SAME FEDORA-NEW CROWN?

Re: SAME FEDORA-NEW CROWN?

Postby PointGuard » Sat Jun 25, 2022 8:34 pm

Awards

C Ben Schau—NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player
Fred Aura—ACC Coach of the Year
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Re: SAME FEDORA-NEW CROWN?

Postby PointGuard » Sat Jun 25, 2022 8:36 pm

Jason Braxton, Athletic Director meeting with Coach Fred Aura

JB: I know you’ve been getting pats on the back from nearly everyone after winning the National Championship. I knew when I hired you that you’d take us from the bottom into serious competition with the bigger names in the ACC. But to be honest, I never ever imagined us winning the NCAA Tournament. So not only did you exceed all the goals I set for you and your team this season (No academic ineligibility; Winning 20+ games; Finish in the Top 3 in the ACC standings; Qualify for the NCAA Tourney; Improve school prestige), you took Boston College all the way to the top! Just fantastic. Congratulations, Fred.

FA: Thanks, Jason. I have to admit after not winning the ACC Tourney, I didn’t anticipate going all the way either. But my guys exceeded MY expectations. Like a dog, they got a bone in their teeth and just wouldn’t let go. I’m proud of them. And every one of my 13 scholarship players scored points in the NCAA Tournament. That’s something they’ll all be able to talk about the rest of their lives as well as being part of a very small group of players who have been on a national championship team.

JB: It’s about time for me to talk with BC’s Board of Directors. What do you want to have me request this year?

FA: I’d sure like to see our facilities improved. That would be a big benefit to our team and also help our recruiting.

JB: Fred, even though this should be a year when the board acquiesces and I’d sure like a facility uupgrade also, I just don’t see the board buying off on that. They absolutely think we have great facilities and even when I’ve shown them comparisons with some of what other ACC teams have, they’re still resistant. What else would be good, Fred? A budget increase? Or better yet, how about a longer contract for you at a higher salary?

FA: We can always use a budget increase. That helps both with recruiting and getting better assistant coaches. How about a $25,000 increase?

JB: Yeah, I can take that to them and make a good case for it. But what about some more money for you also?

FA: Obviously I’d be a fool to turn down a bigger salary. But Jason, I have to be honest with you. I’m in a real quandary right now. This has been a very rough year for me here. Janeka’s mother had a real hard time the past 6 months before she passed away and that was hard…obviously harder on Janeka, but tough for me also. Then there’s Malik who has had such a rough time at Georgetown this season. Janeka and I are really worried about him. Also there was a lot of negativity from elements of the media and some of our fans about our team and how it has been handled…well, at least there was before we won it all. Then there was the police investigation. Janeka and I have been talking about maybe stepping back a bit. Taking some of the pressure off. So there’s a real possibility that it’s time for me to move on.

JB: WHAT? Fred, you just won it all and you have almost the entire team coming back. And you have three 4-star recruits coming to the team. Hell, the Eagles will be a much better team next season. How could you possibly pass that up?

FA: You’re right, Jason. I agree that the team’s poised to be even better this coming year. And I love the team and our players so even thinking about leaving is difficult. But however this works out, I need to do what’s best for my family…as well as for me.

JB: I certainly would never keep you from looking at any and all options and talking to anyone you want to, but I sure as hell hope you and Janeka decide to stay here. I’ve jotted down an offer for a new contract for you and am putting it in this envelope. Take a look at it and share it with Janeka before you get much deeper into thinking about leaving us.
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Re: SAME FEDORA-NEW CROWN?

Postby PointGuard » Mon Jun 27, 2022 1:00 am

Fred Aura

Shane Vorstadt, my attorney provided more information about the police investigation into the murder of Renee McEntire:

He said the police had used a variety of videos of cameras from houses in Renee McEntire’s neighborhood and been able to identify a suspect vehicle’s license number. It turned out to be a rental and even though the rental was on under a fake name and license, they were finally able to unravel who the driver of the car was. They tracked down that person and made an arrest. They had then put together a bunch of other evidence and got the woman they arrested to agree to a plea deal.

The police then made another arrest. He then asked who I thought it might be. When I told him I had no idea, he told me the 2nd person arrested was Gerald McEntire, Renee’s ex-husband. As I tried to get some perspective on all that he was saying, I replied that I thought Gerald had been in Europe at the time of the murder. Shane said that was true, but that apparently he’d set up a contract murder by the woman who they’d initially arrested. All I could say was that I knew there had been a contested divorce and a great deal of post-divorce aggravation, but that I found it hard to believe that Gerald would have Renee killed. All Shane would say is that there’s no way to understand others’ interpersonal relationships and he was sure the details would come out soon. He said I can now put this behind me. Like so many others, he congratulated me on bringing home the National Championship.
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Re: SAME FEDORA-NEW CROWN?

Postby PointGuard » Mon Jun 27, 2022 8:04 pm

Janeka Aura

Fred and I have been discussing our future. The past year has been exceedingly stressful for both of us. On my part, much of it was due to the declining health of my mother and her recent passing and how it’s all affected my father. But also there has been Malik’s depression due to what he seems to be considering his failure at Georgetown. No matter what Fred and I have said to him, it hasn’t seemed to help. Fred felt increased pressure this season. Even though he had greatly improved the Eagles each season, he personally took their not performing up to the expectations laid on them by fans, alumni and the a huge as a huge weight on his shoulders and mind. He’d considered possible moves in the past, but I know he put that aside due to my desire to be near my parents while cancer was debilitating my mother.

Our discussions took us back and forth…stay…leave….stay…leave…what to do?

While Fred had not followed up on anything, he knew there was interest from some big time basketball powers for him to come their way as head coach…Tennessee, Arizona, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Louisville, Syracuse all had vacancies and were shopping for new head coaches. We both agreed that moving on to any of these would simply be a lateral shift in the amount of pressure on Fred as head coach.

The same would be true for a job with a lower-rated team in a power conference or a mid-major team wanting to become a serious contender in the NCAA Tournament.

We talked about his going back to a college team with low prestige as a way to take a significant break from the pressure. He said that would entail a huge decrease in salary. I told him that wasn’t truly an issue. His salary at BC has been so much more that we needed that we’ve been able to invest most of it that past several years. So earning much less simply wasn’t a factor for us to worry about.

But then there was the attachment Fred had with the players on the Eagles. And continuing those relationships and seeing how those guys developed is a tremendously intriguing and exciting plus there’s a very strong tie that would be tough to break.

And then there was the envelope………the envelope Jason Braxton had handed to Fred as he exited Jason’s office. And while I said we had put a lot of Fred’s salary into some good investments, the number behind the dollar sign that Jason had written was impossible to ignore.

So, the discussions continue….
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Re: SAME FEDORA-NEW CROWN?

Postby PointGuard » Wed Jun 29, 2022 12:37 am

Fred Aura (continued)

Decided on the……

Cal Poly Mustangs of the Big West Conference

The Mustangs are at the nadir of their existence. Last season they won 8 and lost 23 games and were last in the relatively weak Big West Conference with a 5-15 record. Not only that, they were found to have serious recruiting violations that resulted in their being placed on probation with a ban on offering scholarships for the next 2 seasons and loss of post-season play this past year and next year. I’m scratching my head wondering WHY the coach would do that when he’s not going after top-rated players…but there’s no way to explain human nature sometimes.

So I’m going from a job with maximum pressure to a job with no pressure. There’s no expectation of the Mustangs doing well the next 2 or 3 years. They have no star players now and won’t be getting any the next couple years. And once they’re able to begin recruiting again, it will take a few years at least to restock and before they are truly competitive. The best I can do the next 2 years is to develop and strengthen the players on our roster to the greatest extent possible.

The salary Cal Poly will be paying me is high for them, but it doesn’t compare to what I’d been earning at BC and is in a totally different stratosphere from what Jason Braxton had written on the piece of paper in the envelope he’d handed to me.

[The Mustangs prestige level is presently 13 and the Big West Conference prestige is 28. Cal Poly facilities are rated as a C and their academics are rated as a B+ with an SAT minimum of 960. The team plays its home games at the Robert A. Mott Athletic Center which has a seating capacity of 3,032….which due to the team’s recent ineptitude far exceeds the number of fans attending home games.]

San Luis Obispo, where Cal Poly is located, is a beautiful small city with Pacific Ocean beaches and many wineries nearby.

Janeka has accepted a position with a regional oncology group which will allow her to help those suffering with cancer. And she’s convinced her father to move with us. Since Devany is the only one of our children still living at home, we have plenty of room for him and Janeka didn’t want him continuing to live by himself and wanted to help him during while he continues to grieve. Devany is a 7th grader. She’s been focused on field hockey, but that isn’t a big sport in San Luis Obispo. So she has decided to play soccer again and also have a go at basketball.

Omari finished his collegiate career at Providence and was the team’s high point man and top rebounder. He’s decided to go to graduate school to pursue a master’s degree in psychology while taking some additional classes so that he can be a strong candidate for medical school in the future.

And Malik…what’s to be said about Malik? His freshman season as Georgetown was a downer for him since he only played a substantial amount of minutes in a fifth of the team’s games. He averaged just over 11 mpg, 3.1 ppg, 1.7 rpg, and 0.6 apg and hit just 38% of his FGA’s and 30% of his 3PA’s while principally being used as a SF. His GPA which was 3.9 in the first semester slipped to a 3.4 after his 2nd semester. Malik decided to enter the transfer pool, but then withdrew from it. So he’ll remain at Georgetown, which greatly surprised me. It turns out his coach told him the plan for this coming season was for Malik to start at PG.

After moving to the West Coast we got the entire family together to spend a week touring and hiking at Yosemite and King’s Canyon/Sequoia National Parks and then subsequently showed the boys around the San Luis Obispo area.
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Re: SAME FEDORA-NEW CROWN?

Postby Wayne23 » Wed Jun 29, 2022 10:31 am

I see the hair shirt is back from the cleaners...
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Re: SAME FEDORA-NEW CROWN?

Postby PointGuard » Wed Jun 29, 2022 12:09 pm

It had been growing the past season or two, but last season's surprise championship affixed it.
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Re: SAME FEDORA-NEW CROWN?

Postby PointGuard » Wed Jun 29, 2022 8:26 pm

Fred Aura

Looking over the Cal Poly roster, I find there are presently 12 scholarship players and 3 walk ons. There are 4 seniors on the squad who will graduate in a week. The previous coach was able to land 5 scholarship players, so I will need to cut one of the walk-ons.

With regard to returning players: Only one player scored in double figures last season, SG Dean Plowman, who will be a senior this coming season and averaged 10.1 ppg. But he hit a low percentage of his shots. Another player who’ll be a senior and also didn’t shoot well is PF Denny grove who scored 9.5 ppg and averaged 6.9 rpg. Reggie Riley started at C and averaged 7.6 ppg and 6.8 rpg as a freshman. Another freshman, Chad Johnson, started at SF and 8.4 ppg and 4.6 rpg, but like most on the team hit a low percentage of his shots. The starting PG was a senior so won’t be around this coming year. The best bench player who is returning may be C Marcel Robinson, who will be a junior and averaged 6.0 ppg and 3.7 ppg. SG Victor Carson will be a junior and played well coming off the bench as a freshman but played little as a sophomore so hopefully he’s better than the coach felt he was this last season.

All 5 incoming recruits are 1-star recruits. PG Aki Mosley is 6’5” and looks like a good outside shooter who is a strong passer and ball handler. SG Terrell Alexander is 6’3” is a good outside shooter but doesn’t shoot that often and is a pretty good passer and ball handler. SG Cederic Gregory is 6’2” who scored well in high school and seems to be pretty strong defensively. SF Jason Fleming is 6’7” and shoots well from outside but lacks defensive skills. C Donald Blackmon is 6’9” and shoots and scores well from inside but isn’t particularly strong on the boards. Since there won’t be new recruits to join the team the next 2 seasons, these guys need to be developed into strong players. THAT is going to be a huge challenge.

We’re not paying the assistant coaches much and with good reason. They just aren’t all that good. I toyed with keeping the 2nd assistant coach who had been handling recruiting, but why? We won’t be doing any recruiting so we don’t need a good recruiter. So I fire all of them. Not being able to do any recruiting, I can use my budget entirely for assistant and will try to land 3 who are as good as possible for player development and teaching offense and defense. Recruiting skills aren’t needed.

I quickly became aware that assistant coaches with strong skills not only weren’t interested in Cal Poly but wouldn’t even entertain an offer. With the probations around our neck, we’re most likely a pariah. I should have brought along my assistants from Boston College, but they wouldn’t have wanted to coach at lowly Cal Poly. So I went with the best who were willing to accept an offer. By overpaying them, I landed all 3 with my first offers. My 1st assistant will be C.J. Costa who is strong defensively and was the 2nd assistant at Central Michigan. Eugene Wallace will be my 2nd assistant and is pretty good with player development. He previously was 1st assistant as San Jose State, but like me he wanted a big change. My 3rd assistant will be Rashon Richardson who is pretty good with player development, offense and defense. He comes to us after being 3rd assistant for Butler.

The recruiting rankings for last season just came out. Boston College had the 17th best recruit class…that was great to find out. I had to go through the list of 358 teams twice before I found Cal Poly. I was surprised that the Mustangs’ incoming class was ranked as 92nd best. I have a feeling that’s more due to quantity than quality.
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Re: SAME FEDORA-NEW CROWN?

Postby Wayne23 » Thu Jun 30, 2022 4:21 am

After over paying the new assistants I'm curious as to how much recruiting money you will have in the budget.
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Re: SAME FEDORA-NEW CROWN?

Postby PointGuard » Thu Jun 30, 2022 2:15 pm

Wayne23 wrote:After over paying the new assistants I'm curious as to how much recruiting money you will have in the budget.

Total budget: $153,000
Asst Coaches: $125,000
Recruiting: $28,000

So still had plenty of money, but of course no way to productively spend it.

The coaches I hired weren't really all that costly but they are NOT good coaches. No good coaches would agree to even consider a team that had finished last the previous season, had a prestige level of 13 in a conf with a prestige level of 27, was now on . Nobody with good Player Development skills was interested. No one with high Offensive skills was interested. No one with high scouting skills was interested.

1st Asst CJ Costa: rep of 19 with all skill levels in 20's except Defense which is 60. Paying him $55K/yr (overpaid)
2nd Asst Wallace: rep of 13 with all skill levels ranging between 27 and 31.Paying him $45K/yr (way overpaid)
3rd Asst Rashon Richardson: rep of 11 all skill levels exactly 30. Paying him $25K/yr (overpaid)

If I think I can get any better coaches next year I may fire one or more of them and try to upgrade.
Once I get back to being able to recruit, will probably fire all of them and try to get better coaches...certainly a better recruiter.
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