Nash was the head coach for the last 3 years. All of them loosing seasons :(
Before that, Nash was an assistant coach under Riley Wallace for 2 decades. Nash was also a legendary player for UH, as part of the school's version of the Fab 5 in the early 1970's, and was in the NBA for a few years.
1) Firing someone isn't something I take lightly.
Sure, we all get frustrated when someone performs poorly on the job!
But that person is a human being too. And being fired means not being able to pay the bills, and could lead to self-esteem issues!
So while we could pretty much fire people almost any way you want, legally speaking, we as humans should do it as ethically and with as much class as possible!
Which is why I think UH Athletic Director Jim Donovan showed a lot of class when announcing the termination of Bob Nash
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100308/BREAKING02/100308032/Nash+fired+as+UH+basketball+coach+
"It's probably one of the toughest days of my career," said UH Athletic Director Jim Donovan said to open today's press conference at Stan Sheriff Center. "Bob Nash is a tremendous man. I have the utmost respect for him, what he's done for this university as a player, as assistant coach and where his heart is for this program, but I'm announcing this morning that he will not retained next year as head coach."
[skipped paragraphs]
"We are grateful for the way he represented the school and for the example he has set for our student athletes," Donovan said in a prepared statement.
"He may no longer be our coach, but he will forever be a Rainbow Warrior."
--
It's hurtful for anyone to be fired! But to be fired from your alma mater! That's gotta sting even more!
So I think Donovan made the best statement, the one I highlighted in green!
I'll let his players be the judge on that!
Some also criticized the lack of team spirit among his players, and of course, the lack of wins
However, Nash's reign as head coach was also impacted by external factors he couldn't control!
-------
For example, the timing of his hiring!
In December 2006, (in the middle of basketball season), Wallace announced he was going to retire after the season's over. The local gossip was that Frazier pressured Wallace into retirement (or "fired" Wallace, depending on who you ask). When asked about it Wallace said he wasn't pressured into retirement, and that he was going to retire anyways.
When Wallace announced his retirement, he said he wanted his assistant coach Bob Nash to be his replacement.That was in December 2006.
What did Frazier do? He waited until March 2007 to officially announce the job vacancy for head basketball coach ! He waited until March 2007 to start a committee that will screen and interview candidates for head coach for men's basketball!
You would think if someone announced their retirement that will take place in a few months, you'll start searching for replacement now!
While Nash was hired, it wasn't even officially announced on April 13, 2007.
To make problems worse, that was after the recruiting period started. Some basketball players who were interested in playing for Hawaii didn't want to wait any longer to find out who was going to be their coach, so they ended up signing up with other colleges.
So that did have an effect on Nash's 3 years as head coach! Just imagine if Nash was able to get them signed up early! We could've had a more talented roster and maybe Nash wouldn't be in the situation he's in now!
I really believe Herman Frazier needs to apologize to Bob Nash about taking too long to hire him! Frazier needs to apologize to Nash about waiting after the start of recruiting period to hire him!
This issue, plus taking too long to negotiate a new contract with ex-UH football coach June Jones, was one of the reasons Frazier was fired from his job as UH Athletic Director in January 2008.
-----
And this year, the team has so many injuries. Bill Amis, the best player from the previous year, was injured right before the season started! He couldn't play this season. Other guys also missed time due to minor injuries!
This was why some UH fans were reluctant to see Bob Nash fired this year!
3) So now UH will have to find a new head basketball coach!
Certain challenges are out there!
For one thing, most of the top boy's athletes in Hawaii focus on football! Even a local athlete who is slim and 6-3 (who could play point guard in basketball) would most likely focus on being a wide receiver or a defensive end in football!
This makes local recruiting difficult! Many of the state's top male high school basketball players do play college sports ....... as football or volleyball players! Here, basketball is just something to do when football or volleyball season is over!
It is a different situation in places like New York or Philly, where the young athletes focus on basketball 24-7!
Some say that the difficulty in local recruiting for basketball is because Hawaii doesn't have that many African-Americans. But there isn't that much African-Americans in Logan, Utah either, but that didn't stop Utah State from being the top team in the Western Athletic Conference!
While different ethnic groups may prefer one sport over another, I don't think it's the main factor in all this!
Don't get wrong, we had great local players of different races playing for UH in the past --- David Hallums, Jarrin Akina, Alika Smith, Julian Sensley and Bobby Nash (the coach's son)!
And UH did recruit great players of different races from the mainland (especially Anthony Carter and the subject of today Bob Nash) and from other countries like Canada, Serbia, Lithuania, Israel, Nigeria, etc.
International recruiting has gotten more difficult now that the NCAA has been stricter about it! Youth sports are run differently in foreign countries, and some amateur athletes there play organized team sports with paid players! The NCAA doesn't like that! I think the NCAA doesn't make much sense there! The NCAA should allow those amateurs to play college sports in the US!
So whoever is the next coach needs to be good at recruiting locally, nationally and internationally! We shouldn't be losing recruiting battles to Utah State, New Mexico State or Idaho!
And hopefully, the next coach can coordinate something with the youth programs. Rich Miano, an assistant coach for the UH football team, has a Speed & Quickness Clinic for young kids aspiring to become college football players. Why not have that for basketball?
We have a strong recruiting base for football and volleyball! Let's make it a strong recruiting base for basketball too!
Here's Wes Nakama's comment on local recruiting in basketball
http://preptalk.honadvblogs.com/2010/03/09/next-uh-coach-shouldnt-ignore-local-hoop-talent/
4) Bob Nash was paid $240,000 per year. Because of the wording in the contract, Nash also gets another $240,000 for doing nothing next year as well! (some boosters have stepped up to pay for that extra year, so that UH can use its own funds on the next coach)
Riley Wallace said that the UH Athletic Department should pay $500,000 to $600,000 for the next coach.
http://warriorbeat.honadvblogs.com/2010/03/08/end-of-nash-era/
Riley Wallace, who likely will be one of Donovan's advisers in the selection process, said the position needs to be filled by an established coach who can recruit. Such a coach would cost about $500,000 to $600,000. Thing is, UH paid Nash $240,000 annually and the position's ceiling is $400,000.
"They need seven spots to fill," Wallace said. "You're going to have to pay. The price is going up."
Just watch the sports-haters go bezerk about this!
Remember, they went bezerk over June Jones making $800,000 a year during the previous decade, even though he was one of the best coaches out there, and even though what Jones made was CHUMP CHANGE compared to his current job at SMU!
I don't mind the next basketball coach getting paid good money, especially if he brings great success!
But what's gotta end, is paying coaches for leftover years after being terminated! We should pay for great performance, not paying big money to someone to do nothing!
