Q Pac hiring U Conn assistant/from NEC web site via Hartford Courant
What makes this most interesting to MU I guess is that Q pac - with its new arena - may be heading for A-10...
UConn associate head coach Tom Moore is set to become the head coach at Quinnipiac, multiple sources indicated Tuesday.
One source said Moore had been offered the job and was "90 percent sure" he would accept it, but also said Moore had not yet accepted the position and was to consult his family Tuesday night.
Moore, 41, who could not be reached, just completed his 13th season on coach Jim Calhoun's staff at UConn. He interviewed for a second time with Quinnipiac on Tuesday.
Moore also has interviewed for St. Bonaventure's head coaching vacancy, and he was contacted by South Florida two weeks ago.
At UConn, Moore is making in the $140,000 to $150,000 range. Quinnipiac, which fired Joe DeSantis after a 14-15 season, is offering about $300,000 a year - great pay for a Northeast Conference coach. It has a new facility near the Hamden campus, the 3,570-seat TD Banknorth Sports Center, which opened in January.
A source said Quinnipiac was pushing for a change of conference, perhaps to the Atlantic 10. The Bobcats were 11-7 in the NEC this season.
Moore was hired at UConn before the 1994-95 season and promoted to associate head coach before the 2005-06 season.
Moore, who aspires to eventually replace Calhoun at UConn, has long thought the Atlantic 10 would be the perfect building block. Moore, married with three daughters, has been a target of schools with head coaching vacancies the past several years, including Hartford after last season.
From me - more on this on the NEC web site..
UConn associate head coach Tom Moore is set to become the head coach at Quinnipiac, multiple sources indicated Tuesday.
One source said Moore had been offered the job and was "90 percent sure" he would accept it, but also said Moore had not yet accepted the position and was to consult his family Tuesday night.
Moore, 41, who could not be reached, just completed his 13th season on coach Jim Calhoun's staff at UConn. He interviewed for a second time with Quinnipiac on Tuesday.
Moore also has interviewed for St. Bonaventure's head coaching vacancy, and he was contacted by South Florida two weeks ago.
At UConn, Moore is making in the $140,000 to $150,000 range. Quinnipiac, which fired Joe DeSantis after a 14-15 season, is offering about $300,000 a year - great pay for a Northeast Conference coach. It has a new facility near the Hamden campus, the 3,570-seat TD Banknorth Sports Center, which opened in January.
A source said Quinnipiac was pushing for a change of conference, perhaps to the Atlantic 10. The Bobcats were 11-7 in the NEC this season.
Moore was hired at UConn before the 1994-95 season and promoted to associate head coach before the 2005-06 season.
Moore, who aspires to eventually replace Calhoun at UConn, has long thought the Atlantic 10 would be the perfect building block. Moore, married with three daughters, has been a target of schools with head coaching vacancies the past several years, including Hartford after last season.
From me - more on this on the NEC web site..
posted by Tony Graham at 9:47 AM
32 Comments:
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Connecticut assistant coach Tom Moore is leaving to become head coach at Quinnipiac University, an official with firsthand knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press Wednesday.
An announcement was expected at a news conference on Thursday, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been finalized.
Moore, 41, joined Jim Calhoun's staff in 1994, and is his top recruiter. He was promoted to associate head coach before the 2005-06 season.
During his time with Calhoun, the Huskies won both their national championships, eight Big East regular season titles, and five conference tournament titles.
The Huskies finished this season 17-14, and failed to get a postseason bid for the first time in 20 years.
Moore will replace Joe DeSantis, who left after 11 years as the Bobcats' head coach. He had a 118-188 record and finished this season 14-15.
Moore was 24 in 1989 when he became the youngest head coach in New England, taking the helm at Worcester (Mass.) State College. He spent five seasons there, compiling a 76-59 record, before being hired away by Calhoun.
He joins a Quinnipiac program that in January moved into the $52 million TD Banknorth Sports Center, a 180,000-square-foot building that houses twin arenas, a 3,570-seat bowl for basketball and a 3,286-seat hockey rink.
Moore had also has interviewed for St. Bonaventure's head coaching vacancy. Messages seeking comment were left for Moore
Posted by Anonymous to Tony Graham
The above sent in by Anon via the AP...
Tony,
How does it make any sense that Q-pac can move up in conference? They haven't been good in the NEC over the last or 5 years until their 11-7 showing this year. I thought you had to show significant progress in your conference in order to move up?
Quinnipiac ""pushing for'' and having it happen are two different things.
But..they do have the new arena (believe me MU will be following this saga) and one would think wouldn't be paying all this money to a new coach from one of tne nation's top programs without serious indications such a move would be possible.
There are no ""significant progress"" requirements per se that I know of.
It's all up to the individual leagues - and the always changing league landscapes are other factors.
And, in the end, beauty is always in the eye of the beholder.
Tony , Its MONEY ,this guy can flat out coach and recruit players.This opens the door for Monmouth to start thinking about a few key moves as well,NEC or move, Coaching change in a few seasons if no turn around of course etc..The TD center has 3500 seats so if he can win and fill it up at a $6 per seat 14 home games he has paid his way .Now lets see what type of players show up.
LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- New Mexico State men's basketball coach Reggie Theus says he likes the Aggie program, but that he'd like to be paid what he thinks he's worth.
Reggie Theus brought New Mexico State back to respectability. But whether he remains in Las Cruces could depend on what the Aggies can pay him.
And he says what he believes he's worth "would break the WAC's mold."
Theus, 49, has turned New Mexico State's program around in his two years at the school, going from 6-24 the year before he took over to 25-9 this year and the Aggies' first NCAA Tournament berth since 1999.
He was paid $355,000 this season, including $275,000 in base pay and $80,000 in bonuses.
The bonuses kicked in when the program reached set goals -- winning 20 games, a Western Athletic Conference title, the NCAA berth, reaching a 5,000 threshold for season tickets, reducing the number of at-risk students in the program and bringing the program's academic progress score back over 925, which restores the Aggies' full allotment of 13 scholarships beginning next season.
Tony, season tickets sales winning and the right mix of players and happy fans equals MONEY.With the MAC Monmouth can start to get in the game of MID MAJOR money tree.Just food for a new blog.
Re: the MAC, that's they key to MU's athletic future....no doubt about it. And of course then they have to win..no doubt about that either.
If (and I know it's a big 'IF') Quinnipiac makes the jump to the A-10 after a relatively short (and undistinguished) stint in D-1, MU's progress must be questioned & re-evaluated. We can't just keep saying "they have a new arena, and MU doesn't - wait til we get one".
For this guy to leave his UConn job, he must be in the know of some such ambitions at QU.
I don't think Moore would be getting 300 grand or coming to Q Pac without the new arena. Do you? I agree that they probbably are going to make "the push" or already know they have a good shot of getting into the A-10. The building - of course - is the key.
They also play ice hockey in the building which may - don't know this for sure - be a bigger sport on campus than hoops.
For MU as I see it..the key to upgrading leagues is 1. Build the MAC, 2. Winning (in that order).
I highly doubt that Qpac is moving anytime soon. We've talked about this on the blog before, moving up in conference is not always a great thing. Yes you get a bit more recognition because of the bigger name teams in your conference. You may even steal a few kids that you didn't get before. But the reality is you will be the doormat of the conference, remember the name of these schools who jumped ship many years ago...Rider, UMBC, Marist (oh yea their woman's team is keeping their name in the paper). These school have done little to nothing since leaving.
With all of the success that FDU has had over the many NEC seasons why wouldnt they consider jumping...because Tom Green and their Athletic Director are smart. Sure we all want to be in a big name league but at what cost.
Qpac is lucky to get a coach of this pedigree, but you still need to convince them to some to Qpac...not really a powerhouse program. But who knows, this guy may turn them in to the "gonzaga of the east"...remember that???
$300,000 ain't half bad either!
Not sure what the attraction of a jump to another league would be for MU. How many times have Rider, UMBC and Marist been to NCAA since they jumped --Nada, zero zilch. The way the NCAA championships are structured, as long as NEC has an automatic bid, be the big fish in the smaller pond -- what's wrong with that? MU has had lots of NCAA trips for not only MBB but lacrosse and soccer and baseball. Only thing that might make sense to me is being an adjunct football member to something like the Patriot, staying in NEC for rest -- and that's not happening with the current Kessler field -- WLB ain't gonna be allowing any expansion there real soon!
To free throw - At least Marist has those Lady Foxes!
Actually their men's hoops team did really well, won the MAAC regular season, fell short in the MAAC Tourney, and made a nice showing though they lost in the NIT. But..bottom line - no NCAAs since Rik Smits was dunking on Karl Towns.
I would have to think Q pac is serious about the A-10 to have it run in the Hartford Courant. The NEC reporter up there - Tom Yantz - does a teriffic job.
But wanting and getting it done are two different animals.
Tony Tom Moore is by far the best coach ever to step on the NEC stage,he is making 3x what the avg coach makes in the NEC and dont for get all the extras camps shoes etc.Do you think any other NEC programs can match this BOLD move? No other NEC coach has had any job offer like QP ,or had their name on as many AD list . By the way your boy Calloway phones not ringing wonder why....
Moore definitely has a pedigree...could be driving up the NEC coaching salary market.
Qpac obviously very serious about upgrading the program. We shall see how it turns out.
MU fans, have little to worry about. Moore will be a good coach and QU will be competative, but he's not going to come in and win the league in his first 2 years, that's a promise. 1 NCAA bid (maybe in year 4 or 5) he he jumps ship. This is just a temporary spot with a big paycheck.
If anyone thinks QU is leaving the NEC, get your head examined. What QU WANTS, and what other conferences WANT are 2 different things. Here's a response to QU lofy ambitions.
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From the New Haven Register:
For the record, this is what A-10 commissioner Linda Bruno had to say when asked if Quinnipiac is even on the radar of her conference.
"No ... I think it's flattering that we're the type of conference they wish to be in," Bruno said. "But there's no interest on any expansion. We're at 14 ... we're a good size and very happy where we are. I know (Quinnipiac athletic director) Jack McDonald back to when he was at (Boston College) and I was at the Big East. He has said to me, that if the opportunity ever presented itself, he would very much like to talk to us about being in the conference. But I think he's pretty clear, as are we, that that opportunity is probably not going to occur.""
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From Andy Katz of espn.com
"A reality check is needed at Quinnipiac. Any thoughts that this school is going to the America East or Atlantic 10 in the near future is simply not true. The Q told at least one candidate that its hope was to lure a name coach to get the interest of these leagues. Well, no offense to Connecticut's Tom Moore, but hiring him isn't going to lead to expansion in those leagues. The America East said Thursday there is no discussion of adding Quinnipiac as a 10th member. And a source with knowledge of the Atlantic 10's thought process told ESPN.com that the league, if anything, should probably decrease, not increase. And if there is any expansion at any point it's more likely to be Boston University (America East) or Hofstra (CAA), not Quinnipiac."
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From GWU student newspaper:
Rumors about a Connecticut university becoming the 15th member of the Atlantic 10 conference are completely false, a conference official said Wednesday.
The Hartford Courant reported that Quinnipiac University, a private school in Hamden, Conn., is pushing to join the A-10 after its basketball team finished11-7 in the Northeastern Conference this year. Ray Cella, an associate commissioner in the conference, denied the rumor.
"There is absolutely no truth to that rumor," Cella said in an e-mail Wednesday. "You can quote me."
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I personally hope QU is repremanded by the NEC. I think its funny they want to leave the NEC, yet they havent won anything. Here's the scoreboard for the last 8 years in the NEC:
CCSU - 3 NCAA apperances
MU - 3 NCAA apperances
FDU - 1 NCAA & 1 NIT
Wagner - 1 NCAA & 1 NIT
QU - zip, nada, zilch, zero
So good luck to Moore, but lets be real. AT least Marist and Rider won NEC titles before they left.
Blue Devil - good job! I have also heard Q Pac "plans" to join a ""bigger" conference..but planning, wishing, and hoping, are different than happening.
They do have a nice faclity but a capacity of 3,200 for hoops, while adequate, is hardly mind-boggling.
Blue Devil get info thanks,Why the big check ? Do you think he will bring in the players to win right away?Any Conn bench players going to transfer?
Seems to me I recall reading a few weeks back at least one UConn player..a kid from England..did plan to transfer....
Doubtfull any UConn players transfer.
I mean lets be real, how many Big East players transfer to the NEC?
Re: U Conn transfers. Yeh, good point. You may recall Glenn Stokes transferred from RU to MU in the mid 90's there, but I'm fairly sure. almost positive, RU was still in the A-10. Of course Charles Jones (LIU) transferred from RU...not sure what league RU was in then..later 90's...
Seems to me Gene Nabors (RMU guard) in late 90's was a transfer from a big time school (not big East) led RMU to the NEC final at the Sov. Bank Arena where they lost to CCSU.
Where did James Felton (the 6-10 guy that transferred into FDU) arrive from ??.that was around 2000??...
Felton was from St Johns and Nabors was from LSU, Tony. Also, JR Enright of SFPA this year was from Nebraska.
To Alpha: Right, so a transfer to Q Pac from UConn (via the Moore connection) would not be inconceivable.
TONY , A $300,000 PLUS PACKAGE I bet Tom Moore will at least know how to call a time out....
If IONA can do it why not Monmouth.Their track record looks the same 3 NCAA Trips Player Coach... If Qupac can upgrade why cant MU?"Jeff Ruland has been a loyal Gael as a student, player, coach and, more importantly, as a person. He will always have a place in Iona's rich tradition and history," said Iona College president James A. Liguori. "After careful thought and consideration, Iona felt the need to take the men's basketball program in a different direction and Jeff felt it was time to move on to other opportunities."
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
He had a 139-135 record, leading the Gaels to the NCAA Tournament in 2000, 2001 and 2006. However, this season Iona was 2-28.
Ruland played in 332 games in the NBA from 1981 to 1987 with Washington and Philadelphia, averaging 17.4 points and 10.2 rebounds. He was selected to the All-Star team in 1984 and 1985.
Re Ruland: because 2-28 is still not 12-18 (not that I'm praising 12-18). But why some of you are so eager to dispatch Dave tends to mystify me.
..and do yu think MU, with three more year's on Dave's contract - is going to spend another $300,000 or so which would be necessary (now that the bar has bween raised) to land a TOP assistant from the Big East, ACC, etc.?
That's very unrealstic.
Conference Metro Atlantic
Location New Rochelle, NY
Coach Jeff Ruland (since 1998)
Arena Hynes Center
NCAA Appearances 8
NCAA Record 1-8 (.111)
Most Recent NCAA Appearance 2006
Most Recent NCAA Win 1980
NCAA Division I-AA
Football? Yes
Athletic Expenses (2006) $8,111,952
Rank 232 of 331
Men's Basketball Expenses (2006) $1,658,922 (20% of total)
Rank 113 of 331
Men's Sports Recruiting Exp. (2006)* $111,319
Rank 196 of 331
Cost per Win (2005-06 Season) $72,127.04 (15 wins)
Rank (less cost=better) chart 119 of 331
Founded 1940
Type Private
Denomination Roman Catholic
Selectivity (US News) Selective
Students (2005) 4,329
Rank 292 of 337
Jeff Ruland doesn’t bother wasting his time doing the math. It’s not worth his effort trying to quantify what his Iona basketball team lost from a squad that finally fulfilled its promise and won the MAAC Tournament and gave eventual Final Four participant LSU quite a run before falling, 80-64, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Frontcourt: B Backcourt: B Bench/Depth: C+ Intangibles: B-
IONA budget for Basketball is about the same as MU.Student size goes to MU,BB history IONA ,location MU.So lets say it would cost $400,000 to upgrade the program ,you could pay for it with an road game with an ACC SEC BIG EAST team each year, they pay $40,000 for a win,Run a better summer program MU is a joke . Sell more tickets in the MAC vs Boylan. Make the NCAA or NIT a few times and there you go all the money you would need to upgrade the program.Tony who would you hire if you had $300,000 to spend....
Myself....I could use the money!
Your suggestions Run a better summer program MU is a joke.
Me thinks MU might take issue with that - but you are entitled to your opinion.
Your suggestion: You could pay for it with an road game with an ACC SEC BIG EAST team each year.
They do this! Doesn't MU play at Seton Hall Hall every year..and they got some nice change for playing at Houston this year...
Your suggestion - Sell more tickets in the MAC vs Boylan.
They will do that...how much more probably depends on whether they are winning.
Your suggestion : Make the NCAA or NIT a few times and there you go all the money you would need to upgrade the program.
OK.. if they are making the NCAA or NIT a few times...WHY would you change the coach???
You could use the money though to further upgrade the program.
Ok...I am going to sum up all of your comments by saying this..you are not helping matters unless you e-mail me and this can be discussed further.. which you have yet to do!
This blog and the Press - I assure you - will not run unverified claims - pro, con, or indifferent...
For anyone - my e-mail is tonygsports@aol.com.
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