But but. We were assured by another poster that Autry's hiring at Syracuse would have no impact on GW's recruiting. (Post now mysteriously deleted.)

Last edited by Mentzinger (3/16/2023 11:12 am)

It's not a good sign, admittedly for both Trey and our recruiting efforts (though doubt we are pursuing the same players). But we'll see.

Hired at GW just  11 months ago.  Made a lateral move to come here.

Lot of moving around for a guy whose job is to convince young men to commit and buy in to a program.

prefer guys who demonstrate loyalty, help build and grow something and then land a head coaching job, like CC did.  

 

https://twitter.com/BelkReport/status/1636430373398937600

jf wrote:

If it has no connection to us,Reynolds from St Joe's appears to be Team Takeover.

Let’s hope this is the case.

Based on the team responding to the coaching staff, and especially his DC connections, I really believe losing Coach is a big loss.

GWRising wrote:

Going to be very tough to retain talented assistants at GW until the school steps up and pays them better.

While undoubtedly true vis a vis other A10 or mid major programs, is it really realistic that GW could pay enough to keep an AC from going to the ACC?

Just spitballing, but it wouldn't surprise me if Brenden is making at least double (possibly triple?) what he made here in addition to coaching/recruiting at the P5 level.  As much of a bad break it is to lose an up and coming coach like Straughn, it would be a coup to retain anyone given this opportunity.

Last edited by GW0509 (3/17/2023 6:55 am)

GW0509 wrote:

GWRising wrote:

Going to be very tough to retain talented assistants at GW until the school steps up and pays them better.

While undoubtedly true vis a vis other A10 or mid major programs, is it really realistic that GW could pay enough to keep an AC from going to the ACC?

Just spitballing, but it wouldn't surprise me if Brenden is making at least double (possibly triple?) what he made here in addition to coaching/recruiting at the P5 level.  As much of a bad break it is to lose an up and coming coach like Straughn, it would be a coup to retain anyone given this opportunity.

Yes and no. As I understand it, our assistant salaries are near the bottom of the A-10 even in (other than Fordham) the highest cost of living area. Not sure Brenden is making double but could be. My point was more towards if we want guys to develop here and have staff continuity at least until we win, we probably better pay better. Guys have to eat and often have families. If there is huge financial pressure, they are going to be looking.  

Now that may or may not apply to Brenden. Clearly Syracuse is a great opportunity and no question he will get paid a significant amount more. But will he develop as much as a future head coach there or be designated as a recruiter as the third assistant? That one is not as clear. And when the finances are so different it makes it a lot harder to even consider staying. We've had other assistants turn down P5 offers before but that was back 10-15 years ago when GW was not as far behind as it is now. One of them is currently a pretty successful B10 head coach.

I am not for a minute saying Brenden should pass this opportunity up. I am just saying we need to make it more difficult for assistants to leave generally. They still may leave and it still may be the best move but we ought to at least try to put a speed bump in place. Next time it may not be Syracuse but a more lateral move.

Could we lose another assistant?  Not great timing for us 

Trilly Donovan@trillydonovan·49m
Updates in New York: 
Army: Zak Boisvert is gaining a lot of traction. Carl Little and Kevin Kuwik also in the mix.

Rising has made the point that retaining assistants is really tough at GW, so the program needs to get really good at replacing them. Karl Hobbs built an insanely good staff with Kevin Broadus, Darrell Brooks and Steve Pikiell, all of whom went on to become head coaches at varying levels. Their replacements were perfectly fine, but not at that level.

Chris Caputo seems to be about as keyed in to college basketball as anyone, so knowing who to call to replace assistants certainly won't be a problem. Convincing them to come is going to be hugely important.

When Assistant Coaches move on to get promoted, that's generrally a sign that something is very right with the program they are leaving.  While not meaning to undermine the value of the relationships that recruiters strike with some players, it's important to note that most players make a decision to play for a head coach.  Also working in our favor is that CC isn't Calipari-like where he's completely out of the recruiting picture until it's time to close the deal.  I know that CC attends many high school and presumably AAU games, and has a more direct, hands-on approach to selling GW on recruits than a head coach who's been at this fror decades and would rather delegate.

This is another way of saying that if or when we lose Brendan and Zak, CC will fill those slots with other very capable coaches (I suspect that Cooper Handelsman would be next in line without even having to go out-of-house.  Lamont Franklin is also a possibility though I am unsure if he would want his role changed.).  That said, Rising's words should not be ignored.  If retaining assistant coaches becomes a systemic problem, then this needs to be rectified if we ever hope to have a consistently successful program.