Lickliter Gone

[siudawgs]

I get what you're saying to an extent, but life's too damn short ... I don't have 5-6 years of time to give to a Hinson or Lansing, hoping he can get me to fifth place. Who knows what college basketball even looks like in 2027. Give me the riskier/higher upside hire, regardless of the degree of difficulty.

Agree that the timing of the hire is pretty brutal, but that's on the prez. They should have set this in motion months ago.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Are people really talking about giving Barry Hinson another freaking chance to not make the NCAAs? Good grief. If you want flirting with the CBI to be up your upside, by all means, go to town. Same goes for Lansing, to a lesser extent.

I'd a million times rather try a guy like Ragland who might have a lower floor but also has a higher ceiling. What's the point of competing if you're not aiming for championships?

I'll acknowledge that there might have been more and better choices next March. In the meantime, though, I bet Aces fans will enjoy not slogging through another yearlong Lickliter death march.

You have to understand where Evansville is. They don't need a guy to get them over the hump to the tournament, they need a guy to stop digging into the massive crater that's already there. Barry has a .566 winning percentage and has shown that he can do the full rebuild in The Valley. They need the guy that they thought Lickliter actually was (though anyone with a brain knew he wasn't).

Barry would have been a good hire. Bruce Weber would have been a good hire. Greg Lansing would have been a good hire. If you were simply going to pluck another guy off the Butler tree and hope it worked this time then hire LaVall Jordan and see if he can redeem himself.

Waiting until May was a horrible decision to start with and then to end up with Ragland after there were so many other proven names allegedly associated with the opening makes it look like you got turned down by several guys, which you probably di.

The league needs Evansville to figure it out and it sure as hell doesn't feel like they have here.

Well said. Hinson took over an 8-win, 265 RPI program and had them a 4-seed, 3-seed, 2-seed, and 3-seed his last 4 years. Lansing took over the MVC’s lowest budget program and had them outperforming their D1 budget by 66 KenPom spots on average over 11 years. Those are 2 coaches who’ve taken dire (Hinson) or intrinsically disadvantaged (Lansing) situations and made them respectable - which is where Evansville’s at since the McCarty implosion.

There’s also Weber, Crean, etc.

I hope Ragland does well but he’s an assistant who’s bounced around who’ll be starting with a Mt Everest-sized hole to dig out of.

[siudawgs]

Are people really talking about giving Barry Hinson another freaking chance to not make the NCAAs? Good grief. If you want flirting with the CBI to be up your upside, by all means, go to town. Same goes for Lansing, to a lesser extent.

I'd a million times rather try a guy like Ragland who might have a lower floor but also has a higher ceiling. What's the point of competing if you're not aiming for championships?

I'll acknowledge that there might have been more and better choices next March. In the meantime, though, I bet Aces fans will enjoy not slogging through another yearlong Lickliter death march.

You have to understand where Evansville is. They don't need a guy to get them over the hump to the tournament, they need a guy to stop digging into the massive crater that's already there. Barry has a .566 winning percentage and has shown that he can do the full rebuild in The Valley. They need the guy that they thought Lickliter actually was (though anyone with a brain knew he wasn't).

Barry would have been a good hire. Bruce Weber would have been a good hire. Greg Lansing would have been a good hire. If you were simply going to pluck another guy off the Butler tree and hope it worked this time then hire LaVall Jordan and see if he can redeem himself.

Waiting until May was a horrible decision to start with and then to end up with Ragland after there were so many other proven names allegedly associated with the opening makes it look like you got turned down by several guys, which you probably di.

The league needs Evansville to figure it out and it sure as hell doesn't feel like they have here.

Well said. Hinson took over an 8-win, 265 RPI program and had them a 4-seed, 3-seed, 2-seed, and 3-seed his last 4 years. Lansing took over the MVC’s lowest budget program and had them outperforming their D1 budget by 66 KenPom spots on average over 11 years. Those are 2 coaches who’ve taken dire (Hinson) or intrinsically disadvantaged (Lansing) situations and made them respectable - which is where Evansville’s at since the McCarty implosion.

There’s also Weber, Crean, etc.

I hope Ragland does well but he’s an assistant who’s bounced around who’ll be starting with a Mt Everest-sized hole to dig out of.

Hinson also was competing with a veteran team those last years in an incredibly weak post-Creighton, post-Wichita, pre-ascendant Loyola MVC, and still couldn't sniff an NIT or even win ONE game at Arch Madness with a senior-led squad in his final year.

If you want to hire him for your favorite program, go for it. Wouldn't wish it on you, though.

[AcesAces]

Nothing but positives with this hire. UE just signed a hungry P6 assistant coach to lead their program. Plenty of options in the portal to fill the roster. Ragland got what he has wanted. Time for him to deliver.

Good job UE!

[So iLL 24]

Nothing but positives with this hire. UE just signed a hungry P6 assistant coach to lead their program. Plenty of options in the portal to fill the roster. Ragland got what he has wanted. Time for him to deliver.

Good job UE!

A hungry P6 assistant is an interesting way to look at it. I don't think you're wrong necessarily. However, his time at Butler was very disappointing. His only head coaching experience was at a Vincennes Community College and he bounced around in the division 1 world as an assistant.

Let's really look at why he was hired:

-Local guy with local ties (with ties to local politics)
-Will be paid less than any other "P6" assistant coach would have agreed on (P5 assistant coaches will make a lot more than UE will pay and they won't have to deal with the trainwreck)
-The other candidates were not as highly regarded as some would like to believe (the candidate list was subpar)
-A proven D2 HC turned the job down

The Valley needs the bottom of the league to improve and that 100% starts with UE. I hope David is extremely successful.

[TylerDurden]

I hope Ragland does well.

[AcesAces]

Nothing but positives with this hire. UE just signed a hungry P6 assistant coach to lead their program. Plenty of options in the portal to fill the roster. Ragland got what he has wanted. Time for him to deliver.

Good job UE!

A hungry P6 assistant is an interesting way to look at it. I don't think you're wrong necessarily. However, his time at Butler was very disappointing. His only head coaching experience was at a Vincennes Community College and he bounced around in the division 1 world as an assistant.

Let's really look at why he was hired:

-Local guy with local ties (with ties to local politics)
-Will be paid less than any other "P6" assistant coach would have agreed on (P5 assistant coaches will make a lot more than UE will pay and they won't have to deal with the trainwreck)
-The other candidates were not as highly regarded as some would like to believe (the candidate list was subpar)
-A proven D2 HC turned the job down

The Valley needs the bottom of the league to improve and that 100% starts with UE. I hope David is extremely successful.

As far as I know you were not in on the hiring, so you do not know why he was hired. Ragland was the only one offered, so again, you do not know who turned it down.

None of us know how this will work out. None of us. But Ragland is a positive hire for UE, the City of Evansville and the surrounding region.

[AcesAces]

What's the saying by Gordon Gekko? Something about "I like poor, smart and hungry"? We had Simmons. He was hungry his first few years. He seemed to lose his fire for some reason. Then McCarty, who was hungry for coeds more than helping college kids. Then we moved to Licklitter, who already had his shining moment.

This is Ragland's time to shine. For about 18 years he has been working for this opportunity. I don't know how this will work out, but this is the type of person who can shine very brightly.

[Always-A-Sycamore]

Nothing against Ragland, but I’d bet on Hinson or Lansing making Evansville competitive before him.

I also think Evansville could’ve found a better candidate waiting until next March.

I hope he does well.

R U KIDDING ? Lansing would have kept you mired in the bottom half of the league for as long as you allowed him. He can't get a NCAA job anywhere, even in Evansville. Probably would have used the same boring offense he used for 10+ years in Terre Haute "watching paint dry". He took a year off to lick his wounds and now has been largely forgotten in NCAA circles..... and hoping to be one of many NBA scouts somewhere, just a notch above being a MLB scout.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Lansing’s KenPom rank outperformed his school’s budget rank by an annual average of 66 spots over 11 years.

Fans are often out of touch with reality.