Not a bad hire at all, as GMU hires Paul Hewitt former coach at Georgia Tech the past 11 years. He brings expereince and what are the odds Mason would get another coach who's taken his team to the final 4.

He did struggle the last 5 or so years in the ACC, and I'm not sure how he'll recruit for Mason. But anyone who lasted 11 years in the ACC should fair pretty well in the CAA.

Great recruiter and great at developing athletic talent. But he is a terrible x's and o's coach.

I guess it's an okay hire. Never struck me as a big personality and not all that great a game time coach

He may have lasted 11 years in the ACC but he only won 72 conference games. 72-104 in-conference to be exact. I'm certainly not jumping up and down right now but hope he's the right guy for right now.

Atlanta weather is different from Fairfax weather. That should not impact coaching how ever. Go Masons!

Wonder if Tommy Amaker ever got considered? Would like to have a seen someone with local roots get the job.
I know things didn't work out at Michigan but still
Now coaches at Harvard

CrabbyNative Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> He may have lasted 11 years in the ACC but he only
> won 72 conference games. 72-104 in-conference to
> be exact. I'm certainly not jumping up and down
> right now but hope he's the right guy for right
> now.


Well with Duke, UMD (in their peak years, still usually toward the top) and UNC I think almost every other ACC coach has a career record around or a little below .500, not saying Coach Hewitt did a phenominal job, although he did take a team to a championship game, but coaching in the ACC, by far the most dominant basketball conference of the decade had to have given him some great lessons.

I know people say its been the Big East the last few years, but they have a lot of weaker teams in the mix and they always do bad in the NCAA tourney.

Unfortunately, the Coach cannot recruit if he does not have the support of the Admissions Dept. The Admisssions Dept is more invested in their egos than it is the success of the basketball team, or any other team.

wally pip Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wonder if Tommy Amaker ever got considered? Would
> like to have a seen someone with local roots get
> the job.
> I know things didn't work out at Michigan but
> still
> Now coaches at Harvard


Why in the world would anyone leave a job like Harvard to go to GMU? Don't get me wrong, Coach Amaker would a tremendous asset, he's a great coach, great person, and knows how to recruit, but I serously doubt he'd evern consider such a move.

Sounds like someone got denied. Mason's admissions department is one of the best in the country. They have seen one of the largest increases in out-of-state applicants and GPA/SAT scores than almost any school in the country in the smallest amount of time. Maybe your kid should have shot for above a 3.0.

It's certainly a splashy hire, but so was Paul Westhead back in the day. First he needs to win big with the players left by Coach L, then he needs to start bringing in his own so there is a continuous stretch of winning. We are spoiled now!

Paul Westhead was the man, his offense will always work with the right players, he just had trouble recruiting kids 20 years ago to come to Fairfax, VA. I think he'd be much more successful today at Mason.

Westhead was the reason I started following GMU hoops. Plus one of the top players back then, Curtis McCants, came from my hometown in RI. He just didn't have the right players for his offense.

slubdawg Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> wally pip Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Wonder if Tommy Amaker ever got considered?
> Would
> > like to have a seen someone with local roots
> get
> > the job.
> > I know things didn't work out at Michigan but
> > still
> > Now coaches at Harvard
>
>
> Why in the world would anyone leave a job like
> Harvard to go to GMU? Don't get me wrong, Coach
> Amaker would a tremendous asset, he's a great
> coach, great person, and knows how to recruit, but
> I serously doubt he'd evern consider such a move.

You're kidding, right? He's not a law professor. He's a basketball coach, and the GMU gig is far superior to coaching at Harvard. The Ivy League is college athletics Siberia.

> > Why in the world would anyone leave a job like
> > Harvard to go to GMU? Don't get me wrong,
> Coach
> > Amaker would a tremendous asset, he's a great
> > coach, great person, and knows how to recruit,
> but
> > I serously doubt he'd evern consider such a
> move.
>
> You're kidding, right? He's not a law professor.
> He's a basketball coach, and the GMU gig is far
> superior to coaching at Harvard. The Ivy League
> is college athletics Siberia.


Amaker has turned down a coaching position in the ACC; he's sure as hell not leaving Harvard for Mason.

If it was the NC State job (didn't hear anything about any ACC school offering him a contract), George Mason is a better job. Just like Shaka Smart stayed at VCU and turned down NC State. It's one thing to coach down in Miami, but coaching miles from UNC and Duke, NC State will never be a prominent program again.

If you can keep a team around for 4 years, the little guys can make some noise. a little less stress also coaching in the CAA opposed to ACC

Mr. Know-It-All Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> slubdawg Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> You're kidding, right? He's not a law professor.
> He's a basketball coach, and the GMU gig is far
> superior to coaching at Harvard. The Ivy League
> is college athletics Siberia.


But I think his wife is a professor at the med school there, and despite its gains, GMU is not Harvard Med.



Also, I always thought Hewitt's Final Four run in 2004 was a joke. Having followed the ACC closely that season, I couldn't believe they were in the championship game (the semifinal UCon(vict) vs. Duke was the de facto 'final' for everyone concerned).

I thought at the time it was just a lucky run (and sure enough they got CRUSHED in the final) - but somehow it got people believing he was this amazing coach (and then Ga. Tech gave him the most absurd contract in college sports history).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/09/2011 08:51AM by snowdenscold.