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Steve McClain Interviewing for Hawaii HC Job / Abatemarco joins Buffs staff

Buffnik

Buffnik

Real name isn't Nik
Club Member
Junta Member
ESPN Insider: Rumor Central

Applicants are lining up to replace Bob Nash at Hawaii.

The Honolulu Star-News is reporting that Hawaii AD is in Los Angeles on the eve of the NCAA tournament, interviewing several applicants for the open position.

Southern Miss. assistant Steve Barnes, Gonzaga assistant Ray Giacoletti and Colorado's associate head coach Steve McClain are on the agenda while Donovan is on the mainland.

*******************

McClain's a damn good coach who should have a HC job. I'd hate to lose him, but I'm pulling for him at the same time (if that makes any sense). Either way, it's good press for CU that our #2 guy is getting consideration for open D1 jobs.

P.S. If he did leave, Mike Dunlap is recently available after the Oregon firing.
 
good luck to Coach McClain. would be a loss for the staff, but can't blame a guy for wanting another shot at HC. Giacoletti is the former Utah coach i assume.
 
Buffnik said:
P.S. If he did leave, Mike Dunlap is recently available after the Oregon firing.
Click to expand...

I won't get my hopes up, but that would be teh allsome! :thumbsup:

I heard Few's name mentioned in the Oregon opening. If that happens I would think Dunlap's name would be on Gonzaga's list.
 
Being a head coach at Hawaii is a thankless job. We talk about commitment from administration problems at CU, but we're the freaking Taj Mahal compared to UH. Facilities are antiquated, travel is awful. The State of Hawaii isn't exactly swimming in money. It's unbelievably expensive to live there, and it's nearly impossible to recruit mainland kids to go there. They're at a constant disadvantage with every other school on the mainland. The only thing going for it is it's location. But even that is misleading. Hawaii is nice, but Honolulu is a dump. If I were McClain, I'd be grateful to be considered, but would be secretly hoping that I didn't actually get the job.
 
sackman said:
Being a head coach at Hawaii is a thankless job. We talk about commitment from administration problems at CU, but we're the freaking Taj Mahal compared to UH. Facilities are antiquated, travel is awful. The State of Hawaii isn't exactly swimming in money. It's unbelievably expensive to live there, and it's nearly impossible to recruit mainland kids to go there. They're at a constant disadvantage with every other school on the mainland. The only thing going for it is it's location. But even that is misleading. Hawaii is nice, but Honolulu is a dump. If I were McClain, I'd be grateful to be considered, but would be secretly hoping that I didn't actually get the job.
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You would also take the interview right?
 
dply said:
You would also take the interview right?
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Sure. But ask June Jones about the commitment that UH has to athletics. If you're a coach at UH, one of two things is going to happen; One, you win more than you lose in spite of a mountain of obstacles that are in front of you. You then leave to take a job on the mainland. Two, you are a miserable failure due to the fact that there are a mountain of obstacles in your path and you get no support from the administration. You then leave to take a lesser job on the mainland.
The long and the short of it is that it's very hard to win at UH.
 
ScotchBuff said:
I won't get my hopes up, but that would be teh allsome! :thumbsup:

I heard Few's name mentioned in the Oregon opening. If that happens I would think Dunlap's name would be on Gonzaga's list.
Click to expand...

Few has rejected multiple big conference schools before, and I highly doubt he leaves for Oregon. I'm not sure what Dunlap is going to do - I'm honestly surprised that he's even taking an assistant position in the college ranks. He's a head coach, and a real good one too.
 
Want him to stay only for selfish reasons. McClain deserves the consideration. Would love to have Dunlap or Charles Baker back. Hell, Ernie Kent is available at present and he brought some great talent to Oregon and coached them well over the years.
 
ScotchBuff said:
I believe this fills the position Baker left. At least I don't remember Bzz replacing Baker.
Click to expand...

We promoted Drew Long. http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=3897&SPID=257&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=3742006&Q_SEASON=2009

Interestingly, Abatemarco was rumored to be coming to Colorado in 2007 as part of Bzdelik's original staff:

http://wesleyvaclav.blogspot.com/2007/04/forget-it-tom-abatemarco-fans-colorados.html

Love this blurb from the BG Brooks RMN article quoted in that blog:

After Bzdelik's hiring, there was widespread media speculation Abatemarco, a Colorado assistant for three years under Joe Harrington in the early 1990s, was set to return. Bzdelik called the speculation "comical" and reiterated he was unsure where it had originated.
 
valdezj said:
Abatemarco joined the staff when Bz first showed up. Then backed out of the job. I wonder what the reason was.
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I didn't remember that he'd actually been hired. Obviously he had a good reason because the bridge certainly wasn't burnt.
 
Here's what Rick Majerus had to say about Tom Abatemarco when he hired him at Utah in 2003:

"Tom Abatemarco is a veteran coach who will be able to bring a former head coach's perspective to our staff," said Majerus. "I am sure that he will foster a great relationship with the players and be a valuable asset to us on the floor as a teacher. Additionally, Tom is an experienced recruiter, and his ability to evaluate players, as well as to help us recruit them, will be a tremendous asset for our program. We are excited to have him on board."

I also checked Spud Webb's wikipedia page and Abatemarco is the guy given credit for discovering him while assisting Jim Valvano at NC State and convincing Jim to take a risk on a 5'6" point guard. Seems like he's known in basketball circles as a pretty shrewd talent evaluator.
 
Buffnik said:
I also checked Spud Webb's wikipedia page and Abatemarco is the guy given credit for discovering him while assisting Jim Valvano at NC State and convincing Jim to take a risk on a 5'6" point guard. Seems like he's known in basketball circles as a pretty shrewd talent evaluator.
Click to expand...

Given the time frame, I wonder if he was a big help in landing Donnie Boyce.
 
ScotchBuff said:
I won't get my hopes up, but that would be teh allsome! :thumbsup:

I heard Few's name mentioned in the Oregon opening. If that happens I would think Dunlap's name would be on Gonzaga's list.
Click to expand...

If dunlap ended up as the head man at gonzaga... watch out he'd tear it nup there
 
i guess i'm in the minority about Abatemarco. not exactly blown away by the hire. he's a journeyman figure to say the least. he's been on some great staffs with Valvano and Nolan Richardson but that was a long time ago and there were shady doings around both those programs--especially Jimmy V. he also had an NCAA issue at someplace else (edit: Drake). more than Spud Webb, TA's biggest recruiting coup was Chris Washburn....which was the subject of a kind of back-handed SI article in the early 80's. much like the one about CU, Mac, and the police blotter back when that was SI's "thing".

but, an experienced hire is not the worst thing to replace McClain i guess. just trying to see this hire for what it is.
 
as far as Few to Oregon. i have a buddy who went to UO who's *convinced it will happen*. i don't share his opinion. maybe, but i think Few has had better offers in basketball terms. not sure how the Phil Knight checkbook fits in....but, i think if he was going to leave GU he would have already done it.
 
Few may be starting to feel that he's reached his ceiling with the Zags. While it's a great situation when every year you can pretty much bank 20+ wins, being favorites to win the conference, making the NCAAs, seeing a top 25 ranking, and being a good bet to win a tourney game or two... he may also want a new challenge where the payoff with additional resources could be perennial national title contention. I have to believe a coach who has been as successful as Few has a need to challenge himself and also has the typically large coach's ego.
 
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