staff

Scott Leykam still being mentioned by many as the prime candidate for the SMC AD position, and I haven't heard anything to dispel that.

Meanwhile Colin McGinty will be leaving his position as the UP Associate Athletic Director/ Development to takeover as the President of Central Catholic HS.

Congratulation, Colin!

Haven't had time to listen yet, but thought I'd share the link:
http://collegehoopswatch.com/2017/06/02/marching-to-madness-episode-125-terry-porter-portland/

Thanks for sharing that link.

dholcombe wrote:Thanks for sharing that link.

What, no book review....?

I'm told these two guys, Blake Lovell and Ken Cross, are based in Charlotte and are basketball nuts who have interviewed "just about everybody" in the basketball business in recent years.

Many of us are cautiously optimistic (some are not quite to that point yet) about Pilots MBB in the coming years, but these two, whom one would think were neutral on the subject, were extremely optimistic about Terry Porter's and Bob Cantu's ability to build the program and for the city of Portland to embrace the program.

The prediction seemed to be 3 to 4 years to build the Pilots into a contender....I guess we shall see.

Another interview with TP by 1080 the Fan from Friday.

http://www.1080thefan.com/media/audio-channel/terry-porter-interview-6-2-17

Kinda more or less the same stuff, hype for PK80 and UNC, NBA finals talk etc.

DoubleDipper wrote:Scott Leykam still being mentioned by many as the prime candidate for the SMC AD position, and I haven't heard anything to dispel that.

Scott is NOT going to SMC, or anywhere else, in the foreseeable future!

DoubleDipper wrote:Scott is NOT going to SMC, or anywhere else, in the foreseeable future!

This is the best news of all... We are very fortunate to have Scott; athletics and facilities at the U have undeniably improved dramatically under his leadership.

Found this via a Cantu tweet:

PortlandPilots.com/coaches wrote:Chris Buchanan joined the University of Portland men’s basketball staff in the summer of 2017 as the Assistant Director of Basketball Operations. Buchanan will help with all facets of the day-to-day operations of the program.

There's more bio info there. Question, is this a new position on the staff?

Nah. DBO has been around for a while. Marshall Cho was DBO for a little while. I want to say that Kramer started out as a DBO before becoming an assistant coach.

Whitney Robinson is still the DBO. Buchanan is the Assistant DBO. Did we have an ADBO previously?

Oh whoops! Misread that. I don't think we did.

DoubleDipper wrote:Scott is NOT going to SMC, or anywhere else, in the foreseeable future!

It has gone somewhat unnoticed, but Scott is no longer called the "Athletic Director," but is the "UP Vice-President for Athletics."

Probably a bump in pay, but certainly a bump in prestige and a better seat at the decision making table that is well deserved for someone that has been instrumental in upgrading UP athletics.

Don't know if he was actually offered the job at SMC, but he was invited for an interview....

up7587 wrote: Question, is this a new position on the staff?

Yup, a brand new position.

This position might be considered a foot in the door to becoming a college asketball coach one day for Chris, but he's also a very important addition to the staff in terms of keeping track of recruiting and recruits as he ensures the coaches have the logistical support they need to arrive at the correct venue to view specific potential recruits in action.

If you look at his bio, http://www.portlandpilots.com/coaches.aspx?rc=800&path=mbball, you'll notice that in addition to plenty of experience in recruit evaluations, he's also been instrumental in running a number of camps for young ballers....something that is extremely important for a school's recognition and recruiting....in addition to a little extra cash for coaches and assistants.

I don't know if it's in his job description, but looking (way) back to my freshman year at UP, it's probably a good bet he'll also be physically checking the UP classes to ensure the basketball playing freshmen are in class as they are supposed to be each and every day....

DoubleDipper wrote:On another note, I've been closely following Georgia Tech on the TV this season, and addition to Rev's boss, Josh Pastner, being selected ACC Coach of the Year by his peers,  GT is now heading to Madison Square Garden for the NIT final four.

As some know, Georgia Tech and UCLA are in China to ostensibly play basketball, but troubles at both schools are overshadowing what's happening on the court.

Players from both teams were apparently questioned for hours by 20 to 30 members of the police force, and in the end, UCLA freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley, and Jalen Hill were taken to the gulag and are "no longer with the team in China."
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/21331147/ucla-players-liangelo-ball-cody-riley-jalen-hill-arrested-china-shoplifting

But the Georgia Tech program is also in some turmoil due to the self-reporting of impermissible benefits that resulted in the indefinite suspension of 2 players, but now we're hearing that Ron Bell, a longtime friend of Tech coach Josh Pastner, is alleging the program wasn’t fully truthful with what it reported to the NCAA....that there's actually more to the story.
https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2017/11/7/16617592/georgia-tech-josh-pastner-recruiting-violation-birthday

Hmm, do you suppose Rev could end up as the (interim) head coach of the Ramblin' Wreck?

Okay, even though I have an admitted soft spot for GT because Coach Rev is there...this might be one of the more ridiculous things I've ever seen.

This Ron Bell is doing interviews claiming that GT should have self-reported $2000 in extra benefits instead of $1200, all because Josh Pastner didn't wish him a happy birthday?

LiAngelo is such a Big Baller that he doesn't have to shoplift. He chooses to shoplift.

China takes shoplifting much more serious than we do in the US. LiAngelo could get some serious jail time (unless of course his big baller father can pay off the right people).

Good news for the UCLA felons. The Donald had a chat with the Chinese premier and the boys are back in the USA. Trump no doubt traded for Chinese steel in the Mexico wall.

And Ball and co. can now shoplift their Louis Vuiton sunglasses on rodeo drive.

Geezaldinho wrote:Good news for the UCLA felons. The Donald had a chat with the Chinese premier and the boys are back in the USA. Trump no doubt traded for Chinese steel in the Mexico wall.

And Ball and co. can now shoplift their Louis Vuiton sunglasses on rodeo drive.

Of course the Donald had to chime in on twitter with "Do you think the three UCLA Basketball Players will say thank you President Trump? They were headed for 10 years in jail!"

I'm not sure why out president should go to bat for a couple college basketball players, but I guess I'm glad they won't spend the next 10 years in a prison camp in China.

All apologized, and all are suspended indefinitely...

DoubleDipper wrote:At a meeting at PSU this morning had a PSU staffer tell me Bob Cantu was a prime candidate for the head coaching job there after Coach Geving was fired.

Probably seeing my jaw drop, she went on to say "there are others in the running too."

With a number of head coaching jobs opening up around the country, PSU is probably not the only school giving Bob a call.

That was written just over 10 months ago, but it was 5 years ago yesterday when Interim Head Coach Bob Cantu's USC squad went over to Pauley Pavilion and defeated UCLA in OT....and just like the UP wins over GU and BYU stick in the minds of Pilot fans, that win was "one of my most memorable games in my career" for Coach Cantu.

1. It would be great to see that kind of celebration in the Pilots locker room in the near future.
2. It would seem if the right situation were to come around, we'll one day see Coach Cantu as a head coach again.

I get nervous whenever I see a new post in this thread.

PilotNut wrote:I get nervous whenever I see a new post in this thread.  

ditto

PilotNut wrote:I get nervous whenever I see a new post in this thread.  

I am personally saddened that Coach Kramer Knutson's last day with the team was this past Friday.

It was a personal/family decision on his part, and a new MBB assistant should be in place this week or next.

Well, crap. Kramer's first season was a couple years after my last, so I never met him. But from afar, he sure seemed like a dedicated coach and a good guy.