OT: UNC Wilmington looking for a coach

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1

[B]Wright State lands successful Division I coach
Brownell guided UNC-Wilmington to March Madness twice in four years[/B]
By Marc Katz, Dayton Daily News
April 1, 2006

North Carolina-Wilmington men’s basketball coach Brad Brownell couldn’t wait any longer. Late Friday night, he held a news conference at his school to say he was taking the head coaching job at Wright State.

Will Brad Brownell’s Wright State teams have more successs than Paul Biancardi’s three squads did? Give your opinion

“He’s big over there,” WSU Athletics Director Mike Cusack said. “I heard it was like the paparazzi were out in front of his house all the time.”

Just prior to the announcement, Brownell signed a six-year contract to coach the Raiders, faxing it to Cusack. Terms were not immediately announced, but Cusack said Brownell’s contract would pay him a little more than Paul Biancardi’s annual pay of $155,000.

Biancardi, the former basketball coach, recently settled with the school after the NCAA found him guilty of recruiting violations, a ruling he is appealing.

Cusack met a week ago with Brownell, who also interviewed at Ball State.

The 37-year-old coach was at UNC-Wilmington four years, leading the Seahawks to an overall 83-40 record and two NCAA tournament appearances, including this year.

Cusack said he interviewed several other candidates, mostly by telephone, and had intended to interview more at this weekend’s Final Four in Indianapolis.

He won’t have to do that now. Cusack said he was looking for a sitting head coach either at the Division I or Division II level.

“This is one of those times you go out with a goal and surpass it,” Cusack said.

A native of Evansville, Ind., Brownell played for DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., graduating in 1991. He spent one year as a graduate assistant coach at Evansville, then two as an assistant at Indianapolis. In the fall of 1995, he landed at the Wilmington program as an assistant, eventually rising to associate head coach. In 2002, he became head coach at Wilmington.

Brownell said, “This has been a very difficult decision for me to make. However, I feel it is in the best interest of my family, my career, and myself to pursue a new opportunity.”

A news conference will be held sometime next week to introduce Brownell to his new community.

NC-WILMINGTON
Year W-L Coach
02-03 24-7 Brownell
03-04 15-15 Brownell
04-05 19-10 Brownell
05-06 25-8 Brownell
Total 83-40
WRIGHT STATE
Year W-L Coach
02-03 10-18 Schilling
03-04 14-14 Biancardi
04-05 15-15 Biancardi
05-06 13-15 Biancardi

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[B]WSU hiring ends three-week search[/B]
By Marc Katz, Dayton Daily News
April 1, 2006

Things happened so quickly, Wright State Athletics Director Mike Cusack said, he can’t remember if basketball coach Brad Brownell contacted him first or if he contacted Brownell.

“This was the 21st day we’ve been working on this,” Cusack said Friday night after North Carolina-Wilmington’s Brownell announced he was taking the WSU job. “I remember we sat and watched his team lose to George Washington (88-82 in overtime), and my staff and I were impressed how well his team played.”

Cusack said he was interested in obtaining an experienced head coach, but was also looking at the assistants on departed Paul Biancardi’s staff as well as assistants at prominent Division I programs.

When NCAA games were played at UD Arena on March 17 and 19, Georgetown was one of the participants and used WSU’s Setzer Pavilion/Mills-Morgan Court as a practice facility. One of the Georgetown assistants spoke with Cusack about the job then.

Cusack said another Division I coach happened to be traveling through town, and Cusack also spoke with him.

Otherwise, most of the interviewing was done by telephone.

Hiring notes

•By the way, don’t think that new Pavilion — opened just this year — didn’t make an impression on Brownell and everyone else who applied for the job.

•One of Brownell’s assistants had already taken a job elsewhere and another is a candidate for a head coaching position, so there may be room to hire from the WSU staff left behind if Brownell so desires. Cusack said it would be up to the coach.

•On the surface, it appears Brownell is making a parallel move, from one mid-major conference — the Colonial Athletic Association — to another, the Horizon League.

Much is being made at the moment of the CAA, which has George Mason in the Final Four. Over the last few years, the HL has done well, too. Milwaukee made it to the second round this year and the regional semifinals last year. In 2003, Butler made it to the regional semifinals.

•While Cusack made it clear he is thrilled with his new hire, he noted he felt the same way with his previous hire, Paul Biancardi, who was a top assistant at Ohio State.

Biancardi energized the program and although his three-year record was just 42-44 and the Raiders were 13-15 this season, Biancardi left the program in better shape than he found it.

Unfortunately for him and WSU, the NCAA says Biancardi broke rules while at OSU, and on March 13, WSU and Biancardi parted ways.

•Said Cusack, “We feel like we got the package. This is one guy who’s really gotten it done.”

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[URL=http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060401/NEWS/60401003/1005/sports][B]Brownell resigns to take Wright State job[/B][/URL], Wilmington Star-News

[URL=http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060401/NEWS/60401005/1005/sports][B]Who’s next for UNCW? An unofficial look at candidates[/B][/URL], Wilmington Star-News

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Why in God’s name would anyone leave UNCW for Wright St.??? That makes no sense. The writer called it a lateral move, but I call BS on that. The CAA has more quality teams and is a up and coming league. Plus your living at the Freaking beach!!! Dumb move, this guy will never be heard from again.

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Why in God's name would anyone leave UNCW for Wright St.????? That makes no sense. The writer called it a lateral move, but I call BS on that. The CAA has more quality teams and is a up and coming league. Plus your living at the Freaking beach!!!! Dumb move, this guy will never be heard from again.

i couldnt have said it better myself

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This comes as a small shock to us UNCW students and fans. We knew he would be pursued by other schools and we knew he was “interested” in Wright State, but a lot of us thought it would never happen. Quite frankly, I think this is a horrible move. He was in the process of building something big at UNCW. He’s taken us to the NCAA’s 2 of the last 4 years, 2 CAA championships, and a good returning squad. I’m not sure what the situation is at Wright State, but it can’t be any better…

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I suppose Dayton is as close as he can get back to his home state of Indiana. I would think that UNC Wilmington would be one of those jobs where it’s not about the money but you could get decent pay and great area to live.

8

The only heads or tails I can make of it is that Wright State has some of the best facilities in the Horizon league. He’s a midwest guy who wants to coach in a midwest league and if he can do well at Wright State, he stands a good chance to land a high-profile coaching job in the midwest within a few years.

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[QUOTE=Jimmyhat49er;166061]Why in God’s name would anyone leave UNCW for Wright St.??? That makes no sense. The writer called it a lateral move, but I call BS on that. The CAA has more quality teams and is a up and coming league. Plus your living at the Freaking beach!!! Dumb move, this guy will never be heard from again.[/QUOTE]

Once again Jimmy nails it.

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[QUOTE][B]The Dayton Daily News reported Saturday that Brownell’s contract at Wright State is for six years and worth slightly more than $155,000 annually.

UNCW chancellor Rosemary DePaolo offered Brownell a new five-year contract on Wednesday with a base annual salary of $215,000 escalating to $250,000.[/B][/QUOTE]
[URL=http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060402/NEWS/60401027/1005/SPORTS][B]Seahawks will start looking right away[/B][/URL], Wilmington Star-News

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He turned down essentially 300 K over the next 5 years to live in Dayton? Are there any unsolved serial murder cases in Wilmington?

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[QUOTE=UNCWIllini;166090]The only heads or tails I can make of it is that Wright State has some of the best facilities in the Horizon league. He’s a midwest guy who wants to coach in a midwest league and if he can do well at Wright State, he stands a good chance to land a high-profile coaching job in the midwest within a few years.[/QUOTE]

This makes no sense to me. The Horizon league ranks behind the MAC and MVC for that area of the country.

BTW, saw an article that said UNCW was going to join the A-10 if St Louis leaves. Do you know anything about this?

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There are too many teams in the A-10 now but the Seahawks might move to a more prominent conference when the next realignment shakes down.

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The article in the Wilmington newspaper cited his wanting to be back in the midwest as a reason for the move. He turned down quite a bit of money and an extension from UNCW to make that move so it had to have been for personal reasons (whether positive or negative).

As far as UNCW joining the A-10 I haven’t heard anything about that down here. I know most of the talking heads would like to switch conferences and “move-up” but I don’t see it happening anytime soon. I’d rather see them try to find ways to strengthen the conference and get it more recognition, ala the MVC.

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I think the facilities is the clincher. A new stadium and facilities is an easy sell to recruits. North Carolina is loaded in college basketball and it is tough to consistently win getting the 8/9th best players positionally in state.

I think he’s comfortable in the midwest and has roots their so it should be an easy transition.

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[QUOTE=UNCWIllini;166168]The article in the Wilmington newspaper cited his wanting to be back in the midwest as a reason for the move. He turned down quite a bit of money and an extension from UNCW to make that move so it had to have been for personal reasons (whether positive or negative).

As far as UNCW joining the A-10 I haven’t heard anything about that down here. I know most of the talking heads would like to switch conferences and “move-up” but I don’t see it happening anytime soon. I’d rather see them try to find ways to strengthen the conference and get it more recognition, ala the MVC.[/QUOTE]

Saw another article that said the total package for his new job is the same as the UNCW job but he got a longer (6 year) contract.

As for your league, I like some of the schools you have - but some of the others are terrible. We need to do a trade and take George Mason, UNCW, Old Dominion and Virginia Commonwealth and give the CAA Duquesne, Fordham, LaSalle and St Bonaventure.

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Are you sure you want to get rid of Fordham?

Fordham 9-7 16-16

They are really young.

As for LaSalle

La Salle 10-6 18-10

What were you saying?

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The Wilmington paper said he’d be making about $100k less, over 5 years, as opposed to 6 years here. That’s a pretty significant pay cut, for a school that is pretty equal (at least, in terms of athletics and conference) to the school you are currently at.

If George Mason can sustain the success they had this year, I can see them moving to a better conference, but UNCW doesn’t have consistent success over many years, and the fact that they can’t keep a coach doesn’t help. I really hope they extend their search beyond assistant coaches. I know we aren’t a big draw for current head coaches, but I would love to get someone with a bit more experience.

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Powerbait, I know LaSalle had a good season for them this year but they are traditionally weak, as is Duquesne, Fordham and St Bonaventure. These programs peaked in the late sixties. George Mason (27-8), ODU (24-10), UNCW (25-8) and VCU (19-10) are all up and coming programs. I say we give Duquesne, Fordham, LaSale and St Bonaventure the boot and steal those teams and break in to two divisions.

NORTH: UMass, URI, St Joe’s, Temple, Dayton, St Louis, Xavier

SOUTH: Charlotte, GW, George Mason, Richmond, VCU, UNCW, ODU

[QUOTE=UNCWIllini;166454]The Wilmington paper said he’d be making about $100k less, over 5 years, as opposed to 6 years here.
If George Mason can sustain the success they had this year, I can see them moving to a better conference, but UNCW doesn’t have consistent success over many years, and the fact that they can’t keep a coach doesn’t help. [/QUOTE]

UNCWillini, the newspaper in Ohio reported the salary to be higher than the Wilmington paper you site so one of the papers is wrong. I doubt your coach left for less money. I’m also confused over your statement of consistent success. According to your own conference website, in the last ten years UNCW has had 4 NCAA bids and 2 NIT bids compared with George Mason’s 2 NCAA bids and 2 NIT bids. UNCW has had 4 tournament titles and 5 regular season titles in ten years and you call that inconsistent? No wonder you didn’t keep your coach.

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Zone, you’re probably a nice enough person, but you really should change your name to “IWantThe49ersToBeInTheColonialConference”.

Everytime I read this suggestion, it makes me think of Michael & Samir listening to Symkowski…

“Well, all right. It was a ‘Jump to Conclusions’ mat. You see, it would be this mat that you would put on the floor, and it would have different conclusions written on it that you could jump to.”

:hammer: :hammer: :hammer: