Hooper leaving Wichita

[RoyalShock]

Heading to the minors:

boblutz @bob:lutz
Kevin Hooper has accepted a minor-league position with the San Diego Padres. Leaves @Wingnuts_ICT after seven years.

[Cdizzle]

Really feels like a missed opportunity with this one.

[SHOCKvalue]

Really feels like a missed opportunity with this one.

To say the least.

[1972Shocker]

Would not be surprised to see Hoop managing an MLB team some point down the road.

[ShockBand]

Best of luck to Hoop, wish he was in a Shocker uniform coaching in some capacity, whether head or assistant. Perhaps someday in the future, but if he starts getting opportunities managing in pro ball, I'm sure he will stay in the pro ranks.

[JJClamdip]

Really feels like a missed opportunity with this one.

Big time miss!

[1972Shocker]

Best of luck to Hoop, wish he was in a Shocker uniform coaching in some capacity, whether head or assistant.

He was this past Fall.

http://goshockers.com/news/2015/8/21/SB_0821152215.aspx?path=sb

[ShockTalk]

Big time miss!

On this, I'm in complete agreement with you. I would have taken this chance in spite of him having no college coaching experience. He simply played/plays the game the right way and has shown he can manage ball players. His bringing in of players annually which became successful teams also showed that he could recruit talent even if it was not the same as college recruiting.

Wish him only the best.

[Shocker85]

Good for Hoop. The Wingnuts gig is a dead-ender.

I still can't believe our idiot former AD didn't give him proper due. I hope he is successful.

[DUShock]

Did we ever determine if Hoop graduated? Isn't there a bachelor degree requirement to be a skipper of an NCAA program and that Hoop never graduated? I could be having failed memory.

[ShockerFever]

Good for Hoop. The Wingnuts gig is a dead-ender.

I still can't believe our idiot former AD didn't give him proper due. I hope he is successful.

And that's why he's an idiot.

[WSUwatcher]

Disappointing for us, although almost certainly good news for Hoop. The Nuts gave him a way to stay in Wichita long enough for him to be hired for Shocker baseball somewhere along the line; but WSU didn't capitalize, and he apparently decided he couldn't wait forever. Best of luck to him.

[Cdizzle]

And that's why he's an idiot.

You and I have gone back on forth on this one several times over the years, but I agree that turning Hooper away from the program was a huge mistake. I would've been a much bigger fan of giving Gene a victory lap year and getting his blessing to have Hoop take it over. Maybe that was never in the cards, but I think Hoop as a skip could have attracted a couple of other former greats turned successful coaches back into the fold as well, and while Gene may have been pissed about being pushed out, at least he and the fanbase would feel like the legacy of the program he built was being carried forward, and hopefully even revitalized.

[Shocker-maniac]

I think that Hooper is a tremendous individual and I wish him the very best in his career and personal life. Hoop is definitely a very classy and all around good guy.

I suppose that time may tell if he was a missed opportunity in terms of college coaching. However, after the Randy Smithson debacle I have learned to stay away from sentimental fan favorites for coaching and I place a much higher value on actual D1 experience.

Note: I'm not comparing Hooper to Randy Smithson. I'm just saying there was a lesson learned from that experience of hiring the sentimental fan favorite with no or little D1 coaching experience.

[ShockerFever]

Can't get much worse than the last two years, can it?