Steve Donahue & BC basketball

Switching to a baseball metaphor Steve Donahue says it's not a better offer but only a "home run" offer that would lure him away from Cornell, Brian Delaney writes. [www.theithacajournal.com] and [www.pressconnects.com]

Steve Donahue
As I say to you all the time, really it has to be a flat-out home run.

No matter what you read, there's nothing that I've even entertained that I would even consider leaving Cornell for. Nothing. There's just not. I've said no to every single one of the (calls) that have inquired about me leaving here.

To beat this situation, in terms of the people I work for, the university I represent, the family loving the area as much as they do, all those things, it would have to be an incredible situation for me to leave Cornell.

The story also quotes athletics director Andy Noel as saying "an ongoing effort has been made to make the coaching position 'better and better'" ... that while Cornell "certainly [has] our limits" .. "we've been addressing [the importance of retaining Steve Donahue] for the last many years [not just months]."

1/31/2011 changed the thread title. Didn't realize this sliver of discussion would last more than half a year without a newer topic.

I won't leave unless I do.

Donahue knows that his market value may never be higher. He appears to be aggressively looking to move. My only concern is that the same things that make him a great Ivy League coach may not work in the top conferences. He most likely will not be recruiting or coaching the same type of athlete. Also, his down to earth intelligent style is great for Cornell. But will it work at places where lying and cheating is the way to recruit and win?

I think the BC job makes a lot of sense for Donahue and the school. I think this is the "home run."

It is looking more and more out here in New England that he is the choice for BC. All indications from the regular sports media as well as the rumor mill is saying these things. Keeping in mind that those same sources were saying that he was a top choice for the Seton Hall job and then did not interview that well.

I thought in the Ithaca journal, Donahue said he never even interviewed at Seton Hall and that was just a false report

MetaEzra has confirmed that Donahue will be coaching for Penn next year:

[www.metaezra.com]

mnagowski
MetaEzra has confirmed that Donahue will be coaching for Penn next year:

[www.metaezra.com]

I like how they assume Noel doesn't know the difference between "it's" and "its." That's funny stuff...

A BC blog on Donahue.

Trotsky
A BC blog on Donahue.

So I went on and voted that I didn't want him to coach BC.

Trotsky
A BC blog on Donahue.

Interesting that Foote and Dale are given as examples of Donahue's strong recruiting. From what I've read, they both fell into his lap, so-to-speak. (Not sure about Wittman, to other example.)

mnagowski
MetaEzra has confirmed that Donahue will be coaching for Penn next year:

[www.metaezra.com]

Which is the worse possibility: MetaEzra never went through a Cornell writing course ... or he did? Ouch.

billhoward

mnagowski
MetaEzra has confirmed that Donahue will be coaching for Penn next year:

[www.metaezra.com]

Which is the worse possibility: MetaEzra never went through a Cornell writing course ... or he did? Ouch.

Seriously? As opposed to the convoluted sentence you used to open this thread?

JasonN95

Trotsky
A BC blog on Donahue.

Interesting that Foote and Dale are given as examples of Donahue's strong recruiting. From what I've read, they both fell into his lap, so-to-speak. (Not sure about Wittman, to other example.)

I dont remember the exact story on Wittman but I believe Wittman committed to Cornell relatively early possibly in his junior year, got hurt and was sort of overlooked by the Big Ten schools. Then in his senior year he started to get a lot of attention but stayed true to his commitment

phillysportsfan

JasonN95

Trotsky
A BC blog on Donahue.

Interesting that Foote and Dale are given as examples of Donahue's strong recruiting. From what I've read, they both fell into his lap, so-to-speak. (Not sure about Wittman, to other example.)

I dont remember the exact story on Wittman but I believe Wittman committed to Cornell relatively early possibly in his junior year, got hurt and was sort of overlooked by the Big Ten schools. Then in his senior year he started to get a lot of attention but stayed true to his commitment

and is probably glad he did. Indeed it's hard to say what a great recruiter Donahue is, as you're right, for some of the seniors the stars just aligned. How the underclassmen turn out will probably be the best test.

phillysportsfan

JasonN95

Trotsky
A BC blog on Donahue.

Interesting that Foote and Dale are given as examples of Donahue's strong recruiting. From what I've read, they both fell into his lap, so-to-speak. (Not sure about Wittman, to other example.)

I dont remember the exact story on Wittman but I believe Wittman committed to Cornell relatively early possibly in his junior year, got hurt and was sort of overlooked by the Big Ten schools. Then in his senior year he started to get a lot of attention but stayed true to his commitment

I had heard it was kind of the opposite: Wittman was getting a fair amount of attention his junior year, but then an injury kept him from getting any serious offers his senior year. He could have been a walk-on at Indiana or Minnesota, but Cornell was the only school to take the chance and 'sign' him.

[www.courier-journal.com]

mnagowski

phillysportsfan

JasonN95

Trotsky
A BC blog on Donahue.

Interesting that Foote and Dale are given as examples of Donahue's strong recruiting. From what I've read, they both fell into his lap, so-to-speak. (Not sure about Wittman, to other example.)

I dont remember the exact story on Wittman but I believe Wittman committed to Cornell relatively early possibly in his junior year, got hurt and was sort of overlooked by the Big Ten schools. Then in his senior year he started to get a lot of attention but stayed true to his commitment

I had heard it was kind of the opposite: Wittman was getting a fair amount of attention his junior year, but then an injury kept him from getting any serious offers his senior year. He could have been a walk-on at Indiana or Minnesota, but Cornell was the only school to take the chance and 'sign' him.

[www.courier-journal.com]

Ok I got it mixed up then, too lazy to look it up

Yes Donahue was lucky to get Foote and Dale but I think he has proven his ability to build a program, it took awhile but he took this program from being a joke to the Sweet 16. Also Donahue did recruit quite a few Ivy rookie of the years 4 in 10 years. I think the freshman we have now have a lot of potential, Donahue has said Peck is probably the best athlete on the team and Miles has such amazing speed, I look forward to next year especially if Donahue stays. The Ivy league title will be so open next year, Princeton is probably a slight favorite with Harvard close behind but Penn is bringing in a very good recruiting class.

I hope he gets the BC job. More than anything I want Coach to be successful on the big stage. I've had conversations with the guy and he is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Maybe too down to earth for BC, but I think he deserves a shot for everything he accomplished at Cornell. If he can make Cornell a power in the Ivy League, something that 5 years ago I would've scoffed at, he's got the stuff to make BC at least more competitive than they have been in the ACC the last few years under Skinner.

Foote may be a bad example of Donahue's ability to recruit players but he is a GREAT example of his ability to develop players. Foote was basically a 98lb weakling and half a spaz when he transferred in. Donahue found the real player inside that guy. For Dale, Donahue gets credit for seeing what others didn't. He got the tape late in the game but was smart enough to know that the rest of the country was making a mistake by passing on this kid from Birmingham.

He should also get credit for Wroblewski, who was a valuable contributor at a tough position as a freshman and we can hope that the players waiting in the wings for the graduation of the core of this team will prove to be good players as well.

I hope Donahue doesnt take the job but I wish him the best if he does. Although if I was him I dont think I would want the job based on how much of a jackass their AD is. His reason for firing Skinner was that he was too laid back, they werent getting enough fans, their wasnt enough enthusiasm around the program, on and on. He was their most successful coach basketball, for them to just dump him like that is crazy after a few bad years. He also said that he was there too long, he said no many coaches stay in one place after 13 years. Donahue seems to want job security, he has mentioned before how he does not understand how coaches leave for jobs every few years, how their families handle it. BC does not seem to be a good place to go for job security with an AD like that. The last thing I want to see if Donahue go somewhere like BC and get fired after a few years when he could have stayed here and had a job for life. Katz has a great article along these lines about how when are AD's finally going to be held responsible, Holy Cross is another example in article that is amazing, how can a school fire a coach after 1 year??


[espn.go.com]

There has been a noticeable lack of outrage over Skinner's firing. I think it was time for him to leave the program. The BC AD wants a Coach Izzo. I think Donahue is more Coach K than Izzo but I still think he can be successful there.

phillysportsfan
Donahue seems to want job security

If he stays he has a job, and the mayoralty of every bar and restaurant in Tompkins County, for life.

srg1
There has been a noticeable lack of outrage over Skinner's firing. I think it was time for him to leave the program. The BC AD wants a Coach Izzo. I think Donahue is more Coach K than Izzo but I still think he can be successful there.

I would say there has been a lack of outrage because no one cares about BC basketball, Boston is a pro sports town and they havent gotten many students to the games recently

phillysportsfan
Boston is a pro sports town

Ian Faith: The Boston gig has been cancelled...
David St. Hubbins: What?
Ian Faith: Yeah. I wouldn't worry about it though, it's not a big college town.

phillysportsfan

srg1
There has been a noticeable lack of outrage over Skinner's firing. I think it was time for him to leave the program. The BC AD wants a Coach Izzo. I think Donahue is more Coach K than Izzo but I still think he can be successful there.

I would say there has been a lack of outrage because no one cares about BC basketball, Boston is a pro sports town and they havent gotten many students to the games recently

And this is one of the reasons Skinner was fired. They want someone to make the students care. Cornell students didn't care about basketball a few years ago.

Trotsky

phillysportsfan
Boston is a pro sports town

Ian Faith: The Boston gig has been cancelled...
David St. Hubbins: What?
Ian Faith: Yeah. I wouldn't worry about it though, it's not a big college town.

It is a big college town but not so much a big college sports town

phillysportsfan

Trotsky

phillysportsfan
Boston is a pro sports town

Ian Faith: The Boston gig has been cancelled...
David St. Hubbins: What?
Ian Faith: Yeah. I wouldn't worry about it though, it's not a big college town.

It is a big college town but not so much a big college sports town

You. Are. Insane.

ugarte

phillysportsfan

Trotsky

phillysportsfan
Boston is a pro sports town

Ian Faith: The Boston gig has been cancelled...
David St. Hubbins: What?
Ian Faith: Yeah. I wouldn't worry about it though, it's not a big college town.

It is a big college town but not so much a big college sports town

You. Are. Insane.

What do you mean? Boston's college basketball is nothing like Philly with the Big 5

phillysportsfan

ugarte

phillysportsfan

Trotsky

phillysportsfan
Boston is a pro sports town

Ian Faith: The Boston gig has been cancelled...
David St. Hubbins: What?
Ian Faith: Yeah. I wouldn't worry about it though, it's not a big college town.

It is a big college town but not so much a big college sports town

You. Are. Insane.

What do you mean? Boston's college basketball is nothing like Philly with the Big 5

I would have to agree with Philly here. With the exception of college hockey, all anybody in Boston can talk about are the god damn Red Sox.

[www.nj.com]

Apparently Seton Hall would have hired Donahue if they did not hire Willard, if this article is trustworthy

mnagowski

phillysportsfan

ugarte

phillysportsfan

Trotsky

phillysportsfan
Boston is a pro sports town

Ian Faith: The Boston gig has been cancelled...
David St. Hubbins: What?
Ian Faith: Yeah. I wouldn't worry about it though, it's not a big college town.

It is a big college town but not so much a big college sports town

You. Are. Insane.

What do you mean? Boston's college basketball is nothing like Philly with the Big 5

I would have to agree with Philly here. With the exception of college hockey, all anybody in Boston can talk about are the god damn Red Sox.

But I wouldn't call Philly a big college sports town. Basketball, yes, but what else? Boston's love for hockey is at least as strong as Philly's basketball. Philly doesn't have big time football, BC sometimes does. Overall I'd give the nod to Boston.

Jim Hyla

mnagowski

phillysportsfan

ugarte

phillysportsfan

Trotsky

phillysportsfan
Boston is a pro sports town

Ian Faith: The Boston gig has been cancelled...
David St. Hubbins: What?
Ian Faith: Yeah. I wouldn't worry about it though, it's not a big college town.

It is a big college town but not so much a big college sports town

You. Are. Insane.

What do you mean? Boston's college basketball is nothing like Philly with the Big 5

I would have to agree with Philly here. With the exception of college hockey, all anybody in Boston can talk about are the god damn Red Sox.

But I wouldn't call Philly a big college sports town. Basketball, yes, but what else? Boston's love for hockey is at least as strong as Philly's basketball. Philly doesn't have big time football, BC sometimes does. Overall I'd give the nod to Boston.

To be fair, Philly does have Penn State.

Jim Hyla

mnagowski

phillysportsfan

ugarte

phillysportsfan

Trotsky

phillysportsfan
Boston is a pro sports town

Ian Faith: The Boston gig has been cancelled...
David St. Hubbins: What?
Ian Faith: Yeah. I wouldn't worry about it though, it's not a big college town.

It is a big college town but not so much a big college sports town

You. Are. Insane.

What do you mean? Boston's college basketball is nothing like Philly with the Big 5

I would have to agree with Philly here. With the exception of college hockey, all anybody in Boston can talk about are the god damn Red Sox.

But I wouldn't call Philly a big college sports town. Basketball, yes, but what else? Boston's love for hockey is at least as strong as Philly's basketball. Philly doesn't have big time football, BC sometimes does. Overall I'd give the nod to Boston.

Penn St sort of doesnt count because outside Penn St grads I would say most people around Philly dont care about Penn St football. There is more general interest in the Big 5 than Penn St football.

Philly has nothing else college sports wise but basketball but that is all that I am talking about, college basketball is not a big thing in Boston

mnagowski
To be fair, Philly does have Penn State.

Different worlds. Penn State is in Pennsyltucky. Philadelphia is in New Jersey.

Trotsky

mnagowski
To be fair, Philly does have Penn State.

Different worlds. Penn State is in Pennsyltucky. Philadelphia is in New Jersey.

Serves me right. The girl I dated from Philly hated sports.

phillysportsfan

Jim Hyla

mnagowski

phillysportsfan

ugarte

phillysportsfan

Trotsky

phillysportsfan
Boston is a pro sports town

Ian Faith: The Boston gig has been cancelled...
David St. Hubbins: What?
Ian Faith: Yeah. I wouldn't worry about it though, it's not a big college town.

It is a big college town but not so much a big college sports town

You. Are. Insane.

What do you mean? Boston's college basketball is nothing like Philly with the Big 5

I would have to agree with Philly here. With the exception of college hockey, all anybody in Boston can talk about are the god damn Red Sox.

But I wouldn't call Philly a big college sports town. Basketball, yes, but what else? Boston's love for hockey is at least as strong as Philly's basketball. Philly doesn't have big time football, BC sometimes does. Overall I'd give the nod to Boston.

Penn St sort of doesnt count because outside Penn St grads I would say most people around Philly dont care about Penn St football. There is more general interest in the Big 5 than Penn St football.

Philly has nothing else college sports wise but basketball but that is all that I am talking about, college basketball is not a big thing in Boston

Be fair, If Temple didn't suck so badly (except last year) I think fans in Philly would care. But then again, if the Eagles are playing, it's hard to get Philadelphians to pay attention to anything else.

Still wondering if BC is a home run? Maybe Donahue meant "... or reach the left field wall at Fenway."

He certainly has the ability to take BC one level up.

billhoward
Still wondering if BC is a home run? Maybe Donahue meant "... or reach the left field wall at Fenway."

He certainly has the ability to take BC one level up.

Well, he has the ability, but so did Skinner. According to SI, he won more games than any other BC coach in history and took the team to 7 NCAA tournaments in 13 years.

On the surface, this looks like a home run. Boston's a great city, BC is a respectable school, Coach D's experience at Catholic schools should help him there, and he's used to basketball playing second fiddle to hockey. But playing in the ACC makes competition and travel tough, and probably is a recruiting disadvantage against the likes of UConn. At UConn a kid from NY, for example, can expect to play before family and friends at SJU, SH, RU; the trip up to Storrs is about the same as to BC; and family & friends get to see the Big East tourney at the Garden. When it comes to blue chippers from New England and the NY metro area, it's hard to see what BC can offer that's better than UConn except, perhaps, better academics. If you're in the ACC and have to be second in line in your home turf, you already have one foot in a hole. The fact that Skinner was so successful, ran a clean program, and still got the heave ho does not speak well of the BC job.

billhoward
Still wondering if BC is a home run? Maybe Donahue meant "... or reach the left field wall at Fenway."

He certainly has the ability to take BC one level up.

The report I read said $900K per year. Money isn't everything, but that is pretty close to a home run without considering the step up in professional prestige and a move back to a big city.

ugarte

billhoward
Still wondering if BC is a home run? Maybe Donahue meant "... or reach the left field wall at Fenway."

He certainly has the ability to take BC one level up.

The report I read said $900K per year. Money isn't everything, but that is pretty close to a home run without considering the step up in professional prestige and a move back to a big city.

Didn't they have a graphic during the KY game, something like Cornell's b-ball budget is only $800k whereas KY's was over $8 million. If that's true and your $900k is true, he is now making more than Cornell's b-ball budget. Cliff Clavin would remember those sorts of details.

RatushnyFan

ugarte

billhoward
Still wondering if BC is a home run? Maybe Donahue meant "... or reach the left field wall at Fenway."

He certainly has the ability to take BC one level up.

The report I read said $900K per year. Money isn't everything, but that is pretty close to a home run without considering the step up in professional prestige and a move back to a big city.

Didn't they have a graphic during the KY game, something like Cornell's b-ball budget is only $800k whereas KY's was over $8 million. If that's true and your $900k is true, he is now making more than Cornell's b-ball budget. Cliff Clavin would remember those sorts of details.

No, Cliff Clavin would start talking about how the game of Basketball was invented by John Naismith in Springfield, Mass.

Jeff Hopkins '82

RatushnyFan

ugarte

billhoward
Still wondering if BC is a home run? Maybe Donahue meant "... or reach the left field wall at Fenway."

He certainly has the ability to take BC one level up.

The report I read said $900K per year. Money isn't everything, but that is pretty close to a home run without considering the step up in professional prestige and a move back to a big city.

Didn't they have a graphic during the KY game, something like Cornell's b-ball budget is only $800k whereas KY's was over $8 million. If that's true and your $900k is true, he is now making more than Cornell's b-ball budget. Cliff Clavin would remember those sorts of details.

No, Cliff Clavin would start talking about how the game of Basketball was invented by John Naismith in Springfield, Mass.

No, Cliff Clavin would start talking about how basketball was REALLY invented by...

ugarte

Jeff Hopkins '82

RatushnyFan

ugarte

billhoward
Still wondering if BC is a home run? Maybe Donahue meant "... or reach the left field wall at Fenway."

He certainly has the ability to take BC one level up.

The report I read said $900K per year. Money isn't everything, but that is pretty close to a home run without considering the step up in professional prestige and a move back to a big city.

Didn't they have a graphic during the KY game, something like Cornell's b-ball budget is only $800k whereas KY's was over $8 million. If that's true and your $900k is true, he is now making more than Cornell's b-ball budget. Cliff Clavin would remember those sorts of details.

No, Cliff Clavin would start talking about how the game of Basketball was invented by John Naismith in Springfield, Mass.

No, Cliff Clavin would start talking about how basketball was REALLY invented by...

true.

Jeff Hopkins '82

ugarte

Jeff Hopkins '82

RatushnyFan

ugarte

billhoward
Still wondering if BC is a home run? Maybe Donahue meant "... or reach the left field wall at Fenway."

He certainly has the ability to take BC one level up.

The report I read said $900K per year. Money isn't everything, but that is pretty close to a home run without considering the step up in professional prestige and a move back to a big city.

Didn't they have a graphic during the KY game, something like Cornell's b-ball budget is only $800k whereas KY's was over $8 million. If that's true and your $900k is true, he is now making more than Cornell's b-ball budget. Cliff Clavin would remember those sorts of details.

No, Cliff Clavin would start talking about how the game of Basketball was invented by John Naismith in Springfield, Mass.

No, Cliff Clavin would start talking about how basketball was REALLY invented by...

true.

Gack! Basketball history ... Springfield (actually Holyoke) ... Dr. Naismith. Permit me three historical anecdotes: My newspaper assigned a non-sports reporter to write a news (not sports) story about the TipOff Classic in Springfield, Mass., in the event's early years circa 1981:

1) She mistook 1896-then for circa-1981-now and said the game would be played with peach baskets.

2) She interviewed honorary TipOff Classic chairman Bob Cousy and asked him to refresh her memory on his link to basketball.

3) She captioned a photo of Springfield's 5-foot-1 mayor and Kentucky center Sam Bowie this way, "Springfield mayor Theodore E. Dimauro, left, shakes hands with Kentucky center Sam Bowie, right ..." in case it was somehow unclear.

billhoward
Springfield (actually Holyoke)

Thanks for the correction, Cliff.

billhoward
Still wondering if BC is a home run?

The Boston College job is a 500' home run for someone like Donohue. Here's someone with a classic northeast suburban/urban Catholic background (Delaware County, Pennyslvania) who is offered a very big salary at one of the nation's premiere northeast suburban/urban Catholic institutions. And on top of that, it's in the nation's most iconic basketball conference. And we're debating whether it meets the definition of a home run?

the bigger issues is a coach who has never competed in a conf with talent nor ever recruited for it.. this is a big reach for BC

upperdeck
the bigger issues is a coach who has never competed in a conf with talent nor ever recruited for it.. this is a big reach for BC

You take a chance every time you hire a coach on the way up. You also take a chance hiring a coach who was famous and who's available. Bob Blackman clobbered Cornell when he coached Dartmouth in the 1950s through about 1970 (104-37-3). We hired him in the late 1970s and by that time he'd run out of gas (23-33-1, only 2 seasons above .500).

Donahue showed he can recruit players with worse constraints than BC will have. He's shown he can beat top 20 teams. He's shown he can make a hockey-mad school care more about basketball in short order. (Something we shouldn't be proud of, but Cornell's latent hoops addiction kicked in once the victories kicked in.)

I could see a Donahue team in the final four with his first cycle of players.

billhoward
He's shown he can make a hockey-mad school care more about basketball in short order. (Something we shouldn't be proud of, but Cornell's latent hoops addiction kicked in once the victories kicked in.)

It's called a bandwagon.

Bandwagons are how traditions start, though. Cornell went crazy for hockey when Harkness' team starting dominating. God bless that bandwagon.

Trotsky
Bandwagons are how traditions start, though. Cornell went crazy for hockey when Harkness' team(s) started dominating. God bless that bandwagon.

FYP

[www.slopemedia.org]

video played at party thanking Donahue for the last 10 years

The Cornell Club of Boston welcomes Steve Donahue to Boston as the keynote speaker for the club's 2010 Annual Meeting. The event, Cornell Cinderella Story - Courtside With Steve Donahue, takes place on Thursay June 3rd in downtown Boston and includes dinner, dessert, Coach Donahue's talk and one-on-one networking time before Game 1 of the NBA Finals follows. Discounts for young alumni available. Total seating capacity is limited. More info and registration: [www.cornellclub.org]

Here's an article about BC basketball and Steve Donahue from today's Globe:

[www.boston.com]

How long has it been since Yale beat Steve Donahue? If you said "a few minutes ago" you are correct.

I almost feel sorry for Donahue but hell he left here under his own will and got paid

phillysportsfan
I almost feel sorry for Donahue but hell he left here under his own will and got paid

On paper, BC should beat any Ivy. From what I recall, they did not lose that many key players from last year. (Nothing like Cornell.) But for the past three years BC has lost early season games to Ivy teams, twice to Harvard and now Yale. Maybe there's something about this group of players that explains this.

Then again, to be fair to Donahue, the team has to learn a new system, and he has yet to recruit "his" kind of players. (Although by all accounts, Al Skinner is an excellent coach.) So we should wait a bit longer before throwing him under the bus. Still, as some pundits have said, jumping from the League (Ivy, that is) to the ACC was a giant step, and Coach D's success stemmed in large part to understanding how to recruit competitive Ivy players. It would be ironic and sad if somehow his star is short-lived. Given his record, I'm sure there will always be a home for him at an Ivy, and seven other schools that would dread his return.

BC with two decent wins over Texas A&M and Cal in the Old Spice tourney, unfortunately they lost to the other team that chants "Lets Go Red" Wisconsin

After the Wisconsin game, Donahue is now 0-2 against teams he beat with Cornell last season. Looks like UMASS, Bryant, Bucknell, and Harvard still remain as comparisons. BC should win all or most of these.

BC beats Maryland 79-75 to give Donahue his first ACC win on the road, if they can keep this up they will probably make the NCAA tournament

phillysportsfan
BC beats Maryland 79-75 to give Donahue his first ACC win on the road, if they can keep this up they will probably make the NCAA tournament

Apparently he has only something like 8 scholarship players because several player recruited by Al Skinner elected to go somewhere else. It usually takes some time to get used to a new coach, but under the circumstances this is an impressive win.

Swampy

phillysportsfan
BC beats Maryland 79-75 to give Donahue his first ACC win on the road, if they can keep this up they will probably make the NCAA tournament

Apparently he has only something like 8 scholarship players because several player recruited by Al Skinner elected to go somewhere else. It usually takes some time to get used to a new coach, but under the circumstances this is an impressive win.

Yeah and one of their starters is a walkon that Donahue had recruited to Cornell who ultimately was going to go to Colgate. They also have another walkon, a senior, who has played intramural basketball at BC the last 3 years and one of Donahue's assistants had recruited him to a D3 school 4 years ago so when they found out he was at BC they asked him to walkon. Donahue is doing a hell of a job, when he gets his recruits in there, watch out

phillysportsfan

Swampy

phillysportsfan
BC beats Maryland 79-75 to give Donahue his first ACC win on the road, if they can keep this up they will probably make the NCAA tournament

Apparently he has only something like 8 scholarship players because several player recruited by Al Skinner elected to go somewhere else. It usually takes some time to get used to a new coach, but under the circumstances this is an impressive win.

Yeah and one of their starters is a walkon that Donahue had recruited to Cornell who ultimately was going to go to Colgate. They also have another walkon, a senior, who has played intramural basketball at BC the last 3 years and one of Donahue's assistants had recruited him to a D3 school 4 years ago so when they found out he was at BC they asked him to walkon. Donahue is doing a hell of a job, when he gets his recruits in there, watch out

But, it still is hard to cheer for BC.

I dont find it too hard, Donahue has got nothing to do with the hockey team, plus there could be nothing worse that if Donahue went to BC and fell flat on his face, losing his job in a few years when he could have stayed here, I want him to do really well at BC so that he didnt leave here for nothing

phillysportsfan
I dont find it too hard, Donahue has got nothing to do with the hockey team, plus there could be nothing worse that if Donahue went to BC and fell flat on his face, losing his job in a few years when he could have stayed here, I want him to do really well at BC so that he didnt leave here for nothing

And so he doesn't return to the Ivy League at some school that just fired its coach! Not even Cornell (the path from here to there would be too painful). On the other hand, if Courtney were to fulfill his aspiration and take the team to the Elite Eight, after which he would almost certainly be hired away, even a failed Donahue would look pretty good. Still, the safest thing is to hope for him to succeed at BC.

Yeah kinda funny that there was a post on the basketball board indicating that probably half the fans in the BC section at the Maryland game had Cornell gear on

phillysportsfan
I dont find it too hard, Donahue has got nothing to do with the hockey team, plus there could be nothing worse that if Donahue went to BC and fell flat on his face, losing his job in a few years when he could have stayed here, I want him to do really well at BC so that he didnt leave here for nothing

I'm still upset about BC leaving for the ACC. Putting that together with Boston hockey makes it hard. And I don't really feel it makes any difference how he does in regards to his leaving. Many coaches have left schools for higher aspirations only to fall flat. It doesn't take anything away from what they did. Harkness is probably the best example I can come up with.

Or we could just give best wishes to a guy who gave Cornell a ton of success, and who then understandably moved on to try to win at a higher level*. I hope the guy wins a national title someday, someplace.

Happy trails.


* Nobility of offer not available in some sports. Check with Lynah Faithful for details.

BC runs to 9-2 under Donahue and the Boston Globe [www.boston.com] projects they'll be 13-2 entering ACC play in January, this for a team picked for 10th in the ACC. If there's a downside for Donahue personally, it may be the difficulty filing his taxes this year. I wonder if coaches making that kind of money get nicked for a fraction of their salary from each state they play in, the way pro athletes do.

billhoward
BC runs to 9-2 under Donahue and the Boston Globe [www.boston.com] projects they'll be 13-2 entering ACC play in January, this for a team picked for 10th in the ACC. If there's a downside for Donahue personally, it may be the difficulty filing his taxes this year. I wonder if coaches making that kind of money get nicked for a fraction of their salary from each state they play in, the way pro athletes do.

Yeah, that must be terrible.

billhoward
BC runs to 9-2 under Donahue and the Boston Globe [www.boston.com] projects they'll be 13-2 entering ACC play in January, this for a team picked for 10th in the ACC. If there's a downside for Donahue personally, it may be the difficulty filing his taxes this year. I wonder if coaches making that kind of money get nicked for a fraction of their salary from each state they play in, the way pro athletes do.

Donahue is making enough that I'm sure he can hire an accountant instead of using Turbotax.

I didnt know pro athletes have to pay taxes for every state they play in, if that is the case with college coaches no wonder why Boeheim doesnt leave the state of NY until Big East conference play

phillysportsfan
I didnt know pro athletes have to pay taxes for every state they play in, if that is the case with college coaches no wonder why Boeheim doesnt leave the state of NY until Big East conference play

Don't be silly. He pays his athletes under the table so they don't have to file.

phillysportsfan
I didnt know pro athletes have to pay taxes for every state they play in,

I looked into this a little back when Derek Jeter claimed he was a Florida resident. Most states have a minimum level for income earned in the state before they require you to file a non-resident return. Obviously, modern day professional athletes easily pass this threshold with one game. Not sure if this is urban legend but I read multiple accounts of how the states didn't enforce this until California sent a tax bill to Michael Jordan in 1990. Most other states followed California's lead. Now some states are trying to collect from musicians on tour and highly paid, frequently traveling business executives.

nyc94

phillysportsfan
I didnt know pro athletes have to pay taxes for every state they play in,

I looked into this a little back when Derek Jeter claimed he was a Florida resident. Most states have a minimum level for income earned in the state before they require you to file a non-resident return. Obviously, modern day professional athletes easily pass this threshold with one game. Not sure if this is urban legend but I read multiple accounts of how the states didn't enforce this until California sent a tax bill to Michael Jordan in 1990. Most other states followed California's lead. Now some states are trying to collect from musicians on tour and highly paid, frequently traveling business executives.

I wonder how they determine the amount they try to collect from regular business travelers? Seems like it's fairly easy to determine the amount for an athlete (you could probably just say N/M of their total salary, where N is the number of games played in the state and M is the total number of games in their league's season) or for a touring musician (net income from tickets sold for performances in the state), less so for a businessman where it's less clear where money is actually earned.

Josh '99

nyc94

phillysportsfan
I didnt know pro athletes have to pay taxes for every state they play in,

I looked into this a little back when Derek Jeter claimed he was a Florida resident. Most states have a minimum level for income earned in the state before they require you to file a non-resident return. Obviously, modern day professional athletes easily pass this threshold with one game. Not sure if this is urban legend but I read multiple accounts of how the states didn't enforce this until California sent a tax bill to Michael Jordan in 1990. Most other states followed California's lead. Now some states are trying to collect from musicians on tour and highly paid, frequently traveling business executives.

I wonder how they determine the amount they try to collect from regular business travelers? Seems like it's fairly easy to determine the amount for an athlete (you could probably just say N/M of their total salary, where N is the number of games played in the state and M is the total number of games in their league's season) or for a touring musician (net income from tickets sold for performances in the state), less so for a businessman where it's less clear where money is actually earned.

My company starts withholding non-resident state taxes for any employee who spends more than 30 days during a year in another state. Don't know if that's the legal requirement (or how that would/could be defined).

And Donahue somehow manages to lose to Harvard which makes Harvard's 3rd straight win over BC
This has one really has to hurt Donahue and sort of ends the honeymoon for him there already with BC fans who are tired of losing to Harvard 3 straight years in a row
Funny to see Donahue go 0-2 vs the Ivies

I have a couple friends who are professional musicians here in Boston
They make a solid living at it (50K?) but certainly are not selling out venues muc less full blown stadium tours

They have a tax person that specializes in dealing with all the hurdles, multistate returns, lots of reimbursements, per diems, etc
Sounds like a total nigmare

Cornell95
I have a couple friends who are professional musicians here in Boston
They make a solid living at it (50K?) but certainly are not selling out venues muc less full blown stadium tours

They have a tax person that specializes in dealing with all the hurdles, multistate returns, lots of reimbursements, per diems, etc
Sounds like a total nigmare

Take the money in cash. Even the drummer could figure that one out.

phillysportsfan
And Donahue somehow manages to lose to Harvard which makes Harvard's 3rd straight win over BC

It's like a reverse-Beanpot!

Donahue and the whole BC assistant staff are at the game vs Harvard tonight

phillysportsfan
Donahue and the whole BC assistant staff are at the game vs Harvard tonight

Talk about leaving the cupboards empty... Donahue cleaned out the whole damn kitchen.

Not totally unexpected. Graduating for starters and a 6th man from last year that accounted for 72% of the scoring I knew they would be bad, but not this bad. Hopefully Courtney has a good recruiting class coming in.

Ken711
Not totally unexpected. Graduating for starters and a 6th man from last year that accounted for 72% of the scoring I knew they would be bad, but not this bad. Hopefully Courtney has a good recruiting class coming in.

Next year's recruiting class is probably the best we have had on paper for many years but we will see how it ends up, pretty impressive considering that Courtney only had a few months to put it together

Ken711
Not totally unexpected. Graduating for starters and a 6th man from last year that accounted for 72% of the scoring I knew they would be bad, but not this bad. Hopefully Courtney has a good recruiting class coming in.

Doesn't that imply that Steve didn't capitalize on the team's success in terms of recruiting?

ithacat

Ken711
Not totally unexpected. Graduating for starters and a 6th man from last year that accounted for 72% of the scoring I knew they would be bad, but not this bad. Hopefully Courtney has a good recruiting class coming in.

Doesn't that imply that Steve didn't capitalize on the team's success in terms of recruiting?

Yeah sort of, he did kind of leave the cupboard bare, although he did bring in Peck, a sophomore, and Wrobo, a junior. Donahue was never known to be a great recruiter, Dale and Wittman were not really highly recruited by anyone, Dale recruited himself here. Donahue spotted the talent from the guys no one else wanted and never really brought in classes full of guys who were ranked good on paper. Then again you cant really blame Donahue who knows what he would have done with this team this year or how he would have developed the current freshman and sophomore classes over 4 years

slopetv interviewed Donahue at the Harvard game

phillysportsfan

Ken711
Not totally unexpected. Graduating for starters and a 6th man from last year that accounted for 72% of the scoring I knew they would be bad, but not this bad. Hopefully Courtney has a good recruiting class coming in.

Next year's recruiting class is probably the best we have had on paper for many years but we will see how it ends up, pretty impressive considering that Courtney only had a few months to put it together

I thought several of these guys had been recruited by Coach D.

Swampy

phillysportsfan

Ken711
Not totally unexpected. Graduating for starters and a 6th man from last year that accounted for 72% of the scoring I knew they would be bad, but not this bad. Hopefully Courtney has a good recruiting class coming in.

Next year's recruiting class is probably the best we have had on paper for many years but we will see how it ends up, pretty impressive considering that Courtney only had a few months to put it together

I thought several of these guys had been recruited by Coach D.

Some of them possibly, I think Lamore briefly talked to one of the assistants, dont think Donahue had really recruited Devin Cherry much who was someone Penn really wanted, I'll ask the basketball blog guy he will know

Although when there is a coaching change you kind of have to rerecruit them

Swampy

phillysportsfan

Ken711
Not totally unexpected. Graduating for starters and a 6th man from last year that accounted for 72% of the scoring I knew they would be bad, but not this bad. Hopefully Courtney has a good recruiting class coming in.

Next year's recruiting class is probably the best we have had on paper for many years but we will see how it ends up, pretty impressive considering that Courtney only had a few months to put it together

I thought several of these guys had been recruited by Coach D.

Even if Donahue initiated contact (and I don't know if he did or didn't), Courtney would have had to convince them to stick with the program after Donahue bolted. I'm pretty sure that the Ivies don't have letters of intent.

ugarte

Swampy

phillysportsfan

Ken711
Not totally unexpected. Graduating for starters and a 6th man from last year that accounted for 72% of the scoring I knew they would be bad, but not this bad. Hopefully Courtney has a good recruiting class coming in.

Next year's recruiting class is probably the best we have had on paper for many years but we will see how it ends up, pretty impressive considering that Courtney only had a few months to put it together

I thought several of these guys had been recruited by Coach D.

Even if Donahue initiated contact (and I don't know if he did or didn't), Courtney would have had to convince them to stick with the program after Donahue bolted. I'm pretty sure that the Ivies don't have letters of intent.

yeah no letters of intent, only verbals

[cornellbball.proboards.com]

The basketball blog guy says that next year's recruiting class was almost entirely put together by Courtney, Donahue had little to do with it

phillysportsfan
[cornellbball.proboards.com]

The basketball blog guy says that next year's recruiting class was almost entirely put together by Courtney, Donahue had little to do with it

Thanks. Gawd, I love this forum. Where else can you get authoritative, civil replies to uncertain comments? I wish national politics were this sensible.

OTOH, is it me or is the basketball blog at the end of the link above virtually unreadable?

phillysportsfan

ugarte

Swampy

phillysportsfan

Ken711
Not totally unexpected. Graduating for starters and a 6th man from last year that accounted for 72% of the scoring I knew they would be bad, but not this bad. Hopefully Courtney has a good recruiting class coming in.

Next year's recruiting class is probably the best we have had on paper for many years but we will see how it ends up, pretty impressive considering that Courtney only had a few months to put it together

I thought several of these guys had been recruited by Coach D.

Even if Donahue initiated contact (and I don't know if he did or didn't), Courtney would have had to convince them to stick with the program after Donahue bolted. I'm pretty sure that the Ivies don't have letters of intent.

yeah no letters of intent, only verbals

Even if they did, a coaching change gives the recruit an out.

David Harding

phillysportsfan

ugarte

Swampy

phillysportsfan

Ken711
Not totally unexpected. Graduating for starters and a 6th man from last year that accounted for 72% of the scoring I knew they would be bad, but not this bad. Hopefully Courtney has a good recruiting class coming in.

Next year's recruiting class is probably the best we have had on paper for many years but we will see how it ends up, pretty impressive considering that Courtney only had a few months to put it together

I thought several of these guys had been recruited by Coach D.

Even if Donahue initiated contact (and I don't know if he did or didn't), Courtney would have had to convince them to stick with the program after Donahue bolted. I'm pretty sure that the Ivies don't have letters of intent.

yeah no letters of intent, only verbals

Even if they did, a coaching change gives the recruit an out.

Hahahahahaha. No, it does not.

(Edit: Because there was confusion, I should clarify. I am mocking the idea that the National Letter of Intent would in any way benefit the player, not that David was incorrect about it.)

Swampy

phillysportsfan
[cornellbball.proboards.com]

The basketball blog guy says that next year's recruiting class was almost entirely put together by Courtney, Donahue had little to do with it

Thanks. Gawd, I love this forum. Where else can you get authoritative, civil replies to uncertain comments? I wish national politics were this sensible.

OTOH, is it me or is the basketball blog at the end of the link above virtually unreadable?

Why is the blog unreadable?

Sure the blog guy probably brings up the Harvard recruiting violations too much and probably took Cormier's quote about Lin too far but hell it is Harvard and Hahvard SUCKS

Plus he gets a lot of recruiting info and makes finding articles and info about the basketball team easy by putting it all into one site

phillysportsfan

Swampy

phillysportsfan
[cornellbball.proboards.com]

The basketball blog guy says that next year's recruiting class was almost entirely put together by Courtney, Donahue had little to do with it

Thanks. Gawd, I love this forum. Where else can you get authoritative, civil replies to uncertain comments? I wish national politics were this sensible.

OTOH, is it me or is the basketball blog at the end of the link above virtually unreadable?

Why is the blog unreadable?

I haven't checked in for a while but: very little original content, just cut and pastes from every single article that mentions Cornell Basketball.

ugarte

phillysportsfan

Swampy

phillysportsfan
[cornellbball.proboards.com]

The basketball blog guy says that next year's recruiting class was almost entirely put together by Courtney, Donahue had little to do with it

Thanks. Gawd, I love this forum. Where else can you get authoritative, civil replies to uncertain comments? I wish national politics were this sensible.

OTOH, is it me or is the basketball blog at the end of the link above virtually unreadable?

Why is the blog unreadable?

I haven't checked in for a while but: very little original content, just cut and pastes from every single article that mentions Cornell Basketball.

not sure why this would be a bad thing or not good enough. 100% with philly on this one. i love the CBB

ugarte

phillysportsfan

Swampy

phillysportsfan
[cornellbball.proboards.com]

The basketball blog guy says that next year's recruiting class was almost entirely put together by Courtney, Donahue had little to do with it

Thanks. Gawd, I love this forum. Where else can you get authoritative, civil replies to uncertain comments? I wish national politics were this sensible.

OTOH, is it me or is the basketball blog at the end of the link above virtually unreadable?

Why is the blog unreadable?

I haven't checked in for a while but: very little original content, just cut and pastes from every single article that mentions Cornell Basketball.

there is little original content but it is easier to check his site that always looking around on the internet for articles plus he posts a lot of recruiting information that is not easily available anywhere else

Trotsky

mnagowski
To be fair, Philly does have Penn State.

Different worlds. Penn State is in Pennsyltucky. Philadelphia is in New Jersey.

Heh! If this line is yours, you should be warming up for Ugarte, or vice versa. I didn't count but I think you're also close to a haiku. Actually, two over (I realized there's an app for that).

phillysportsfan

Swampy

phillysportsfan
[cornellbball.proboards.com]

The basketball blog guy says that next year's recruiting class was almost entirely put together by Courtney, Donahue had little to do with it

Thanks. Gawd, I love this forum. Where else can you get authoritative, civil replies to uncertain comments? I wish national politics were this sensible.

OTOH, is it me or is the basketball blog at the end of the link above virtually unreadable?

Why is the blog unreadable?

Sure the blog guy probably brings up the Harvard recruiting violations too much and probably took Cormier's quote about Lin too far but hell it is Harvard and Hahvard SUCKS

Plus he gets a lot of recruiting info and makes finding articles and info about the basketball team easy by putting it all into one site

I meant because of the color scheme. Maybe it's my computer, browser, or eyes, but I can't read the page at the end of the original link. OTOH, I'm able to read the Cornell Basketball Blog quite well when I link directly to its home page.

Not a good day for a team very much on the bubble. Probably NIT-bound.