Banghart-UNC article

[Sifaka]

It's a bit fluffy, but this article does give some insight into Courtney Banghart's thought process.
She says that she would only have considered leaving Princeton for three other schools: UNC, Virginia, and @triaddukefan 's Duke.

Into the Blue

Basketball coach Courtney Banghart ’00 heads to Carolina.

dartmouthalumnimagazine.com

 

[Plebe]

It's a bit fluffy, but this article does give some insight into Courtney Banghart's thought process.
She says that she would only have considered leaving Princeton for three other schools: UNC, Virginia, and @triaddukefan 's Duke.

So when she applied for the Vanderbilt job, she didn't really mean it?

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

So when she applied for the Vanderbilt job, she didn't really mean it?

May have been "testing the waters" and gaining experience if she did indeed apply. Or maybe the situation was different.

 

[Sifaka]

So when she applied for the Vanderbilt job, she didn't really mean it?

Having read the article, one would reasonably assume that the following statement was about her mindset at the time the UNC AD approached her.

"Not to mention that UNC was on her short list of three schools that could lure her away. (Duke and Virginia were the others.)"

 

[DefenseBB]

So when she applied for the Vanderbilt job, she didn't really mean it?

She meant AFTER Vanderbilt turned her down! And if Vandy has a “redo” I think they would select Ms. Banghart over their current mess of a coach Ms. White who has been extremely expensive and a hot mess.

 

[Dillon77]

May have been "testing the waters" and gaining experience if she did indeed apply. Or maybe the situation was different.

She meant AFTER Vanderbilt turned her down! And if Vandy has a “redo” I think they would select Ms. Banghart over their current mess of a coach Ms. White who has been extremely expensive and a hot mess.

From everything I read and recall from that coaching search, three finalists emerged: Steph White (the ultimate "winner"), Banghart and Niele Ivey, longtime Irish assistant and director of recruiting of Coach McGraw. One pro coach, one HC from the Ivies and one prominent assistant. Vandy went with the pro coach and as DefenseBB noted, things have been, hmmm, erratic.

Interestingly, Vandy's new AD fired the Men's B-ball coach and went with a pro coach, as well. Nonetheless, I've got to think that White is treading on some very thin ice in Nashville.

I was also interested that the UVA job went to Tina Thompson, an assistant, last year without any -- at least publicly -- competition. UVA didn't set the house on fire in her initial season and Thompson replaced her assistants and has landed a few recruits, the most notable one coming due to a coaching change in Marquette. We'll see.

So out of Vandy, UVA and NC, the Tarheels were the first ones to go with the collegiate head coaching experience. Stay tuned.

BTW, she most certainly didn't leave the locker room bare in Princeton with Bella Alarie and some fine sophomores. Carla Berube is walking into a good situation.

 

[Vowelguy]

Not sure you can blame Vandy -- S White seemed like a home run pick. Successful as a W coach, great TV analyst, successful as a player. Not only success, but pro experience (as coach and player) that would be enticing to players who wanted to go pro themselves.

Her utter failure is a mystery to me, though maybe more astute followers have more insight.

 

[Shmermerer]

Not sure you can blame Vandy -- S White seemed like a home run pick. Successful as a W coach, great TV analyst, successful as a player. Not only success, but pro experience (as coach and player) that would be enticing to players who wanted to go pro themselves.

Her utter failure is a mystery to me, though maybe more astute followers have more insight.

I think the WNBA is a way different style of play than College ball. There’s a lot more iso plays.

 

[Plebe]

Not sure you can blame Vandy -- S White seemed like a home run pick. Successful as a W coach, great TV analyst, successful as a player. Not only success, but pro experience (as coach and player) that would be enticing to players who wanted to go pro themselves.

Her utter failure is a mystery to me, though maybe more astute followers have more insight.

I get the impression she had a grandiose vision of implementing a high-octane, fast-paced brand of basketball that requires a degree of athleticism for which Vanderbilt has simply lacked the horses.

 

[eebmg]

Not sure you can blame Vandy -- S White seemed like a home run pick. Successful as a W coach, great TV analyst, successful as a player. Not only success, but pro experience (as coach and player) that would be enticing to players who wanted to go pro themselves.

Her utter failure is a mystery to me, though maybe more astute followers have more insight.

I am not sure the pro coach / player pedigree is that attractive to recruiting prospects in general. Especially for a team that is not already at a FF level.

The level of the recruits they would reasonably attract (at least to start) is not near WNBA potential so WNBA experience probably has little impact.


On the other hand, I was delightfully surprised when Whalen did not
sneak in and steal Bueckers from us. I thought WNBA legend PG Whalen + Minn Home Girl to boot would have made a big big impression. But I guess most players see the value of having coaches familiar with college team and skill building and innately understand that it is a gradual training curve.

 

[DefenseBB]

I get the impression she had a grandiose vision of implementing a high-octane, fast-paced brand of basketball that requires a degree of athleticism for which Vanderbilt has simply lacked the horses.

...or she’s really not a capable coach as evidenced by her diminished record each year she’s coached either in the pro’s or in college. They are paying her ($900k?) and her staff lots of money to boot and for 6 years, so she has 3 years left! Recruiting has been atrocious, her own recruits have left the program. It’s ugly...

 

[Vowelguy]

I think the WNBA is a way different style of play than College ball. There’s a lot more iso plays.

"Coaching is coaching." -- Geno Auriemma

Any good coach should be able to adapt to different styles of play. And as POY of a NC team (not to mention an excellent TV analyst), it's not like she's not familiar with college BB.

 

[Vowelguy]

I am not sure the pro coach / player pedigree is that attractive to recruiting prospects in general. Especially for a team that is not already at a FF level.

The level of the recruits they would reasonably attract (at least to start) is not near WNBA potential so WNBA experience probably has little impact.

Vandy has a history of attracting top talent, if not recently. And as Graves, Rueck, Frese and others have shown, it can happen quickly in the right situation.

 

[Vowelguy]

...or she’s really not a capable coach as evidenced by her diminished record each year she’s coached either in the pro’s or in college. They are paying her ($900k?) and her staff lots of money to boot and for 6 years, so she has 3 years left! Recruiting has been atrocious, her own recruits have left the program. It’s ugly...

Yeah that's the thing. It's not merely "not as good (or as fast) as hoped;" this has been a pretty epic flameout. How could anyone have seen this coming?

 

[Shmermerer]

"Coaching is coaching." -- Geno Auriemma

Any good coach should be able to adapt to different styles of play. And as POY of a NC team (not to mention an excellent TV analyst), it's not like she's not familiar with college BB.

Agree, but I mean she did win a WNBA championship. So, she can’t be that bad. It’s not like that team was loaded either. She hasn’t done a good job transitioning to a different style of play especially on the offensive side of things.

Correction. I don’t know why I thought she was the head coach of that team. My bad. Lol.

 

[Plebe]

...or she’s really not a capable coach as evidenced by her diminished record each year she’s coached either in the pro’s or in college. They are paying her ($900k?) and her staff lots of money to boot and for 6 years, so she has 3 years left! Recruiting has been atrocious, her own recruits have left the program. It’s ugly...

To be fair, 5 of the 6 out-transfers from Vandy in the past three years had been signed by Balcomb:

Left after 2018-19:
Cierra Walker (junior)

Left after 2017-18:
Kayla Overbeck (sophomore)
Erin Whalen (sophomore)
Blessing Ojiofor (freshman; signed by Balcomb, delayed enrollment one year)
Paige Warren (freshman)

Left after 2016-17:
Rebekah Dahlman (freshman)

White's boss has given her a longer leash than what he gave men's coach Bryce Drew, who was fired after only two seasons. But this is surely the put-up-or-shut-up year. She has four of her five starters back and a decent recruiting class. They may not be an NCAA tournament team but I think they'll be better.

 

[eebmg]

Vandy has a history of attracting top talent, if not recently. And as Graves, Rueck, Frese and others have shown, it can happen quickly in the right situation.

My point. Those are professional college coaches who have experience dealing with college programs and recruiting.

 

[DefenseBB]

While I have great respect for our esteemed colleague @Plebe let me rehash Ms. White's "stellar" coaching record: 2 years with Indiana Fever and 3 years with Vandy
2015 20-14 good 3rd place Eastern conference (prior year Fever were 16-18 but were 2nd place) made Finals
2016 17-17 3rd place Eastern Conf ; lost in 1st round
2016-17 with Vandy she went 14-16 with Balcomb's players 13th place SEC (prior year 18-14, 11th)
2017-18 7-24 good enough for 11th place in SEC
2018-19 7-23 good enough for 14th place in SEC. But hey, she has all HER starters back so should be banner year (I say that not to impugn Plebe but to point out her players aren't getting it done and less so than Balcomb's).
I guess $900K a year for 6 years doesn't go quite as far as it used to. I don't see her getting fired with 2 years left at that salary after this year. No alumni will pay up to buy her out. The school picked the wrong Indiana Fever player to coach--Neile Ivey is looking very good right now (eh @Dillon77 ?).
Meanwhile, look at what Kelly Graves has done at Oregon in 5 years and that program was deader than WSU is right now (well, maybe not THAT bad..).
Ms. Banghart will do quite well at NC I believe and wish her well. I also wish her successor well as she may play a big role in our future....

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I think the WNBA is a way different style of play than College ball. There’s a lot more iso plays.

Yes. The style of play in the W is a result of the talent level. Reflect that all 5 players on the floor in a pro game were stars in college. No team - usually not even UConn - has 5 "stars" in the starting line-up and there is a drop off after the starters. There may be a drop off in the W but not to a low level.

This drives the W style. And I have seen coaches who can't adjust to lower quality players, so it could be a factor. But as others said, she certainly starred in college (on a 2 star team) and did the commentating gig as well, so she ought to have had more success. I have no theory regarding her failure.