Saddi to Bama?
Andrew Slater of 247, who is one of the most connected basketball guys out there, tweeted “think Rhode Island & Michigan” in response to a question about the open Alabama bball assistant coach vacancies. Saddi and Nate Oats have a history as Saddi worked under Oats at Romulus.
Would not be good as Saddi appears to be not only our best assistant coach at recruiting but also an excellent coach in general.
Well, we did just get George Washington III, so this may just be some universal equilibrium readjustment…
Sailing and chowder come to mind when I think of Rhode Island.
Jazz festival...
Chowder? ChowDER?!? It’s chowdah. Say it right.
Chowder? I hardly know her!
Thinking Rhode Island? Recollect Buddy Cianci? The very colorful mayor of Providence. An old fashioned east coast baby kissing back slapping politician/crook/mayor. Either season one or two of the podcast Crimetown was about him. It was excellent. A true original and corrupt as hell.
Speaking of corrupt, the Patriarca crime family.
Looking at last decade, it’s obviously a step down, not even a lateral move. Says something about the state of the program that Saddi would prefer to leave.
They have two top-2 seeds in the past three seasons, with 2 SEC titles and 2 SEC Tourney titles.
Saying its not even a lateral move is just nonsense.
Which is why I said last decade. Two years does not a program make. A 1st round loss last year and a Sweet 16 loss this year isn’t exactly setting the world on fire either.
This is classic Michigan fandom. Don't worry about recently. Our history! Fact is, Alabama's program is in better shape than ours at the moment.
I live in Buffalo, where Nate Oats coached after Bobby Hurley. Oats has it. That said, wasn't Saddi rumored to take the WMU gig a couple of years ago? Why wouldn't he get a head coach gig at this point. Juwan, who orchestrated the Fab 5, will figure out the portal and bring in a wrecking crew this next year.
That said, now that we know Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson would have come to Michigan had he known about the Fab 5 maybe Juwan only gets half credit.
Of the players, Juwan gets ALL the credit. The coaches the credit goes to Dutcher and Fisher. I was a student at the time and it was Howard as the recruiter. Howard got King to come, then Webber/Rose together, and then filled the class with Ray Jackson. Only after Ray committed did Robinson claim he wished he would have known and wanted to join.
Exactly. I would gladly trade the current basketball programs.
What Bama and UM did ten years ago, or even five years ago, does not matter when evaluating their programs currently. Neither had the coach they do now. The truth is at this moment, and recently, Bama has had the stronger program and thinking that Saadi moving to Bama is not even a lateral move is utter nonsense
"A 1st round loss last year and a Sweet 16 loss this year isn’t exactly setting the world on fire either."
And an 11-seed and an NIT appearance is much better?
People get too hung up on the results of the tournament when evaluating the success of a season. Bama was the #1 team in the nation for a large chunk of the season. They are a better program than UM at the moment.
And yes, in today's day an age, two years can make a program.
Cmon man Bama killed it this year …
OK, but then I guess we can say that Michigan is clearly the better football program over Bama. Michigan went to the playoffs and won its conference. Bama did neither.
I don't actually believe that Michigan has a stronger football program right now compared by Alabama because recent history does matter. My point is that you can't just ignore the past completely when assessing the strength of a program. 2 years ago, Michigan basketball was definitely above Alabama. Bama was stronger this year (although flaming out early in the tourney definitely knocks them down a peg) but I am not ready to say that Alabama is clearly superior to say North Carolina either.
it's a new world. a program can be made super quickly now.
He was supposedly coaching the defense the past couple years. He's got a bright future as a coach but this staff needs a major shakeup anyways. Wouldn't be upset about this
He is not the coach I would want to leave. What does Howard Eisley even do?
Ask dug and bufkin that question
I mean I can ask Phil as well.
My understanding was that fell, was supposed to help Juwan with the nuances of being a coach, like in game, coaching and roster construction, both of which I think are Juwan weakest points. That and the fact that he doesn’t really bring any Philly kids I would be fine I Phil left...
it's time
I actually think Eisley does a good job. He's had a new starter at PG every year he's been there and they've all undeniably gotten better throughout the year. Whoever coaches the wings and the defense is the bigger concern to me.
We don’t want Eisley gone. Phil needs to go and Saddi who I really like just seems stale at this point. Nate hired Saddi back in the day at Romulus so there is a connection.
If it happens, it happens. It may be an opportunity for him to be a lead assistant, another step toward a quality D1 head job. Might be a nice pay raise. Who knows.
Change is part of the business. And a change, any change, will definitely make some portion of the fanbase happy.
Good chance for JH to totally shake up the staff. The remaining two should go as well. JB changed his philosophy and staff over time and was far more experienced than JH. JH is just learning to coach college BB, and he should be ready and open to changing his approach and learning from other coaches. He should bring three somewhat experienced college assistants/specialists, just like JB.
Isn’t the experienced specialist supposed to be Martelli? I respectfully disagree, I think we need to go for a defensive specialist regardless of age and a young hard core recruiter. Juwan is the only one you ever hear about recruiting. It would be like only hearing about Harbaugh all of the time. When Beilein was here you heard more about the assistants, their roles and how their recruiting was.
pay yaklich to come back
Stop with Yak talk. It’s on Jed Fisch level at this point. Yak did a heck of a job but my last impression of Yak was Izzo exposing his tags on P&R over and over and over again
I might be alone but this does not upset me.
People have been clamoring for Juwan to revamp the program. This could be a Pep Hamilton situation where he was told it might be a good idea to start looking around.
Or maybe he wants to coach at a school where half the fanbase doesn't want the head coach fired after one bad season
What school is that? It definitely isn’t Alabama.
He has the killer instinct.
Look on the bright side, if he leaves there's nobody on the roster that will be going with him. Wait, maybe that's not so bright.
I wouldn't blame him. I think he knows next season is probably make or break for everyone on that staff, and right now my money isn't on them making it
Assistant coaches come and go. If I were JH I’d kick the tires on Jalen Rose joining the program.
Lol yah hire another coach who is unqualified for the job! Even if offered Rose wouldn't want to put his name into this hot mess now.
Why? Jalen probably makes way more money doing TV.
I can't imagine going to that program (recent success aside). Hope he doesn't end up in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Idk if hes going there, but I do know that the perception is that Saddi's voice isn't being heard enough, and his seniority and expertise isn't being respected by Juwan.
Plus his son is about to start HS, so this would be the time, as opposed to next year or later, as Caleb is a star in his own right. Saddi's daughter already graduated and left the area to excel in her sport. More chips off the Washington block.
Saddi? Is that you?
If he goes maybe Martelli goes as well. Get some ace recruiters that at least one of them knows how to teach defense. I wasn’t sold on Eisley for awhile now but Bufkin and Dug’s improvements this seasons made me change my mind.
Frankly, he needs to reevaluate his entire staff as the team looked like garbage
Feels like at least one guy was going to leave this offseason, perhaps more.
I'm less concerned about the idea of a "recruiting" assistant coach with Howard at the top and the fact that college recruiting just seems more concentrated than, say football where you have 20-ish different positions with hundreds of guys in each role.
Does he have a banjo on his knee?
People only come from Alabama with banjo on the knee.
Apparently it is somewhat debilitating as it seems most Michigan football players from Alabama leave early. Must be worse than water on the knee.