Cuonzo Martin to Missouri State

[TylerDurden]

These sort of coach-hiring semantics are what you hear when the AD couldn't get a deal done. They tell everyone that they never offered, they pulled out of talks, that guy was never a serious candidate, it was internet rumors, the reporter didn't have the right sources, etc.

I'm having a hard time believing anything other than that being the case here. The coach asked for stuff, MSU didn't want to do that stuff...so here we are.

Cuonzo isn't the worst option, but it doesn't make Moats look very good either

[tribecalledquest]

These sort of coach-hiring semantics are what you hear when the AD couldn't get a deal done. They tell everyone that they never offered, they pulled out of talks, that guy was never a serious candidate, it was internet rumors, the reporter didn't have the right sources, etc.

I'm having a hard time believing anything other than that being the case here. The coach asked for stuff, MSU didn't want to do that stuff...so here we are.

Cuonzo isn't the worst option, but it doesn't make Moats look very good either

If Cuonzo Martin was the first choice it wouldn’t have taken this long to get it done and announce it.

[Sir Sci]

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.

To me, not offering the job to McCollum because he expected a certain level of investment in his potential future job is failing to snag him. It doesn't really matter who ultimately said "no" if the reason he doesn't have a job in Springfield is because the administration wasn't willing to meet his requests. And honestly, if that's all true, good for him not settling for a situation where he doesn't think he will get adequate support.

But like I said, I also do support the Zo hire, so I don't mind how this turned out. But if McCollum does come to the MVC via, say, Drake and consistently beats the Bears it will be an indictment on this coaching search and be something that we look back on as a failure. Obviously I hope that doesn't happen - but it is within the realm of possibility.

[ValleyFAN]

5 years and $600,000 for Cuonzo. A pretty good increase from what they gave to Lusk and Ford.

[ValleyFAN]

One of the regular posters on our board (He's an AAU coach and always gets good info) says that Ben McCollum was offered and accepted the job at Missouri State, and then was sent a contract. Said he would sign it as soon as his season was over, and then he was ghosted Missouri State by with no further contact. Sounds like he either got cold feet or got word that Drake job was opening up.

[IllinoisState]

One of the regular posters on our board (He's an AAU coach and always gets good info) says that Ben McCollum was offered and accepted the job at Missouri State, and then was sent a contract. Said he would sign it as soon as his season was over, and then he was ghosted Missouri State by with no further contact. Sounds like he either got cold feet or got word that Drake job was opening up.

Not necessarily directed towards you, but do we know what Drake's basketball budget is since they're private?

[MSUDuo]

One of the regular posters on our board (He's an AAU coach and always gets good info) says that Ben McCollum was offered and accepted the job at Missouri State, and then was sent a contract. Said he would sign it as soon as his season was over, and then he was ghosted Missouri State by with no further contact. Sounds like he either got cold feet or got word that Drake job was opening up.

Or ADKM got word Zo was interested again. Hard to pass up someone that’s been successful at D1 for an unknown, even though I would’ve gone BM still

Not unhappy at Zo. Excited to see what he can accomplish again and hopefully cash in some husband chips for season tickets this year

[Sir Sci]

One of the regular posters on our board (He's an AAU coach and always gets good info) says that Ben McCollum was offered and accepted the job at Missouri State, and then was sent a contract. Said he would sign it as soon as his season was over, and then he was ghosted Missouri State by with no further contact. Sounds like he either got cold feet or got word that Drake job was opening up.

Just to provide an update to this post, another Bears fan with connections said that this was accurate except that Missouri State did reach out to the coach's agent to inform him they were going a different direction. So not quite reaching out to McCollum himself, but also not really ghosting him either.

[BEARZ77]

Presser for Zo today at 1; should be well attended . Evidently his contract with MU which I think ended as of today, had some language that kept him from recruiting/signing players till it ran out. But everything should be full bore from here out, not sure if we'll hear some staff names today or not. Overall I think most are excited and glad to have Zo back, even some initial reservations have started to get on board a bit more. No real mystery with Zo, I expect it'll be end of second year before we start to really jell , still hoping we maybe pull a couple guys back out of the portal, I think Mayo has "Zo type player" written all over him, and I would still like to see Edwards come back, but if not, it looks like 9-10 spots to fill.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Press conference
https://youtu.be/R7kjRduPPh0?si=fCGPWuemf02dODzl