Cuonzo Martin to Missouri State

[Sir Sci]

A lot of mixed feelings among Bears fans. I personally land on the side of thinking that his hire probably means that Smart and Moats struck out with their first choice (presumably McCollum) but that this is still a good hire.

We know he can win games at Missouri State and he's been to four NCAA Tournaments and a Sweet 16 since then. It's not like he's gotten worse as a coach since leaving. The disappointing part is that we were wanting a big swing or an up and comer, and as mentioned this is like reuniting with an ex who dated around before coming back. It feels weird. And yet, if he can win then that's all that will matter, and we have a lot of evidence he can win.

Cuonzo feels like a "big swing" type hire though, does it not? He's recently been the head coach at Tennessee, Cal, and Mizzou and has wide name recognition throughout the sport.

I suppose. Maybe our viewpoint is tilted, but a retread of someone who hasn't coached for a couple seasons and flopped at Mizzou doesn't feel like a big swing. Though, admittedly, I would have considered Crean a "big swing" in spite of his dismal record at Georgia and hiatus from coaching, but the difference is that he obviously wasn't here before.

It just seems like Cuonzo was a second choice after failing to snag McCollum. Even if Moats comes out and says "Coach Martin was our first choice from the beginning. We thought it was about time he came home to Missouri State" I don't think I'll believe him.

[MSUDuo]

What a wild world we live in…

[BEARZ77]

i don't think we failed to snag McCollum, I've been told we pulled out after hearing his requests . I was told we let him know he was no longer under consideration following such. Doesn't really matter, people will speculate, but that's why Mo St is so quiet in their searches, neither coach or university want to be perceived as being turned down. Not a single name was ever offered by the school as a target of interest.

[pafan]

Huh. Didn't see that coming.

As long as we're turning back the clock 15 years, Keno Davis to Drake?

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Huh. Didn't see that coming.

As long as we're turning back the clock 15 years, Keno Davis to Drake?

How about Dr. Tom Davis back to Drake?

[BUFanatic]

Huh. Didn't see that coming.

As long as we're turning back the clock 15 years, Keno Davis to Drake?

How about Dr. Tom Davis back to Drake?

f*** it, Barry to SIU, Porter (somehow) to ISU, Les to UIC. Let’s get the band back together.

[MSUDuo]

i don't think we failed to snag McCollum, I've been told we pulled out after hearing his requests . I was told we let him know he was no longer under consideration following such. Doesn't really matter, people will speculate, but that's why Mo St is so quiet in their searches, neither coach or university want to be perceived as being turned down. Not a single name was ever offered by the school as a target of interest.

I’ll call BS on that right now. Either way we look bad though

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Huh. Didn't see that coming.

As long as we're turning back the clock 15 years, Keno Davis to Drake?

How about Dr. Tom Davis back to Drake?

f*** it, Barry to SIU, Porter (somehow) to ISU, Les to UIC. Let’s get the band back together.

There should be a season where every MVC school has to hire a mid-2000s coach. Everyone gets their coaches back after the conclusion of Arch Madness.

[BEARZ77]

i don't think we failed to snag McCollum, I've been told we pulled out after hearing his requests . I was told we let him know he was no longer under consideration following such. Doesn't really matter, people will speculate, but that's why Mo St is so quiet in their searches, neither coach or university want to be perceived as being turned down. Not a single name was ever offered by the school as a target of interest.

I’ll call BS on that right now. Either way we look bad though

Call all you want, I know who I talk to and I know who they talk to. And I don't think we look bad at all hiring the only guy who ever won a MVC title for us and who on the day he left we were Valley Champions, playing to packed houses and had the best team in Mo. I'll take anything close to that 3 years from now. Zo wasn't my first choice even if I had known he was serious and I don't think he was ours necessarily, I still heard Crean was very much in play till last weekend, but I think we ended up going back to Zo and he decided. I was a McCollum advocate, but you could tell last week he wasn't getting much play and when Smart said Wyatt was off on his statements , I figured that was over. I hoped it might resurface, but it didn't. Either way, we seem [ no official verification] to have a coach. So far , so good. Now we staff and players . Lots of MVC teams in similar spots right now, even w/o coaching change .

[DUBulldog]

Huh. Didn't see that coming.

As long as we're turning back the clock 15 years, Keno Davis to Drake?

How about Dr. Tom Davis back to Drake?

f*** it, Barry to SIU, Porter (somehow) to ISU, Les to UIC. Let’s get the band back together.

Chris Lowery to SIU.....Dean will be one happy man