MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[knightvision]

Whether he knows it or not, MaroonMighty already nailed it.

So, in other words, this:

Calvin search is apparently down to two. A high school coach and a D3 coach

Yep.  Heard as well that Bill Sall to Calvin won't be happening.  That's too bad.

... was wrong?

I'm waiting for the 30 For 30

Going have to be a 60 For 60 to tell the full story.

Won't take that long. True to form, oldknight's modesty prevents him from publicly announcing the "Mr & Mrs. oldknight Endowed (Bench) Chair for Men's Basketball."   I am seeing an oldknight move from the baseline to a prominent spot right behind the bench in the near future.  (Much safer there, with less chance to get hurt by fumbling an errant pass that might enter the stand)

[ziggy]

Won't take that long. True to form, oldknight's modesty prevents him from publicly announcing the "Mr & Mrs. oldknight Endowed (Bench) Chair for Men's Basketball."   I am seeing an oldknight move from the baseline to a prominent spot right behind the bench in the near future.  (Much safer there, with less chance to get hurt by fumbling an errant pass that might enter the stand)

I just hope it doesn't cut too badly into Mrs. Oldknight's shopping budget.

[goodknight]

Whether he knows it or not, MaroonMighty already nailed it.

So, in other words, this:

Calvin search is apparently down to two. A high school coach and a D3 coach

Yep.  Heard as well that Bill Sall to Calvin won't be happening.  That's too bad.

... was wrong?

I'm waiting for the 30 For 30

Going have to be a 60 For 60 to tell the full story.

Won't take that long. True to form, oldknight's modesty prevents him from publicly announcing the "Mr & Mrs. oldknight Endowed (Bench) Chair for Men's Basketball."   I am seeing an oldknight move from the baseline to a prominent spot right behind the bench in the near future.  (Much safer there, with less chance to get hurt by fumbling an errant pass that might enter the stand)

Endowed  and oldknight. You heard it here first.

[knights2000]

Given the quality hire of an experienced college coach for the Calvin women's program, one has to think there will be a big-time hire on the men's side of things as well.

What would a big-time hire be for Calvin? I think VanderWal is the only realistic answer for that, and that is not happening.

IMO, Bill Sall would be considered a big-time hire if that were to occur.

He has 8 winning seasons in 17 as a head coach and a career record under .500

Recent history tells us Ferris State is capable of being a player on the national stage.

FWIW, I think he's the next coach of the Knights.

I posted this before, and am still genuinely curious why Bill Sall is a "big-time hire" for Calvin. My knowledge of Calvin hoops only goes back 15-20 years, so maybe there's some history I'm unaware of.

My question is genuine, and not meant to be aggressive or overly-critical...I see a coach whose sub-.500 career record indicates to me a "mediocre-at-best" hire. Why is this move so exciting to many Knights fans?

[Titan Q]

We will welcome Coach Sall November 15 at the Shirk Center!

[pointlem]

Given the quality hire of an experienced college coach for the Calvin women's program, one has to think there will be a big-time hire on the men's side of things as well.

What would a big-time hire be for Calvin? I think VanderWal is the only realistic answer for that, and that is not happening.

IMO, Bill Sall would be considered a big-time hire if that were to occur.

He has 8 winning seasons in 17 as a head coach and a career record under .500

Recent history tells us Ferris State is capable of being a player on the national stage.

FWIW, I think he's the next coach of the Knights.

I posted this before, and am still genuinely curious why Bill Sall is a "big-time hire" for Calvin. My knowledge of Calvin hoops only goes back 15-20 years, so maybe there's some history I'm unaware of.

My question is genuine, and not meant to be aggressive or overly-critical...I see a coach whose sub-.500 career record indicates to me a "mediocre-at-best" hire. Why is this move so exciting to many Knights fans?

I'm an outsider and don't know Bill Sall. It's great when these institutions can increase staff diversity by hiring new faces. But it's also great for Calvin to hire a quality person and coach who has its blood running in his veins . . . someone who knows and loves it from the inside . . . someone who is a Knight in his heart . . . someone who won't be looking to move elsewhere but rather to giving heart and soul to Calvin and to representing it well.

The same, of course, could be said for Greg Mitchell at Hope (and for both schools' women's coaches as well).

[Jameswys]

Given the quality hire of an experienced college coach for the Calvin women's program, one has to think there will be a big-time hire on the men's side of things as well.

What would a big-time hire be for Calvin? I think VanderWal is the only realistic answer for that, and that is not happening.

IMO, Bill Sall would be considered a big-time hire if that were to occur.

He has 8 winning seasons in 17 as a head coach and a career record under .500

Recent history tells us Ferris State is capable of being a player on the national stage.

FWIW, I think he's the next coach of the Knights.

I posted this before, and am still genuinely curious why Bill Sall is a "big-time hire" for Calvin. My knowledge of Calvin hoops only goes back 15-20 years, so maybe there's some history I'm unaware of.

My question is genuine, and not meant to be aggressive or overly-critical...I see a coach whose sub-.500 career record indicates to me a "mediocre-at-best" hire. Why is this move so exciting to many Knights fans?

As an outsider and someone who's only read his NMU bio, he sounds like a guy who has taken bad programs and made them good. He in place Ferris's program before he left and it sounds like he fixed NMUs program from bad to decent. If he can do that at schools without a strong basketball tradition and a bad history, imagine what he can do at a school with a good history and program.

[Goknights2017]

Given the quality hire of an experienced college coach for the Calvin women's program, one has to think there will be a big-time hire on the men's side of things as well.

What would a big-time hire be for Calvin? I think VanderWal is the only realistic answer for that, and that is not happening.

IMO, Bill Sall would be considered a big-time hire if that were to occur.

He has 8 winning seasons in 17 as a head coach and a career record under .500

Recent history tells us Ferris State is capable of being a player on the national stage.

FWIW, I think he's the next coach of the Knights.

I posted this before, and am still genuinely curious why Bill Sall is a "big-time hire" for Calvin. My knowledge of Calvin hoops only goes back 15-20 years, so maybe there's some history I'm unaware of.

My question is genuine, and not meant to be aggressive or overly-critical...I see a coach whose sub-.500 career record indicates to me a "mediocre-at-best" hire. Why is this move so exciting to many Knights fans?

As an outsider and someone who's only read his NMU bio, he sounds like a guy who has taken bad programs and made them good. He in place Ferris's program before he left and it sounds like he fixed NMUs program from bad to decent. If he can do that at schools without a strong basketball tradition and a bad history, imagine what he can do at a school with a good history and program.

Exactly. He took programs that were struggling and turned them into quality, competitive programs.

[KnightSlappy]

Seems like a good hire to me.

[almcguirejr]

FWIW - I spoke to Steve Ernst at the Michigan HS basketball finals.  He told me "Bill Sall would be good for Calvin and good for the league."

[knights2000]

Given the quality hire of an experienced college coach for the Calvin women's program, one has to think there will be a big-time hire on the men's side of things as well.

What would a big-time hire be for Calvin? I think VanderWal is the only realistic answer for that, and that is not happening.

IMO, Bill Sall would be considered a big-time hire if that were to occur.

He has 8 winning seasons in 17 as a head coach and a career record under .500

Recent history tells us Ferris State is capable of being a player on the national stage.

FWIW, I think he's the next coach of the Knights.

I posted this before, and am still genuinely curious why Bill Sall is a "big-time hire" for Calvin. My knowledge of Calvin hoops only goes back 15-20 years, so maybe there's some history I'm unaware of.

My question is genuine, and not meant to be aggressive or overly-critical...I see a coach whose sub-.500 career record indicates to me a "mediocre-at-best" hire. Why is this move so exciting to many Knights fans?

As an outsider and someone who's only read his NMU bio, he sounds like a guy who has taken bad programs and made them good. He in place Ferris's program before he left and it sounds like he fixed NMUs program from bad to decent. If he can do that at schools without a strong basketball tradition and a bad history, imagine what he can do at a school with a good history and program.

Exactly. He took programs that were struggling and turned them into quality, competitive programs.

These are not the words I would use to describe 15-13 and 17-12 seasons.

There's an argument to be made that things were better at Ferris, but since he left they've won 140+ games and a national championship in 6 seasons... going from average to great. To me, there's a huge difference in taking a bad 5 win program to 15 wins and taking an average 18 win program to 25 wins.

To be clear, I'm not saying Coach Sall isn't the right hire... I just don't see it as a home run. Perhaps I was unrealistic in my expectations of who this job might attract.

More positively, I was able to catch the replay of the press conference this afternoon. I was impressed by the love and commitment Coach Sall expressed toward Calvin and appreciate his stated approach toward building young men and what I believe is his commitment to using basketball to accomplish the mission of the school.

[Goknights2017]

Given the quality hire of an experienced college coach for the Calvin women's program, one has to think there will be a big-time hire on the men's side of things as well.

What would a big-time hire be for Calvin? I think VanderWal is the only realistic answer for that, and that is not happening.

IMO, Bill Sall would be considered a big-time hire if that were to occur.

He has 8 winning seasons in 17 as a head coach and a career record under .500

Recent history tells us Ferris State is capable of being a player on the national stage.

FWIW, I think he's the next coach of the Knights.

I posted this before, and am still genuinely curious why Bill Sall is a "big-time hire" for Calvin. My knowledge of Calvin hoops only goes back 15-20 years, so maybe there's some history I'm unaware of.

My question is genuine, and not meant to be aggressive or overly-critical...I see a coach whose sub-.500 career record indicates to me a "mediocre-at-best" hire. Why is this move so exciting to many Knights fans?

As an outsider and someone who's only read his NMU bio, he sounds like a guy who has taken bad programs and made them good. He in place Ferris's program before he left and it sounds like he fixed NMUs program from bad to decent. If he can do that at schools without a strong basketball tradition and a bad history, imagine what he can do at a school with a good history and program.

Exactly. He took programs that were struggling and turned them into quality, competitive programs.

These are not the words I would use to describe 15-13 and 17-12 seasons.

There's an argument to be made that things were better at Ferris, but since he left they've won 140+ games and a national championship in 6 seasons... going from average to great. To me, there's a huge difference in taking a bad 5 win program to 15 wins and taking an average 18 win program to 25 wins.

To be clear, I'm not saying Coach Sall isn't the right hire... I just don't see it as a home run. Perhaps I was unrealistic in my expectations of who this job might attract.

More positively, I was able to catch the replay of the press conference this afternoon. I was impressed by the love and commitment Coach Sall expressed toward Calvin and appreciate his stated approach toward building young men and what I believe is his commitment to using basketball to accomplish the mission of the school.

True. I hadn't looked up the exact numbers. However, he certainly turned around some struggling programs. I'm excited to see what he can do. I think he will be a good fit.

[goodknight]

Given the quality hire of an experienced college coach for the Calvin women's program, one has to think there will be a big-time hire on the men's side of things as well.

What would a big-time hire be for Calvin? I think VanderWal is the only realistic answer for that, and that is not happening.

IMO, Bill Sall would be considered a big-time hire if that were to occur.

He has 8 winning seasons in 17 as a head coach and a career record under .500

Recent history tells us Ferris State is capable of being a player on the national stage.

FWIW, I think he's the next coach of the Knights.

I posted this before, and am still genuinely curious why Bill Sall is a "big-time hire" for Calvin. My knowledge of Calvin hoops only goes back 15-20 years, so maybe there's some history I'm unaware of.

My question is genuine, and not meant to be aggressive or overly-critical...I see a coach whose sub-.500 career record indicates to me a "mediocre-at-best" hire. Why is this move so exciting to many Knights fans?

As an outsider and someone who's only read his NMU bio, he sounds like a guy who has taken bad programs and made them good. He in place Ferris's program before he left and it sounds like he fixed NMUs program from bad to decent. If he can do that at schools without a strong basketball tradition and a bad history, imagine what he can do at a school with a good history and program.

Exactly. He took programs that were struggling and turned them into quality, competitive programs.

These are not the words I would use to describe 15-13 and 17-12 seasons.

There's an argument to be made that things were better at Ferris, but since he left they've won 140+ games and a national championship in 6 seasons... going from average to great. To me, there's a huge difference in taking a bad 5 win program to 15 wins and taking an average 18 win program to 25 wins.

To be clear, I'm not saying Coach Sall isn't the right hire... I just don't see it as a home run. Perhaps I was unrealistic in my expectations of who this job might attract.

More positively, I was able to catch the replay of the press conference this afternoon. I was impressed by the love and commitment Coach Sall expressed toward Calvin and appreciate his stated approach toward building young men and what I believe is his commitment to using basketball to accomplish the mission of the school.

K2K, it strikes me that this hiring was the best possible outcome for Calvin given the current constraints. I never saw Bill Sall play but I've seen him coach. He's a passionate competitor, and I believe he'll instill a fierce work ethic into the Calvin program. He will bring that same passion to recruiting. He spoke at the press conference of restoring/returning the Calvin basketball program back to the tradition that he experienced as a player. Since you have only 15-20 years of exposure to the Calvin basketball program, you've only seen the program as KVS has shaped it. No coach is perfect, but I've seen Calvin basketball teams led by Barney Steen, Don Vroon, Ralph Honderd and Eddie Douma. Now, Bill Sall will be able to add a fresh flavor to the tradition. I expect it will be spicy at times and much more interesting to watch than the past several seasons have been. 

[wiz]

Too bad the Keystone Kops fumbled around so long and allowed so many recruiting opportunities to pass.  But, in the end, they found the right person for the job.  We welcome Bill Sall back to Calvin!

[sac]

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I would heavily discount Sall's records from his first couple years in Marquette.  He inherited a program with an expected 9 returning players he ended up with 1 by the time his first Fall practice kicked in.  That was a total rebuild from zero.

Ferris State wasn't rock bottom when he took over there but it was close they won 1 GLIAC game the year before he arrived.   They were well down the GLIAC's pecking order and he turned them around quickly winning North Division championships in year 2 and 3.  It was also Sall who gave Bronkema a job at Ferris State who took Ferris a step higher that may or may not have happened under Sall.


The GLIAC is a really competitive D2 league.  5 Different programs have won the North Divison and 5 different programs have won the South Division in the last 10 years.  Some really good coaches in that league as well.  I suppose you can question whether this is a "home run" hire based on record but it seems like Sall ending up at Calvin was always a possibility since Eddie left, was fired, asked to leave, took the Hillsdale job  ?  .....and Sall followed him to Hillsdale and then brought Eddie along to Ferris.  Its a branch of that coaching tree Calvin fans would want I would think.

Its a good hire and honestly kind of expected, just not the way it all went down, that does deserve a 60/60 episode.