Turner from Vermont is coming...it remains to be seen who else will be here. 

Sounds good, and hopefully add Houston (for obvious reasons) and maybe a new guy who isn't involved with GW or Vermont to get some new blood in there.

What's the scoop on Turner?

Turner's sister is a former GW WBB hoopster.

Hajj Turner, a former captain at Louisville, begins his sixth season overall and first as the associate head coach at Vermont in 2010-11. He joined head coach Mike Lonergan's staff in May of 2005.

Turner, a 2001 graduate of Louisville, spent the two seasons prior to coming to Vermont at Maryland as the assistant director and men's basketball coordinator of the school's academic support and career development unit. In 2004-05, he worked closely with Lonergan who was an assistant with the Terps. Prior to that, Turner was an intern at the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis working on the preparation of both the Men's and Women's Division I National Basketball Championships.

At Vermont, Turner is heavily involved in many aspects of the basketball program including recruiting, academics, individual skill development, conditioning, and opponent scouting. He also works closely with the Catamount big men and has played an instrumental role in the development of America East All-Conference performers Martin Klimes (Third Team, All-Defensive Team), center Chris Holm (First Team) and Marqus Blakely (Two-time Player and Defensive Player of the Year). Holm finished the 2006-07 season ranked second in the nation in rebounding.

A native of Charlottesville, Va., Turner graduated as the top undergraduate student in Pan African Studies in 2001 and became only the second player in school history to pursue a master's degree while playing for Louisville (higher education and sports administration), graduating in the spring 2002. He played for both Denny Crum and Rick Pitino during his five-year career, while earning All-Conference USA Academic Honor Roll honors in each of his five seasons. As a senior, he was a voted co-captain by his teammates on Pitino's first Cardinal squad.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Very impressive resume for Hajj Turner. I love the part of being the only 2nd player in Louisville history to pursue a master degree while still on the team.  I think it's so impressive that Turner would have to be a leading candidate to REPLACE Lonergan as the new head coach at Vermont.

it would appear that Hajj is encroaching a bit on to Roland's turf (associate head coach and coaches the big men).  However he did played an "instrumental role in the development of America East All-Conference performers Martin Klimes (Third Team, All-Defensive Team), center Chris Holm (First Team) and Marqus Blakely(Two-time Player and three-time Defensive Player of the Year)." With luck Copes will see the benefit with working with him and his uncle.

link

Andy Katz said on Twitter that UVM is looking for a coach with more experience than Turner so Hajj is heading to DC to join Lonergan.   Now granted, this was 10 minutes after Andy Katz twited that Turner was the leading candidate for the open UVM head coaching position, so I doubt any firm decision has been made yet.

But Turner is a very impressive assistant coach from an outsiders perspective.  I would keep Roland as Associate HC and bring the younger Turner in as the #3 man in charge with the knowlege he may get a chance at a better job at another school in the near future.

I hope the Lonergan does exactly what he wants with his assistants. It would be oh so nice if young Mr. Copes comes to GW. And we will all be pleased to have him. But in the long run (and short) ML should set things up for the best of the program. It should help that just as GW can pay more than UVM for a head coach I assume the same goes for assistants. So Hajj should be getting a bump no matter what position he might be in.

While far from definite at this point, if everything breaks right - HT, RH, SH, VJ

Obviously that should be seneca - damn phone

Good timing for GW to announce on Friday, but not need to have the presser till Monday.  Gives the program time to get current players, recruits and assistants somewhat sorted before the questions start flying.

Seneca: are initials a function of you being on the phone or just wanting to be cryptic? 

HT = Hajj Turner

RH = Roland Houston?

SH = ?

VJ = ?

I notice that DM and GC are not listed amongst them...

VJ - Vaughn Jones?

SH - Sonni Holland???

Vaughn Jones

SH - Steve Howes - current head coach at Catholic and former Lonergan assistant - damn Seneca that was too easy based on your earlier post

VJ - Vaughn Jones

Which would make VJ Director of Basketball ops.....

Mike Longergan GW Head Coach.

Steve Howes

 My sources tell me that it Turner is still in the hunt at UVM.

Interesting to note that Lonergan has been pulled from the staff directory at UVM but Turner is still listed there.  If he was leaving for sure, I am sure they would have taken him down too...

http://www.uvmathletics.com/staff.aspx?

 Seneca I have heard similar and I hope we are right. This would probably result in the loss of one recruit but not Copes and usually with a coaching change you will lose somebody. 

DEA, I would guess from your post that the recruit most in jeapordy is Trey Davis.  That would be too bad if he didn't come.  TT is graduating next year and it would be a great opportunity for him to potentially get the starting job after that.  I would think Jonathan Davis is still coming because he has said that he wants to be in DC and GW.  It's kind of a big weekend because Lonergan is probably working on this as we speak on keeping the recruits so he can give us some answers on Monday.

seneca has provided the most accurate information during the whole process so i'm betting he has the right initials. seneca did say if everything breaks right. maybe one of the asst gets the UVM job.

Turner not a candidate for UVM job

Hajj Turner looks to be a rising star in college coaching and would be a fantastic addition to the staff.  Getting Vaung Jones and Steve Howes (lots of local contacts from Good Council and CUA and was private development coach for Roger Mason and Chris Monroe) to join Mike Lonergan and big man coach Roland Houston would make this the best staff GW's had in years.  Lonergan + Turner + Houston + Copes + J Davis + Kromah + Howes + V Jones + all the rest of the returning players is flat out the best possible outcome any GW fan could have hoped for going into the off-season. 

For GW basketball, as DEA says:  THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT!

Don't know if he has any experience or the ability to recruit on an A-10 level, which might be a question.

But sure like this. Wish he'd been a consultant this year and earlier:

Howes specializes in shooting instruction and has conducted individual workouts for many top college and professional players. Among the athletes he helped develop are Roger Mason (New York Knicks); Earl Hunt (Brown University); Chris Monroe (George Washington University); Eddie Lucas, a 1999 second-round draft pick of the Utah Jazz; and James Gist, a 2008 San Antonio Spurs’ draft pick who played in Russia last season. Monroe played in Greece and Italy a year ago, and he and Hunt are their respective school’s all-time leading scorers.

 

 I actually heard of another option for an assistant coach, somebody out of the blue who would be a really good choice. Won't say his name but I will say he has a ton of connections with big time AAU programs and high school basketball. Basically the kind of coach that we should have been getting here years ago.

Lonergan was on the Rob and Rich show (local ESPN Show up in Burlington) and talked a bit about assistant John Becker (who was on the Lonergan staff at Vermont).   Becker is in the running for the HC job at Vermont but Lonergan mentioned that Becker would need to make a decision soon and he wouldnt wait around a month for him.   Basically it sounded like, Becker need to make the decision of "should he wait to see if he gets the Vermont job?" or take the opportunity to be an assistant at GW.  We'll see what happens.

Mike Lonergan, John Becker (ex Galladet coach), Rajj Turner and Steve Howes.  More Catholics than a Knghts of Columbus convention. 

Audio

Audio

 Does that leave room for Vaughan Jones?

Are Catholics a problem???

 I hope that's wrong. You are not going to be able to recruit the players we need with that group of guys. THat's not how major college basketball works and unfortunately I'm not sure Lonergan or Nero for that matter realize this. As to LFO's point I don't think it's fair to say Lonergan won't be able to recruit because of his personality but if this is the staff he chooses then we are in for a rude awakening. I have heard that we are interested in a former high school coach of a national powerhouse. This is the kind of guy we need to be going after. 

 Another thing. If you're going to sacrifice the #5 center in the country then do it for a big time assistant coach, not freaking Steve Howes or John Becker. I was happy about this hire and will still give it a chance but I'm starting to get the vibe that this is going to turn into one big catholic reunion.Let's be real here, the head coach at a DIII school and a Vermont assistant have no idea how to recruit A10 players. I like Turner and am willing to allow Lonergan to bring on another of his buddies but at some point other considerations need to be made, not just bringing all the guys along when you get a nice payday. Hopefully Becker takes the Vermont job so we don't have to deal with this idea. 

I don't know DEA. I'm not ready to bash those guys. If they have a good synergy as a staff sometimes that is way more important than anything else. When GW hired Lonergan - they hired Lonergan meaning he generally gets to pick his staff. We're going to have to let him do this and see what happens.

Nice of you to "allow" Lonergan to bring on another of his buddies in addition to Turner. But I think the notion that someone doesn't know how to "recruit A-10 players" is just plain ludicrous. BTW, what exactly is an A-10 player? Do we have them now?   Not quite as crazy as the "deathers" that have arisen saying that OBL isn't dead but certainly right up there with LFO's declaration about Lonergan's abiities based on a welcoming press conference heavy on shoutouts to those who helped and influenced him on the way to this position. 

Lonergan has got to be nuts to not want to implement every means necessary to bring on Copes. I can't see how anyone could defend this. This could possibly be the best and most highly rated recruit he's ever coached and in his first year.

 Thank you GW26. Uh A-10 players are not guys that you will find recruiting for Vermont or Galludet. I've already said that I'm happy with the Lonergan hiring and I'm fine with him bringing an assistant but not the whole staff. Who gives a crap whether they have chemistry together?As a GW fan I will take the top 50 player and assistant who has coached for 2 A10 teams (or the former NBA veteran who has already made a mark in recruiting) over the new coaches friend. I guess I'm crazy for wanting the the team to have the most talented roster possible next year?

Recruiting is recruiting.  If you don't have the right package/product to sell, you're not going to be able to convince Trump to buy your Timex. As for Coach Houston, I guess I have a lot more respect and regard for him than just seeing him as an uncle. Lonergan is trying to build a team on and off the court. He and GW plan on being together for many years. If Houston and Lonergan can be a good fit together, then by all means I'd love to see him retained as an assistant and have Erik Copes play at GW. But if Lonergan wants other people on his staff other than ANY of the existing assistant coaches, then that should be his prerogative, even at the cost of our higly-rated recruit. That's part of the integrity I thought we always claimed we wanted as GW fans.

DEA, how the hell do you know how ML and assts recruiting will go. these guys don't know how to recruit an A10 player? give the new coaching staff a break. have you ever coached a D1 team? i wonder why GW hired ML?

DEA- I don't understand what you mean when you say that this staff (at least the staff being discussed) could not recruit A-10 players.  Has the staff ever been in the A-10 before, to be able to recruit A-10 players?  It's tough to sell the A-10 to guys playing in the AE.  It's tough to sell DC when you're living in Vt.  Let's give these guys a chance and see what they can do- whoever "these guys" wind up being. 

Let's at least give them one recruiting class before we start talking about how they can't recruit...

One thing that was stressed is that Lonergan is a local guy with local contacts throughout the high school community.  If they add Vaughn Jones, who is a local coach, they should have a leg up on local recruiting.  In the past the local area, a fertile hotbed of basketball talent, was not mined as much as, say, New Jersey.

they did pause the 'live chat' so ML could breifly meet with Vaughn Jones. 

Poog, we do want integrity but at the same time, we do not want stupidity.  ML needs to bring Roland Houston on board and get Erik Copes here.  If Erik doesn't end up playing here, ML could always make a coaching change at the end of next season if he found that Roland wasn't working out as his assistant.  I don't necessarily feel that this plan lacks integrity but if that's your position, then this is one of those rare instances where being smart must trump integrity.  There's two sides to every story but this is a no-brainer.  We have needed an Erik Copes type player for years and years.  Assuming he's eligible to play at GW, we mustn't blow this.

The other discussion centers around whether ML and proposed staff are capable of recruiting the talent needed to compete for A10 championships.  This was my initial concern as well.  However, I don't want to penalize a group by saying they are incapable of doing something simply because they have never been given that opportunity.  Clearly, this was the area where Joe Dooley appeared to have a leg up over ML.  But again, ML and staff need a few years before any meaningful opinions can be made in this regard.

Look, I want them to get Copes very much but before we go compromising an entire program and forcing certain things to happen can we remember one thing? The guy has never played a minute of college basketball. We are not talking about some McDonald's AA here. We all think he will be very good but as in life there are no guarantees - God forbid he could get injured or he could just never reach his potential. I'd rather ML get the process right and get the assistants he wants because long-term we will be better off.  Hopefully, he can do both. But remember, the day that GW decided to fire Hobbs was the day the decision was made to risk Copes. The blame for  losing Copes does not go on ML, it should be placed squarely on the powers that be who decided to can Hobbs and set in motion a process that may cause the loss of Copes.

BigShots, I'm not quite sure why retaining Coach Houston's services is akin to compromising the entire program.  You can also be assured that losing Copes would result in plenty of blame to go around...to several individuals (ML included if he does not retain Roland).

MV, i ask you and LFO to put the gas cans down. you guys said KH DEMANDED an extension. that's what insiders told you. if that's true i dont think we'll see Hobbs at the final table of the WSOP.

Newtman, you're badly mistaken.  Neither one of us ever said that KH demanded an extension; this was only speculated as a possibility (and a remote one at that).

MV and LFO regularly advocated for GW to give Hobbs a contract extension.  GW went another way and now they are gunning for Lonergan and Nero from the start. 

LFO reported that hobbs quit noting that : "The primary reason Karl quit was because of GW's refusal to extend his contract beyond next year."

He might not have demanded an extension, but LFO certainly reported that the lack of an extension was the reason he "quit."

THe way to do it is to create a mix between Lonergan's guys and veteran assistant coaches who've been around higher levels of basketball(Houston would fall under this category regardless of his nephew. I told you that it's not like I'm dead set on this one guy being rehired but if you are going to sacrifice Copes coming here it should be for a former head coach or a former high D1 assistant. I'm all for giving guys from smaller schools the chance but not all on the same staff. It's the same in any business. Take the White House for example, David Axelrod brought in a combination of Obama's people, Clinton's people and other Democrats who had been around the game for longer. Everybody on this board gets so defensive but it should be common sense that a staff is built up of mix of backgrounds and mindsets, not a bunch of yes men. 

Bobo, looks like your the next one to get this lecture.  First, during the season when the team started to play well, WHAT I SAID was that if GW was planning on giving KH an extension, they should do it now as opposed to waiting until season's end.  Then, what I said was that forcing KH to coach the final year of his contract without an extension was the worst possible option, even saying that firing KH would be better for the program than forcing him to coach with lame duck status.  That said, I certainly preferred an extension to a firing so if this constitutes "regularly advocating" to use your words, then so be it, but it's not how I would characterize the situation. 

Your other statement, about gunning for Lonergan and Nero, is entirely unfair.  Where I was accused of bashing Nero was crazy as I actually had the opposite intent; what I was saying is that he should be allowed to make the decisions he was hired to make without others breathing down his neck.  Do you call that gunning?  As for Lonergan, I continue to post that I am more and more impressed by him and have also said that he will have my support.  However, this does not make him immune from criticism.  When he gives an unenthusiastic "time will tell" answer regarding the status of the current recruits, I will be critical of this type of response. 

The irony in all of this is that there probably hasn't been a single person on this board where I haven't made both positive and negative comments about.  I call things the way I see them and unlike others here who I have railed against in the past, I have pre-judged very few people throughout my lifetime. 

What do you do if Copes tell Lonergan that he's not comming to GW regardless if they keep Houston or not?  If that's the case (hypothetically), I don't think they retain Houston.   I would like them to get someone outside the VMU/Catholic coaching tree just to broaden the range of contacts and experiences, as DEA points out.

MV, I remember your advocacy for the early extension (in-season) extension of Hobbs and I also remember dozens of other times you advocated that GW give Hobbs an extension.  You wanted it prior to this season, during the season or after the season.  It was NOT just in that particular occurance you reference above.

To be fair, I constantly recomended Hobbs be let go after this season and you regularly advocated he be given an extension.  Those are the roles we played.  Anyone on this board more than once would be able to back up that history.

danj, thanks for pointing that out to MV. of course he didn't respond. you said Hobbs firing. what? LFO said he QUIT. MV remember 'it's not a lie if you believe it'. so carry on as usual.

Newtman, what are you talking about?  What did Danj point out to me?  FYI...if I didn't respond to Danj about something, there's a reason for it.  The school is steadfastly saying that KH was released from his contract.

I totally reject the premise that surrounding oneself with friends is akin to having yes men around. In fact, I would argue the exact opposite...who better to play a Howard Cosell role than someone who had long-time dealings and  total confidence in the relationship? And while Lonergan might appear to be better served with an assistant "outside the VMU/Catholic tree,"  he most certainly is better served by having assistants that he chooses to be part of his brain trust. I don't care if it's a buddy who rescued him in a grade school fight, a classmate who introduced him to Maggie, or an existing assistant who happens to have a 6'8" nephew.  Let the new coach choose his assistants for whatever reason he wants. His job is on the line. His self-proclaimed dream job has been handed to him and he's perfectly capable of deciding what factors need to be weighed in putting together his staff that will help him achieve his goals. Coach Houston is a vey capable coach and teacher and an excellent role model to boot. So are any number of other coaches out there. Maybe Lonergan is swayed by wanting to offer a coaching break to someone much as he was when he left CU for MD. Maybe Lonergan is convinced that he needs Copes and there's only one avenue to make that happen. And maybe Lonergan simply seizes the opportunity to put together the best staff for him regardless of whether that means current players or incoming recruits bolt. We're just fans with opinions; Lonergan is a man just hired to do a job. Anyone here really find it beneficial to be given unsolicited advice how to do your job without regard to the conditions of your own style or knowledge of the real facts impacting the situation? Lost in all of this are the lives of Coach Houston and his family and Erik Copes. The events of the past few weeks have been highly disruptive to them and we seem to be treating them as nothing more than chess pieces to be moved and manipulated at our whim. In the end, this is going to play out the way it's going to play out. No villains, no heroes, no fools.

maybe Copes would like to come to UVM - he would be all that in this conference and prob see the NCAA first round 4 years in a row. Hell , they might even knock somebody off !

See Aaric Murray (although it's a bit different) 

I don't really know anything about Coach Houston other than what he looks like and that Hobbs would yell at him, Jim Calhoun like, when a player messed up.  But if ML keeps him I like the idea, in addition to the obvious (Copes), that he has lots of A10 experience to offer, strong familiarity with the player's skills  and personalities so that the new coaching staff doesn't have to figure it out for themselves.  And lastly, he may be able to provide some continuity to whatever recruiting has already been done for the following year's class if the new staff wants to continue on with those recruits.

 Houston was the highest tenured coach on the staff besides Hobbs. He previously coached at LaSalle. He's coached many NBA players including Rasual Butler. It's disrespectful to act like he should only be considered for this job because of his nephew. Assuming he wants to return to GW I think it's really a no-brainer and will be very disappointed if he's not rehired. 

Rimhigh makes an interesting point here.  Depending on what slate of assistant coaches ML brings in, RH does bring the A10 experience.  If we get loaded up with assistant coaches from the America East, having some A10 knowledge will be helpful.  Oh yeah, that whole Copes thing would be nice, too...

MV and newtman- you're both wrong. 

Newtman- as far as I know, MV never stated that KH demanded an extension (though he did support extending hobbs)

MV- When you stated that you or LFO never stated that Hobbs demanded an extension, this was not really true.  LFO reported, again, that Hobbs "quit" "because of GWs refusal to extend his contract beyond next year."  

MV- I agree with you- theschool states that Hobbs was let go.  however, this is not what LFO reported.

danj, i may be wrong. BUT you said 'as far as you know MV....'  just because you don't know something does not mean it didn't happen. there may be things happening in the world right now that you may not be aware of. :)

Lonergan will be able recruit just fine.  If he was able to bring quality players to Burlington, Vermont to play in the America East, then Foggy Bottom and the Atlantic 10 will be an easy sell.  Granted he'll need better players now than he did before, but I suspect the recruiting grounds in DC are far richer than those in greater Burlington.  Here's something interesting.  Lonergan had a 100% graduation rate at Vermont.  Guess it's not surprising that Turner, one of his prime recruiters, got his masters' degree while playing for Louisville.

Newtman, since you are saying that I said KH demanded an extension, and I am denying having ever posted that, and a third poster in Danjsport is also saying that he has no recollection of my ever posting this, and yet you continue to believe that I posted this, why don't you find the thread where I posted this and point it out for everyone to see?  Or, is it simply more fun for you to make shit up while simultaneously suggesting that I am believing my own lies? 

MV, did you read my last post? referring to danj's post about you saying KH demanded an extension  i said i may be wrong. (the rest of the post was directed to danj.) 

MV, i assume KH did not get a payout since your buddy LFO said he quit right? one typically doesnt get a payout if they quit do they? maybe LFO can enlighten us.

Becker was named interim coach at UVM.  However, John Fantino of Burlington Free Press tweeted, "John Becker said Mike Lonergan will leave a spot open for him on his GW staff while UVM search continues."

...or, until this week's SAT scores have been announced?