Yes, unfortunately it was hard (at least for me) to get excited about a Jermaine hiring as HC after I perused his coaching record posted here…except for one year, every staff he was involved with (other than Miami 10 years ago) had teams w losing records. He wasn’t the Head Coach at any, but there didn’t seem to be improvement indicated at any of the schools to any great degree (if at all).
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He’ll get it done…on the recruiting trail!
I really didn’t have an opinion about Steele vs Henderson. All I care is that we get a coach that can win.
With that said, I’m excited for a fresh start and hope that Coach Steele can resurrect the program. I do think it would be wise for him to reach out to the alumni and try to mend some fences. They will likely rebuff him since they wanted Henderson, but someone has to make the first move.
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Jonas Hayes was X’s top recruiter under Steele. Does Jonas move to Oxford after tonight’s NIT final? Interesting look at the current X roster.only one player listed who graduated from an Ohio high school.
…but there are a couple from both Kentucky and Indiana.
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Yes and who was Chris Mack’s top recruiter?----Travis Steele.
And who hired Jonas Hayes even though Sean Miller said he wanted him at Arizona?—Travis Steele.
Jonas Hayes is also likely going to be the next Georgia State HC if he wants it. Makes sense since he went to UGA , is from Atlanta and spent his entire coaching career in the Southeast until Steele hired him.
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They said during the NIT final that he’s been hired to be Miller’s associate HC. Not sure if he’ll jump to someplace else though.
Btw, great for X to win the NIT. They really played well. Good for local hoops interest to see this happen.
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Good for CU to beat the refs at the end too!
Welcome to Miami Coach Steele. You have a lot to do in a short time with hiring a staff and meeting your players and finding out who is going and who is staying ( and who you want to stay and go) and putting together a roster for next season. Good Luck. We are hungry for some good basketball here.
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I spent a little time looking into Coach Steele’s background and found it interesting there are a few connections to the Miami basketball tree.
His high school coach was Todd Lickliter (former Miami asst. as well as Butler and Iowa HC)
He spent his summers in HS living with his half-brother John Groce (10 years older) who was then an assistant with Herb Sendek at NC State (Groce now Akron HC). Sean Miller was also on that staff so he got to know Steele well at that time.
He was a basketball manager at Butler when Thad Matta (another former Miami asst) was HC.
Matta later hired Steele as a grad assistant at Ohio State.
Sean Miller hired Steele as Director of Basketball Operations at Xavier.
When Chris Mack got the HC job Steele was elevated to an assistant and he went from there to the top job in 10 years.
The one thing everyone mentions about Steele is his tireless work ethic.
He is going to need every ounce of it to turn us around.
All the best on that journey, Coach. All Miamians (except Ron Harper?) are rooting for you.
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Oh come on. This narrative is absolutely bananas to me. The guy had a better win % at Xavier than Charlie Coles did at Miami.
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The AD should do the INITIAL reaching out to BB alums…Steele can follow up later as he has more pressing duties right now…such as reviewing his inherited roster, meeting with the kids…AND RECRUITING…
Perhaps Steele can sign an invitation to all former BB players to come back to Millett for a private party and to all get reacquainted…might be a nice touch.
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Agree, Remanaz. Sayler needs to initiate the outreach, and Steele can follow up later as he has more pressing things to do…if I were Sayler I would start w a conciliatory call to Chet.
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Maybe I have my Miami red glasses on but I dont understand Harper or Chet’s comments
Jermaine Henderson isnt getting any head coaching job interviews- I am not saying he is a bad guy or would do a bad job- but it is quite a stretch to think he would be the top candidate.
And if we never get another Brush high school commit then that will equal how many we have gotten since Chet took over.
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Welcome to a great university. I am someone who has been disgusted with basketball the past several years. Please give me some of my enthusiasm back. I’ll have your back until you give me reason not to.
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Well said
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Xavier fan here (I come in peace). I think Travis will be a good hire for you provided that he’s reflected on what did not work for him during his time as HC at X and will make some changes. At times he seemed very stubborn about making in-game or in season adjustments. The in-season adjustments are key as I think the lack of them explained why when we reached the second half of the season, the team performed so poorly. The other coaches knew what to expect the second (or third) time playing X. He also fell in love with certain lineups and his preferred method of playing defense, even when it was obvious they weren’t working in game. He lost the fanbase when he basically said he didn’t care about people booing him or criticizing him online because paraphrasing: I don’t listen to advice I didn’t ask for. Many fans wondered if he was listening to his bench coaches after that.
At any rate something never clicked with him as HC here. Great guy. Hard worker. Great recruiter. Hopefully you’re all happy with him.
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This feels fake. If I was an X fan and my team had just won the NIT, the last place I’d be today is on this forum. (No disrespect to this forum as it’s a lot of fun to engage with.) Nope. I’d be hungover and hoarse. And looking forward to an even brighter future. Happy April Fools you rascal.
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Ha. I had to work this morning and wanted to see what you guys were saying. Legit X fan here.
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