Semi-OT: USC MBB coach heads to... SMU? WTF?
Not understanding this, maybe someone has some insider info? USC's coach, who has been pulling in top talent (including Brony) for a while, leaves for a school that in a conference (1) giving it zero revenue for half a decade and (2) where the top two teams are SUING to bolt out. This is an improvement in his situation? (Isn't this the dude whose wife is a model and wanted to be in LA?)
It's not like USC is a basketball school... I can't imagine the USC boosters were really on his case that much. I get his results were mid, esp in light of some of his recruits' resumes. But, UCLA they are not.
Or, is it the allure of being able to meet, like, five hookers at a time? Allegedly. Ask Craig.
LA's expensive as hell.
Even Hollywood can't compete with oil money.
LA is a great big freeway. Put a hundred down and buy a car. I a week maybe two they'll make you a star. Weeks turn into years how quick they pass. And all the stars that never were are parking cars and pumping gas.
LA is a great big freeway
… I get that it’s a song, but have you been to Dallas?
Can't you replace 'Dallas' with 'any big city'?
I know from some aerial photos LA does look like a huge highway all over the place. Not quite like some places in China which are beyond absurd, but LA seems to have more highway than, any other US city?
The DFW metroplex has 14-lane-freeways, many of them tolled, ALL over the place.
That means traffic is nearly always flowing. But man, there's a lot of concrete there.
LA's traffic usually is NOT flowing - but LA's problem is more in not having enough lanes and freeways (usually because of topography). There's only one freeway between the Valley and the Westside. There's only one freeway between the IE and Orange County. Downtown to Pasadena, I guess there is one freeway in the 110, but yikes is it outdated. Et cetera .....
And there's one freeway between Riverside and the beach communities, and it bears a striking resemblance to Mad Max: Fury Road.
The 91?
I've been to Dallas but I've never been to San Jose. I know the way but never had a reason to go there.
I spent a weekend in San Jose about 20 years ago. To this day, I have no idea how I got there and so do not know the way back.
I got some shooters in college. I feel like a coach, I'm recruiting and signing. Look, I still be moving in silence. I'm balling in blue like I'm hooping in Dallas
@Yeoman, it took me a minute, but I saw it, ASAP mob had a nice run
I lived in LA a long time ago. When I first got there I live in Marina Del Rey. I was invited to a party near Pasedena. The directions were:
90 E to the 405 N to the 210 W to the to the 10 E, to the 110 N, along with a bunch of side streets before and after. When the SNL skit "The Californians" came out many years later it rang true.
The important thing is to preface every road number with 'the'. As far as I know SoCal is the only place where everyone does that.
In Chicago, you preface every road name with "your." As in, "Get on your Dan Ryan over by your Damen onramp."
He was a multi-millionaire well before starting to coach college hoops (jn his 5-years between being a Celtics assistant and FGCU assistant, he was the co-founder of a successful healthcare start-up), he's been alright but not great at USC so the seat may have been getting warm, SMU boosters have crazy $$$ to invest if they want to, and his former swimsuit model wife is originally from OKC (e.g., fairly close to Dallas).
He's a little bit different, beats to a bit of a different drummer, than most college hoops coaches. So view it in that context, perhaps ....
And her hometown is called Mustang.
I mean he was 15-18 last year he might have gotten out before being let go.
and (2) where the top two teams are SUING to bolt out
Wrong sport…
Same conference! It will potentially unravel the ACC esp if UNC and UVa follow the $ to other conferences. Football is king.
Here’s the thing. Something happens to men near/ in our 50’s. We stop chasing. You realize your days are limited and you start making choices based on that. Could just be the lifestyle in Dallas suits him vs LA. Can’t fault him.
Yep*.
I know that FGCU Dunk City feels like it was the other day, but Enfield was actually at USC for 11 years. That's a good chunk of time.
The USC/LA thing may just be played out for him and his family.
------
* I'm in my 40s, and I've been doing the LA thing for 2 years now. It's fun, but I already know that I probably won't be in SoCal forever. What you say - it hits a bit.
I know that FGCU Dunk City feels like it was the other day, but Enfield was actually at USC for 11 years.
Just because Google happens to agree with you doesn't mean that I have to accept this as true.
*weeps softly*
What I had heard about this online last week, when it was being rumored, is that he was unsure about his future at USC. He has had middling success (should be good enough for USC) and he figures that changing jobs resets the clock on how much time he has to build his team.
Whereas USC might have fired him if they were mediocre again next year. He now has a fresh start at a school that’s taking a leap up into a good basketball conference in an area of the country with a lot of basketball talent.
Also, USC just hired a new AD less than a year ago. Maybe he didn’t have a good relationship with her and saw the writing on the wall.
Forget where I heard this, but there was talk of him being burned out at USC and looking for a fresh start somewhere else.
Plus, USC has been on a downward trend and probably would be fired year if they have another bad season.
The Lee-Enfield was the primary rifle of the British Army from 1895-1957. The Lee-Enfield was a .303 caliber rifle that was named for its creator—James Paris Lee—and where it was produced( Royal Small Arms factory in Enfield, England.
Was Darius Morris the last LA kid to play at UofM? Asking for a friend. #portal
He was on the hot seat and 1 more bad season and he was out of there! This is a “CYA” move.
It is more surprising that SMU fired Rob Lanier. He had a good season with a 10 win improvement. They did lose their last 6 regular season games. His first season was bad compared to historical and this year was back to baseline. But still, 20-13 in year two after 10-22 in year one is improvement.
With the right coach, SMU could be a "Houston". They have resources and local talent. They had 18+ wins in 7 of the last 14 years.
Enfield should be able to continue a 17-20 win success, but it will be more difficult in a tougher conference.
His first season was bad compared to historical and this year was back to baseline.
Have they been historically good, or is that just a function of having had Larry Brown as their coach?
Such questions are best answered by a table, chart, or graph.
A chart
There was a large Larry Brown bump. Jankovich continued most of that success. Lanier did not, but his 2nd second is within the Larry Brown range.
If you looked at this differently, SMU is like a 40% to 66% win percentage team on average instead of like 37% to 63%. They are not a historically good team, but are biased greater than 0.500. 20-13 is on the good side. Any coach with a career 55% or better win % there is a keep. Lanier was below that due to a bad 1st season, but won 61% his second year. It's surprising he didn't get another year.
Always lose as many games as possible in your first year on the job.
Both sides kinda seemed to be sick of one another, so this is basically a parachute for Enfield to start over in Dallas.
Remember that SMU got into the Big 12 solely because their boosters had more bribe money than Oregon State. Perhaps this guy got paid
Isn't SMU going to the ACC?
Correct.
He was going to be fired. It's a Chip Kelly UCLA situation. And USC just gives so little of a shit about basketball.
Or, like Shaka Smart leaving Texas for Marquette. Get out before getting fired, and go to a place where you're more likely to do well.
SMU is a better basketball job.
I would rather coach little league than Lebrons son
SMU has oil money.
As mentioned earlier, Enfield's kind of a unique cat. Could be he also relished the chance to be at a school that takes academics seriously, as does SMU. Remember - he's a Johns Hopkins grad with an MBA (IINM) from Maryland, so you can see he values first-rate education.
Hardly saying that was the deal-maker, but little things like that can certainly be additive.