Flying Dutchmen Fans

i thought I would start a new thread for Toms replacement
As many know I was a big supporter of getting Tom here to begin with
I am going to throw out a name
A blast from the past
We may have a dole out a few extra shekels
MIKE PEGUES
He played against Speedy while he was at Delaware
He is currently an asst coach at Butler

Remember him well. Put up 25 in the championship game in 2000

Like to see a more local guy with connections to the City or at least the area. This should be a pretty desirable job IMO.

Jon we are looking for someone who can mentor our sentence and power forwards
I think speedy already has a relationship with the city players and the other guys all have local ties
This assistant has to be specific to developing our big man the way Tom Parrotta did

How about another local - played strong DI - played in the pros - experienced big man - had a few stints as an assistant coach after his playing career - great communicator (been doing HU color commentary - these past few seasons) -

ZENDON HAMILTON

Why not???

Replacement certainly has to fill coaching the bigs and has to be a strong recruiter as well. Peques would be incredible, but not happening. We aren't getting a P4 or a top level high end basketball program assistant to come here to be just a mid major assistant and have Speedy in front of them for years to come. Most of those top guys are aiming to be mid major HC's or an Assoc. HC at a high major.

Now there are likely newer / younger / less experienced guys on those staffs that would be a strong targets and have interest.

The desirability of this job IMO depends on how Speedy positions the role - is he looking to truly replace TP's history and expertise? That's akin to an Assoc HC role, and could be a nice draw to a more seasoned crowd, IF we give that title and the salary.

If he's looking to promote someone from within to TP's level and hire a younger up and comer bigs guy at a lower price point, that can still be attractive but to a different crowd

The challenge in this spot is Speedy isn't going anywhere for awhile, so there's no near-term opportunity here to become the HC - that's a drawback for many. Not a lot of guys who will be comfortable starring at his behind up the ladder for years to come with no chance to take that job until he decides to move on which could be who knows when. Esp at LI's cost of living.

However, the draw could be the chance to come to a winning program, learn from a legend, make your mark for a few years and earn your jump up to the big time. Just like the players do.

I am hopeful, and expecting, that Speedy has a rolodex of contacts either direct or indirect, to sift through to find the right 'Speedy' / 'HU' fit - would like to see this wrapped up before end of May so they can start the summer work right away.

Polito "Rolodex" now thats old school LOL !

Shane Doyle moving up to floor coach?


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Quinnipiac makes it official:

https://gobobcats.com/news/2026/5/18/me ... tom-pecora

TP2 is about 10 years younger than TP1. Is he the head coach in waiting?

Shane Doyle was promoted to Asst Coach


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So that is Tom's replacement

Uhh... ok - good to see promotion from within, but still want more outside perspective brought in as well. Happy for him of course especially if he's earned the opportunity, but this isn't really exciting on the outside when we had a chance to make a little noise after dancing. So who else are they hiring??

Sure hope we aren't going at this on the cheap with one less staff member. In fact since we seem to now not be adding any major high cost assistant, I'd like to see add more than 1. Really boost our ability to build a repeat NCAAT program.

So the question I ask who will be coaching the big man
We know Tom Parada played forward in college for Fordham and was experienced at coaching big men
As of now, I don't see anyone on the staff who has the credentials that Tom Parrotta has

Exactly Stu!

Furthermore, as far as I know, our three new bigs are only "committed" and not "signed". What do they think about our coaching situation re the bigs? Is there any chance of any of them de-committing over this??

Coach Parrotta's son has signed with Quinnipiac:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DZNehMHFAmr/

Good for them both, nice to have that family opportunity together. I wish them well, except vs HU!

After reading through the bios of all our assistant coaches
It seems the one coach that has any experience with big men would be Drew Metz
He has had experience in player development

I'm a big fan of having Metz on the staff, was a very strong hire, mostly for his recruiting connections, and he's definitely an up and comer coach. But he's not a big man coach. Sorry Metz - don't have the background. He's not a big man himself, he's likely a guard guy, and he's much less experienced than TP - he is a riser, not an established guy - I am highly skeptical he can coach like TP did.

Speedy man, what's going on here? I'm not digging this. We don't need less staff, we need MORE. We should be OVER investing in this program, not running shoe string - a major coach leaves the staff, we absolutely have to replace - not just filling his title with a promotion, but we need to boost up our coaching experience, expertise, and savviness - and who's going to fill Metz shoes and what he was doing??

We should be hiring a couple of analysts as well to run analytics and provide data for game planning, opponent scouting, player development, and in-game strategy, among other things - we need to beef things up - can't have a bunch of short guard guys coaching 7 foot bigs. This is not a recipe for success. What is our plan?? This isn't just about the players, what is our strategy to LEVEL UP our STAFF?

stuball888 wrote: ↑Sat May 02, 2026 7:42 am i thought I would start a new thread for Toms replacement
As many know I was a big supporter of getting Tom here to begin with
I am going to throw out a name
A blast from the past
We may have a dole out a few extra shekels
MIKE PEGUES
He played against Speedy while he was at Delaware
He is currently an asst coach at Butler

Sorry Stu, your guy signed with UConn
https://uconnhuskies.com/news/2026/6/8/ ... -mclelland