Report: Utah and Randy Bennett are in preliminary talks
by JazzyUte on Mar 16, 2011 12:44 AM MDT
in Basketball
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PrintUtah's next head coach could be Bennett - Randy Bennett, to be specific.
CSN Bay Area is reporting that Utah and Bennett have entered preliminary discussions on the Utah head coaching job.
Bennett was believed to be a leading candidate for the Runnin' Utes, however, it was unclear if he had interest in the job. This report, though, indicates the two sides met in Las Vegas last week during the conference tournaments for both the Mountain West and West Coast Conferences.
Though Bennett has denied the report, it should be noted this is the same source that broke Utah to the Pac-12 last summer.
Is this the first sign we're close to finding our guy? With St. Mary's losing in the NIT Tuesday night, it's very possible we have our answer by the end of the week - if not the end of tomorrow.
Stay tuned...
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I like his strong west coast ties and that he worked with University of Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar. I wish he had a little more success at winning conference championships or making a deep run in the NCAA tournament (ala Gottfried), but also with the state of our current program I am not sure we could attract a Tony Bennett or a Mark Gottfried.
I agree.
Obviously he knows how to win at St. Mary’s. Can those wins translate to pac 12 wins? The WCC isn’t as big time as what we are headed into, and I fear lack of big time experience will translate into losses. But then again, if this is the best we can get given the current state of the program, a proven winner would be nice to have.
by Classless Ute on Mar 16, 2011 12:36 PM MDT via mobile up reply actions
+1
After reading the breakdown of coaches, I warmed up to Randy… I’d rather start with someone that could bloom into someone great than a tried-and-true… why not? We can only go up from here… right?
"Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't go to yours." -Yogi Berra
I think he's already done that at St. Mary's...
He’s been there for ten years now and pretty much built that program. It’s not a situation like Giac where he was only there for a few years and really didn’t do anything fancy.
If we’re going to considered Mark Gottfried a tried-and-true candidate, well Bennett certainly is closer to that than someone like Tony Bennett.
Agreed
with regard to the Bennetts. Of the two (despite some of my arguments FOR Gottfried in my post below) I’d be more interested in Randy because he’s demonstrated he can consistently win with his own recruits. In my opinion the jury is still out on Tony – even if he can sing. (sorry someone had to do it.)
"It's a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word" - Andrew Jackson
I'm liking this guy
If he can get to the Sweet Sixteen last year with a team that plays in a high school gym, then the Huntsman and our outdated facilities shouldn’t be any problem for him.
I still like Gottfried
Bennett’s shown he can win in a small conference and , yes, compete with the big boys. His 66% winning rate is slightly better than Gottfried’s 64%, and he has recruiting ties in the West. I know he’s not Giac and has shown he can win year after year, but he’s still a small conference guy and I think we need someone with big conference experience at this point.
H20_Ute expresses concern that the state of our program may not attract a Mark Gottfried, but even when we were riding high a decade ago we had the problem of attracting a “name” coach to come to Salt Lake. There is one BIG difference now….PAC 12 baby!
We are not the Triple A team any more, we’re in the majors now and I’d be surprised if that along with the history and tradition of Utah BB wouldn’t be enough for some unemployed (or employed for that matter) major league coach to be interested in reviving a once VERY proud program to its former glory. Come visit Salt Lake Mark! It’s not Tuscaloosa; it’s much prettier.
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"It's a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word" - Andrew Jackson
I think Mark Gottfried would take the job if offered...
But Randy Bennett has always been Hill’s top choice. It just didn’t look likely because he seemed content with St. Mary’s. However, I’ve heard he is very upset over the NCAA Tournament snubbing them and he’s at the point where he thinks the Gaels need to upgrade their facilities big-time to be competitive with Gonzaga and now BYU.
St. Mary’s plays in the 2nd smallest arena in the league and it’s about the size of a typical high school gym:
Apparently, their facilities are bad there and it’s now becoming clear to Bennett that they need to improve dramatically to sustain the success he’s created. But St. Mary’s has not indicated they are even close to building a new arena and I’ve heard he’s been open about taking off the Pac-12 if he doesn’t get what he wants.
And by the looks of it, I’m not sure the school can give him what he wants. At least not in the short-term.
Owl, your concern is the same as mine
Ideally, I would hope our coach has some HC experience in a “power” conference, preferably the PAC. Even as a player and assistant, R. Bennett has always been at the mid-major level (or lower). Does that concern me? Hell yeah. Does that mean he can’t succeed at the U? Of course not.
I used to be an “In Hill I trust” guy, but after the last two failures to launch with our basketball coach, I’m more cynical of Hill’s judgment in this issue. If it ends up being R. Bennett, I think I’m i more of a “believe it when I see it” state than I was with Giac or Boylen where I blindly drank the Koolaid assuming Hill could do no wrong in his coaching hires.t.
by fountainofute on Mar 17, 2011 11:35 AM MDT up reply actions
WCC or Pac-12
Seems like a easy choice to me. who can name other teams in the WCC besides St. Mary’s and Gonzaga. i sure as hell can’t. i think he’d be nuts to turn down the utes.
Bruce Pearl
Anyone think Pearl enters into the conversation now? I doubt The U will go for someone with baggage like Pearl has, but he was an assistant at Stanford and did great things at Tennessee.
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