Fire Rob Evans!!!!!

[JPlay]

I'm tired of getting bagged on by UofA fans. I'm tired of getting beat by them every single year. I'm amazed by our lack of NBA players. And I'm sick of basketball being UofA's only comeback when it comes to football season.

Bring in a real coach who's has name recognition to turn this thing around and at least make us a consistent tounament team. What is ASU thinking. They settle for mediocrity in basketball when that would never be allowed for football.

 

[WizardOfAz]

Dr. Crow just extended his contract.

 

[ajcardfan]

Dr. Crow just extended his contract.

No doubt that extension was a reward to Evans for running a clean program. In light of the Faulkner debacle, Crow was sending a message to Koetter too.

Now that Diogu is not coming back, for sure, ASU will overachieve next year if they don't finish last in the PAC 10.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

I've read that they're two best recruits are 50/50 at best to qualify as well. Man, if those guys can't get into school and ASU is looking at Kevin Kruger as a #1 scoring option they could be the worst team in school history this season. It sucks as an Arizona fan knowing UCLA, Stanford, UW, and Cal essentially will get a bye the weekend they have to play the Cats.

 

[JPlay]

Dr. Crow just extended his contract.

Wow and this guy is a Dr.???? He sounds like a moron.

 

[WizardOfAz]

Wow and this guy is a Dr.???? He sounds like a moron.

Dr. Crow's bio:

http://www.asu.edu/president/meetthepresident/

 

[JPlay]

Dr. Crow's bio:

http://www.asu.edu/president/meetthepresident/

In all that it didn't say one thing about sports.

 

[HooverDam]

In all that it didn't say one thing about sports.

He is the PRESIDENT of the university. He is the head of the entire University.

 

[JPlay]

He is the PRESIDENT of the university. He is the head of the entire University.

Exactly what the hell does he know about sports. The basketball team is uncared about. Mediocricy is accepted.

 

[ajcardfan]

Exactly what the hell does he know about sports. The basketball team is uncared about. Mediocricy is accepted.

On the bright side, Evans contract extension was not guaranteed money. So, it has not been accepted by Evans. Maybe Crow isn't content with underperformance after all.

 

[JPlay]

I hate UofA

 

[WizardOfAz]

ASU needs to buyout Evans now

John Gambadoro
Special for azcentral.com
Jul. 4, 2005 11:27 AM


There is a very easy solution to the rift that now exists between Arizona State and head basketball coach Rob Evans. Evans has two years left on his current contract and believes that he is entitled to a two-year contract extension based on what he was told by former Athletic Director Gene Smith. ASU President Michael Crow is willing to give Evans the extension but has no intention of guaranteeing the contract. In other words, Crow knows full well that Evans won’t last the next four years let alone next year as the head man and isn’t crazy enough to throw away good money.

The situation has gotten ugly and is only going to get worse unless ASU acts. What Crow and new Athletic Director Lisa Love need to do is to orchestrate a buyout of Evans contract immediately. He has two years left and $1.5 million remaining on his deal. But chances are that Evans will consider taking less to walk away now. Why? Evans wasn’t born yesterday. He knows the cupboard is bear. He has very little talent to compete with next season and with Ike Diogu now gone to the pros, he has zero chance of getting the Sun Devils to post-season play. Sure it’s his fault that he hasn’t been able to recruit better talent. It’s his fault the Sun Devils basketball program is in the situation it is. It’s his fault the stadium is half empty most nights because the Sun Devils aren’t winning. It’s his fault the team has one win against Arizona in his seven years at the helm and just one NCAA appearance.

But Evans can still walk away with some dignity if he leaves now. He ran a clean program, graduated his students and did have a winning record (18-14) and NIT appearance in what would be his final season. He can take that and go job shopping or possibly land a radio or television gig for a year until he gets back into coaching. But if ASU gets pounded like most expect next season, it will be tougher for Evans to land another job. ASU will be lucky to win 10 games next season. They should finish in the cellar in the Pac-10. And it will be an eyesore on Evans’ coaching record to have finished his ASU tenure with such a bad team. He will be fired. Love will bring in her own man. And it will be harder for an Athletic Director to sell the then 59-year old Evans to his University coming off such a bad season.

So why wait? Evans knows that ASU will go in a different direction. He knows that after seven years they are not willing to guarantee him a job. And they shouldn’t base it on his lack of success. Evans sees the writing on the wall. He is a proud man and if he comes back he will do his best no matter what the circumstances are. But he will get his rear end handed to him with the squad he is going to put out there. And his status as a lame duck coach will cause distractions all year long as well as making recruiting almost impossible. Not that he’s been able to recruit anyone worth mentioning besides Diogu in his time at ASU anyway, but kids are going to lose interest real fast when they don’t believe that you will be around for their first season.

So save him the embarrassment. Offer him $1 million to walk away now. Offer the job on an interim basis to assistant Brooks Thompson, who played four years in the NBA and coached at Yavapai College before joining Evans staff before last season. He is considered a young coach on the rise and might do a nice job if given the opportunity. At least his familiarity with the players will help the adjustment from Evans to a new coach. He is a tireless worker and you would get a year to evaluate him and consider him as the full-time replacement.

Let’s remember that before Evans took over in Tempe, ASU had an interim coach in place. Don Newman replaced Bill Frieder before the start of the 1997-98 season and did a great job in leading the Sun Devils to within one win of the NCAA Tournament. The Devils won 18 games under Newman and went to the NIT Tournament. He should have but was not given the job as then Athletic Director Kevin White went with Evans. Newman followed his success at ASU with a nice career as an assistant coach in the NBA with Milwaukee, New Jersey and currently the world champion San Antonio Spurs.

In fact, Newman left Evans with what should have been his best squad. Bobby Lazor, Eddie House and Michael Batiste were all first-team Pac-10 players whom Evans inherited but won just 14 games with.

The Sun Devils can keep Evans, let him get buried this season and save a years salary. Or they can do what is inevitable: let him walk away now. There is a built in excuse as to why they are letting him go – could not reach contract terms. It’s a much cleaner break than what will happen after next season.

Evans will get back into basketball no matter what happens next season whether it is as an NBA assistant or as an assistant sitting next to and mentoring some young college coach who lacks experience or maybe even as the head coach of a smaller college. His days as a head coach in a major conference are probably over. He may not have won enough at ASU, but he certainly gave it his best effort. And for that it would be nice to see the man walk away with his head held high.

The only way to do that is to amicably part ways now.

Both parties will be better for it.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cheapseats/gambo/0704gambo.html

 

[JPlay]

Thank You. This article reflects my sentiments exactly. Now let's get one of these up and coming coaches who does good in the tournament to rebuild our program.

 

[Mulli]

At first, I thought the title was ASU should boycott (instead of buyout). I thought if we did boycott how would anyone know the difference?

 

[DesertSwarmBAS]

It is sad to say that without Ike, ASU will be the absolute worst basketball team in the Pac-10. Rob Evans gave it a shot, but simply couldnt win games with the talent he had. Ike Diogu was arguably the best player in the country last year and ASU still didnt get to the NCAA tournament. That is flat out pathetic. As an ASU alum it is embarrasing to go through this each and every year. Evans needs to be fired ASAP. A name that seemed like we had a chance at a couple years ago, ASU alum--Byron Scott. He is out of the question now, but i think would have turned this program around.

 

[JPlay]

Yes a big name is needed to bring in recruits.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

I don't see why ASU fans are so enamored with Byron Scott as a possible head coach. Lawrence Frank and Eddie Jordan were heavily rumored to be the brains behind those Nets teams while Scott was basically a figure head. On top of that I don't think Byron has his degree which is supposedly a requirement for the position.

I also disagree that a "big name" is required to bring in recruits. A coach that wins, develops players, and puts them in the NBA brings in recruits.

 

[Mulli]

I don't see why ASU fans are so enamored with Byron Scott as a possible head coach. Lawrence Frank and Eddie Jordan were heavily rumored to be the brains behind those Nets teams while Scott was basically a figure head. On top of that I don't think Byron has his degree which is supposedly a requirement for the position.

I also disagree that a "big name" is required to bring in recruits. A coach that wins, develops players, and puts them in the NBA brings in recruits.

Like you know. Being a fan of the greatest bball program in the history of the world doesn't make you an expert, sir.

 

[Dback Jon]

I also disagree that a "big name" is required to bring in recruits. A coach that wins, develops players, and puts them in the NBA brings in recruits.

Lute Olson WAS a big name before U of A grabbed him from Iowa - and before Lute, U of A basketball was pathetic. Now Lute did do all the things you mentioned, but being a big name in the first place allowed him to do those things.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

When did I bring Lute and Arizona into the conversation? My point was that a "big name" isn't a requirement to build a program. Was Lorenzo Romar a "big name" when he went to Washington? Was Ben Howland a "big name" before he went to Pitt? No, they were up-and-comers unproven at elite level college basketball. They were definitely less in stature nationally than Rob Evans when he took over at ASU after a couple above average seasons at Ole Miss and we know how that turned out.

 

[Mulli]

When did I bring Lute and Arizona into the conversation? My point was that a "big name" isn't a requirement to build a program. Was Lorenzo Romar a "big name" when he went to Washington? Was Ben Howland a "big name" before he went to Pitt? No, they were up-and-comers unproven at elite level college basketball. They were definitely less in stature nationally than Rob Evans when he took over at ASU after a couple above average seasons at Ole Miss and we know how that turned out.

And Bill Frieder was a bigger name that Evans and that didn't really work. Can't they just get someone good?

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

And Bill Frieder was a bigger name that Evans and that didn't really work. Can't they just get someone good?

And Rollie Massimino at UNLV and Dick Bennett at Washington State were a couple more big names that couldn't build a program at those schools while Coach K formerly of Army and Jim Calhoun formerly of Northeastern University were a couple up-and-comers who have done pretty well for themselves and their current schools.

 

[ajcardfan]

And Bill Frieder was a bigger name that Evans and that didn't really work. Can't they just get someone good?

Everytime Freider seemed on the verge of getting ASU basketball on the map, they'd get hit with catastrophic injury and legal problems. He certainly brought in talent good enough to win. But, he also brought in what turned out to be a bunch of pretty bad guys. I'd say the Freider tenure is a 180 from what ASU got with Evans.

Financially, a "big name" is out of the question. They just can't pay the big dough. The only way that could happen is if they had wealthy alumni, with money to burn and tired of taking it in the shorts from UofA in basketball, specifically pay the salary.

 

[JPlay]

Big name doesn't necessarily mean big dollars. You don't need a huge name, you just need to make a name for yourself in the tournament with a small school.

 

[HooverDam]

Big name doesn't necessarily mean big dollars. You don't need a huge name, you just need to make a name for yourself in the tournament with a small school.

Whom do you have in mind?