Kellie Harper discussion/debate thread [merged]

[Volfan2012]

If I was DW it would be no less than elite eight or gone especially in five years

I will agree with you on that, and that would be my criteria. We'll see if it is his real soon.

 

[Volfan2012]

That ship never launched. When the TN job came open Lawson was on the board of trustees. Naturally, she got asked over and over by reporters about taking the job. She said every single time she had no interest in coaching. Then two things happened: she took a coaching job at another school and she left the board with bad blood when she publically criticised them as lacking diversity. Apparently they felt stabbed in the back and claimed she had never said a word about this to them before. Needless to say, Kara Lawson will not be coaching here. But ya'lls research and comparison is interesting. Personally, I don't think Lawson would have been an upgrade.

Which gets a booby prize bc it means a game with a #1 seed on their home floor. Better to stay at 10 if you can't get up to 7. at l10 seed at least gets you a 2 seed on their home floor if you survive the first round. Lord, this looks dismal. I'd just like us to have a few more enjoyable games along the way if possible.

Bring them on we will give them a game for 25 to 30 minutes before a guard that is shooting 38 percent for the season makes like 7 shots in a row and we lose by double digits.
I have settled on Kevin McGuff or Gottleb, but I can't pay them so my picks may not be the choice of the AD.

 

[leeeda97]

She was at western Carolina first with a program at the very bottom won the league one season and finished second another. I not saying Kellie has done a good job just saying Kara has been a failure as well. If we'd hired her instead of Kellie we'd have the same people saying we needed to fire her and get a new coach cause her record here would not be better than the one at Duke.

Lol if getting 2nd in your P5 conference, while making the tournament your 3rd year coaching ever and making the tournament in your 4th year coaching ever (pretty sure this will happen) is FAILING, then almost every coach in WBB should just quit now....glad Geno and Dawn didn't give up so easily

I'll come back to this in a couple years.....

 

[leeeda97]

That ship never launched. When the TN job came open Lawson was on the board of trustees. Naturally, she got asked over and over by reporters about taking the job. She said every single time she had no interest in coaching. Then two things happened: she took a coaching job at another school and she left the board with bad blood when she publically criticised them as lacking diversity. Apparently they felt stabbed in the back and claimed she had never said a word about this to them before. Needless to say, Kara Lawson will not be coaching here. But ya'lls research and comparison is interesting. Personally, I don't think Lawson would have been an upgrade.

Which gets a booby prize bc it means a game with a #1 seed on their home floor. Better to stay at 10 if you can't get up to 7. at l10 seed at least gets you a 2 seed on their home floor if you survive the first round. Lord, this looks dismal. I'd just like us to have a few more enjoyable games along the way if possible.

Every time this team looks like it's going to get on a little run something happens that feels like a gut punch. LSU seemed alot more painful than SC although they happened in similar ways. Lucky for us TAM is awful right now and may be just what the doctor ordered.

Fulmer chose Harper over Lawson for the job. Not sure where you got your info, but I know my info is correct.

 

[glv98]

Bring them on we will give them a game for 25 to 30 minutes before a guard that is shooting 38 percent for the season makes like 7 shots in a row and we lose by double digits.
I have settled on Kevin McGuff or Gottleb, but I can't pay them so my picks may not be the choice of the AD.

LOL that does seems to be our formula. Don't forget to add our new sharpshooter loses her eye and our offensive star is under a blanket of 3 opposing players.

I like McGuff, but I've kind of semi-settled on Kenny Brooks. Would be cool to have our first African American coach. I think having our first male coach might go over better if he is a COC. I like the idea of both those breakthrus happening together. Also, Brooks can coach.

 

[Volfan2012]

Lol if getting 2nd in your P5 conference, while making the tournament your 3rd year coaching ever and making the tournament in your 4th year coaching ever (pretty sure this will happen) is FAILING, then almost every coach in WBB should just quit now....glad Geno and Dawn didn't give up so easily

I'll come back to this in a couple years.....

So what you trying to say you want to hire Lawson? I wasn't for hiring Harper but she has turned out to be as good as Lawson over the last four seasons. Saying that Lawson is an upgrade has really weak support over the last four seasons they have coached. So what if they had hired her and she won like another game or two is that really what were looking for? She doesn't have the ability to build a program that can win the league cause the teams she has now would be about fourth of fifth at least in the SEC. If Lawson is our replacement for Kellie we'll be floundering for another five years until we replace her.

 

[glv98]

Fulmer chose Harper over Lawson for the job. Not sure where you got your info, but I know my info is correct.

I've never heard that, not once. Lawson is on video repeatedly denying any interest in the LV job or coaching (besides the 3 x 3) in general.. The feud w the board is public knowledge.

BTW, I think hiring any former LV is a very bad idea. Any LVFL hired would automatically have a stone around her neck after that went bad x2. The program needs a breath of fresh air.

 

[Volfan2012]

LOL that does seems to be our formula. Don't forget to add our new sharpshooter loses her eye and our offensive star is under a blanket of 3 opposing players.

I like McGuff, but I've kind of semi-settled on Kenny Brooks. Would be cool to have our first African American coach. I think having our first male coach might go over better if he is a COC. I like the idea of both those breakthrus happening together. Also, Brooks can coach.

I forgot about Kenny yes I would definitely consider him.

 

[Volfan2012]

Fulmer chose Harper over Lawson for the job. Not sure where you got your info, but I know my info is correct.

Both choices were wrong so if that is all he had why were where we are today.

 

[leeeda97]

I've never heard that, not once. Lawson is on video repeatedly denying any interest in coaching. The feud w the board is public knowledge.

I have no idea about the denials. Pretty sure people mentioned she was a contender on this board at the time, but that was a while ago, so I don't really remember. I just know they were down to her and Kellie.

 

[Deebowbear]

Bring them on we will give them a game for 25 to 30 minutes before a guard that is shooting 38 percent for the season makes like 7 shots in a row and we lose by double digits.
I have settled on Kevin McGuff or Gottleb, but I can't pay them so my picks may not be the choice of the AD.

McGuff would be a great hire

 

[chuckiepoo]

I'm saying they made the mistake of hiring Harper over Lawson to begin with. Lawson would never come to Tennessee

That is incongruent. How did Tennessee make a mistake if she would never have answered the call to Coach?

 

[leeeda97]

That is incongruent. How did Tennessee make a mistake if she would never have answered the call to Coach?

Nope, she would never come now bc they passed her up the 1st time and she'd be stuck with another rebuilding project. She seems pretty happy with the direction of her current project right now.

 

[leeeda97]

So what you trying to say you want to hire Lawson? I wasn't for hiring Harper but she has turned out to be as good as Lawson over the last four seasons. Saying that Lawson is an upgrade has really weak support over the last four seasons they have coached. So what if they had hired her and she won like another game or two is that really what were looking for? She doesn't have the ability to build a program that can win the league cause the teams she has now would be about fourth of fifth at least in the SEC. If Lawson is our replacement for Kellie we'll be floundering for another five years until we replace her.

Nope. Again you all act like Lawson and Harper took over similar programs with similar problems. A lot more to a program than a head coach position. Lawson is still building. Maybe Harper is to. We'll just have to see where things end up......

 

[leeeda97]

They are fans too. They just disagree with you and you are too immature to allow them to have their say without throwing a fit.

If you are through holding your breath and rolling around on the floor trying to make people think you are the aggrieved party, maybe you could go look up stats that make a case against what Darth posted, or show his stats to be wrong. Otherwise you concede the point just like you always do --- gracelessly. And FFS stop the childish "but he started it, Mom" BS. For one thing, it isn't true as entire threads of personal attacks on Darth will show, and for another, it is irrelevant to the discussion at hand. You are, I assume, a grown man. You need to act like it and stop being an embarrassment to the whole fanbase.

Tennessee will flounder for several yrs no matter who they hire at this point. Programs can't be built overnight without a lot of money. And pretty sure Tenn isn't going to shell out big bucks.

I tend to agree Kenny Brooks may be the best possible option, but l'd like to see how he does next year without Kitley. A lot of coaches got lucky with COVID. Their stars could stay longer. Once the covid year is gone, a lot of teams will struggle quite a bit if they dropped the ball with recruiting 23s and 24s.

Also, what does his buyout look like? His current contract is through 28-29.

 

[Volfan2012]

Tennessee will flounder for several yrs no matter who they hire at this point. Programs can't be built overnight without a lot of money. And pretty sure Tenn isn't going to shell out big bucks.

I tend to agree Kenny Brooks may be the best possible option, but l'd like to see how he does next year without Kitley. A lot of coaches got lucky with COVID. Their stars could stay longer. Once the covid year is gone, a lot of teams will struggle quite a bit if they dropped the ball with recruiting 23s and 24s.

Also, what does his buyout look like? His current contract is through 28-29.

Maybe and maybe not. You can build a team fairly fast these days with the portal transfers. A new coach would need some of the current players to stay and get a good recruited class for 2025. In a couple of seasons you could have a good roster. The portal has really changed things as far as building a team quickly. They have to be willing to shell out for NIL or they will never build an effective team just the way it is going to be going forward.

 

[Nickid1975]

Really good thoughts expressed by many fans as to the current and likely future problems with the program.
It is my opinion that recruiting has been the biggest problem with Kellie and her staff. We have reportedly had many quality visits but have very rarely been able to close the deal. The ability to close is the head coaches responsibility of the head coach. Therefore our current roster is at best middle of the pack in the SEC.
Solid recruiting is essential...JMO

 

[Will83]

That ship never launched. When the TN job came open Lawson was on the board of trustees. Naturally, she got asked over and over by reporters about taking the job. She said every single time she had no interest in coaching. Then two things happened: she took a coaching job at another school and she left the board with bad blood when she publically criticised them as lacking diversity. Apparently they felt stabbed in the back and claimed she had never said a word about this to them before. Needless to say, Kara Lawson will not be coaching here. But ya'lls research and comparison is interesting. Personally, I don't think Lawson would have been an upgrade.

Don’t recall Kara saying ‘not interested’ in coaching after coaching 3x3 and NBA. Phillip
Fulmer was part of Harper hiring process but had lady assistant, A.D. and Joan Cronan run the search and interview process. Never got confirmation that Lawson was interviewed for the job but was for her option on who might be a good option. Board of Trustee stuff came after the hire of Harper but around time Lawson was hired at Duke, right? What did Lawson say? That UT needed more coaches or color since UT didn’t have any… it’s true, right? Did she say anything else?

 

[chuckiepoo]

Don’t recall Kara saying ‘not interested’ in coaching after coaching 3x3 and NBA. Phillip
Fulmer was part of Harper hiring process but had lady assistant, A.D. and Joan Cronan run the search and interview process. Never got confirmation that Lawson was interviewed for the job but was for her option on who might be a good option. Board of Trustee stuff came after the hire of Harper but around time Lawson was hired at Duke, right? What did Lawson say? That UT needed more coaches or color since UT didn’t have any… it’s true, right? Did she say anything else?

Former Lady Vol Kara Lawson calls out lack of diversity at highest levels of Tennessee Athletics

"When I look at my alma mater, Knoxville, there is not a single African-American coach at that institution. That is not the same for the majority of the SEC."

www.wbir.com

 

[turbovol]

Don’t recall Kara saying ‘not interested’ in coaching after coaching 3x3 and NBA. Phillip
Fulmer was part of Harper hiring process but had lady assistant, A.D. and Joan Cronan run the search and interview process. Never got confirmation that Lawson was interviewed for the job but was for her option on who might be a good option. Board of Trustee stuff came after the hire of Harper but around time Lawson was hired at Duke, right? What did Lawson say? That UT needed more coaches or color since UT didn’t have any… it’s true, right? Did she say anything else?

Is this right? So we essentially had one Asst. AD who basically did the search? No search firm involved? Didn't seem like one was involved at the time. Cronan is a long-since retired women's AD, and I"m quite sure she didn't have her hand on the pulse of women's basketball and WBB coaches when the search was conducted. My bet is that she did little other than hekp interview a couple of candidates. Fulmer, of course, didn't know a damn thing about women's BB. It was obvious at the time that it was a lame "search"--there very clearly wasn't much searching--and the focus quickly centered on two former players--one of whom had never coached collegiately at all and the other with no more than a fair record as a head. What could go wrong with that kind of laziness....

 

[glv98]

Don’t recall Kara saying ‘not interested’ in coaching after coaching 3x3 and NBA. Phillip
Fulmer was part of Harper hiring process but had lady assistant, A.D. and Joan Cronan run the search and interview process. Never got confirmation that Lawson was interviewed for the job but was for her option on who might be a good option. Board of Trustee stuff came after the hire of Harper but around time Lawson was hired at Duke, right? What did Lawson say? That UT needed more coaches or color since UT didn’t have any… it’s true, right? Did she say anything else?

My understanding is it wasn't what she said, but that she never said it to the board while she was on it. They felt ambushed that she said it in public as a parting shot when she had every opportunity to bring it up with them while here.

 

[Will83]

My understanding is it wasn't what she said, but that she never said it to the board while she was on it. They felt ambushed that she said it in public as a parting shot when she had every opportunity to bring it up with them while here.

Former Lady Vol Kara Lawson calls out lack of diversity at highest levels of Tennessee Athletics

"When I look at my alma mater, Knoxville, there is not a single African-American coach at that institution. That is not the same for the majority of the SEC."

www.wbir.com

Thanks! This occurred over a year after Kellie was hired and 2-3 weeks before Kara was announced coach at Duke. Find it hard to believe Kara didn’t mention this prior with board who probably gave little attention. This shouldn’t have shocked the board/university since it was brought up during the last two football head coach searches and something the university stated they were working on so appears like nothing but university spin if folks are mad at Kara’s comments. Universe better “Toughen up buttercup”.

Coaching search details came from
Summitt and seems very plausible since at the time UT was surprised with contract discussions with Rick Barnes and football program was drowning but who knows.

Personally not sure about Kara, but she started with less than Kellie and has recruited without a doubt better at high school level and this season has beat ranked teams. Not bad for a coach who hasn’t coached more than few years vs Kellie who has had decades of coaching experience.

 

[Majors]

Tennessee will flounder for several yrs no matter who they hire at this point. Programs can't be built overnight without a lot of money. And pretty sure Tenn isn't going to shell out big bucks.

I tend to agree Kenny Brooks may be the best possible option, but l'd like to see how he does next year without Kitley. A lot of coaches got lucky with COVID. Their stars could stay longer. Once the covid year is gone, a lot of teams will struggle quite a bit if they dropped the ball with recruiting 23s and 24s.

Also, what does his buyout look like? His current contract is through 28-29.

Why does Kenny leave his home state to come to a team he’s past?

 

[Volfan2012]

Why does Kenny leave his home state to come to a team he’s past?

Probably doesn't leave but he only makes 625 thousand and his contract is up in 2025-26. So if he is looking to move he is a prime candidate as were already paying more than he makes.

 

[Will83]

Why does Kenny leave his home state to come to a team he’s past?

Kenny and others are intriguing, guessing a big bag of money is the only way.

Heard booster don’t like supporting BHC for NIL, does anyone have insight if this is across the board no matter LV basketball coach or does this relate to Kellie being the coach?