  3/2008  
2/2008  1/2008  12/2007  11/2007  10/2007  9/2007  
8/2007  7/2007  6/2007  5/2007  4/2007  3/2007  
2/2007  1/2007  12/2006  11/2006  10/2006  9/2006  
8/2006  





Home | Contact Us | Search | Subscribe | Customer Service | About | Advertise
Copyright © 2013, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved.