2024-25 Expectations for Shocker Basketball – “Put Up or Shut Up Season Kickoff Ed."

[1972Shocker]

We are stuck with Mills for 2+ years. No wiggle room.

See my most recent posts on "Paul Mills Slightly Toasted Seat". Turning up the heat with some food for thought.

[BostonWu]

We are stuck with Mills for 2+ years. No wiggle room.

You're probably right but there's a certain camp that will be out with pitchforks if he gets a 4th year that wasn't afforded to IB. And this isn't any kind of endorsement towards IB.

[ShockTalk]

Didn't realize that Mills bio on the WSU basketball site has not been updated from when he was hired. It says nothing about his 23-24 season with WSU even near the bottom when it lists his year-by-year record as a head coach.

[SHOXAAC]

You're probably right but there's a certain camp that will be out with pitchforks if he gets a 4th year that wasn't afforded to IB. And this isn't any kind of endorsement towards IB.

No chance this program pays 4 basketball coaches at the same time. Not an all-time NCAA record you want to own.

[moshock]

It's not just hiring the next coach - you better have a tremendous NIL program lined up or no (good) coach will come here.

[Dan]

It's not just hiring the next coach - you better have a tremendous NIL program lined up or no (good) coach will come here.

just keep hiring the Drake coaches, he seems to find good corn fed players that don't need NIL. The NIL will flow once the winning comes.

[Kung Wu]

We'll have to search through the 8,000 names again to verify, but I'm pretty sure after the UTSA loss Biden gave Mills a pardon.

[ShockHat]

Don’t suppose anybody remembers when Mills said Bosniak was looking like the best player on the team after the scrimmage? What happened to that guy? Maybe I had too high of expectations but I guess I’m just super disappointed.

[shock-it-to-me]

Don’t suppose anybody remembers when Mills said Bosniak was looking like the best player on the team after the scrimmage? What happened to that guy? Maybe I had too high of expectations but I guess I’m just super disappointed.

Well I think this tells us all we need to know about Mills' talent evaluation.

[rjl]

No chance this program pays 4 basketball coaches at the same time. Not an all-time NCAA record you want to own.

I've posted this elsewhere - maybe even in this thread - but I think the first-possible date that Mills is fired is June 30, 2026. That's the end of his 3rd year and the date on which his early termination means we pay him 75% of the remainder of his contract and not 100%. The big issue with firing Mills then is June 30 is pretty late in the offseason to be looking for a new head coach.

There is, however, an earlier possibility. April 2026 is when the payments to Brown end. If we've gotten comfortable paying 3 coaches, firing Mills at the end of next season (March 2026) and hiring a new coach after April 2026 means we are still paying three coaches.

The payments to Marshall end in December 2026, which will free up more room. If we move on from Mills after next season, whatever new coach we hire could get a contract that materially balloons his second year.

[rjl]

Well I think this tells us all we need to know about Mills' talent evaluation.

Well, Mills was evaluating Bosniak's play against other players who Mills recruited. Probably looked like a stud.

[Stickboy46]

Don’t suppose anybody remembers when Mills said Bosniak was looking like the best player on the team after the scrimmage? What happened to that guy? Maybe I had too high of expectations but I guess I’m just super disappointed.

Probably thought Bosnjak wasn't going to be cleared to play this year. Easy excuse to lose when your "best player" can't play

[ShockHat]

Probably thought Bosnjak wasn't going to be cleared to play this year. Easy excuse to lose when your "best player" can't play

Yeah, probably. I’m ready to move past Mills tbh. This season’s gonna go really bad from here on out. I’m calling it.

next year? I can’t even imagine.

[TrackSuitAndTie]

The only way I can see HCPM getting fired this year is if all of the following happen:

1) ADKS discretely finds a new HC who is willing to take on the job, likely with a salary structure that increases significantly after year one (e.g., from $500k to $1.5m)
2) ADKS takes this proposal to major donors, gets them excited about the new HC, and convinces them to fund the buyout for HCPM
3) To support the new HC, ADKS also convinces donors to invest significantly in the NIL budget

How likely is this to happen? Not likely at all, but you have to figure ADKS is thinking about it, as another terrible year for HCPM will only make ADKS look worse (even with a recent extension).

How many candidates out there would be willing to get paid peanuts year one and could convince the big donors to open their wallets for NIL? Perhaps Mark Turgeon, maybe Adrian Griffin. The list is not long.

[ShockHat]

The only way I can see HCPM getting fired this year is if all of the following happens:

1) ADKS discretely finds a new HC who is willing to take on the job, likely with a salary structure that increases significantly after year one (e.g., from $500k to $1.5m)
2) ADKS takes this proposal to major donors, gets them excited about the new HC, and convinces them to fund the buyout for HCPM
3) To support the new HC, ADKS also convinces donors to invest significantly in the NIL budget

How likely is this to happen? Not likely at all, but you have to figure ADKS is thinking about it, as another terrible year for HCPM will only make ADKS look worse (even with a recent extension).

How many candidates out there would be willing to get paid peanuts year one and could convince the big donors to open their wallets for NIL? Perhaps Mark Turgeon, maybe Adrian Griffin. The list is not long.

I would take Adrian Griffin in a heartbeat on a heavily incentivized contract. He showed his chops in the nba level pretty well.