1 of 1- Gwmayhem
- Buff & Blue Club
Offline - Registered: 7/22/2019
- Posts: 2,685
Early Vote For Coach of the Year
Several games left to be played which might make a big difference. VCU leads the conference, Dayton has the strongest KenPom and NET rankings, and SLU has better numbers than who I would vote for. Those three were expected at or near the top and none have broken out in a big way. We love the job CC is doing but to be fair, he would be fortunate to receive any 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place votes.
This vote boils down to three finalists for me:
In 3rd place: Fran Dunphy, La Salle....He has changed a culture for which enough can not be said. He was drawn out of retirement to do so, largely because nobody qualified enough wanted the job at the coach's alma mater. He lost two of his best players in the portal (Jack Clark to NC State and Clifton Moore to Providence). The Explorers stand at 7-8 in the A10 but like GW, performed meh early in the season against a soft OOC schedule.
In 2nd place: Keith Urgo, Fordham...I suspect there will be many who will be voting for him and let's face it...any postseason conference award coming Fordham's way is a feel-good story given their dreadful history in the A10. Fordham may be 22-6 but after we take away their Quad 4 record, this reverts to just 7-5. Let's also take into account that much of the heavy lifting started last year under Kyle Neptune, not that this should be held against Urgo but it also should not be ignored.
In 1st place: Keith Dambrot, Duquesne..This guy didn't clean house; he flat out built a brand new one. You'd think there was a draft, with last year's team picking first, in order to improve a program so rapidly. The Dukes are a game behind Fordham in the conference standings but even with three fewer overall wins, they have 2 more than Fordham after excluding Q4 games. As a result, they are 40 slots ahead of the Rams in KenPom, and 29 spots higher using NET. And if all of this doesn't convince you, picture the Smth Center scoreboard saying this:
Duquesne GWU
50 H 20
Still having those occasional nightmares. OK, who do you like vat this point
- dmvpiranha
- Moderator
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- Registered: 7/23/2019
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Re: Early Vote For Coach of the Year
It probably goes to whoever finishes higher in the standings between Duquesne and Fordham.
Dunphy has done a great job at La Salle this season but I don't think it's enough to be a finalist for the award. He is probably third though. It might have been Schmidt had Bona not fallen recently.
Dambrot has done a great job turning around Duquesne after a rough year, but Urgo is my pick even if Duquesne overtakes them in the standings.
Urgo's not only done a great job making adjustments at halftime on the court but he's generated program excitement in general. I've never seen Rose Hill look the way it did for the GW game. The fact that Fordham is in contention for a double bye makes this one almost a no-brainer for me. Neptune definitely started it, but Urgo played a role in recruiting those players. He did leave for Villanova late in the offseason making it harder for players to transfer but I think the players on the team like Urgo and would have stayed regardless.
The analytic angle is an interesting one though. I truthfully don't know if that's a primary consideration during the process.
- Ralphie
- Super Fan
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- Registered: 1/01/2021
- Posts: 46
Re: Early Vote For Coach of the Year
Sad that CC's outstanding work in really turning our program around through player development despite having to deal with a serious lack of manpower, scant student/fan support, etc., will only place him 4th in Coach of the Year voting in the A-10 - at best and deservedly so for this particular year. My vote as a GW-centric would go to Dambrot, with Urgo and Dunphy close behind. How's about next year for CC's hardware ?
- Skittles
- Buff & Blue Club
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- Registered: 2/27/2021
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Re: Early Vote For Coach of the Year
Dambrot is my vote. That program has been meh since I can remember (with the most promising team they've had in 15 years getting their season cut short thanks to the pandemic) and this team looks ready to roll some heads during the A10 tourney next month. They are my dark horse to hoist the trophy
- Alum1
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- Registered: 10/09/2019
- Posts: 307
Re: Early Vote For Coach of the Year
Not Archie Miller