Keatts is a helluva coach worth his weight in gold.

[Polito]

THAT guy is worth every penny paid by UNCW. Which by the way, is about 150 GRAND LESS than Mihalich.

A coach who is also a strong recruiter, a very good X/O guy, came into a floundering program and turned it around, and did so in 2 yrs, now with back to back tourney appearances.

For about 150k less. In half the time JM has had.

Just another top P5 assistant who came to a mid for about 300k to start. All you guys who think HU can never do any better than JM, and that HU needs to hang onto him for dear life, are stuck in reverse. Talking about how another Wright isn't coming through those doors is ridiculous.

Jay Wright DID come through those doors. Keatts DID come to UNCW. Capel DID come to VCU. It happens EVERY SINGLE YEAR. Top up and coming P5 assistants go to mids to be HC's for a fraction of the cost HU is paying JM, and they CAN produce results in 4 yrs or less.

Crazy right? It actually does happen in real life. No, not all the time. Not every P5 assistant is a stud. Plenty are busts too. But let's not act like it's never gonna happen. Because it does. And it actually happened to HU in '94.

Again, I'm not saying JM should be fired. Not at all. I'm saying that JM should be held to a VERY VERY high standard for his VERY VERY high price tag. This is about ROI. And so far, there has been very little to equal pay that is the highest in the CAA.


But don't let these curious facts stand in the way of all the justification going on around here. You're right, the fact that no hoops player has robbed anyone 4 yrs in is easily worth that price tag. I'm sure no one else could produce that for less.

Who needs to go dancing anyway, just another hassle.


JM's best hope for next year is that some P5 comes calling with big time dough to pull Keatts away from the W.

[stuball888]

Then we will have to worry about the College of Charleston coach. Who knows maybe even the Delaware coach with a full year of recruiting under his belt will elevate Delaware to a top 4 finish in the CAA. Next year is pivotal for JAM. Needs to recruit well and fill those spots. He also needs to install some kind of defense or it will be more of the same again next year.

[DCDUTCH]

Has to start playing more "Man" Defense.

He also needs to install some kind of defense or it will be more of the same again next year.

[Cards]

Has to start playing more "Man" Defense.

Agree with you again DC. HU always gets schooled by the high scorers on other teams. We need to play man on Daly form UD, Chealey from UNCW, Bryce from UNCW, and so on. Those guys will all be around next year and they will eat up our zone as they have already done.

[bobe13]

Then we will have to worry about the College of Charleston coach. Who knows maybe even the Delaware coach with a full year of recruiting under his belt will elevate Delaware to a top 4 finish in the CAA. Next year is pivotal for JAM. Needs to recruit well and fill those spots. He also needs to install some kind of defense or it will be more of the same again next year.

fully agree Stu.

[bobe13]

THAT guy is worth every penny paid by UNCW. Which by the way, is about 150 GRAND LESS than Mihalich.

A coach who is also a strong recruiter, a very good X/O guy, came into a floundering program and turned it around, and did so in 2 yrs, now with back to back tourney appearances.

For about 150k less. In half the time JM has had.

Just another top P5 assistant who came to a mid for about 300k to start. All you guys who think HU can never do any better than JM, and that HU needs to hang onto him for dear life, are stuck in reverse. Talking about how another Wright isn't coming through those doors is ridiculous.

Jay Wright DID come through those doors. Keatts DID come to UNCW. Capel DID come to VCU. It happens EVERY SINGLE YEAR. Top up and coming P5 assistants go to mids to be HC's for a fraction of the cost HU is paying JM, and they CAN produce results in 4 yrs or less.

Crazy right? It actually does happen in real life. No, not all the time. Not every P5 assistant is a stud. Plenty are busts too. But let's not act like it's never gonna happen. Because it does. And it actually happened to HU in '94.

Polito, I recall in the beginning of the season you worshiped JAM and the entire coaching staff. At what point did it completely turn around for you?


Again, I'm not saying JM should be fired. Not at all. I'm saying that JM should be held to a VERY VERY high standard for his VERY VERY high price tag. This is about ROI. And so far, there has been very little to equal pay that is the highest in the CAA.


But don't let these curious facts stand in the way of all the justification going on around here. You're right, the fact that no hoops player has robbed anyone 4 yrs in is easily worth that price tag. I'm sure no one else could produce that for less.

Who needs to go dancing anyway, just another hassle.


JM's best hope for next year is that some P5 comes calling with big time dough to pull Keatts away from the W.

Polito, I recall in the beginning of the season you worshiped JAM and the entire coaching staff. At what point did it completely turn around for you?

[DCDUTCH]

For me, too much whining to the Refs and little adjustments to defense (Rarely plays Man). Not giving Walker more chance to play. He was a good Shot blocker.

[dutchiedoright]

This is very telling.

goggle Keats.....google his recruiting at Louisville with Pitino and see if you want him anywhere near your program.

[dutchiedoright]

This is very telling.

goggle Keats.....google his recruiting at Louisville with Pitino and see if you want him anywhere near your program.

[Flying Dutchmen]

Has to start playing more "Man" Defense.

Agree with you again DC. HU always gets schooled by the high scorers on other teams. We need to play man on Daly form UD, Chealey from UNCW, Bryce from UNCW, and so on. Those guys will all be around next year and they will eat up our zone as they have already done.

Agree with you both, we need to play at least some man, preferably majority man. That Elon game is stuck in my head though. We got annihilated in the zone like usual, so we switched to man and found success for a few possessions, but Elon adjusted and dominated us inside for easy buckets until the clock ran out. Have to get more bodies in the frontcourt for man to man to work IMO.

I'm sorry, Walker wasn't the guy we thought he was on the court. He looks uninterested, and frankly has never shown us anything spectacular in game action. I used to blame the coaching for that, because they have such a quick leash on the young players, but the truth is Walker would have transferred somewhere else if he wanted to play. If Walker doesn't mind a deep bench role and gets a degree, that's cool too, I just hope he gets one big moment as a senior.

Keatts has done an amazing job at UNCW. He may push the ethical limit as a recruiter, but he's brought in a lot of good players, and the play on the court has been dominant, class of the CAA.

If Keatts is doing anything improper, it will catch up to him and the program. I graduated Binghamton in '09, we got a new coach in '07 that said "we're going to take some chances on guys." Well we got to the dance in '09, but he was fired that fall for lack of program control, and the team has never recovered. Personally I don't hope that on UNCW, it's not good for the conference.

[dutchiedoright]

The delay or lack in responses shows that folks either didn't know (and yet still sung his praises) or didn't care (which is worse !).

Either way, it speaks volumes..........

[nassaunativeson]

dutchiedoright makes an excellent point,

The following is from an article detailing the allegation that prostitutes were employed by assistant coaches, Keatts among them, during their recruiting process at Louisville:

"He (Keatts) brought new energy to the recruiting landscape, specifically with his connection to Hargrave Military Academy that seemingly resulted in Montrezl Harrell, Luke Hancock and Terry Rozier all committing to be Cardinals. All those athletes are now Louisville legends, but critical at this juncture is the fact that two of the three (Harrell, Rozier) were explicitly named by Katina Powell as being involved in transgressions over the four year period.
Maybe even more compelling is Keatts' relationship with former recruit JaQuan Lyle.
Lyle was the first current or former Louisville recruit or player to confirm "the gist" of Powell's allegations.
Keatts was Lyle's main recruiter and when he committed to Louisville, he referenced his relationship with Keatts as one of the driving forces in his decision. A 2013 story by Steve Jones of the Courier-Journal spoke with Lyle before his commitment and he referred to Keatts as "the best person I've ever played in ping pong". He goes on to say he's played Keatts over 10 times in the Billy Minardi dorms.
There has to be questions directed at the current head basketball coach of a public University who had the defining relationship with the one recruit who has validated details of Powell's story to the NCAA."

For the entire article, go here: http://www.cardchronicle.com/2015/10/22 ... d-to-speak

[nassaunativeson]

Polito: could you provide a source for your claims that JM is making $600K? Is that publicly available information? Couldn't find it, or any other number, anywhere. My understanding (from public articles at the time) was that after the Welsh hiring fiasco at $600k, Mo Cassara got half that ($300k) - following that progression, maybe JM's making $150K !?!? FYI: spot price of gold today was $1,218/oz, figure Keatts goes about 175, that puts him at $3,410,400.

[Polito]

sorry for delayed reply...

I actually knew of this when he was hired - some initial thoughts were he left to UNCW specificcally to get away from that, or flee the heat... some thought it may follow him there if anything real ever came of it.

The reality, at least thus far, is very little has resulted from any of the actual or potential issues, not at L'ville and not at UNCW. And nothing yet specifically involving Keatts.

It's not like he's recruiting 5 star talent to Wilmington. I mean his best player is a D2 transfer. That speaks more to his tremendous talent evaluation and player development than any cheating. HU brought in Sabety who turned out to be a real asset - don't think there was any cheating going on there either. It goes both ways.

What I think we are seeing is a guy who is a very strong recruiter, a fantastic game coach, and the class of the CAA. And in case anyone forgot since the other day, he is doing all this at a MUCH cheaper price than JM. There is no denying this fact: Keatts has produced ROI.

JM better be praying that guy leaves to a P5 this year.

Doesn't mean something won't still come down the pipe against him, that is of course a possibility - but unlikely IMO at this point.


If you really wanna see a red flag, check out what Western Kentucky has been getting done on the recruiting trail the math definitely doesn't add up there!

[Polito]

bobe13,

Polito, I recall in the beginning of the season you worshiped JAM and the entire coaching staff. At what point did it completely turn around for you?

Ah, excellent and fair question, thank you for asking. Here is the answer:

#1) I have NEVER "worshiped" this coaching staff. There you go exaggerating again bobby-boy. I have always had respect for this staff, and believe that they desire to win, and to win right. They righted a sunk ship. They have brought in strong talent, and even better students and citizens. I have never had a question of their character as men - that is how I believe they have attracted the type of players they have. And I feel no differently on any of these items now. There is not an ounce of me that doesn't believe these guys want to win.

But see that's not enough. Just having a desire for success is not enough. This is D1, and that means this is a business. And in business you pay out for an expected return. I'm sorry if that rubs his family and friends the wrong way, but that's how it works. This is a tough game, and a tough business. If anyone doesn't like that, they should direct their attention to a local club team instead. D1 demands ROI, and that's the bottom line (shout out to TBL!).

#2) It changed for me when a veteran coach who is the highest paid in the league blew a 10 point lead and got crushed in the 2nd half of a conference playoff game 42-29 by a ROOKIE coach who put together a makeshift team at the literal last minute, AFTER talking big all year long that the only thing that matters is those 3 days in March. He talked...and did nothing else. When the time came, he blew it.

And he may have forgotten that when your team plays like sh!t all year, it's actually 4 days. This game was a total failure, in every sense.

#3) It changed for me after watching a grown man go berserk all over the court, whining at every call by every ref, EVERY single game... and THEN seeing this behavior be taken on by one of his top starting upper classmen LEADERS in Rokus Gustys. Seeing Rok act like just as much of a baby as his HC absolutely set me off.

I KNOW the final UD foul call was BS... I KNOW that. But it wasn't just that call. Rokus started to display this embarrassing behavior in the last few games of the year. And I blame that 100% on the "parent", one Joe Mihalich.

[dutchiedoright]

People don't know salaries. They just don't. We certainly don't know what Keatts makes. Anyone who truly did know, wouldn't say a thing.

Secondly, a "package" is not salary and NY area salaries are inflated anyway. A lot of times 401k, 402b, healthcare, payroll tax, bonuses are included, sometimes not. At the end of the day, anybody who truly knows those answers would never say. So, let's stop with the salary stuff.

(BTW, Pitt passed on Keatts after Dixon left and it won't surprise me if other teams do as well this year..... Same with Rice.....)

I am not now and never will champion and hope for failure. The "IMO's" and the 'but I really hope for HU" stuff gives a lot of these comments that tone that folks want this thing sideways so that they can say "See ! I was right".

There are two threads on here that are just bad....bad for HU......maybe good for an individual, maybe they make someone look like they are "inside the ropes"....but it makes them come across as a hater. I would hope that they would taken down. They are bad for HU.

[Flying Dutchmen]

I am not now and never will champion and hope for failure. The "IMO's" and the 'but I really hope for HU" stuff gives a lot of these comments that tone that folks want this thing sideways so that they can say "See ! I was right".

There are two threads on here that are just bad....bad for HU......maybe good for an individual, maybe they make someone look like they are "inside the ropes"....but it makes them come across as a hater. I would hope that they would taken down. They are bad for HU.

What a load of holy BS.

I respect and generally agree with the positive message, but still, better or worse, this is a board for free thought, a freedom to express an opinion about HU athletics. Nobody has made personal attacks on HU staff, which may cross the line.

I don't believe posters here want to make personal attacks. We have some awesome, very high character people in the athletic program, but it's only fair to be critical and to express a thought.

[dutchiedoright]

Totally disagree.

Read some of the other threads......many personal attacks there.

Opinions, criticism, observations......agreed..... good to have, if above-the-fray. A lot of what I read, though, is sharp and personal. It's bad spin for HU.

[nassaunativeson]

Polito: You seem to really know a lot about salaries, what's your source on JM's number? We know from publicly published reports at the time that Welsh was making $600k,, after that fiasco, Mo Cassera was paid $300K, wouldn't it make sense that JM makes $150k? I agree with dutchiedoright, nobody on this board knows the number, nor should they! BTW, if Keatts weighs about 175, his worth in gold today would be $3,410,400, if HU were to pay someone (anyone) that amount, would you conclude that we'd get to the Final Four? Still wouldn't want a coach with Keatts' baggage, much prefer the character and integrity of JM.

[Hofstra]

DDR, do you think other fans comes to our boards to assess how we interact with one another? This was a brutal season, and fans are venting. I know for sure I don't have many people I can talk Hofstra hoops with face to face in everyday life. This is a place where people go. Drop the holier than thou attitude man. This is a message board, not everything posted is going to be pro Hofstra