Dana Ford leaving for assistant position at Illinois State

[_kai_]

There could be other things going on with the situation that no one wants to talk about publicly. Sometimes things are not so cut and dry as they seem, or people portray them to believe.

[proshox]

I don't know how you really fault a guy for taking an opportunity to coach at home for his school. It was probably the only chance he was going to get to do that.....

[SubGod22]

I don't know how you really fault a guy for taking an opportunity to coach at home for his school. It was probably the only chance he was going to get to do that.....

I call BS on that one. He would have chances to go back there.

[wu_shizzle]

To us it seems like a lateral move. Obviously, Coach Ford saw greener pastures.

[pinstripers]

A man is only as good as his word.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

Any grass is better when there is charred pasture on the other side.

[tropicalshox]

Any grass is better when there is charred pasture on the other side.

Over my head I tried to figure it out time and time again, and time again I guess there's just some things I''ll never understand.

[hoopsnut]

So why the doube standard? When players "leave" for personal reasons or to be closer to home, that is OK. The party line is that we will upgrade, won't miss them, etc. Now, when we have an asssistant coach leave to go back to his alma mater, there is outrage and questioning his integrity.

[shock]

So why the doube standard? When players "leave" for personal reasons or to be closer to home, that is OK. The party line is that we will upgrade, won't miss them, etc. Now, when we have an asssistant coach leave to go back to his alma mater, there is outrage and questioning his integrity.

Unlike players, coaches are professionals.

[The Mad Hatter]

So why the doube standard? When players "leave" for personal reasons or to be closer to home, that is OK. The party line is that we will upgrade, won't miss them, etc. Now, when we have an asssistant coach leave to go back to his alma mater, there is outrage and questioning his integrity.

Completely different situations. In the first place, the players have been obligated to make a commitment to that institution by NCAA rule not by personal choice. Furthermore, since scholarships can be revoked by the school yearly, that commitment is only a two way street for a single season. Plus, the school has the ability to have final say about the transfer and is allowed to set limits on where the player goes. Next, a player is limited to a 4 year college career. A college coach is not. Asking a college player to stay even 1 extra season is asking him to commit a quarter of his college career to you. One season is likely to be far less than that percentage of a coach's career. In addition, there is a difference between talking about young guys who are away from home for the first time and much more mature adults. An 18-22 year old who is getting his first expose to living alone and/or the Division I game makes his commitment with far less knowledge of what he is getting himself into than the coach does when he chooses to make a commitment, yet it is the player that is required to make such a commitment by rule whereas the coach doesn't have to and could take a job with a head coach that would not ask that of him.

At the end of the day, there are rules that are imposed on players that control their transfer decisions and protect the school. The school has a level of control over the situation and the player has to face a penalty (sitting out a year) for the decision. Even in cases where the penalty is waived, the player is required to justify why that should be the case to someone in power. Even though the school makes no more than a 1 year commitment to the player, all of this is true. None of it is true for the coaches. Unfortunately, coaches can break their promises to players, fans, and each other without any formal consequence. The reality of that, however, is that it makes the trustworthiness of a coach's word all the more important.

[another shocker]

I suppose the worst thing about it is that Dana is going to a conference opponent with a lot of inside knowledge on 3G's system.

Now THAT is bothersome.

[The Mad Hatter]

Now THAT is bothersome.

Maybe, although I remember Turgeon always commented about the difference in playing conference and non-conference opponents by pointing out that conference opponents know all the stuff you run from having played you multiple times year after year so Dana may certainly get the new coaching staff up to speed on what WSU runs quicker, but not necessarily give them much advantage that a coaching staff that has faced Marshall year after year wouldn't have.

[wu_shizzle]

Any word on Dana's replacement?

I wonder if Devon Smith would be considered.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

Devon is a GREAT ambassador of Wichita State, and I hope he makes it back to here sometime in the near future, but he needs to spread his wings.

[Zardoz]

I'm guessing HC3G has a ton of inquires and resumes to search though and we will know shortly after he decides.