LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

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LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by spud » March 8th, 2020, 11:04 pm

So is Smith gonzo?



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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by aggies22 » March 8th, 2020, 11:05 pm

Nope.



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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by hawktro » March 8th, 2020, 11:15 pm

No



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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by Dwigt » March 9th, 2020, 6:27 am

spud wrote:
March 8th, 2020, 11:04 pm
So is Smith gonzo?
I feel like he is more of a Kermit than a Gonzo.
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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by Aggiealum13 » March 9th, 2020, 6:48 am

Is there anything new out there that I'm missing? I know Minnesota's fan forum is talking about getting him after Richard pitino's ousted, but Pitino has led Minnesota to the NCAA tournament 2 of the last 4 years. Would they really oust him for accomplishing that notwithstanding having a bad season this year? And if that should happen then who knows if Smith would even want to go there even though he's from there. I believe in the beginning of Smith's hire he mentioned that he likes smaller School situations meaning small-town schools which Utah State technically is in comparison to most schools. Maybe he was just saying that to please the Cache county crowd, or maybe he really meant that. Is he really enjoying it here? Does his family really enjoy it here? I do agree that Hartwell should really look hard into improving his contract after the season. I know we really wanted him to last season and he didn't, but he can't hold off after this season. Something's got to get done. How many coaches have sought out greener pastures and it didn't work out? Hopefully Craig sees how good he has it here, and understanding that he can become at Utah State what Mark few is to Gonzaga if he sticks it out. The guy could become a legend here very much like Morrill was, but I think Craig could even be better.


I know some of you might think, where do we get the money to improve his contract? Did we not just get a better TV deal with the Mountain West conference that triples our TV revenue from what it was before? Well let's use some of that to boost Craig's salary to a little north of a million. Maybe 1.2-1.3 million a year.
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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by NVAggie » March 9th, 2020, 7:55 am

He seems to be someone who really takes the time to make the best decision for himself. If the right situation comes up he will be gone. He doesn't owe us anything. He should probably give same a small cut of any new contract since Sam has really made him look like a genius.
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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by hipsterdoofus21 » March 9th, 2020, 8:39 am

I think he stays another 2-3 years minimum but has the potential to be a long term stay.



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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by ThunderAggie » March 9th, 2020, 8:50 am

https://www.forums.gopherhole.com/board ... now.95612/

Gopher Board has a whole thread on it... :lol:



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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by ProfessorChaos » March 9th, 2020, 8:55 am

"Now that we're riding about as high as we possibly could be, LET'S SPECULATE ABOUT OUR DOWNFALL!!!!"
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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by hipsterdoofus21 » March 9th, 2020, 9:01 am

ProfessorChaos wrote:
March 9th, 2020, 8:55 am
"Now that we're riding about as high as we possibly could be, LET'S SPECULATE ABOUT OUR DOWNFALL!!!!"
Nobody Debbie Downers better than Aggie fans.
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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by Real Life Aggie » March 9th, 2020, 9:18 am

ProfessorChaos wrote:
March 9th, 2020, 8:55 am
"Now that we're riding about as high as we possibly could be, LET'S SPECULATE ABOUT OUR DOWNFALL!!!!"
Username checks out.



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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by tysteve20 » March 9th, 2020, 9:24 am

My parents were on the same plane as the team and as smith passed my mom walking down the aisle to his seat and just said “please stay” he replied with “yeah, let’s make this a yearly tradition”

So take that how you will


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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by TrueAggieman » March 9th, 2020, 10:28 am

tysteve20 wrote:
March 9th, 2020, 9:24 am
My parents were on the same plane as the team and as smith passed my mom walking down the aisle to his seat and just said “please stay” he replied with “yeah, let’s make this a yearly tradition”

So take that how you will


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That’s what anybody is going to say, especially when they’re on a high. I’m not saying he won’t stay, but I wouldn’t take his word after just winning a very emotional conference tournament as gospel.
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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by ineptimusprime » March 9th, 2020, 11:18 am

Can we please let the speculation begin after the NCAA tournament?
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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by Aggie84025 » March 9th, 2020, 12:06 pm

I am just happy what he has done with the program over the last 2 years. The confidence and resiliency he has installed in this team is awesome. If he gets a bigger offer that intrigues him, I would obviously be sad, but will hold no bad feelings. I am just grateful the program has returned back to a good spot since the last few bad years of Stew and then the Duryea debacle.



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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by hipsterdoofus21 » March 9th, 2020, 1:15 pm

Aggie84025 wrote:
March 9th, 2020, 12:06 pm
I am just happy what he has done with the program over the last 2 years. The confidence and resiliency he has installed in this team is awesome. If he gets a bigger offer that intrigues him, I would obviously be sad, but will hold no bad feelings. I am just grateful the program has returned back to a good spot since the last few bad years of Stew and then the Duryea debacle.
This. Just enjoy the ride folks. However long it lasts. Constantly telling him to "please stay" just comes across as desperate and insecure. Nothing more attractive to a type A personality than desperation and insecurity.

Cheer him on. Support the team. Open your wallets when possible. That's all we can do to convince him of the value of his current job.
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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by oleblu111 » March 9th, 2020, 2:11 pm

hipsterdoofus21 wrote:
March 9th, 2020, 1:15 pm
Aggie84025 wrote:
March 9th, 2020, 12:06 pm
I am just happy what he has done with the program over the last 2 years. The confidence and resiliency he has installed in this team is awesome. If he gets a bigger offer that intrigues him, I would obviously be sad, but will hold no bad feelings. I am just grateful the program has returned back to a good spot since the last few bad years of Stew and then the Duryea debacle.
This. Just enjoy the ride folks. However long it lasts. Constantly telling him to "please stay" just comes across as desperate and insecure. Nothing more attractive to a type A personality than desperation and insecurity.

Cheer him on. Support the team. Open your wallets when possible. That's all we can do to convince him of the value of his current job.
That is a great post, instead of posting on here about how USU needs to raise is salary. I have decided to donate to the Wayne Estes fund, please join me.
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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by ThunderAggie » March 9th, 2020, 3:00 pm

I don't like where Minnesota board is going with this....

"Would Smith bring any of this players with him? I am not 100% sure on the transfer rules these days. I am on board with giving him a shot."

"With Merrill gone the only guy that sticks out is Queta. I'd take him, not sure if they could get him eligible for next year but he would be a solid replacement for Oturu. Catches the ball, passes well and defends."



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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by IdAggie » March 9th, 2020, 3:27 pm

Nope - He and his family really like this place and USU. I am hopeful that he stays long term with the professional goal of building us into a Gonzaga type program. Mark Few has had many opportunities to leave Gonzaga for a bigger conference and significantly more money. Few's current salary is $1.6 million. Over the coming years with continued success, Smith could be in that same salary ballpark with long term job security while building this into something even more special. He is a small town guy, which make many larger programs not so attractive to him and his family.
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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by Bank Shot » March 9th, 2020, 3:48 pm

Gonzaga situation is so unique. They are 300 miles from any other major pro or university. There's no football program and they are the only game in town. Plus, they are in a basically basketball conference where they have total leverage on everyone else.
I'm not saying Smith can't or won't build something special but Few/Zags/Spokane was a perfect storm.
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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by Aggieiester » March 9th, 2020, 3:56 pm

To really have a chance to keep him I think he needs to be bumped up in pay to around $1 Million. If USU did this is the fan base ready to pay a corresponding increase in tickets/parking/seat licensing to help pay for this bump in pay or is there an expectation out there that this money should all come from other sources like big donors/student fees/taxpayers?



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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by GameFAQSAggie » March 9th, 2020, 4:47 pm

While we want to keep Smith, there's Pope at BYU who we can hope a bigger school poaches instead!



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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by Roy McAvoy » March 13th, 2020, 4:58 pm

This is HUGE.

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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by Yossarian » March 13th, 2020, 5:11 pm

Bank Shot wrote:
March 9th, 2020, 3:48 pm
Gonzaga situation is so unique. They are 300 miles from any other major pro or university. There's no football program and they are the only game in town. Plus, they are in a basically basketball conference where they have total leverage on everyone else.
I'm not saying Smith can't or won't build something special but Few/Zags/Spokane was a perfect storm.
To play devil's advocate:

The University of Minnesota is the only D1 school in the entire state (one of 5, I think, states that have just 1). They are the only game in town. While traditionally a football conference, the Big 10 was arguably the best basketball conference in the country this year. It is a conference that has Indiana as a member, after all.

On to Smith - has he peaked at USU? He has already accomplished more that I (and I'm sure a lot of others) thought possible here. In our early days in the MW conference at the end of Morrill's tenure and through the short Duryea stint, I thought the best USU could hope for was maybe a top three finish in the conference every now and then. I really thought we would struggle in this league with SDSU, UNR, UNLV, UNM always seeming to have more talent and a much better ability to recruit than USU. I thought we would be doing very well to crack the top three in the middle of that group on occasion and perhaps see an NCAA invite on particularly good years.

Smith has beaten UNR last year and SDSU this year with some of the best teams in those programs' histories. He has won the conference tournament championship in two consecutive years with the most recent one against a team that had just one loss all year and was pretty much a lock for a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. What more can Smith do here? I know there is a desire to win a game or two in the big tournament and I though this was the year we could do that. The only thing more Smith can do here is just continue this run and momentum and rack up wins and conference championships. He could truly be a legacy coach here for as long as he likes, if that is his desire. Or, ...... he could seek his next challenge. To me, he has nothing else to prove here and I'm glad we have him.


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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by Intermeddler » March 13th, 2020, 5:21 pm

I am willing to guess that we see much less coaching movement in the next couple months than usual given the circumstances and that is probably to our benefit in keeping Smith around for a bit.



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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by NavyBlueAggie » March 13th, 2020, 5:40 pm

oleblu111 wrote:
March 9th, 2020, 2:11 pm
hipsterdoofus21 wrote:
March 9th, 2020, 1:15 pm
Aggie84025 wrote:
March 9th, 2020, 12:06 pm
I am just happy what he has done with the program over the last 2 years. The confidence and resiliency he has installed in this team is awesome. If he gets a bigger offer that intrigues him, I would obviously be sad, but will hold no bad feelings. I am just grateful the program has returned back to a good spot since the last few bad years of Stew and then the Duryea debacle.
This. Just enjoy the ride folks. However long it lasts. Constantly telling him to "please stay" just comes across as desperate and insecure. Nothing more attractive to a type A personality than desperation and insecurity.

Cheer him on. Support the team. Open your wallets when possible. That's all we can do to convince him of the value of his current job.
That is a great post, instead of posting on here about how USU needs to raise is salary. I have decided to donate to the Wayne Estes fund, please join me.
Oleblu makes a solid point. Donate,,,DONATE,,,,DONATE Open your wallets folks. Bleep in one hand and wish in the other just doesn't get it done.



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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by GUS » March 13th, 2020, 7:36 pm

A good part of Smith's success is due to a player named Sam Merrill. If my memory serves me right Sam was here long before Smith became coach. I want to see how Smith can do with his own players before he is crowned king forever. Not to be misunderstood, I do like what he has done the past two seasons.
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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by TheAKAggie » March 13th, 2020, 8:13 pm

Gottleib said on the radio that with the stock market tanking, boosters aren’t going to be ponying up for buyouts.


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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by bpd » March 13th, 2020, 8:57 pm

I doubt Craig goes anywhere this year because the weirdness of this year. That said, I've said a couple times he turned down an extension last year. The Full Court Press did an interview with Hartwell today. It is the first 22 minutes of the link. They ask him about Smith in the last part of the interview. Listen carefully to the words he uses.
https://www.1069thefan.com/podcast/the- ... h-13-2020/



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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by Aggie84025 » March 13th, 2020, 9:17 pm

Hatwell mentioned that he's going to do everything he can to keep coach Smith as the basketball coach. At the end of the day I am sure that coach Smith will get more offers to a larger program but at the end of the day he will make whatever decision he thinks is best for him. I sure hope he stays and continues the great work that he has done here but I understand that the better opportunity arises it would be hard to turn down as well. Just thankful for the program is at compared to 2 years ago.



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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by oleblu111 » March 14th, 2020, 10:58 am

GUS wrote:
March 13th, 2020, 7:36 pm
A good part of Smith's success is due to a player named Sam Merrill. If my memory serves me right Sam was here long before Smith became coach. I want to see how Smith can do with his own players before he is crowned king forever. Not to be misunderstood, I do like what he has done the past two seasons.
Did we not have Sam, Kobe, and Jalen Moore on the team at one time, of corse we did not win with those kids, coaching is a major part of our success, to be honest we do not have as much talent as several MWC schools.



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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by Aggie formerly in Hawaii » March 14th, 2020, 11:11 am

GUS wrote:
March 13th, 2020, 7:36 pm
A good part of Smith's success is due to a player named Sam Merrill. If my memory serves me right Sam was here long before Smith became coach. I want to see how Smith can do with his own players before he is crowned king forever. Not to be misunderstood, I do like what he has done the past two seasons.
Merrill is great, but was on two bad teams that were nowhere near the nit let alone the big dance before Craig Smith got here. Smith deserves a world of credit for what he has done here.



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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by Aggie formerly in Hawaii » March 14th, 2020, 11:14 am

IdAggie wrote:
March 9th, 2020, 3:27 pm
Nope - He and his family really like this place and USU. I am hopeful that he stays long term with the professional goal of building us into a Gonzaga type program. Mark Few has had many opportunities to leave Gonzaga for a bigger conference and significantly more money. Few's current salary is $1.6 million. Over the coming years with continued success, Smith could be in that same salary ballpark with long term job security while building this into something even more special. He is a small town guy, which make many larger programs not so attractive to him and his family.
All coaches say they love where they are. Acting like he will stay long term and make usu into a team that goes to the sweet sixteen and beyond almost every year which you are doing by comparing him to mark few is a fantasy and one id encourage fans not to buy into. It will only break your heart. Just enjoy the ride.



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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by SLB » March 14th, 2020, 11:21 am

I don't see him leaving. NCAA tournament auto-bids every year and in the polls at the end of season every season, and the new MWC tv deal = a pay raise at Utah State. Utah State pays really well in real dollars, and he really seems like he found a his place here.



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Re: LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN

Post by oleblu111 » March 14th, 2020, 11:32 am

SLB wrote:
March 14th, 2020, 11:21 am
I don't see him leaving. NCAA tournament auto-bids every year and in the polls at the end of season every season, and the new MWC tv deal = a pay raise at Utah State. Utah State pays really well in real dollars, and he really seems like he found a his place here.
I hope what you believe is true, however let me point out that Coach Smith is around 5th or 6th in the MWC as far as salary goes. The chance to makes as much as $3 million plus per season with a 5 year year guarantee contract is tough to turn down. Of course he tells everyone he is happy here including recruits.



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