spider23 said:

One of the articles I read, TB reached out to former players to ask if they would have transferred under the current conditions. Many said they were grateful and helped them greatly to develop, but said maybe. I think the fact that he knows now he doesn't have the opportunity to keep and develop guys like that is a big reason he stepped away. Just unbelievable run winning ACC regular season championships.

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spiderstudent17 said:

We won't know from the players if they felt "wronged" unless they publicly say so, but that is not something they should do. Yes, players build relationships with assistants, but a head coach - especially one of Bennett's pedigree - likely plays a big role in their decision to play at UVA with his coaching ability, higher level connections, and I am sure he is an overall good guy that players like to be around. Would you want your child's college professor to leave 3 weeks before classes start because they don't like the direction academia is heading, and instead picked the teaching assistant they wanted to lead the class? I don't know what went on behind the scenes, and while I am sure the assistant coaches had a strong idea/flat out knew (why Ron Sanchez left a head coaching position at Charlotte to go to UVA) it may have blindsided the players.

Also, I see where VT is coming from when saying that perhaps UVA would want to explore other coaching options instead of immediately hiring whomever the coach wants as his successor. While I think Bennett has earned the right to pick his successor, I can see the argument for why he shouldn't. Bennett is a hall of fame coach and led UVA to heights never reached before. However, his way of coaching and recruiting may not work in today's college world anymore, with more emphasis on immediate impact transfers, players for 1-2 years, and less development from high school. He retired for this reason, so it does make sense for UVA to consider hiring a coach who is more adapt to today's world of basketball, rather than immediately hiring who Bennett wanted and is likely more of the same thing. Not saying UVA should or shouldn't do it, but I am sure they would've appreciated more time considering their options. Because of Bennett's 11th hour retiring, the department has their hands tied and kind of forced to go the direction of hiring who Bennett wanted (even on an interim basis), which in my opinion is not a fair thing to do to your department that has given you so much over the years.

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spider23 said:

Valid point. Even if we beat Auburn and run the OOC schedule, likely to get tripped up some in conference- that just happens in conference.

Let's just say Bryson McGlothin is our highest ceiling guy at wing forward, but he is going to make some mistakes and take 15 games of heavy minutes to get up to speed. Would make sense to play him to optimize for A10 tourney. Or maybe that is AP. But agree it's a really odd scenario and with the roster turnover likely to be some early season feeling out anyway.

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spiderstudent17 said:

We won't know from the players if they felt "wronged" unless they publicly say so, but that is not something they should do. Yes, players build relationships with assistants, but a head coach - especially one of Bennett's pedigree - likely plays a big role in their decision to play at UVA with his coaching ability, higher level connections, and I am sure he is an overall good guy that players like to be around. Would you want your child's college professor to leave 3 weeks before classes start because they don't like the direction academia is heading, and instead picked the teaching assistant they wanted to lead the class? I don't know what went on behind the scenes, and while I am sure the assistant coaches had a strong idea/flat out knew (why Ron Sanchez left a head coaching position at Charlotte to go to UVA) it may have blindsided the players.

Also, I see where VT is coming from when saying that perhaps UVA would want to explore other coaching options instead of immediately hiring whomever the coach wants as his successor. While I think Bennett has earned the right to pick his successor, I can see the argument for why he shouldn't. Bennett is a hall of fame coach and led UVA to heights never reached before. However, his way of coaching and recruiting may not work in today's college world anymore, with more emphasis on immediate impact transfers, players for 1-2 years, and less development from high school. He retired for this reason, so it does make sense for UVA to consider hiring a coach who is more adapt to today's world of basketball, rather than immediately hiring who Bennett wanted and is likely more of the same thing. Not saying UVA should or shouldn't do it, but I am sure they would've appreciated more time considering their options. Because of Bennett's 11th hour retiring, the department has their hands tied and kind of forced to go the direction of hiring who Bennett wanted (even on an interim basis), which in my opinion is not a fair thing to do to your department that has given you so much over the years.

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spiderman said:

meh. I don't think all that much has changed. yes, coaches can't be emperors any more but that's not a bad thing. NIL is a big recruiting component, but it's handled in the offseason.

you always had unhappy players and parents ... 95% of whom keep their mouths shut when it comes to discussions with a head coach. really good players always considered transferring up, even without the lure of bigger money. players not playing always considered leaving. you always had boosters who felt they should have a bigger say than they do.

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SpiderTrap said:

I think Bennett is a good coach, and like I mentioned in earlier post and now seeing press conference and his explanation - this was definetley a way to hand over the program to his assistant. You can't tell me he didn't know at the end of last year he didn't NIL and college sports was going to cause a lot of issues. College basketball was in a bad spot last year, and is this year, maybe a little worse, maybe a little better.

But this only makes me think our coach as this is something I can see Mooney pulling off. And to be honest - I am not against it. I think Bennett earned the right - given all the time and wins he gave UVA, to pull this move. And I can see Mooney pulling the same move in the future and handing the program over to Pete Thomas. I don't expect it anytime soon, but its clear Mooney will never be fired at UR based on his history and accomplishments. And let me say - I don't think he should be fired - he won the A10 last year. I am just saying, he has deposited enough in the bank with UR administration where he has reached un-fireable level. Whether you agree with that or not is not the question, that is simply reality. And given that - I could see him wanting to hand the program off to one of his most loyal and longtime players and coaches. Pete Thomas - walk-on to Scholarship player. Starts under JW, finishes under Mooney. Coaches with Mooney - gets to the NCAA, then moves to Campbell. Comes back to UR as associate head coach. Fills in for Mooney when he steps away for medical reasons. All of this screams coach in waiting IF Mooney pulls the same schedule as Bennett and retires (when is the question) just before season starts to allow it to be handed over to assistant.

Not saying its guaranteed to happen. But I think each year Mooney coaches and has good years (top 5 in the A10) and Thomas is by his side, it becomes more and more probable.

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spiderman said:

they all know what they're up against. coaches talk. a lot. they're are relationships outside of their current team. especially since assitants never know who they'll be working for next. and they share information because they want information.

fans don't need to know.

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VT4700 said:

I wonder how Bennett would have felt if Guy, Jerome, and Hunter quit less than 3 weeks before their title season started.

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32counter said:

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GKiller said:

I’ll be shocked if we don’t have any q4 a10 games

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urfan1 said:

Agree you play to win, as I told the kids I coached in youth league -- there's a reason we have a scoreboard.

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RichmondNative said:

Let’s wait to hear from all the players that feel “wronged”. Based on what I have read the assistant coaches were doing all the heavy lifting on recruiting etc, for the last two years, so the players have “relationships” with the assistants, not necessarily with Bennett. Plus if you listen to VT, no basketball player in their right mind wants to play Bennetts style of basketball anyway, so is it a big issue?

It is simply another significant loss to the coaching ranks as college basketball slowly adjusts to the “new world”. Nothing else to see here.

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KE Spider said:

The Senate is all but assured of being controlled by Repubs regardless of Brown race in Ohio. Manchin's seat is definitely flipping to Justice. Tester in Montana is down over 5 points with the margin widening with every poll. Those two pick ups put Repubs at 51. Anything else would be icing on the cake for them.

Brown could very well lose (believe he will narrowly). Slotkin in Michigan is not a give me either (believe she hangs on, barely). Doubtful either Scott in Florida or Cruz in Texas get flipped despite the avalanche of out of state money against them.

Bottom line, even if Harris wins and Dems control House, not much significant is going to change outside of Executive Orders with a Republican Senate.

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8legs1dream said:

rent free 🥱

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AnnapSpider said:

Hey, Billboard, why not photoshop your profile picture to say Mooney for UVA? Then you’ll be happy.

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brooklyn brownstone said:

I'd like to thank you for tying the room all together with that rug of a post. Amazing work.

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AnnapSpider said:

Hey, Billboard, why not photoshop your profile picture to say Mooney for UVA? Then you’ll be happy.

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