MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Gregory Sager]

Got some news I'm sitting on for next week as well. I like secrets

... which explains why you named yourself after the chocolatier who refused to divulge to Slugworth (or anybody else) the recipe for the Everlasting Gobstopper.

[piperinsider]

Wohler might be the best looking coach in the league. Wohler might be the best baseball player in the league. But he's not the best coach in the league. He might be some day, but not now.

To answer your question about what kind of coach Barry is. My take is he is alittle bit of both. I think it boils down to wins and that is why Mr. O'Brien hired him. Hamline needed a coach that brought the program back up to the top. To get there, you cant get there by doing everything half-ass. That is why you see Jeremy Tiers at everything. It starts with recruiting, then continues on the court everyday. I think Barry is a fierce compeitor and he feels that he has the players to win the title next year. It's time to pull out all the stops. Early morning practices? There are other ways.

[localcoach]

PI - I think you hit the nail right on the head.   To say that many, if not all of the MIAC head coaches don't have a swagger or slight arrogance about them, along with a strong desire to win, would be silly.  (That includes both Coach Wohler and Coach Hanson)

What I think Barry brings to the table, as was stated, is a very competitive spirit.  I think he's one of the most visible head coaches in the league, inparticular when it comes to scouting and recruiting.  I also think that he has surrounded himself with two outstanding assistants in Dan Perrel and Jeremy Tiers.   I don't know if anyone attends more high school and aau games then Tiers does.  It's that kind of work ethic that will pay dividends for the Piper program down the road.

Having said that I think Hamline still has a number of things on the court to work on if they're going to challenge for a MIAC championship next season.  They do however return all of their top players and it sounds like the coaches have assembled another strong recruiting class.

[funbballer]

Word on the street:  Hanson's assistant, David Flom, has been named the new coach at Eden Prairie High School.

Willy....here's your chance to move into the coaching ranks and become an assistant at GAC!!!

[Willy Wonka]

PI - I think you hit the nail right on the head.   To say that many, if not all of the MIAC head coaches don't have a swagger or slight arrogance about them, along with a strong desire to win, would be silly.  (That includes both Coach Wohler and Coach Hanson)

Arrogance is screaming "I am the greatest" for all to hear. Confidence is knowing how ridiculous and worthless such words are. Wohler is to the MIAC coaching hierarchy as Starbury is to NBA point guards.

What I think Barry brings to the table, as was stated, is a very competitive spirit. 

Mr. Hustle was also called competitive and we all know where that got him. If it takes cheating — no matter how big or small the case may be, throwing ethics out the window to win is all the same in my book (unless we're talking NCAA 2006 on PS2) — I'll take losing every time.

I've heard nothing but good things about Tiers. He makes Hamline more visible and helps every other MIAC school land said kids. Everyone's happy in the end

The Flom coaching rumor is unconfirmable at this point.

[localcoach]

So if I understand you right Willy, you're saying that Barry Wohler has been spouting off at the mouth?  Please correct me if I misunderstood.  Also, what does the following comment about Coach Tiers mean?

"He makes Hamline more visible and helps every other MIAC school land said kids. Everyone's happy in the end."

On another note, why would Coach Flom want to leave Gustavus for Eden Prairie High School?  If he is in fact leaving, who will be the recruiting guru at GAC? 

[Willy Wonka]

Flummer is indeed on his way out, though the papers remain unsigned until Thursday, at the earliest. He did tell the team last week, which makes funbb either a cut GACer or simply friends with someone on the squad -- it wasn't supposed to be leaked until the papers were signed.

Why would Flummer want to leave? Let's count the ways.

1. He commutes nearly an hour down to GAC every day; two if you count travel both ways and more if you include road games.
2. He's got young children at home that he's missing out on.
3. Eden Prairie is 10 minutes from his house and one of the top HS coaching positions in the state. Certainly a better pedigree than, say, a mocked Park assistant.
4. It's a significant pay raise.
5. Hanson isn't close to retiring, making the assistant job somewhat of a deadend position.
6. Do you need more? It seems obvious to me why he took the job.

While Hanson is off being Davy Crockett for the next few weeks at his retreat ala Phil Jackson, speculation for a new assistant will be interesting. In talking with two people familiar with the program, they both came to the same conclusion within seconds of hearing the news. We'll see what happens.

[funbballer]

Flummer is indeed on his way out, though the papers remain unsigned until Thursday, at the earliest. He did tell the team last week, which makes funbb either a cut GACer or simply friends with someone on the squad -- it wasn't supposed to be leaked until the papers were signed.

...or maybe knows people at EP or knows people that do know or.......?

If this wasn't supposed to be leaked out until the "papers were signed" (my, this sounds like a big time transaction, doesn't it?!!!!) why did he tell the team? And why was the info appearing on other websites if no one was supposed to know?

I will say the reasoning you so eloquently detailed absolutely makes all the sense in the world as to why Flom would want to take that job. There's incredible talent and a great winning attitude at EP so we'll see if he can push the right buttons and make it work.

There are, however, a great number of folks (coaches) that were surprised he got the job as there were some excellent candidates that had applied. He didn't exactly set the world on fire when he coached at Watertown-Mayer and not many coaches were impressed with his "defensive coaching/teaching abilities" at GAC. His predecessor (Boschee) was a much better defensive coach than Flom. Don't agree? Ever seen GAC run an effective press since he's been on board? Now maybe Hanson doesn't like to press, that I don't know. And maybe GAC hasn't had the right personnel to attempt a pressing game the last couple of years, but when you were there Willy, you guys had the ability and toughness to do it, if needed. That obviously hasn't been the case since. Don't know if that should all be directly pointed at Flom, but in general, GAC's defense the past two years (save for Espo) hasn't been great.

Nonetheless, this is a great opportunity for Flom. I hope it works out well for him.

Also, I don't have friends on the squad and.......what is a "cut GACer?"

[Mr. Ypsi]

Flummer is indeed on his way out, though the papers remain unsigned until Thursday, at the earliest. He did tell the team last week, which makes funbb either a cut GACer or simply friends with someone on the squad -- it wasn't supposed to be leaked until the papers were signed.

...or maybe knows people at EP or knows people that do know or.......?

If this wasn't supposed to be leaked out until the "papers were signed" (my, this sounds like a big time transaction, doesn't it?!!!!) why did he tell the team? And why was the info appearing on other websites if no one was supposed to know?

I will say the reasoning you so eloquently detailed absolutely makes all the sense in the world as to why Flom would want to take that job. There's incredible talent and a great winning attitude at EP so we'll see if he can push the right buttons and make it work.

There are, however, a great number of folks (coaches) that were surprised he got the job as there were some excellent candidates that had applied. He didn't exactly set the world on fire when he coached at Watertown-Mayer and not many coaches were impressed with his "defensive coaching/teaching abilities" at GAC. His predecessor (Boschee) was a much better defensive coach than Flom. Don't agree? Ever seen GAC run an effective press since he's been on board? Now maybe Hanson doesn't like to press, that I don't know. And maybe GAC hasn't had the right personnel to attempt a pressing game the last couple of years, but when you were there Willy, you guys had the ability and toughness to do it, if needed. That obviously hasn't been the case since. Don't know if that should all be directly pointed at Flom, but in general, GAC's defense the past two years (save for Espo) hasn't been great.

Nonetheless, this is a great opportunity for Flom. I hope it works out well for him.

Also, I don't have friends on the squad ?and.......what is a "cut GACer?"

Not being an EMT, I can't answer the question - but I suggest you call 911 immediately!

[Willy Wonka]

Sweet jesus...I've tried to reply to this twice now and the page keeps freaking out on me. I'm going to keep this short...

funbb - Apologies. So you know where I'm coming from...Flom's info STILL isn't up on the GAC web site; my sister, a junior at GAC and friends with the team, knew nothing of the news four days after the team meeting; I was specifically told to keep it on the DL until the contract was signed. Unless you saw him at the Chaska/EP baseball game speaking to me or missed out on the job yourself, I'm not sure where you're coming from.

Flom vs. Bosch: Tough to call Flummer a flop when he coordinated the best defense in MIAC history (PPG-wise, anyway) in his first year at the helm. While Bosch and the players deserve some credit for getting him there, it's easy enough to deflect the "blame" over the last two seasons as well -- Hanson clearly made a conscious decision to get more offense on the floor at the expense of the defense.

Talent, to a certain degree anyway, makes coaches, as Boschee has learned the hard way down at Central. We'll see how Flom does at, supposedly, a hot bed for hoops.

[funbballer]

I wasn't at the baseball game nor did I apply for the job at EP. I'm secure enough in my own coaching situation so I don't need the EP job. It would be a dandy one to have though.

I'm certainly not apologizing for "letting the cat out of the bag" as I didn't know there was a cat to be let out! If this was such a big hush-hush secret, then why did he tell the team? He should have kept quiet if he didn't want outside people to know.

Besides, this isn't exactly a "Roy Williams leaving for UNC type of scandal" now is it, so not sure why people have worked themselves into a lather over this!!

I apologize to you Willy for blowing your "breakout news" but I can tell you if I heard about this, then many others heard about it as well.

AND.....I still don't know what the hell a "cut GACer" is!!!

[localcoach]

I'm quite curious to see who replaces Coach Flom at Gustavus.  I would assume they need to hire a young go-getter on the staff who can recruit while Coach Hanson is, as Willy put it, "off being Davy Crockett." 

In an unrelated story, I spoke to some friends of mine who attended last weekend's state qualifier and apparently there was quite the contingent of MIAC coaching brass in the gym.  Sounds like the only staffs not represented were GAC, Bethel, and the Cobbers.   

Willy - We're still all anxiously awaiting the "news you're sitting on for this week."   

[Drake Palmer]

Misc. ramblings..or mildly incendiary comments meant to keep the board somewhat active as we approach the spring swoon.

Willy, I can confirm Funbb's statement about seeing Flom's announcement on another sports website last week.  But it was probably a poster who read it on this board first.   

I certainly wish Flom well, but I hope he can handle the "kitchen's heat".  IMO, the head basketball coach's position at Eden Prairie has got to be one of the toughest, most visible jobs in local high school sports.  You've got a very affluent & large school district, with high achieving & some would say, overbearing & demanding parents.  The EP Eagles have enjoyed academic & athletic success i.e. state championships in most every major sport, with the exception of basketball.  The EP natives are starting to get restless.  Local, Funbb or Cmob correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Flom the 3rd EP head basketball coach in the past 6-7 years?

From my limited perspective, I've seen the GAC coaches at very few, if any AAU spring games.  I wonder if this observation, along with Flom's departure might not explain the quietness of the Gusties' recruiting campaign.  (A semi-obvious ploy to get Willy talking about next year's incoming class  )

The Bethel coaches seem to recruit the northern & northwestern suburbs (Mounds View, Irondale, Maple Grove, Armstrong etc.) during the school year & have a few well placed alumni in out-state that seem to help their recruiting efforts.  The Cobbs are hit & miss.  I think they time their spring hoops recruiting visits with school golf meets in late April, early May.  But you can usually spot at least one of the Cobb coaches at the state AAU tourney in early June.  I think their approach is to heavily recruit a class of players every 4 years, & then selectively recruit a player or two for the next couple of years.  Then repeat the cycle in 4 years.

In past seasons I've probably seen SJU's Coach Fogarty, Hamline/Carleton's Jim Hayes & Hamline's Jeremy Tiers at the most AAU tournaments.  PI is right though - Tiers is at virtually every AAU tourney in the spring.  He's been covering local AAU tourneys & natl'l shoe tourneys since his days as a coach at Park Center, & working as a freelance reporter for a couple of college recruiting services.

Local, you or your buddy saw one of  the coaches from SMU at last weekend's AAU qualifier?  If so, that would be a good move on their part.   They seem to have a nice thing going on with their Chi-town connection, but to enjoy long term success I think the Redbirds need to establish a strong base with the schools & towns along the Miss.  I think adding a football team would also improve their appeal to a prospective student-athlete.

Like a flame to the moth, or is it--like a moth to the flame?

[Drake Palmer]

Other news of note – in today's PPress, it was announced that former Tommie hooper, Joe Buri was named athletic director at Cretin Derham Hall.  Best of luck to a solid, "salt of the earth" kind of guy.   

... but I can tell you if I heard about this, then many others heard about it as well.

AND.....I still don't know what the hell a "cut GACer" is!!!

Funbb- I think you're selling yourself a little bit short.  If memory serves me right, you've busted a couple of scoops on the board. 

I also think in Willy speak a "cut GACer" is referring to a player who was cut from the Gustie basketball team by the coaches. 


     

[localcoach]

Drake - We can always count on you to keep the conversation going. 

I didn't go to the AAU stuff last weekend, but as I said some of my friends who have kids playing on the various teams were there and communicated such information to me.  It sounds like Coach Trewick from SMU was there at some point.

As for the Eden Prairie job, your comments are right on.  Other than places like Hopkins and Tartan, that might be the toughest job in the state.  Having said that I also think it's one of the best, mainly due to the excellent feeder/traveling programs that the school/community has, and the sheer number of kids that attend the high school.   I don't know about the number of coaches that the program has had recently though.   

On another note, what's this I hear about a St. Thomas football player making some pretty risque remarks during a Commencement speech?