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Post by trimster on Mar 28, 2023 17:56:43 GMT -5
I had reservations until I watched the 23 minute video on the other thread. He knows he’s not perfect, will adjust on the fly, has been successful and appears to be a real good guy. Not the guy I remembered on the Bucknell sidelines. Welcome coach! I felt the same way and came away with the same thoughts after watching the video. I found myself really warming up to the guy.
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Post by trimster on Mar 28, 2023 14:49:33 GMT -5
I watched the Paulsen video and was impressed. He was self-effacing and comes across as someone who is very genuine.
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Post by trimster on Mar 28, 2023 12:11:23 GMT -5
Yeah and if he's any good at his age he'll be gone in 3 years and we'll be doing this all over again. Might not be the case. He’s pushing 60 and has three daughters that are high school and college aged. Might be content being at his next school for the rest of his career. Maybe he got a taste of what “bigger” basketball is like (Mason / A10) and didn’t like it. I think 44 was talking about Krikorian. I could see Paulsen finishing his career at HC.
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Post by trimster on Mar 28, 2023 11:05:33 GMT -5
I think it is fair to say, given HC's dreadful hoops track record for some time, some pretty decent candidates have come forth.
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Post by trimster on Mar 28, 2023 10:07:44 GMT -5
If "safe" is the priority, I don't see how Kit can go wrong with Paulsen. I don't either but is being safe and hitting a home run mutually exclusive?
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Post by trimster on Mar 28, 2023 10:01:21 GMT -5
From today’s Hoop Dirt: “In Yesterday’s DAILY DIRT II, I mentioned some names at Holy Cross, and said that a D3 head coach is “squarely in the mix.” I have it now from multiple people that it is Christopher Newport head coach John Krikorian. His CNU squad went 30-3 this season, and captured the NCAA D3 National Championship. In 12-seasons at CNU, he has gone an impressive 290-65 (.817). One more “outside the box” name coming – stay tuned…” So Gallo, Paulsen, Krikorian and a mystery candidate. I'd like to think Gallo/Paulsen would win @ HC and turn us into a top 4 program in the conference every year...maybe better. I'm weary on getting overly excited on a D3 coach's W/L record...it's great, but hard to measure how it translates. I'm hoping the mystery candidate is a sitting D1 head coach that shows a little more ambition. With that said, it's hard to get upset with this list...all seemingly decent fits. I'd probably lean Gallo if I were making the call. Is a guy whose team just won a national championship at the D3 level, really outside the box?
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Post by trimster on Mar 28, 2023 9:58:57 GMT -5
Nelson, Carmody, Kearny were Div 1 coaches and losers at HC. Who was the last Div. 3 coach hired by HC? On the major sport front, I'd guess Rick Carter.
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Post by trimster on Mar 28, 2023 6:43:43 GMT -5
Maybe Coach K was on his way to see relatives in the area. 😊 Perhaps he was and also has an interview scheduled while he was in town.
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Post by trimster on Mar 28, 2023 6:33:59 GMT -5
A little too early to tell, but the Patriot League could be really down next year. Seems like a lot of important players are leaving from every team (and not just due to graduation). Plus all of the coaching changes. Seemed like it was really down this year. Might be really, really down next year. The league is already knocking on the door of bottom 5 leagues in the country. There isn’t much down left to sink to.
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Post by trimster on Mar 27, 2023 11:46:56 GMT -5
Keegan Records goes portaling today.
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Post by trimster on Mar 27, 2023 11:08:25 GMT -5
So again, take all this with a grain of salt, but the twitter "insiders" both seem in agreement we would have a decision by Tuesday EOD and an announcement by Monday. Wouldn't say names, but said sitting head coach, and not one that's been thrown around in twitter circles, and called it a "shocker." Hopefully they're at least right regarding timing and we can begin our new chapter running on Wednesday. I’ll believe when I see it. If there is any truth to this, I suspect it is someone who is looking for a real challenge late in his career.
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Post by trimster on Mar 27, 2023 10:32:01 GMT -5
So again, take all this with a grain of salt, but the twitter "insiders" both seem in agreement we would have a decision by Tuesday EOD and an announcement by Monday. Wouldn't say names, but said sitting head coach, and not one that's been thrown around in twitter circles, and called it a "shocker." Hopefully they're at least right regarding timing and we can begin our new chapter running on Wednesday. I’ll believe when I see it.
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Post by trimster on Mar 26, 2023 12:17:34 GMT -5
Yup, definitely skeptical on if there's any truth here, but I'm starved for news and I'll take what I can get Nixon would have been well-served with Kit on board. No need for plumbers.
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Post by trimster on Mar 26, 2023 8:15:53 GMT -5
966 portalers in D1 men’s hoops as of this morning.
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Post by trimster on Mar 24, 2023 20:26:20 GMT -5
KSU’s unis are pretty much exactly like what I would like to see HC go to In 23-24. I like “HOLY (top) CROSS (bottom). And yes, NAMES on back! This would be statement uniforms! I am ambivalent about the names on the back but a thousand times yes on your suggestion about the front of the jersey. Not sure why we got away from it.
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Post by trimster on Mar 24, 2023 12:22:36 GMT -5
Radio silence broken. As someone else noted, Gallo loves to play the 2-3 zone.
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Post by trimster on Mar 24, 2023 7:27:36 GMT -5
Valproate fires their coach, Matt Lottich. Valparaiso ? I typed Valpo. After that, only the computer gods know what happened.
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Post by trimster on Mar 24, 2023 6:51:12 GMT -5
Valproate fires their coach, Matt Lottich.
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Post by trimster on Mar 22, 2023 14:45:44 GMT -5
Boogie Fland, a Jr. from the Crusaders of Stepinac to the Crusaders in Worcester? Heard good things about him. Pitino is visiting him today. 7th ranked prospect in the class of 2024.
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Post by trimster on Mar 22, 2023 7:40:18 GMT -5
'It has been a whirlwind': Christopher Newport coach John Krikorian of Auburn savors NCAA Division 3 men's basketball championship Jennifer Toland Telegram & Gazette
SKIP
Christopher Newport coach John Krikorian holds up the net after his team captured the NCAA Division 3 men's basketball title. John Krikorian earned his bachelor’s degree in systems engineering in 1996 from the University of Pennsylvania, and went straight to work at an information management company.
While at Penn, Krikorian, who was a three-sport athlete (soccer, basketball, baseball) at Auburn High, played two years of JV basketball, and, as a senior, was the varsity team’s student assistant, a formative position that fueled his love of hoops.
After two years in the business world, Krikorian decided he wanted back in the game, and former Penn assistant Steve Donahue helped hook him up with a graduate assistant position at Division 2 West Virginia Wesleyan College.
It was the first stop in Krikorian’s coaching career, which has now spanned 25 years, most notably the last 12 at Christopher Newport University, where he has elevated the men’s basketball program to Division 3 prominence.
Last Saturday, as multi-colored confetti showered Krikorian on the Fort Wayne (Ind.) War Memorial Coliseum court, and he clutched the NCAA Division 3 national championship trophy amidst the Captains’ celebration, he thought of those who helped him get to that pinnacle.
Krikorian’s parents, Bob and Judy, who raised their four children in Auburn, were among the first that came to mind.
“When I made the decision to leave the business world to get into coaching,” Krikorian said Tuesday during a phone interview from Newport News, Virginia, “they were the most supportive in helping me follow my dreams. They said, ‘Go for it.’ They never questioned it. They said, ‘We’ll help you any way we can.’ I obviously couldn’t have done it without that.”
Bob, who taught at South High, his alma mater, for 34 years, passed away in May 2021. Judy now lives with Krikorian’s sister in New Hampshire, and cheers on the Captains from afar.
Christopher Newport coach John Krikorian had plenty to smile about during this championship season. The last CNU game Bob attended was in 2019 at Hamilton College. The Captains defeated the hosts and Williams to advance to the Final Four for the second time under Krikorian.
Last weekend, the Captains made their first national title game appearance. The final minute against Mount Union was wild. The Purple Raiders tied the score at 72 with 4 seconds left, before CNU junior Trey Barber took the inbounds pass and drove the length of the floor for the winning layup as time expired.
“It has been a whirlwind since that shot went through the basket,” Krikorian said, “and everything that has happened since then. It has definitely not settled down yet.”
The thrilling finish was the No. 1 play on SportsCenter Top Ten.
“Trey started to go downhill toward the basket, and we let it roll, and he delivered,” Krikorian said. “We were going to overtime if he didn’t make it and my mind was already, ‘Boom. How do I get the group ready to go to overtime?’ and he puts it in the basket, and it was just pandemonium.”
Former Worcester Academy coach Mo Cassara, who is now a color analyst for CBS Sports Network, was on the call.
This season, CNU trailed at halftime in nine games, including the national championship, and came from behind to win all of them.
“I can’t be happier for this group of guys,” Krikorian said, “and watching them enjoy this moment that they earned.”
The CNU women’s basketball team will play for the national title April 1, marking just the second time the same school is represented in both D3 title games.
“It’s a place that breeds excellence,” Krikorian said. “It’s fun. It matters, and that’s a place you want to be.”
Krikorian, who was the head coach for four years at U.S. Merchant Marine Academy for four years before arriving at Christopher Newport, was previously an assistant at Penn, Lafayette and Navy.
Christopher Newport coach John Krikorian concentrates on play during the NCAA Division 3 Final Four. With the success he has had at CNU (263-62, .809 winning percentage), the 48-year-old Krikorian has, through the years, drawn interest from other programs.
“Some little nibbles,” he said, “but I’m not going to leave here unless it is a really, really special opportunity. At the Division 2-3 level, I don’t think there is a better job in the country. At Division 1, I’m not interested in being an assistant again, and it would take a pretty confident Division 1 athletic director to hire a Division 3 coach. It doesn’t happen very often, and it would still have to be a really good fit for me to move my family. I’m all in for whatever is best for my family. Right now, that’s here in Newport News.”
Krikorian and his wife Emily (Clark), who grew up in Paxton and ran cross-country at Wachusett Regional and Worcester State, have three children.
They have family and friends in Central Mass., and Krikorian was thrilled, when, among the 500 congratulatory text messages he received Saturday night, was a group chat with his former Auburn High teammates.
“It was so cool,” Krikorian said. “It was just awesome to think about Auburn High and that team. I miss my friends and family up there, and it’s fun to reconnect during times like this.”
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Post by trimster on Mar 22, 2023 5:16:52 GMT -5
Pitino leaves Iona and 4 Gaels hit the portal.
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Post by trimster on Mar 21, 2023 17:26:28 GMT -5
Is HC’s announcement hinging on the certain coach still involved in post season? Or we just waiting for option 2,3,4……15? If the D2s are done and HC is waiting for a D1 assistant to become available once the season is over, I’ll take a hard pass on going that route again. Obviously we aren’t getting a head coach from a Sweet 16 team.
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Post by trimster on Mar 21, 2023 14:58:39 GMT -5
See Holy Cross Football for the answer to your question about national awareness. You can believe that VR is supportive of the national branding of Men's Basketball. I've never seen a college president cut down the net at a basketball game like he did when the women beat BU. That was great. I remember when we had some concerns about him when he indicated, shortly after being hired, that he was more of a hiking than team sports kind of guy. VR is all in. PVR sounds like a breath of fresh air.
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Post by trimster on Mar 21, 2023 7:50:59 GMT -5
Here is an interesting one, imho. According to NERR, a kid from the NEPSAC, (Winchendon), just committed to NJIT. (Sorry for the alphabet soup). What's interesting? NJIT is one of the many D1 schools searching for a men's head coach right now.
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Post by trimster on Mar 21, 2023 7:48:02 GMT -5
I imagine the AD has to avoid recommendation overload. It seems so many know someone who would be the best fit for coach, player, etc. Some suggestions are based on personal relationships and little more. The cacophony of advice and suggestions must be dizzying. Obviously, the AD does not want to miss out on a good hire but it is a situation in which it seems everyone knows everything and has a name to recommend. My guess he would need to prioritize criteria. Get input from his assistants. Make lists of various names. Place in various tranches. Quickly eliminate then whittle down to the final few. Whittle down further and further still. Flip a coin. Make a choice. And, say a prayer. It all goes with the job of AD. No doubt AD KH will strike a fine balance and live with his choice for his own peace of mind. Very good points.
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