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Mark Alnutt Thread


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Rather than mixing in questions about Alnutt's strategy into a thread about the new coach, I decided to make another thread.

Not everyone, but many posters believe:

1.  Alnutt didn't have a list or didn't have a good list of replacements available should Oats leave.
2.  Should have just given Whitesell the job initially if he felt that he was going to be the best candidate (since it would have given Whitesell the best chance of keeping the recruits).
3.  Would, in general, want a "do over" in how he has handled the situation these past two weeks.

Today there will be a press conference and it will give Alnutt the opportunity to craft the right story.   I don't think it will be very revealing.

 

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Here is what Alnutt said (from Niagara-Gazette) about the hiring of Whitesell:  "After conducting a national search and talking with some of the brightest college basketball minds across the country, it was clear to us that the best candidate for this position was right here in Buffalo".   Remember...it took him 10 days to make that realization.

Here is what Danny White said (UB website) when Oats was announced:   "After hours of conversations with Nate, it became very clear to me that the best candidate to lead our men’s basketball team was already on campus".  Two days.

 

This, I think, it pretty damning and paints a picture (in comparison) of someone who (Alnutt) was not as prepared as he should have been for Oats' departure (and certainly not as prepared as White).   I get it, though.  I hope he is questioning his preparation and this experience will make him a better AD in the future.  We all have had experiences where we could have done better in our jobs and the next opportunity (with the current employer or a future employer) will be the beneficiary.  But it stinks for the "victim" of the learning experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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58 minutes ago, UB05 said:

Well he said they had 40 initial candidates and spoke with 12. So that should debunk the myth of him not having a list of replacements 

Lol I said short list...dayum 40 candidates. Signifies to me that he wasn’t prepared.

Either way it’s over and done with. Whitesell is who we now throw our support behind. It’s a new day. He said he’s gonna keep our style of play. Let’s get to work.

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They went from ~40 to 12 to 6 and hired Coach Whitesell. This past 2 weeks was weird but I'm very happy with where we've landed. I'm not going to dwell on anything. We have a coach, time to fill out the staff/player roster and get ready to win some basketball games.

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1 minute ago, Jeseph said:

They went from ~40 to 12 to 6 and hired Coach Whitesell. This past 2 weeks was weird but I'm very happy with where we've landed. I'm not going to dwell on anything. We have a coach, time to fill out the staff/player roster and get ready to win some basketball games.

Yep, the past is over. Time for now and the upcoming season. Jim is great, so is Jamie. Let's see who else is going on the journey with us, players and coaches. We'll stand behind them.

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FWIW it seems like Jim didn't interview until the Final Four.  I gave my criticism for the process previously, but I imagine Mark didn't want to rush the process.  It's his first big hire and you don't want to mess it up.  You'll get more forgiveness over softball or volleyball than basketball.

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1 hour ago, DooleyBull06 said:

Lol I said short list...dayum 40 candidates. Signifies to me that he wasn’t prepared.

Either way it’s over and done with. Whitesell is who we now throw our support behind. It’s a new day. He said he’s gonna keep our style of play. Let’s get to work.

That does not mean he had 40 people on his short list.  He could have had ten on the short list and another 30 contacted him and said they were interested in the job and now you have a 40 person list.

Also I guess this shows that the comments by people that no one wanted the job were wrong.

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11 minutes ago, BrooklynBull said:

That does not mean he had 40 people on his short list.  He could have had ten on the short list and another 30 contacted him and said they were interested in the job and now you have a 40 person list.

Also I guess this shows that the comments by people that no one wanted the job were wrong.

I know what it means. I know how Alnutt attacked his search. I know the search firm played its role. By now we’ve all seen the presser and scrum afterwards. It’s done and over. I was poking fun at the fact that he had 40 options. It’s all over with. Now comes the dirty work. I’m excited. I feel we have a great nucleus returning. Time to add to that and grow and develop. 

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Several people who know Jim well (Oats, Hodgson, Danny White, etc.)  think it's a great hire and are congratulating The Bulls program and our AD on social media.    So I'm more than willing to give Mark Alnutt the benefit of the doubt here that this is a good hire.  He took his time, checked out the landscape of potential candidates and then pulled the trigger.   

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15 minutes ago, BrooklynBull said:

That does not mean he had 40 people on his short list.  He could have had ten on the short list and another 30 contacted him and said they were interested in the job and now you have a 40 person list.

Also I guess this shows that the comments by people that no one wanted the job were wrong.

I guess it depends on who some people's standard of "no one" represents. To some people, "no one" means none of the "5 big names" that people gathered as being the "best options". If they weren't commanding a huge payday to be our coach, they weren't considered as someone who was good enough for the job. Just because the best person for the job was already here, doesn't mean that no one wanted it. Without looking elsewhere, one may not know who the best option is.

Someone compared Danny White's quick turnaround with Nate as a negative shot at Mark Alnutt, because Danny hired him so quickly. Danny was here from the day that Nate was hired under Bobby. Danny saw Nate for two full years as the #2 guy behind Bobby. Danny also was a basketball guy. Mark wasn't here when Jim was hired 4 years ago, and has only been here for less than a year. He's also a football guy first, so for him to take a few extra days to look outward and get a committee's opinion, might not necessarily be an indictment of him with regard to the situation. 

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19 hours ago, skrabukes said:

Someone compared Danny White's quick turnaround with Nate as a negative shot at Mark Alnutt, because Danny hired him so quickly. Danny was here from the day that Nate was hired under Bobby. Danny saw Nate for two full years as the #2 guy behind Bobby. Danny also was a basketball guy. Mark wasn't here when Jim was hired 4 years ago, and has only been here for less than a year. He's also a football guy first, so for him to take a few extra days to look outward and get a committee's opinion, might not necessarily be an indictment of him with regard to the situation. 

That was me...first post in this thread.  

You just listed a bunch of excuses...are you Alnutt's PR person or something?  The two outcomes that are important are the fact he hired his interim 10 days on when time is of the essence because of the recruiting class AND all of his recruits left.

If all of your recruits left because you took too long since you had to hire this fantastic external coach only accessible through a search...it is what it is.

If you didn't hire the brand name coach you may have wanted since you wanted to move quickly to keep your recruits...so you hire Whitesell in a few days and keep your recruits...it is what it is.

As I mentioned before, he got the bad part of both strategies. 

If you are saying that Alnutt should get a pass because he only had one year to know Whitesell and he is a football guy, but White had longer and he is basketball guy, that is 100% BS.  It really is.  If he is planning ahead for Oats leaving (and Oats basically said..."stupid money, I am gone"), then Alnutt should have learned much more about Whitesell during his whole time if he really thought he could be the next guy in (w/o running a search).  It is a fail.

So...while you say  it "might not necessarily be an indictment of him with regard to the situation", I am saying it is -- in my opinion.  He won't admit it (obviously) and nor should he -- he has to protect himself, his job, his career, etc.  I am telling you, though, that (from my perspective) it is a fail.  And I am not saying he is a bad person at all...people fail at aspects of their jobs all of the time.  Hopefully this makes him more prepared in the future, but UB MBB is the victim right now.  I truly, truly hope that he has had several conversations with the other WBB coaches at UB recently.

I am telling it like it is...the way I see it.  However, it is what it is now.   I am moving forward.  I bleed blue and always have.  Go Bulls.

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This is how I choose to look at it. 

Buffalo's search was far from pretty and most likely didn't go according to their original plan but ended up yielding the best possible result for their program in the short term.

I was in favor of the continuity route. That's why I originally vouched for Bryan Hodgson. I thought he could preserve their recruiting class and keep their roster intact.

It looks like Whitesell has done a great job with their current players, we'll see if he can get any of their signees to reaffirm their commitments to Buffalo.

I think everything will work out for the Bulls program. That said, let's not believe everything they preached during Monday's press conference. Alnutt was definitely looking for a bigger fish in the sea. He didn't suddenly have an epiphany and decide to go with Whitesell. There's more to this than what's been discussed but it would be stupid for UB to reveal any of that information.

Edited by Big 4 Hoops Blogger
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