Next Cornell basketball coach

[RichH]

What transpired after the Sweet 16 is that, after three years of being courted by teams that could pay him more, the RIGHT teams finally started calling. I don't think he played it coy at all. He told anyone who asked that he would leave for the right offer and even Andy Noel, when interviewed, seemed to indicate that Donahue was up-front with him in exactly the same way. He didn't make bullshit pronouncements about how he was going to retire at Cornell or that this job was the best job he could ever have. He said he'd leave "for a home run."

That's all well and good, and for all we know, he may have been completely keeping Andy in the loop or not. I don't care. The only thing that rubs me the wrong way was his public statements to the CU and Ithaca communities:

"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."

OK fine, but the perception that he put out for us was that he was just happy as a clam in Ithaca sitting next to a phone, and if it happened to ring with a great offer, he would probably take it.  The picture I get from external reports is that he and his people were out there actively selling himself to any and every big program that would listen, knowing his stock would never be higher.  To me, there's a difference between taking calls and making calls, and I feel he was dialing a lot more than he let on.  He's telling us "guys, look...this offer fell in my lap...they came knocking," when really he was carrying around a resume and head shot to Seton Hall and BC.

I'm fine with higher ambitions. But just be straight with us, and don't blow smoke up our asses.  Say "I love it here, but this is my chance to move up. I hope you understand if I try to land one of these openings."

[Jordan 04]

What transpired after the Sweet 16 is that, after three years of being courted by teams that could pay him more, the RIGHT teams finally started calling. I don't think he played it coy at all. He told anyone who asked that he would leave for the right offer and even Andy Noel, when interviewed, seemed to indicate that Donahue was up-front with him in exactly the same way. He didn't make bullshit pronouncements about how he was going to retire at Cornell or that this job was the best job he could ever have. He said he'd leave "for a home run."

That's all well and good, and for all we know, he may have been completely keeping Andy in the loop or not. I don't care. The only thing that rubs me the wrong way was his public statements to the CU and Ithaca communities:

"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."

OK fine, but the perception that he put out for us was that he was just happy as a clam in Ithaca sitting next to a phone, and if it happened to ring with a great offer, he would probably take it.  The picture I get from external reports is that he and his people were out there actively selling himself to any and every big program that would listen, knowing his stock would never be higher.  To me, there's a difference between taking calls and making calls, and I feel he was dialing a lot more than he let on.  He's telling us "guys, look...this offer fell in my lap...they came knocking," when really he was carrying around a resume and head shot to Seton Hall and BC.

I'm fine with higher ambitions. But just be straight with us, and don't blow smoke up our asses.  Say "I love it here, but this is my chance to move up. I hope you understand if I try to land one of these openings."

If anything, the reports that he turned down a 5 year, $700,000/year offer from Hofstra, make his statements and his actions appear consistent, not inconsistent. Only the very naive among us would truly think that Donahue would have no designs on parlaying his success and national profile into career advancement. Do I think he was sitting at his desk with a Rolodex calling every vacancy? No, not really. He knew he wouldn't have to.

The quote that stuck in everybody's mind - and turned into an eLF thread title - was that a "home run" offer was required to lure Donahue away. The fact that he turned down $700K at a CAA school, and ended up accepting nearly a million dollars a year in the ACC strikes me as true to his word. The fact that he "said no to every single one of the (calls) that have inquired about me leaving here" as of March 29 says to me he simply was never wowed by the caliber of program calling up to that point.

[billhoward]

You mean was Steve Donahue at the gathering the day after in front of Day Hall? He was indeed (Take Your Son to Work week, too) ...

[clear]

... as were players who didn't know it was 28 degrees, but maybe living in that drafty Collegetown house made them immune:

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More photos at http://www.billhoward.phanfare.com/cornell/4613565#imageID=96015636

Crowd photos from the game at http://www.billhoward.phanfare.com/cornell/4613736#imageID=96025379:

[clear]

[phillysportsfan]

I think he was true to his word but it is hard to tell with so many conflicting media reports.

Here's a quote that says Noel did make a counter offer, who knows if it is true
http://blog.syracuse.com/sports/2010/04/heart-broken_cornell_says_good.html
"The school did submit a counter-offer in order to keep Donahue, but did not have the money, the big market or the challenge of the Atlantic Coast Conference to keep its coach another year."

Noel said Donahue said no to "seven or eight schools" who inquired after the current season about his interest in their vacancies. Boston College got involved with Donahue more than week ago. Noel said the deal was consummated 48 hours ago. Donahue met with Boston College president William Leahy Tuesday morning before traveling to Ithaca to meet with Cornell players. Donahue did not return messages left on his cell phone.

Noel said he expects to receive an avalanche of applications for the Cornell vacancy. He said he had received eight resumes or email queries by the time he got to Newman Arena for the winter sports celebration.

Noel said he's conducting a national search and believes the Cornell job has been elevated on Donahue's watch. He expects to attract an elite pool of candidates.

[phillysportsfan]

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/weiss/2010/04/jones-to-leave-columbia-for-bc.html#ixzz0kR
So half the Ivy league will have a new coach next season as Donahue has hired Joe Jones as an assistant. His other assistants are Nat Graham our top assistant and John Gallagher from Penn.

[billhoward]

As a parting gesture to the Big Red, Donahue is emptying some of the Ivy cupboards. Adn as you've noted, what he did for Cornell makes the job more attractive. Steven Donahue proved Cornell can have a great basketball team. If only we could find a football coach in the same vein - here's hoping we finally him. "Kent Austin" even sounds like a good Ivy league name, plus it's reversible, like Winthrop Taylor.

[srg1]

I think Donahue's point during the Sweet 16 run was that he was going to deal with coaching opportunities after the season was over.  Not that they were ideal spots for him, but I think he fell behind in the Seton Hall and St. John's openings because he was coaching Cornell.  I think he made up his mind to aggressively explore every opportunity after the season.  He gave 10 years to Cornell and turned around a dead program.  I mean, pretty much nobody cared.

After he found the "home run" at BC, I do not think there were many options.  I am sure he had to tell the BC AD that he would accept if offered.  And this is the same AD that fired the football coach for looking elsewhere.  BC wants someone devoted to BC.  You don't want to anger your new boss.  Coach Donahue did what he had to do and I appreciate that he did not feed us garbage lines about how he would never leave.  He is a class act.  The reaction of the Cornell players should tell you that.

[phillysportsfan]

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/professional/fred-hill-to-be-fired-by-rutgers-mike-rice-favorite-to-lead-basketball-program

And Rutgers might finally fire Fred Hill after he cursed at the Pitt baseball team during a Rutgers game as his dad is the baseball coach. I wonder if Donahue would have rather gone there as it is much closer to Philly but he would have had to do a lot more work to build Rutgers, although they would have been more patient than BC will be

[Swampy]

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/professional/fred-hill-to-be-fired-by-rutgers-mike-rice-favorite-to-lead-basketball-program

And Rutgers might finally fire Fred Hill after he cursed at the Pitt baseball team during a Rutgers game as his dad is the baseball coach. I wonder if Donahue would have rather gone there as it is much closer to Philly but he would have had to do a lot more work to build Rutgers, although they would have been more patient than BC will be

Listen, have you tried to book a flight from Pittsburgh to anywhere and compared it to booking a flight from Boston? To go to Philly, you can also drive the PA Turnpike for what Google says is a 5-hr trip (10 for both ways), or you can take the Acela from Boston in slightly less time and have a few drinks while reviewing videos of potential recruits on your MacBook Air. At close to $1M per year, the cost of a ticket is not an issue.

On the other hand, there's no question that if Cornell were in the Greater Philly area the fences for this home run would have been a good 100 ft further out. Besides, what's a basketball coach doing using a baseball metaphor? Shouldn't the BC job have been a buzzer beater, a slam dunk, or something like that?

Oh, and a word to anyone from the Sun who might be reading this. For next year's April Fool issue, how about either Cornell leaving the Ivy League to join the Bit Ten or the Ivies going big time with scholarships and "flexible" academic standards. (Maybe even joining the Big East football schools to form a new league. '"I learned Cornell does have a football team." said one Big East coach, "Whodathunkit."')  You can quote Andy Noel as saying he started pushing for this after Donahue left, and he was tired of being beaten by the likes of Kentucky and Syracuse. Just think of the difference even one scholarship player might have made in either the lacrosse NC game or against Kansas in the last minute. Now that we're going big time, we can look forward to kicking some Big Ten butt. It will be like the thirties all over again. Remember, you read it here first.

[Robb]

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/professional/fred-hill-to-be-fired-by-rutgers-mike-rice-favorite-to-lead-basketball-program

And Rutgers might finally fire Fred Hill after he cursed at the Pitt baseball team during a Rutgers game as his dad is the baseball coach. I wonder if Donahue would have rather gone there as it is much closer to Philly but he would have had to do a lot more work to build Rutgers, although they would have been more patient than BC will be

Listen, have you tried to book a flight from Pittsburgh to anywhere and compared it to booking a flight from Boston? To go to Philly, you can also drive the PA Turnpike for what Google says is a 5-hr trip (10 for both ways), or you can take the Acela from Boston in slightly less time and have a few drinks while reviewing videos of potential recruits on your MacBook Air. At close to $1M per year, the cost of a ticket is not an issue.

Ummm...the point was that the coaching position at TEMPLE is now open, not Pitt.  Temple is a wee bit closer to Philly than Boston.

[phillysportsfan]

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/professional/fred-hill-to-be-fired-by-rutgers-mike-rice-favorite-to-lead-basketball-program

And Rutgers might finally fire Fred Hill after he cursed at the Pitt baseball team during a Rutgers game as his dad is the baseball coach. I wonder if Donahue would have rather gone there as it is much closer to Philly but he would have had to do a lot more work to build Rutgers, although they would have been more patient than BC will be

Listen, have you tried to book a flight from Pittsburgh to anywhere and compared it to booking a flight from Boston? To go to Philly, you can also drive the PA Turnpike for what Google says is a 5-hr trip (10 for both ways), or you can take the Acela from Boston in slightly less time and have a few drinks while reviewing videos of potential recruits on your MacBook Air. At close to $1M per year, the cost of a ticket is not an issue.

On the other hand, there's no question that if Cornell were in the Greater Philly area the fences for this home run would have been a good 100 ft further out. Besides, what's a basketball coach doing using a baseball metaphor? Shouldn't the BC job have been a buzzer beater, a slam dunk, or something like that?

Oh, and a word to anyone from the Sun who might be reading this. For next year's April Fool issue, how about either Cornell leaving the Ivy League to join the Bit Ten or the Ivies going big time with scholarships and "flexible" academic standards. (Maybe even joining the Big East football schools to form a new league. '"I learned Cornell does have a football team." said one Big East coach, "Whodathunkit."')  You can quote Andy Noel as saying he started pushing for this after Donahue left, and he was tired of being beaten by the likes of Kentucky and Syracuse. Just think of the difference even one scholarship player might have made in either the lacrosse NC game or against Kansas in the last minute. Now that we're going big time, we can look forward to kicking some Big Ten butt. It will be like the thirties all over again. Remember, you read it here first.

What are you talking about?, there is no opening at Pitt, there might be an opening at Rutgers in New Brunswick, NJ, central NJ which is probably an hour, hour and half drive.

And are you just joking, how is there an opening at Temple??? Temple is not going to get rid of Dunphy for awhile

[ugarte]

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/professional/fred-hill-to-be-fired-by-rutgers-mike-rice-favorite-to-lead-basketball-program

And Rutgers might finally fire Fred Hill after he cursed at the Pitt baseball team during a Rutgers game as his dad is the baseball coach. I wonder if Donahue would have rather gone there as it is much closer to Philly but he would have had to do a lot more work to build Rutgers, although they would have been more patient than BC will be

Listen, have you tried to book a flight from Pittsburgh to anywhere and compared it to booking a flight from Boston? To go to Philly, you can also drive the PA Turnpike for what Google says is a 5-hr trip (10 for both ways), or you can take the Acela from Boston in slightly less time and have a few drinks while reviewing videos of potential recruits on your MacBook Air. At close to $1M per year, the cost of a ticket is not an issue.

Ummm...the point was that the coaching position at RUTGERS is now open, not Pitt.  Rutgers is a wee bit closer to Philly than Boston.

FYP

[Robb]

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/professional/fred-hill-to-be-fired-by-rutgers-mike-rice-favorite-to-lead-basketball-program

And Rutgers might finally fire Fred Hill after he cursed at the Pitt baseball team during a Rutgers game as his dad is the baseball coach. I wonder if Donahue would have rather gone there as it is much closer to Philly but he would have had to do a lot more work to build Rutgers, although they would have been more patient than BC will be

Listen, have you tried to book a flight from Pittsburgh to anywhere and compared it to booking a flight from Boston? To go to Philly, you can also drive the PA Turnpike for what Google says is a 5-hr trip (10 for both ways), or you can take the Acela from Boston in slightly less time and have a few drinks while reviewing videos of potential recruits on your MacBook Air. At close to $1M per year, the cost of a ticket is not an issue.

Ummm...the point was that the coaching position at RUTGERS is now open, not Pitt.  Rutgers is a wee bit closer to Philly than Boston.

FYP

D'oh, and *sigh*, all in one...  Merci for the fix!

[ugarte]

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/professional/fred-hill-to-be-fired-by-rutgers-mike-rice-favorite-to-lead-basketball-program

And Rutgers might finally fire Fred Hill after he cursed at the Pitt baseball team during a Rutgers game as his dad is the baseball coach. I wonder if Donahue would have rather gone there as it is much closer to Philly but he would have had to do a lot more work to build Rutgers, although they would have been more patient than BC will be

Listen, have you tried to book a flight from Pittsburgh to anywhere and compared it to booking a flight from Boston? To go to Philly, you can also drive the PA Turnpike for what Google says is a 5-hr trip (10 for both ways), or you can take the Acela from Boston in slightly less time and have a few drinks while reviewing videos of potential recruits on your MacBook Air. At close to $1M per year, the cost of a ticket is not an issue.

Ummm...the point was that the coaching position at RUTGERS is now open, not Pitt.  Rutgers is a wee bit closer to Philly than Boston.

FYP

D'oh, and *sigh*, all in one...  Merci for the fix!

That said, BC is a better gig than Rutgers.

[mnagowski]

Oh, and a word to anyone from the Sun who might be reading this. For next year's April Fool issue, how about either Cornell leaving the Ivy League to join the Bit Ten or the Ivies going big time with scholarships and "flexible" academic standards. (Maybe even joining the Big East football schools to form a new league. '"I learned Cornell does have a football team." said one Big East coach, "Whodathunkit."')  You can quote Andy Noel as saying he started pushing for this after Donahue left, and he was tired of being beaten by the likes of Kentucky and Syracuse. Just think of the difference even one scholarship player might have made in either the lacrosse NC game or against Kansas in the last minute. Now that we're going big time, we can look forward to kicking some Big Ten butt. It will be like the thirties all over again. Remember, you read it here first.

Nope, you could have read it on MetaEzra first. Two years ago:

http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2008/04/cornell_to_drop_out_of_ivy_lea.shtml