Memphis to hire dad of 3 elite basketball recruits

[Clonefan32]

There a plenty of benefits to being a coaches kid that his will get to enjoy. Should he not be a coach just bc he has kids who are athletes? Maybe having a better job will improve his kids lives? I really don't see anything wrong with this situation at all. You're basically saying its shady for ANY kid to play for a team their dad coaches .

Not at all. It was fine for Doug to play for Greg. Greg was an established coach who was hired at Creighton due to his merits (wow, that was hard to type). There are other instances of the same thing...the McCollum kid at Detroit, the Hunter kid at Georgia State. None of those kids' dads were hired at their respective schools BECAUSE of their kids' athletic ability.

I think it's incredibly dull for anyone, with these kids' dad included, to think he was hired due to his credentials. Sure, he was a high school coach and a player, but you don't make that jump ordinarily. He was hired because his kids are elite recruits, which is fine, but it will put a great deal of pressure on these kids to go play at Memphis. As a father, I'd like to think you'd put your kids dreams before your own and help them pick the school that best fits their skills and abilities. By taking this job, you've essentially made that choice for them.

 

[c.y.c.l.o.n.e.s]

In Memphis' defense (a little), the oldest son had already committed. The dad basically said "hire me and get all of my sons or don't hire me and my oldest goes elsewhere". So they had the opportunity and took advantage of it.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...-the-nations-top-assistant-coaching-candidate

"If [a college] hires a second or third assistant, what can they bring to the table?" Lawson said. "If you hire me, I'm automatically bringing you top-20 players in the country.Automatically. There are coaches sitting on benches right now who can't do that."

Yes, K.J. Lawson committed to Josh Pastner's Memphis Tigers last October. But Keelon Lawson indicated that would change if he lands a college job outside of Memphis.
"With loyalty to Josh, I would ask K.J., 'Would you want to stay [with Memphis] or would you want to go with me and Dedric?'" Keelon Lawson said. "But with us being a close-knit family, you know what the answer would be. He would say, 'Dad, I'm going with you.' So, of course, K.J. would go with me, and then Dedric, and then Chandler."
Translation: The school that hires Keelon Lawson will get three possible McDonald's All-Americans in a five-year span. That's the simplest way to describe this situation.

 

[ImJustKCClone]

There was another thread on this previously, but my concerns for the kids are still relevant.

Will they have the opportunity to play where THEY want to play, or will they be pressured to play for Memphis?

Will they be accepted on their merits by their teammates, or will they always be "the coach's kids"?

It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

FWIW - if any of the next-gen Hoiburgs play at the next level, I believe CFH will support them wherever they choose to play. He has always given the impression of family first. I hope this father in Memphis does the same by his kids.

 

[Cyclonesince78]

In Memphis' defense (a little), the oldest son had already committed. The dad basically said "hire me and get all of my sons or don't hire me and my oldest goes elsewhere". So they had the opportunity and took advantage of it.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...-the-nations-top-assistant-coaching-candidate

"If [a college] hires a second or third assistant, what can they bring to the table?" Lawson said. "If you hire me, I'm automatically bringing you top-20 players in the country.Automatically. There are coaches sitting on benches right now who can't do that."

Yes, K.J. Lawson committed to Josh Pastner's Memphis Tigers last October. But Keelon Lawson indicated that would change if he lands a college job outside of Memphis.
"With loyalty to Josh, I would ask K.J., 'Would you want to stay [with Memphis] or would you want to go with me and Dedric?'" Keelon Lawson said. "But with us being a close-knit family, you know what the answer would be. He would say, 'Dad, I'm going with you.' So, of course, K.J. would go with me, and then Dedric, and then Chandler."
Translation: The school that hires Keelon Lawson will get three possible McDonald's All-Americans in a five-year span. That's the simplest way to describe this situation.

They did it the smart way. Have the son "commit" and then hire dad afterwards. This was still all orchestratetd and shady as ****.

 

[nfrine]

if he helped train those 3 elite players, he was doing something right. Maybe he deserves a job?

Fred should have been on this guy for the position we had....

 

[ImJustKCClone]

Fred should have been on this guy for the position we had....

I'm wary of package deals. It seems CFH is winning with the strategy he has, and is keeping the program clean. I'm not referring to some of the players who have done stupid things recently; I'm more referring to running an honest program without a cloud of suspicion over it. Memphis & their new hire may or may not be cheating, but I wouldn't want the inevitable gossip. And if it IS cheating, there's no honor in winning if you have to cheat to get there.

 

[Bigman38]

I'm wary of package deals. It seems CFH is winning with the strategy he has, and is keeping the program clean. I'm not referring to some of the players who have done stupid things recently; I'm more referring to running an honest program without a cloud of suspicion over it. Memphis & their new hire may or may not be cheating, but I wouldn't want the inevitable gossip. And if it IS cheating, there's no honor in winning if you have to cheat to get there.

This x 1000, and I hope ISU coaches feel the same. Seems like a potential disaster for everyone involved.

 

[intrepid27]

Didn't Nick Collison's dad get a job at KU (outside athletic department)? That would have been under Roy's watch.

 

[bsblllvr14]

Nobody said anything when Iowa did this with Lickliter.

 

[ImJustKCClone]

To be perfectly blunt...I didn't even know he had a son. Neither did most of the nation, I'll wager. There's a bit of a difference in perceived quality of the players and/or programs involved...

 

[GTO]

Didn't Nick Collison's dad get a job at KU (outside athletic department)? That would have been under Roy's "watch".

FIFY

 

[VeloClone]

To be perfectly blunt...I didn't even know he had a son. Neither did most of the nation, I'll wager. There's a bit of a difference in perceived quality of the players and/or programs involved...

There is a very good reason you didn't even know he had a son. Any athletic department that would hire a coach just to get little lick on their team is inept. Well, I guess we are talking about Iowa...

Spoiler

Psst. It was a joke, KC. :wink:

 

[ImJustKCClone]

Oh, I knew he had a son after Chris Hassel started talking about Lickliter the younger. I just didn't know during the hiring process and early days of his dad's tenure.

 

[ImJustKCClone]

Just figured out your spoiler, Velo. Guess I don't have a lot of history with the poster, so I erred on the side of taking him seriously...sort of. It's hard to take someone seriously when Lickliter & Collison are mentioned for similar reasons in the same thread!

 

[Psiclone]

This move may or may not be above board, but is there another sport as shady as basketball?

AAU squads and their coaches filtering players to teams, handlers, NBA guys refusing to report after trades (and then getting a payoff ), the one and done rule, etc

I could be wrong but my impression is there's a whole lot of room for shenanigans. (Probably true for all sports on some level)

I have no problem with NBA players not reporting if they don't want to. You have no obligation to work for anyone if you do not want to. The flip side of that is you then don't get paid. If the team wants to pay the player more, that's their decision. That then becomes the market value for that player.

John Elway refused to play for the team that drafted him, so this isn't limited to basketball. Kevin Love told Minnesota he will not continue to play for them which is why they're trying to trade him. It's called business.

 

[VeloClone]

I have no problem with NBA players not reporting if they don't want to. You have no obligation to work for anyone if you do not want to. The flip side of that is you then don't get paid. If the team wants to pay the player more, that's their decision. That then becomes the market value for that player.

John Elway refused to play for the team that drafted him, so this isn't limited to basketball. Kevin Love told Minnesota he will not continue to play for them which is why they're trying to trade him. It's called business.

Did he say he wouldn't continue to play for them or that he would be gone as soon as he was a free agent? All I have heard is him saying that he would not sign a contract extension. That is a big difference.