Let's review Marquette... & Wojo Replacement Discussion...

[Burrito]

Shaka Smart has a conference record of 52-56 in 6 years at Texas with zero NCAA tournament wins. He has 2 years left on his contract, which most likely won't be renewed.

[GoldenWarrior11]

Shaka, like many coaches, uses sports writers to talk-up their interest in other schools' openings to acquire hefty salary raises for the staff, facility upgrades, etc. His just happens to be Goodman (who also does the same for Buzz). Shaka flirted with MU in 2014, and was very nearly named head coach. However, that was 2014. Despite Texas' resources, Shaka has zero NCAAT wins (same as Wojo), zero first or second place finishes in the Big 12 (same as Wojo), high-level recruiting and continued underperformance (same as Wojo). I will give Shaka credit for winning the B12 Tournament this season (something Wojo has not done). Firing Wojo in order to hire Shaka would be a lateral move, at best, simply because the head coach you are hiring to replace the coach you fired has a similar resume at a high-major/major program. For a variety of reasons, Shaka has not been able to duplicate the success he had at VCU. I would, personally, pass.

[Xudash]

Shaka, like many coaches, uses sports writers to talk-up their interest in other schools' openings to acquire hefty salary raises for the staff, facility upgrades, etc. His just happens to be Goodman (who also does the same for Buzz). Shaka flirted with MU in 2014, and was very nearly named head coach. However, that was 2014. Despite Texas' resources, Shaka has zero NCAAT wins (same as Wojo), zero first or second place finishes in the Big 12 (same as Wojo), high-level recruiting and continued underperformance (same as Wojo). I will give Shaka credit for winning the B12 Tournament this season (something Wojo has not done). Firing Wojo in order to hire Shaka would be a lateral move, at best, simply because the head coach you are hiring to replace the coach you fired has a similar resume at a high-major/major program. For a variety of reasons, Shaka has not been able to duplicate the success he had at VCU. I would, personally, pass.

What is the noise on the wire with respect to HC targets for Marquette at this point?

Who would you like to see land on the candidates list?

[MUPanther]

I had Dennis Gates on my list 4 weeks ago. I hope I get my wish.

[Bluejay]

Shaka lost his magic when he stopped shaving his head. He’s the bizarro Samson.

[GoldenWarrior11]

I continue to be puzzled regarding the fascination about Dennis Gates. I get he was a former GA, I get he is from Chicago, and I get he was a long-time assistant for Leonard Hamilton. However, he has been a head coach for two years. He went 11-21 in his first season, and sprung to 19-8 this season. However, there just isn't enough body of work to warrant betting on him. Marquette cannot afford to gamble right now. It needs a proven, sustainable, winning head coach, preferably that did it at more than one school. If the opening was last year, Wardle would be a top-target due to his 23-11 record last season (but he went 11-15 this year, so he is not as strong a candidate). Conversely, a guy like Moser has finished first or second in the MVC for four straight years. He has made a Final Four, and at least a Sweet 16 this year. Some MU fans want to highlight Moser's failures at ISU, while ignoring his recent success; the same MU fans want to highlight Gates' season this year, but ignore his season last year.

Not sure if Gates ends up being hired at MU, or anywhere. He very well could be a successful P6 head coach. However, the same arguments as to why Wojo would be successful (proven assistant, strong recruiter, learned under HOF head coach, etc.) are being used to support Gates. Again, MU cannot afford to gamble on an uncertainty this time around. It needs a proven body of work and a proven program builder. There isn't enough evidence or resume to support Gates for that, IMO.

[Savannah Jay]

I continue to be puzzled regarding the fascination about Dennis Gates. I get he was a former GA, I get he is from Chicago, and I get he was a long-time assistant for Leonard Hamilton. However, he has been a head coach for two years. He went 11-21 in his first season, and sprung to 19-8 this season. However, there just isn't enough body of work to warrant betting on him. Marquette cannot afford to gamble right now. It needs a proven, sustainable, winning head coach, preferably that did it at more than one school. If the opening was last year, Wardle would be a top-target due to his 23-11 record last season (but he went 11-15 this year, so he is not as strong a candidate). Conversely, a guy like Moser has finished first or second in the MVC for four straight years. He has made a Final Four, and at least a Sweet 16 this year. Some MU fans want to highlight Moser's failures at ISU, while ignoring his recent success; the same MU fans want to highlight Gates' season this year, but ignore his season last year.

Not sure if Gates ends up being hired at MU, or anywhere. He very well could be a successful P6 head coach. However, the same arguments as to why Wojo would be successful (proven assistant, strong recruiter, learned under HOF head coach, etc.) are being used to support Gates. Again, MU cannot afford to gamble on an uncertainty this time around. It needs a proven body of work and a proven program builder. There isn't enough evidence or resume to support Gates for that, IMO.

Always love our Creighton guys, but the MVC of the last 8 years vs the last 8 years that CU was in the Valley isn't the same conference. While some CU fans say i am just poo-pooing the conf now that we are on to bigger and better things, this data lends credence to what I am saying. Porter has proven he can coach in the tourney. But he's only been to 2 in 8 years at Loyola. You can certainly point to his time at Illinois State and say the conference was better to partly excuse the results. One could probably also say ISU didn't stay with him long enough. But if it's my purse strings at Marquette, I am not sure that's the guy i throw money at right now. He keeps this up for a couple more years, for sure. But Marquette money should be able to lure a very successful coach from a top ten (even top 8) conference, no?

I will add that the MVC RPI issue isn't Moser's fault (single-handedly responsible for the 2018 success). Illinois State, Southern Illinois, Indiana State and Bradley, in particular, had some really good teams in the 2000s and they haven't kept up. But an average conf RPI a shade over 11 the last 8 years vs. an average RPI of 8 the previous 8 years suggest it's just not as good.

Year Conf RPI
2005-06 6
2006-07 4
2007-08 6
2008-09 8
2009-10 9
2010-11 15
2011-12 8
2012-13 8 (Creighton's last year in the Valley)
2013-14 11
2014-15 9
2015-16 13
2016-17 12 (Wichita's last season in the Valley)
2017-18 8
2018-19 14
2019-20 11
2020-21 11

https://www.collegerpi.com/subs/histssn.html

[GoldenWarrior11]

I continue to be puzzled regarding the fascination about Dennis Gates. I get he was a former GA, I get he is from Chicago, and I get he was a long-time assistant for Leonard Hamilton. However, he has been a head coach for two years. He went 11-21 in his first season, and sprung to 19-8 this season. However, there just isn't enough body of work to warrant betting on him. Marquette cannot afford to gamble right now. It needs a proven, sustainable, winning head coach, preferably that did it at more than one school. If the opening was last year, Wardle would be a top-target due to his 23-11 record last season (but he went 11-15 this year, so he is not as strong a candidate). Conversely, a guy like Moser has finished first or second in the MVC for four straight years. He has made a Final Four, and at least a Sweet 16 this year. Some MU fans want to highlight Moser's failures at ISU, while ignoring his recent success; the same MU fans want to highlight Gates' season this year, but ignore his season last year.

Not sure if Gates ends up being hired at MU, or anywhere. He very well could be a successful P6 head coach. However, the same arguments as to why Wojo would be successful (proven assistant, strong recruiter, learned under HOF head coach, etc.) are being used to support Gates. Again, MU cannot afford to gamble on an uncertainty this time around. It needs a proven body of work and a proven program builder. There isn't enough evidence or resume to support Gates for that, IMO.

Always love our Creighton guys, but the MVC of the last 8 years vs the last 8 years that CU was in the Valley isn't the same conference. While some CU fans say i am just poo-pooing the conf now that we are on to bigger and better things, this data lends credence to what I am saying. Porter has proven he can coach in the tourney. But he's only been to 2 in 8 years at Loyola. You can certainly point to his time at Illinois State and say the conference was better to partly excuse the results. One could probably also say ISU didn't stay with him long enough. But if it's my purse strings at Marquette, I am not sure that's the guy i throw money at right now. He keeps this up for a couple more years, for sure. But Marquette money should be able to lure a very successful coach from a top ten (even top 8) conference, no?

I will add that the MVC RPI issue isn't Moser's fault (single-handedly responsible for the 2018 success). Illinois State, Southern Illinois, Indiana State and Bradley, in particular, had some really good teams in the 2000s and they haven't kept up. But an average conf RPI a shade over 11 the last 8 years vs. an average RPI of 8 the previous 8 years suggest it's just not as good.

Year Conf RPI
2005-06 6
2006-07 4
2007-08 6
2008-09 8
2009-10 9
2010-11 15
2011-12 8
2012-13 8 (Creighton's last year in the Valley)
2013-14 11
2014-15 9
2015-16 13
2016-17 12 (Wichita's last season in the Valley)
2017-18 8
2018-19 14
2019-20 11
2020-21 11

https://www.collegerpi.com/subs/histssn.html

The MVC is not the same without Creighton or Wichita State, no question. However, from loss comes opportunity - and Loyola has absolutely seized the moment. Moser's last four years are three first place finishes and a 2nd place finish. Moser took the Final Four run and has built off it. He won at Arkansas Little Rock (which also had Chris Beard), but struggled at Illinois State. At ISU, Jankovich did better and Muller has fallen hard. Moser did walk into an 8-21 program, and was only given four years.

It's weird, but many MVC programs are "down" at the moment - UNI, Valparaiso, S. Illinois and Illinois State. I think that has more to do with the lower ranking than Wichita State leaving. Losing the top is survivable as long as the bottom doesn't drag you down, but the bottom has been really bad the last few years (Evansville went winless in conference last year).

[Savannah Jay]

The MVC is not the same without Creighton or Wichita State, no question. However, from loss comes opportunity - and Loyola has absolutely seized the moment. Moser's last four years are three first place finishes and a 2nd place finish. Moser took the Final Four run and has built off it. He won at Arkansas Little Rock (which also had Chris Beard), but struggled at Illinois State. At ISU, Jankovich did better and Muller has fallen hard. Moser did walk into an 8-21 program, and was only given four years.

It's weird, but many MVC programs are "down" at the moment - UNI, Valparaiso, S. Illinois and Illinois State. I think that has more to do with the lower ranking than Wichita State leaving. Losing the top is survivable as long as the bottom doesn't drag you down, but the bottom has been really bad the last few years (Evansville went winless in conference last year).

Who is your "dream" hire?
Who is your "oh shit, no" hire?
Who do you think they will ultimately hire?

[GoldenWarrior11]

Who is your "dream" hire?
Who is your "oh shit, no" hire?
Who do you think they will ultimately hire?

MU fans on Scoop are divided. Some want Moser, some want Shaka, some want Gates (the last of which confuses me greatly). All agree we need a proven head coach (not hiring an assistant).

I would put Moser at the top of my list. He comes from a Jesuit school, has Midwest ties, is a Majerus disciple, has great personality, wins with non-elite players and has developed Loyola into a sustained high-level program from nothing. Shaka and/or Gates would be very underwhelming hires. Shaka has underperformed at Texas and turned us down in 2014. Gates doesn’t have enough head coaching experience.