Flying Dutchmen Fans

The coaching carousel starts cranking up. This one was somewhat of a surprise but there were rumors on their boards.

Big surprise. He always had solid teams made a couple of NIT's if I recall.

I disagree......

He would have had to have back-to-back undefeated seasons in the CAA just to get to .500. He has a losing record at W&M, by a long shot.

The surprise is how long he lasted.

dutchiedoright wrote:I disagree......

He would have had to have back-to-back undefeated seasons in the CAA just to get to .500. He has a losing record at W&M, by a long shot.

The surprise is how long he lasted.

That's how i've felt too. I always thought he had the safest job in America, with how mediocre W&M was. With the amount of talent he's been able to recruit, he really hasn't done anything for the program.

2 x CAA Coach of Year - winningest coach in W&M history. Two NIT's. Had some very good players. When good players start transferring like at W&M recently it is usually a sign that changes are on the horizon.

I respect their new AD trying to shake things up, but their program just got set back 5 years. I don't know anyone in the right mind who would want to play ball in Williamsburg, 2nd worst job in the CAA behind Drexel, IMO.

Hated him, and their fan base. I hope they are set back 5 years.

Will miss his whistle.

LOVE THIS!! Heard rumblings as well, which I find baffling - I'm ecstatic lol. Some of you are not seeing the reality here:

WM has ZERO hoops pedigree, the fact they've ever even been in an NIT recently is a near miracle, it's a quiet program, with next to no shot at every going dancing. This guy is a jerk, but a very good coach and recruiter, and matches HU in both every year - he is the winningest coach ever there, twice COY at WILLIAM & MARY for goodness sake, and faces the toughest academic standards by far in the entire league.

It's an impossible job that has no right to have any expectations whatsoever - and they just canned the only guy who ever gave them even a shred of a chance at anything tangible for hoops 'success' - HUH?!? This is a team I have pegged early as top 3 next year with a top 2 POY candidate in Knight - I mean, it's nuts, THANK YOU!

And I agree fully about him and their fanbase - couldn't happen to a more deserving group!! If they lose a stud or two to transfer because of this, it will be an even bigger blessing.

This opens things up even more next year. I see CofC, NU, HU, UD, and before this W&M in the top half - this may alter that a bit...

And I won't be surprised for UNCW to be one of the next to make changes - I give it 1-2 more years for him. Bad hire IMO.

I always liked this guy and maybe I'm in the minority but he seemed like a real quality individual in all his post game pressers. He has been very complimentary about Justin so I guess I'm basing my opinions on this. Maybe its a sign of the times though show or go!

Polito wrote: LOVE THIS!! Heard rumblings as well, which I find baffling - I'm ecstatic lol. Some of you are not seeing the reality here:

WM has ZERO hoops pedigree, the fact they've ever even been in an NIT recently is a near miracle, it's a quiet program, with next to no shot at every going dancing. This guy is a jerk, but a very good coach and recruiter, and matches HU in both every year - he is the winningest coach ever there, twice COY at WILLIAM & MARY for goodness sake, and faces the toughest academic standards by far in the entire league.

It's an impossible job that has no right to have any expectations whatsoever - and they just canned the only guy who ever gave them even a shred of a chance at anything tangible for hoops 'success' - HUH?!? This is a team I have pegged early as top 3 next year with a top 2 POY candidate in Knight - I mean, it's nuts, THANK YOU!

That's what some of their fans say. Fans of other schools and people young enough to be students now don't know about how bad they were for a long time. A fan guessed that half of the players Shaver recruited were academically rejected. W&M said he didn't get them to the NCAA Tournament, but they were picked fourth in the CAA, so this season shouldn't have been the last straw. Before the firing, fans were discussing what juniors could complete their Bachelors in the spring so they could transfer without sitting out a year. Fans thought third leading scorer Matt Milon could graduate, but not Knight or Pierce. IMO Knight would be taking a big risk to transfer and sit out a year. He would need a team in a better conference to want him, give him playing time, and to not be rusty after a redshirt season. If he wants to make the NBA, I think playing for W&M next season and playing in the 2020-2021 G League if he isn't taken in the 2020 NBA Draft would be a better path than a redshirt season and 2020-2021 at another school where he doesn't know what to expect.

Polito wrote:LOVE THIS!! Heard rumblings as well, which I find baffling - I'm ecstatic lol. Some of you are not seeing the reality here:

WM has ZERO hoops pedigree, the fact they've ever even been in an NIT recently is a near miracle, it's a quiet program, with next to no shot at every going dancing. This guy is a jerk, but a very good coach and recruiter, and matches HU in both every year - he is the winningest coach ever there, twice COY at WILLIAM & MARY for goodness sake, and faces the toughest academic standards by far in the entire league.

It's an impossible job that has no right to have any expectations whatsoever - and they just canned the only guy who ever gave them even a shred of a chance at anything tangible for hoops 'success' - HUH?!? This is a team I have pegged early as top 3 next year with a top 2 POY candidate in Knight - I mean, it's nuts, THANK YOU!

And I agree fully about him and their fanbase - couldn't happen to a more deserving group!! If they lose a stud or two to transfer because of this, it will be an even bigger blessing.

This opens things up even more next year. I see CofC, NU, HU, UD, and before this W&M in the top half - this may alter that a bit...

And I won't be surprised for UNCW to be one of the next to make changes - I give it 1-2 more years for him. Bad hire IMO.

Knight will leave. I believe he has already graduated and can play his last year somewhere else.

Would he be eligible to play at Hofstra right away

Excellent, then I love this even more - big program setback, no clue what they're thinking, but I'm glad they're not.

If Pemba can wake up in the offseason, he can be a top guy next year. Bigger 'if' than I hoped for though now after the very lagging performances I saw from him in the CAAT.

This thread is well worth the read from a former W&M walk-on:

https://twitter.com/cstrat25/status/1106278149841735681

Wags wrote:This thread is well worth the read from a former W&M walk-on:

https://twitter.com/cstrat25/status/1106278149841735681

This was kinda my take on this man. TY for the post.

Yep, and that's why this is a baffling boneheaded move that will set them back years, like FD said. I agree 100%. And it's glorious.

Forget about players wanting to go to that program, the recruiting sell that guy did has been miraculous considering the program, but what coach in their right mind would want that job - it's terrible. And now it's with an AD that will can your rear even if you are the winningest coach in the programs history with 2 COY awards under your belt. All because of some fairyland thought that that program should win the CAA and go dancing despite a million year history of the exact opposite. Oh yeah, makes perfect sense

Asinine. No self respecting quality winning coach should ever touch that job with a 10 foot pole, 100 feet with an AD like that.

Wags wrote:This thread is well worth the read from a former W&M walk-on:

https://twitter.com/cstrat25/status/1106278149841735681

Nice tribute.
You lose sight of who these guys are, or might really be, when they are not on the court -

stuball888 wrote: Would he be eligible to play at Hofstra right away

I saw a table that showed many conferences require players to sit out two seasons to transfer to another school in the conference, which might as well be a prohibition because players won't want to sit out two seasons. I don't remember about the CAA.

I think a player can transfer immediately if the coach leaves. Also, Knight would be a graduate student, right? That restriction wouldn't apply.