USF Men's Basketball Coaching Hotboard 2.0
South Florida men's basketball program is still in search of a new coach and here is the latest on that search in
usf.rivals.com
HOOPS USF Hotboard 2.0 the latest on the coaching search
- Thread starter Kelly Quinlan
- Start date
Watching NCAA tourney and they just mentioned the portal opens up on Monday.
I suppose sooner the better to get a coach in place.
I suppose sooner the better to get a coach in place.
Why do you want Pettway?
34-30 as a HC with no postseason. They finished 9th and then 4th in a broken A-Sun and then C-USA.
Do you want to hire any number of guys like that?
Why would Pettway kill it at USF?
Just curious what the rationale is.
They were better this year than last. I have buddies who worked for CAAR and with CAAR and Pettway. So I'm curious where that idea is coming from legitimately.
He makes $1.1 million at UAB right now through for next season with 2028-29 being the final year of the deal and a $100k per year bump.
His top three scorers are all seniors.
Guard Ja'Borri McGhee has one more year, 11.1 ppg, 52.3% FG, almost 42% from 3.
Guard Efrem Johnson has one more year, 9 ppg, 43% from 3
Forward Bradley Ezewiro has one more year, UAB is his fourth school, 7.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg
Everyone else is seniors or doesn't play much so I don't know much about them.
How much is his buyout? Def would suck to fund a team in conf paying a buyout but could be worth it.
I can't see that being an issue. They are not paying to fire anyone. Kennedy's buyout can't be more than $2 million based on the contract and length.
Technically he has two more years. I forgot he was a JUCO. He is on nba draft boards now.
I’m pretty excited about the idea of Kennedy. He will win a lot here. Don’t care about losing in the NCAAT- making the NCAAT more than once would make him one of the best HCs in our history
I don't think I said I wanted Pettway. I said Kennedy would be the best outcome.
I like Pettway for the same reasons that Roy does. Based on what I've seen/heard, he seems to be able to connect with the community/students, has a good rapport with his athletes and has good Xs and Os. Similar qualities that coach Amir had.
If your board is correct, then Kennedy would be my choice, but Roy doesn't seem to like it. When it comes to hoops, Wagers and Roy are the 2 guys I value their opinions the most (no offense to anyone else). I'd be interest in why Roy isn't a fan of Kennedy to USF?
Kennedy won 20 plus games 15 out of 18 seasons. 1 losing season. 57 years old so probably not getting another shot at a higher conference. Will be here 10 years or so. Why wouldn't you want him?
To me he will not push USF to it's full potential as a basketball program. Yes he has been a good coach for a long time and yes he usually maxes out at programs or only reaches a certain height levels out or falls back. UAB has finished 3rd and 4th in the AAC which depending on how you look at it, maybe not bad but not great either. A magical AAC tournament run with a very mature team and the best player in the league got them into the NCAAT last season. They were expected to win the AAC this season but finished 4th. Right now his best winning percentage has been at UAB, and once again he has done well, not great but well.
As a recruiter, Kennedy has never been great at signing high school talent, but he does specialize in getting JC players. By his own philosophy, he does not like developing young players but prefers older mature guys. I believe a head coach at USF has to be able to mix in some talented young players from the HS ranks to go along with the older transfers to build and sustain success.
Again this is just my opinion and I will not go on an angry tirade over Kennedy becoming USF next Head coach in men's hoops if it were to surprisingly happen.
Interesting...why wouldn't a higher conference school want him. His age certainly isn't a holdup as the reason why. Maybe it is other reasons.
The Kennedy argument for is the same as the Pettway argument against that some people are bringing up. To me USF need a Head Coach that can quickly jump start a winning season and that is where Pettway easily out shines most coaches on this discussion. board with the exception of Shaka
Why didn't he quickly jump start a winning record at Kennesaw State? He was 15-16 his first season with them in the A-Sun. He has a career 16-18 conference record.
TBH…..
None of the names so far are exciting to me.
Even Smart seems like a bit of a retread — and if a storied program like Marquette is going to let him go, especially after a NCAA season….that should make us ask…..Why?
During our last search names like Ryan Odom & Coach Amir….were exciting possibilities, and were spot on evaluations by ADMK.
IMO, our next coach is not on the current hot boards.
None of the names so far are exciting to me.
Even Smart seems like a bit of a retread — and if a storied program like Marquette is going to let him go, especially after a NCAA season….that should make us ask…..Why?
During our last search names like Ryan Odom & Coach Amir….were exciting possibilities, and were spot on evaluations by ADMK.
IMO, our next coach is not on the current hot boards.
Matt Norlander from cbssports.com posted this yesterday.
| 20 |  South Florida |
| Former coach: Amir Abdur-Rahim | In: TBD A sad inclusion to the tracker, as Abdur-Rahim tragically died in the preseason at 43 , leading to Ben Fletcher serving as the interim head coach over the past four-plus months. Abdur-Rahim was a rising star. The American Athletic Conference named Abdur-Rahim its Honorary Coach of the Year for 2024-25. USF has been conducting interviews over the past few days and could have a coach named by Sunday, sources said, but that might be dependent on NCAA Tournament results. |
It was almost Brey and that wasn’t exciting at all.
Kennedy at UAB has won at minimum 22 games since he took over. NIT and NCAA appearances on a yearly basis at USF would be unimaginable.
CAAR would have gotten more out of this years team but this roster was no where near as good as a year ago. I expected a down year from the previous going into the season.
Also, CAAR I imagine learned a lot from Kennedy. I would much rather have Kennedy that Crean.
If it’s someone not on this list I’m open to learning more about that person before deciding a good fit or not.
So the coach must still be coaching in the tournament. That eliminates some names.Matt Norlander from cbssports.com posted this yesterday.
20
South FloridaFormer coach: Amir Abdur-Rahim | In: TBD
A sad inclusion to the tracker, as Abdur-Rahim tragically died in the preseason at 43 , leading to Ben Fletcher serving as the interim head coach over the past four-plus months. Abdur-Rahim was a rising star. The American Athletic Conference named Abdur-Rahim its Honorary Coach of the Year for 2024-25. USF has been conducting interviews over the past few days and could have a coach named by Sunday, sources said, but that might be dependent on NCAA Tournament results.
Ehhhh I’d read that again. It is a hedge meaning he doesn’t know anything other than they are close to making a hire.
I am still not convinced it was going to be Brey, and more of his agent and Brey himself trying to talk it into existence.
I'd be 'ok' with Kennedy -- I can't see him capturing the imagination of the students and community.
Unfair to compare anyone to CAAR -- especially since he was only here 1-year -- but he brought back the enthusiasm and fun to watch playing style that we had not seen since the early Seth G days.
I may be in the minority -- but I still like Crean, as he was an excellent coach at Marquette, won NCCA games and perhaps his style may be suited better for a mid-major role or just needs to find the right job. Indiana hasn't been the same since Bobby Knight, similar to what happened at UCLA when Wooden stepped down. The Georgia job has historically been a mid-season stop gap between Georgia's bowl game and Spring Practice. It's a tough job --- and nobody has ever won big and consistently at UGA. My opinion of course -- and a way of making a rationale argument for Crean. WTS -- he does come off as someone who would be hard to get along with based on his TV gig role.
Chad is a friend so I’d be happy if he got the job from that aspect but I haven’t heard his name.
Could also be that school is all in on hoops only. They don’t have football mouths to feed as well. He has some momentum and can wait for a bigger job like some mid-major coaches. Pat Kelsey just jumped from Charleston to Louisville.
Remember Russ had broken the Brey news. I do believe it was ADMK first choice for whatever reason it fell through and that was a great thing.
I think Kennedy is way better option than Crean. If you are looking for an older coach who has connections to CAAR then again and both do I prefer Kennedy.
As for Dollar I still rather have a current HC who has run a program in the NIL era (another thing Crean hasn’t done).
