New Coach

[SiouxFan100]

I hate these types of threads 

[SD UND]

1 hour ago, HoopsFan03 said:

I am all for having a conversation or debating a topic in this forum. But when you come in here calling everyone clowns and saying we are all utterly stupid because we aren't best friends with the coach and have different opinions on him than you, you lose all credibility and become irrelevant. 

We aren't even talking about just the game Saturday. We are talking about the last 3 and a half years that he has been at UND. What has he honestly done since being here that makes him deserving of a contract extension? Honest question.

Unless this season finishes very strong and we don't lose any of our top players AGAIN, I would say he hasn't done anything but be a below average coach, a below average recruiter, and turned this program into basically a Division 2 program. He has a .343 win percentage in his time at UND. His best season at UND is 15-18 in his first year with a roster of the previous head coaches players. Next year with his guys they go 9-17. Next year with even more of his guys and they go 6-25 and was one of the worst basketball teams in D1. That deserves a contract extension?? 

I would love to hear your unbiased case for what makes him a coach that deserves an extension. 

I never said he deserves an extension. (Although, I think he will get one because Bill Chaves has shown he will stick with coaches) He has this year and next year on his contract. You guys are acting like he needs to be fired right now. They are 5-7 with two true road wins in the non-league with a couple of other good showings with a brand new core of the team. They are playing 3 true freshman major minutes, and two other guys that haven't played D-1 basketball before in Levias and Trent. 

 

It took him 4 years at Black Hills State to get them to the Final 4, it took SEVEN years until his NSU team got to the National championship.

I realize that there are some fans that think this program should be able to immediately be a top mid-major program with a snap of the finger and a new coach... What everyone needs to realize is that UND is a TOUGH place to get it going, they have no recent success other than 1 year with Hooker and Crandall in the BSC. They are fairly new to a conference that has been DOMINATED by NDSU and SDSU. It is going to take UND a little bit to get to that level. And what I'm saying to you is that by firing Coach Sather is only to going to push back the timeline. 

You are entitled to your opinion. I disagree with your opinion and believe you have no clue what happens on a day-to-day basis of running a program. Coach Sather is a good coach, and I will stand by that. 

[GoodGood]

UND has a good group of young guys. Will be fun to watch them grow throughout conference play. Need to make some noise in conference and go from there 

[SD UND]

8 minutes ago, HoopsFan03 said:

NDSU doesn't seem to have that many problems being successful for a school in North Dakota. But to each their own.

Also, I in fact very much have a clue of what happens on a day-to-day basis of running a basketball program. I have many years of experience in playing/coaching college basketball. Was very successful at that if I may add. So another false assumption on your part. Guaranteed more experience and more of a clue than you have on what it takes. Have a great rest of your day! 

It appears as though we are cut from the same cloth then my friend.

[UND-SPORTS-FAN]

Hot Seat keeps getting hotter!!

[Kab]

The only hot seat would come if past players say enough is enough and talk,with the ad

otherwise an extension is in the works , if we go but what’s happened with other coaches 

 

[MafiaMan]

On 12/11/2022 at 1:33 PM, UND1983 said:

Minneapolis kids get too many people chirping in their ears. Like Sam Robertson leaving the FB team, sheer stupidity. 

Yup.  I don’t follow UND hoops as much as I used to but can tell you that Ihenacho had plenty of folks - including himself - thinking he was going to the NBA.  

[UND1983]

10 minutes ago, MafiaMan said:

Yup.  I don’t follow UND hoops as much as I used to but can tell you that Ihenacho had plenty of folks - including himself - thinking he was going to the NBA.  

SMH.  Robertson walked-on at NIU, don't think many people know that.  Oh....and on the way out burned all bridges at UND by saying he was better than this level. 

[SWSiouxMN]

45 minutes ago, HoopsFan03 said:

I would think a 34% win percentage over 4 seasons would do enough talking. But I guess not. That's why UND is very average at sports and will continue to be average. No accountability being held by the AD.

Women's Bball is trending in the right direction with Bernhard

[GoodGood]

I think last night was the perfect example of what rebuilding can look like. St Thomas was playing d3 ball 1.5 years ago. I know they are in the perfect spot to potentially build a mid major powerhouse but rebuilding and becoming competitive at the d1 level does not need to be a 4 or 5 year process

[sioux24/7]

I just want to know who’s going to come in here and fix this. Sather is a very highly regarded coach by his peers and has been a program builder or rebuilder in the past. Obviously every coach in America has been impacted by Covid and the portal but Sather really came into this job at a !@#$ time. 
 

For me, I’m not ready to give up on Sather yet. Let’s see how this season progresses and keep these young guys engaged and wanting to play here. 
 

If I had to come up with a short list for next coach, if it came to that, it would start and end with Ben McCollum but we unfortunately don’t have the resources for that. Next names up would be Gameli Ahelegbe and I guess the North Dakota boy hero, Jeff Boschee. 

[UND-SPORTS-FAN]

Don't get me wrong with this, I like Sather as a person and have read many nice things about him. However, he did come from a program that was built to succeed already in Northern. Every college team is affected by the transfer portal so I think we need to stop holding his hand for that excuse. To me it's simple, look at what the women's team & volleyball team have done the last few years. Turning around programs in a short period of time and getting recruits to come in. This year's recruiting class has been great with Bj and Brooks, not giving credit for Eaglestaff since it was a shoe in for him to come here, but he struggles to keep players at the end of the year.... I think of the melt down of T since the beginning of the year, the lack of offense creativity, and continued turnovers. To me from what I've seen and heard from others Sather is the old mindset coach that players are going to come in and play his style of offense vs new style that you adopt your coaching style to the team you have. 

Idk who the next coach should be or what options MIGHT be available, but when your budget is tight you get what we pay for.

[nodak651]

Hot take:  (This is in consideration of todays current environment with the transfer portal and nil etc..)  I bet you if UND offered Hooker and Crandall coaching gigs, even with zero coaching experience, they could come in as a pair and do better than any coach we eventually end up hiring.  Maybe get Jones back here with them for experience.. just go back to Ballin' like in the Huff days, maybe with a hint of Dunk City mixed in.  Make UND a fun place for transfers to play at and build the fan base up a bit.  UND doesn't have the fan base or location to continue with the old school, team building/slow pace/defensive basketball approach that suits a guy like Sather. 

Hope I'm wrong.  I'd prefer Sathers approach if he can be successful and retain talent, but that's how I feel if he doesn't pan out.  Seriously think that if I was AD, his continued employment would be dependent on if he can retain this years freshman recruiting class.  If he can, I'd let him play out the last year of his contract next season to better determine if he is truly building something with legitimate potential.  I don't think recruits care that much anymore whether or not a coach is at the beginning or the end of their contracts as much as they used to because in reality, it doesn't matter at all - coaches get fired or leave with multiple years remaining on their contracts all the time. 

[jdub27]

2 hours ago, UND-SPORTS-FAN said:

 Every college team is affected by the transfer portal so I think we need to stop holding his hand for that excuse. To me it's simple, look at what the women's team & volleyball team have done the last few years. 

Comparatively speaking, UND fan support for its women sports is pretty high up there in comparison to other schools, above alot of G5 and plenty of P5 in both WBB and particularly WVB where they've been well into the top 50 before. On the men's side, they fall a lot further down the list. 

Point being, UND can show recruits a lot more "fan" support on the women's side comparatively to the men's side and that shows very well for those sports.

[coltssiouxfan]

Well after tonight I have a question. Is Sather fired tonight or tomorrow?

[Kab]

2 minutes ago, coltssiouxfan said:

Well after tonight I have a question. Is Sather fired tonight or tomorrow?

2 or more yers left I’m afraid 

[sioux24/7]

2 minutes ago, Kab said:

2 or more yers left I’m afraid 

So you’re saying they’ll extend him this offseason? 

[Kab]

Seems like the AD thing to do in the past 

[coltssiouxfan]

5 minutes ago, Kab said:

2 or more yers left I’m afraid 

I mean one can hope they buy him out and have Saul Phillips go the rest of the year and then search for a better replacement. 

[sioux24/7]

3 minutes ago, coltssiouxfan said:

I mean one can hope they buy him out and have Saul Phillips go the rest of the year and then search for a better replacement. 

Zero chance they pull Saul from Northern mid season. 

[coltssiouxfan]

1 minute ago, sioux24/7 said:

Zero chance they pull Saul from Northern mid season. 

Whoops my bad.  I meant Randall Herbst they have him ready on staff 

[UND-FB-FAN]

21 minutes ago, coltssiouxfan said:

Well after tonight I have a question. Is Sather fired tonight or tomorrow?

Probably Monday if Chaves worth a damn. He’ll have to admit to his mistake, though, given he hired Sather. Could see this disaster just continuing to season end. 

[gfhockey]

8 minutes ago, coltssiouxfan said:

Whoops my bad.  I meant Randall Herbst they have him ready on staff 

I saw him biting his tongue so many times 

[gfhockey]

Just now, UND-FB-FAN said:

Probably Monday if Chaves worth a damn. He’ll have to admit to his mistake, though, given he hired Sather. Could see this disaster just continuing to season end. 

Sand chances did a “national search” 

[UND-SPORTS-FAN]

This team is so clearly better without sather it hurts to watch