UND92,96

I've been wondering about this for awhile. I suppose the issue is that generally speaking, whatever a head coach is paid dictates the maximum assistants' pay, i.e. an assistant won't get more than x% of whatever the head coach gets (probably somewhere under 50%). And obviously by division I standards, Jones' pay is about as low as it can be. Unfortunately, this situation has been allowed to drag out for far too long, due to the fact that Jones has not done well enough to force Faison to pay him more (or get himself a better-paying job elsewhere), and in Faison's opinion, Jones hasn't done poorly enough to replace him. One way or the other, this has to change by no later than after next season.

I couldn't think of a better candidate. Of course, like Craig Smith last year, if you wait you likely lose your opportunity...

I definitely agree that Jones is paid what he is for a reason. And the fact that Jones agreed to his most recent contract extension, which kept him among the lowest paid coaches in the Big Sky, tells me even Jones doesn't think he's worth much, if any more. The frustrating thing is that Faison is sending mixed messages. On the one hand, he's clearly not confident enough in Jones' ability to pay him at least what Brewster gets--and we pretty much know Jones' successor will have to get as much or more than Brew. But on the other hand, he WAS confident enough in Jones to have extended his contract four years into the future after the modest success of the 2012-13 season, almost guaranteeing that the UND's men's basketball budget would remain quite low for several more years, and resulting in a serious lack of continuity on the staff since assistants routinely leave for higher-paying jobs.

Tom Miller season review, and 2015-16 preview: http://millersports.areavoices.com/2015/03/16/und-mbb-2014-15-season-wrap/

For the most part, if anybody does transfer I'd expect it would be to a division II or NAIA school, so that they would be immediately eligible.

I think Collins fills a role this year's team was really lacking, and that's a strong and athletic 3. Not that I think he's going to start, but I do think he will play a fair amount.

Good tweet today from Travis Brewster:

DeLaSalle wins big, Collins finishes with 17 points and 13 boards, and he makes the all tournament team.

Letter to the editor in today's Herald: http://www.grandforksherald.com/opinion/letters/3699544-letter-get-und-mens-basketball-out-cellar

Collins and DeLaSalle are playing on midco sports net right now, and he's been impressive in the first half. He's got 10 points and 8 rebounds, and is doing a very nice job on the offensive boards. There's no question Collins is a division I caliber athlete.

It turns out the guy who ran onto the court was actually a player. An academically ineligible player. Insert your own punch line here.

Here's the UM-NAU finish:

Well, that pretty much brings me back to my point of comparing UND to UNC and UNO, since they went through a transition, also. And the head-to-head comparison is not favorable for Coach Jones.

Greg McDermott is 6'8". Dave Gunther was about 6'7".

What's worse--a division I transition, or having to play your home games here: http://www.hornetsports.com/information/facilities/The_Nest It reminds me of Grand Forks Central's old gym.

Here is a list of each Big Sky coach, including their record at their current school, and the number of years at their current job: Brian Jones--9 years--127-152 (.455) Randy Rahe (Weber St.)--9 years--180-103 (.636) Don Verlin (Idaho)--7 years--110-113 (.493) Brian Katz (Sac. St.)--7 years--76-128 (.372) Tyler Geving (Portland St.)--6 years--84-98 (.462) B.J. Hill (UNC)--5 years--76-77 (.497) Jim Hayford (EWU)--4 years--64-62 (.508) Bill Evans (Idaho St.)--3 years--24-65 (.270) Nick Robinson (SUU)--3 years--23-66 (.258) Jack Murphy (NAU)--3 years--45-51 (.469) Travis DeCuire (Montana)--1 year--19-11 (.633) Brian Fish (MSU)--1 year--7-20 (.259)

So what are you asking for exactly? The career record of every current Big Sky coach, and Jones' record against each of them? You can easily get Jones' record against everybody from the media guide. I'm not interested enough to compile every coach's career record. I used Hill and Hansen due to UND's historical ties to those schools, and the fact both schools have gone through transitions in the recent past.

Maybe, aside from Rahe from Weber, whose career winning % is something like .645. But I do think it's a bit more telling to compare how Jones has done head-to-head against coaches at other ex-NCC schools. And he hasn't done very well there. Against non traditional basketball powers like UNC and UNO, to be that far under .500 seems pretty bad.

Very true (in his first year, I believe), but it doesn't change the fact that his record since that time isn't particularly good, and Jones has struggled against him anyway. And Jones' record against Hansen is downright abysmal, going all the way to the division II days.

When analyzing a coach with a mediocre record, it's useful to compare how he did against other coaches with mediocre records and who coach under similar circumstances. Brian Jones is a combined 3-12 against Derrin Hansen from UNO (.525 career winning %) and B.J. Hill of UNC (.496 career winning %).

The Moon has been purchased, by a very familiar Grand Forks name: http://www.grandforksherald.com/news/3698702-grand-forks-institution-italian-moon-has-new-owner

I remember the last time the Eagles were scheduled for Grand Forks (at the Ralph), it ended up canceling.

Per Schloss tweet, two more Finnish Olympians will join the team next season.

Yes, a lot of schools do that. And in many cases, the ability to raise the funds to buy out multiple years on a failed coach's contract is not difficult at all. I would say a rule of thumb might be: unless you're absolutely willing to bet your own job security on the ability of a coach, don't extend a contract beyond its initial term for any longer than you know you can raise the funds necessary to buy it out. Somebody can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this is a summary of Jones' contracts: May 25, 2006--initial contract. March 19, 2008--after a 15-15 season, extension to June 30, 2013. July 3, 2012--after a 17-14 season, extension to June 30, 2015. July 12, 2013--after a 16-17 season, extension to June 30, 2017.