I spoke to Coach Nickelberry the other day and he informed me he is a finalist for the Massachusetts head coaching job. The school should be making an announcement Wednesday on who they are going to hire. This would be an intersting hire to say the least. Who would take over for this program if he was to leave? Let the guessing games begin!

He did not get it. they aint crazy at UMASS.

HU's Nickelberry interviews for UMass job
Daily Press
3:25 PM EDT, April 22, 2008
mens's basketball coach Kevin Nickelberry interviewed for the vacant University of Massachusetts position over the weekend and sources say he was a finalist for the job.

ESPN.com is reporting that Memphis assistant Derek Kellog will be introduced as UMass' new coach on Wednesday, citing a UMass source.

"It was a great experience to sit down with the UMass administration about their head coaching position and to be considered," Nickelberry said. "I'm very excited about the team we have coming back at Hampton next year and look forward to coaching these young men."

I'm actually surprised he was a finalist for the UMass job. He still has some more work to do at Hampton before I can see him honestly landing a big/bigger DI bball job....

i'm very surprised. and if he was the one who initiated contact with umass (rather than the other way around), it doesn't speak well for his commitment to the pirates. why would he look to leave a program that clearly is very committed to its athletics? wow! he must have really taken some heat this past season. and what kind of message does this send to his players?

quote:

Originally posted by NEIGHBORHOOD$UPER$TAR:
I'm actually surprised he was a finalist for the UMass job. He still has some more work to do at Hampton before I can see him honestly landing a big/bigger DI bball job....

the "Peter Principle" at work here

I aint hatin on anybody trying to do bigger and better things. It may well be that he feels that he has outgrown Hampton. The man can recruit. That is for damn sure. I am a bit surprised that he is a finalist for the position given Hampton's poor performance this year and a first round exit in the MEAC tourney. I am not quite sure how to take his application for this position. Personally, it is ballsy as all get up given this past season, but there is something to be said for having the stones to reach for it given this past year at Hampton. A position as a D1 head coach may well be in his future. I would think however that it would be much easier to attain once he has PROVEN he can coach successfully on a D1AA level. If he gets the job, I wish him well. Period.

quote:

Originally posted by Pook:
I aint hatin on anybody trying to do bigger and better things. It may well be that he feels that he has outgrown Hampton. The man can recruit. That is for damn sure. I am a bit surprised that he is a finalist for the position given Hampton's poor performance this year and a first round exit in the MEAC tourney. I am not quite sure how to take his application for this position. Personally, it is ballsy as all get up given this past season, but there is something to be said for having the stones to reach for it given this past year at Hampton. A position as a D1 head coach may well be in his future. I would think however that it would be much easier to attain once he has PROVEN he can coach successfully on a D1AA level. If he gets the job, I wish him well. Period.

ummmm we're talking basketball right??? hampton plays d2 basketball?? i know they kinda sucked this year after all the hoopla, but i didn't know it was that bad.

Are some of you crazy. If you had the chance to go to a bigger program no matter what kind of season you you wouldn't think about it? He didn't apply for the position UMASS called him and they had to approach Dr. Harvey and AD Hardy for permission to even talk to him. Bottom line he is a talented coach who can recruit talent and his name is out there. sure this team struggled this year but they improved on and off the court. Bottom line. they have won more games this year than last. they have won more out of conference games this year than last. Hell outside of George Mason he walked thru the CAA. The teams GPA rose this year and he has recruited some great talent. Give the man credit to be a finalist for a high profile job is nothing to dismiss or sneeze at.

quote:

Originally posted by SpArTaNz RuLe:

quote:

Originally posted by Pook:
I aint hatin on anybody trying to do bigger and better things. It may well be that he feels that he has outgrown Hampton. The man can recruit. That is for damn sure. I am a bit surprised that he is a finalist for the position given Hampton's poor performance this year and a first round exit in the MEAC tourney. I am not quite sure how to take his application for this position. Personally, it is ballsy as all get up given this past season, but there is something to be said for having the stones to reach for it given this past year at Hampton. A position as a D1 head coach may well be in his future. I would think however that it would be much easier to attain once he has PROVEN he can coach successfully on a D1AA level. If he gets the job, I wish him well. Period.

ummmm we're talking basketball right??? hampton plays d2 basketball?? i know they kinda sucked this year after all the hoopla, but i didn't know it was that bad.

You stupid. LOL!

This means that it's only a matter of time before he's gone. I figured this season would buy us more time, but guess not. Hopefully he can turn us into an elite mid major like he planned before he leaves.

I don't have problems with Nickleberry interviewing for the job. I wouldn't have a problem with Fang Mitchell or Todd Bozeman interviewing for the job.....

I just find it hard to believe he was a FINALIST If this is indeed true, I'm just trying to surmise what exactly he's done that makes him viewed so positively. I'm sure he has pretty good charisma - but to me, it's about the W's and L's.....

Coach Nick is a darn good coach, thats why he was a finalist......

quote:

Originally posted by hampton blueblood:

quote:

Originally posted by SpArTaNz RuLe:

quote:

Originally posted by Pook:
I aint hatin on anybody trying to do bigger and better things. It may well be that he feels that he has outgrown Hampton. The man can recruit. That is for damn sure. I am a bit surprised that he is a finalist for the position given Hampton's poor performance this year and a first round exit in the MEAC tourney. I am not quite sure how to take his application for this position. Personally, it is ballsy as all get up given this past season, but there is something to be said for having the stones to reach for it given this past year at Hampton. A position as a D1 head coach may well be in his future. I would think however that it would be much easier to attain once he has PROVEN he can coach successfully on a D1AA level. If he gets the job, I wish him well. Period.

ummmm we're talking basketball right??? hampton plays d2 basketball?? i know they kinda sucked this year after all the hoopla, but i didn't know it was that bad.

You stupid. LOL!

just adding a bit of humor...

seriously though, if he's interviewing BEFORE he really does anything for the overall basketball program at hampton, CLEARLY he doesn't seem to be looking to stay for a long tenure. THAT speaks to his future recruiting it would seem.

On-the-other-hand, can you pass me summa dat ice outta that UMass cup? cause i'm sure the ice (paycheck) is "colder".

He is a good Coach, in the sense that he can recruit, but this year he didn't do much, with what I thought was a whole lotta Team.

It's interesting, that for a year he underachieved, he would be considered by UMass. Unless they thought he was a good political choice, or someone that wouldn't command that much of a starting salary, based upon "coming from the MEAC", versus some other more popular Conferences.

quote:

Originally posted by Baby Boy:
Coach Nick is a darn good coach, thats why he was a finalist......

I'm not drinking the Kool-Aid. Maybe Nickleberry knows someone at UMass who gave him the interview as a favor, something that would look good for him to talk about in the local paper in Hampton. Nickelberry is very good at the political game and PR. Because for a UMass team that lost a terrific young coach (Ford) following a trip to the NIT Finals, Nickelberry would be a huge step down. Just being honest.

He hasn't shown he can be a good head coach yet! And for all those who say he's a great recruiter based on what some scouting service rankings say...I say having back-to-back MEAC quarterfinal losses says either 1) You're not a very good coach if your players are as good as you and the rankings say or 2) The players weren't that great to begin with.

quote:

Originally posted by outsider:
I'm not drinking the Kool-Aid. Maybe Nickleberry knows someone at UMass who gave him the interview as a favor, something that would look good for him to talk about in the local paper in Hampton. Nickelberry is very good at the political game and PR. Because for a UMass team that lost a terrific young coach (Ford) following a trip to the NIT Finals, Nickelberry would be a huge step down. Just being honest.

He hasn't shown he can be a good head coach yet! And for all those who say he's a great recruiter based on what some scouting service rankings say...I say having back-to-back MEAC quarterfinal losses says either 1) You're not a very good coach if your players are as good as you and the rankings say or 2) The players weren't that great to begin with.

This is a frigging joke. Nickleberry is hardly ready to coach in the A10. Thank God for affirmative action, because that had to be the only basis for this interview. (UMass had no intention of hiring Nickleberry.)

quote:

Originally posted by oldsport:

quote:

Originally posted by outsider:
I'm not drinking the Kool-Aid. Maybe Nickleberry knows someone at UMass who gave him the interview as a favor, something that would look good for him to talk about in the local paper in Hampton. Nickelberry is very good at the political game and PR. Because for a UMass team that lost a terrific young coach (Ford) following a trip to the NIT Finals, Nickelberry would be a huge step down. Just being honest.

He hasn't shown he can be a good head coach yet! And for all those who say he's a great recruiter based on what some scouting service rankings say...I say having back-to-back MEAC quarterfinal losses says either 1) You're not a very good coach if your players are as good as you and the rankings say or 2) The players weren't that great to begin with.

This is a frigging joke. Nickleberry is hardly ready to coach in the A10. Thank God for affirmative action, because that had to be the only basis for this interview. (UMass had no intention of hiring Nickleberry.)

Why does it have to be about his race?

I think it is funny that everybody points to the fact that he is a great recruiter.

Yes he has had some highly ranked classes for Hampton's level of play.

Yes the players look like they are very talented when they get on the court.

The fact that none of his recruited talent has lived up to the hype to this point is more telling.

Was anybody happy with the play of Matt Pilgrim, Mike Freeman, Dontea Harrison, John Notko?

Yes we were impressed with the improvement of Vinny Simpson and Theo Smalling, but neither of them were considered top three out of the six in his first recruiting class.

As for his second recruiting class Nick gave red-shirts to the best players which was a good move. So we really don't know much about them.

My point is this you don't know how good a recruiter is until you see that talent develop. The same goes for the NFL draft. You don't know how good a draft class is until two or three years later.

I will say this. I am NOT surprised that Coach Nick is a finalist. He talks a great game. If you left him in your office he has a great chance of walking out with the job, because he has an A+ personality. He has the "public" package.

Lets put it like this I would never want to follow him in an interview.

You don't even know your own team Blue Magic! The 'redshirts' from his second class didn't cut muster with the NCAA clearinghouse, that's why they didn't play. It wasn't strategy on Nick's part, his hands were tied.