I have read a couple different places that Madison High School (in Idaho) head coach Bill Hawkins may be a head coaching candidates for Idaho State after this season. Or, at the very least, he wants to be a coaching candidate for them.
Way too early to speculate, but that is a name to keep around, it seems like a highly successful high school coach in the area could be a good candidate, though the leap from high school to Division I is a large one.
Idaho State fans - thoughts?
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Boy, that's usually quite a stretch going from the high school ranks to the D-1 level. I think the Bengals would be better served by bringing in a veteran who has coaching experience at this level. Some of the talk about Hawkins centers around the belief that he could bring along supporters who would kick in big bucks towards facility upgrades in Pocatello.
ReplyDeleteJoe O'Brien was in so over his head, it wasn't even funny. He came from the JC ranks, and tried to run a D-1 program as he did his JC program. Making the jump directly from the high school ranks seems an even riskier move.
ReplyDeleteBut, I will play devil's advocate. If Hawkins is hired, he would need to have an extremely competent staff. Bringing up high school assistants would be suicide. Having somebody like a Deane Martin, for example, would provide an inside knowledge of NCAA sports, and understanding of compliance (presumably). He's well known in the region to most high school players, so that's a plus for recruiting. A player like Josh Fuller, who played for Hawkins at Madison, might be tempted to return from his mission and attend ISU instead of Utah (plus, Fuller's dad played for ISU). His hiring could spark interest in the "upper valley," which includes BYU-Idaho.
If the rumors are true about the money (and there are some people and operations in that area which could easily make millions in contributions), then I'm of the belief that it should be seriously considered. Why not? As long as ISU puts itself into a position to protect itself (i.e. get the money up front, and don't tie it to a certain length of time which Hawkins must be retained), then they'd be setting themselves up for the long term. After the garbage O'Brien put together, what's another 3 years, worst case scenario?
Yep, I read something about how if Hawkins was hired, they could potentially get donations in the 8 figures... don't know how credible that is, but I've seen enough people talk about it that it could be true. You guys are totally right... if it is true, you don't want boosters running the program, but that would obviously be an unbelievable haul for the athletic program and school, and is something you would have to consider.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I hope they can hire somebody who knows what they are getting into and has a plan of action, is a great coach with a proven track record, knows the region/west, and can easily relate to members of the community. My list would include (but not be limited to):
ReplyDeleteBill Evans, Montana assistant, former SUU coach
Jeff Hirnonaka, Washington State assistant, former Seattle Pacific head coach, former ISU assistant
Louis Wilson, Adams State head coach, former ISU assistant
Ray Lopes, Idaho assistant, former Fresno State head coach
Brandon Veltri, Carroll College head coach, former ISU grad assistant
Tim Duryea, Utah State assistant
Josh Fuller signed with Weber after LK was hired @ Utah & then departed for his mission.
ReplyDeleteIf Bill Hawkins got the job at Idaho State the culture of Idaho State Basketball would change, in the communities and with the involvement of local Idaho Boosters. If he could get the money that has been talked about he could build new facilties to recruit which is what Idaho State is lacking by far. Also he could recruit the local kids like a Josh Fuller or a Shawn Reid who plays for Montana State and torched the bangles in thier 4 point loss. But I don't think you can win with all Idaho kids so if Hawkins could recruit outside of his obvious bubble and bring in the kids with local talent then he would be the obvious choice.
ReplyDeleteISU needs a regime change from top to bottom, the fan support for this team has been extremely poor, and they don't have a system that tailors itself to Grabau or Morgan....with a good coach this team still wouldn't be much good, but they wouldn't be at the bottom of the Big Sky, either.
ReplyDeleteOddly enough, Idaho State isn't at the bottom of the Big Sky as predicted , but the Bengals are currently tied for 5th place. Grabau is one of the best players in the Big Sky...so I'm not sure where that comment came from.
ReplyDeleteIdaho State needs an Michigan State approach to its program!! Culture change and winning mentality!! There are a few Tom Izzo disciples out there and help bring back some of the glory days of Bengal basketball!!
ReplyDeleteI'm hearing good things about Utah St. assistant Chris Jones. He played at Utah in the early nineties under Rick Majerus. After graduating, he stayed at Utah as an assistant to Big Rick. Currently, he's an assistant under Stew Morrill. He's coached a lot of great players and been a part of a lot of wins while learning from two pretty damn good coaches.
ReplyDeleteDon't know if he is interested in the ISU job (or if we could get him). I do know he is a great recruiter with tons of contacts (especially in Utah).