Have been thinking a lot about this question this week, I wasn't a Ferry supporter but I always thought one more year would have helped. Maybe we would've been able to show some improvement and if he was let go then maybe we avoid becoming a laughing stock.

I hope this turns out to be the right call, it was what the people wanted.

As an aside, Mark Titus' (The Ringer) twitter account is the best thing to come out of this, I've been a fan for a long time and it's too funny to see him acting as if he's coaching the Dukes. At this point I'd be alright if we sent him an offer

Last edited by Jackdoc13 (3/25/2017 6:05 pm)

With Ferry, his roster and recruits, my guess would be (at best) 11th place in the A10 next year.

​Would I see that as improvement in year 6? No. Jim Ferry is not cut out to coach at this level. I'd wait until someone is hired, we see who he recruits, and how they play next year before we assess whether Jim Ferry and his roster would have been preferable.

Please, everyone recognized the risk of Lewis and Mike transferring when Ferry was fired.  Harper even acknowledged that in his interview.  At this point it has not even been two weeks since Ferry was fired.  The time to ask this question is after we know who Harper hires.  As far as the roster, I count 5 returning player:  Castro, Smith, Littleson, JRob & James.  We had two guys leave on Ferry who were open scholarships.  We have three graduating, and at this point only three transferring.  

The decision of firing Ferry was a correct one.  My only disappointment is the way information was leaked and how the search has been handled so far in the media.   I will reserve my judgement until after I see who is hired. 

Last edited by CLK (3/25/2017 6:30 pm)

CLK wrote:

Please, everyone recognized the risk of Lewis and Mike transferring when Ferry was fired.  Harper even acknowledged that in his interview.  At this point it has not even been two weeks since Ferry was fired.  The time to ask this question is after we know who Harper hires.  As far as the roster, I count 5 returning player:  Castro, Smith, Littleson & James.  We had two guys leave on Ferry who were open scholarships.  We have three graduating, and at this point only three transferring.  

The decision of firing was a correct one.  My only disappointment is the way information was leaked and how the search has been handled so far in the media.   I will reserve my judgement until after I see is hired. 

This is all a fair assessment, I admit I may be losing some perspective due to the onslaught of bad news this week.

Are you at all concerned that it seems to be quiet on the coach search hunt? Could either mean the leaks have finally been plugged or they ran through their list and are scrambling to compile more names to go after

class balance could be achieved by securing a couple of grad transfers , a juco or 2 and a couple or 3  freshman.

as for the quality of what is currently available , dubious at best.

Fair point 81, but maybe we get a new coach quicker then.

duq81 wrote:

All of this would have happened next year. Does anyone really think Ferry would have turned it around enough in one year to get any type of extension? If he didn't, he would have been fired next year, and we'd be in the same place. Might as well start the process now.

Potentially he may have had a bit of a turnaround. Enough to satisfy Harper and crew - who knows for sure.

Assume the current projected roster of 11 ( 8 returnees and 3 incoming frosh ) remains intact and some improvement is made in their level of play. In the spring he hits on 1 of the 2 open spots.

Here it gets a bit dicey.  He would have to change his philosophy a bit and commit to a lineup of 3 bigs and 2 smalls for the majority of the time ( i.e Sanders , Mike , Walker , Smith / Wheeler and Lewis ) . He would have to  play a more pressure based "D" and try and get some easy scores of turnovers.

Most importantly he has to stress winning in the non-conference part of the schedule. No more of this just sit back , roll the balls out , and see what happens.  Coach like you are coaching for your career - because you are !!! 

I am guessing the league may take a step back next year .  We may have been on the ascent.

Can a leopard change his spots - who knows ?? 

Hence , the "possibility "exists but it is far from a certainty.

You can't turn back the clock.   But then again you would have thought the coaching search would not have turned into this debacle.   

Approaching Dambrot after the last time was just plain stupid.   

We are going to end up with a scrub like Driscoll.  Which we could have had last week at this time and be spared being the laughingstock of college basketball.   

But when you have jokers running everything, why did we expect a different result?

My 2 points early on were that they would not fire Ferry and that people would be surprised at the kind and type of coach who would come here.

Certainly not a Ferry fan but I said that because of the recruits we had - the Mikes - & recruits coming. I said that because I didn't believe they would think firing him would be a good idea because there would be little interest in a good new coach coming. We would at best get a reclamation project. But when they did I was fine with that since I assumed they had a direction unlike the mess that was GA. Maybe they do.  I think now the only one who makes sense is Rice

Q- "do you still think firing Jim Ferry looks like a good move? "

Yes - Turn back the clock & keep turning for 5 years.
He was never the right hire.

No turning back the clock for me.  It was the right move.  If Ferry's players leave & his recruits decommit, so what?  We knew what we were getting with Ferry:
1. No defense.
2. Blowing leads in the 2nd half after the other team makes adjustments & we fail to readjust.
3. Late in close games, the other team makes plays & we make mistakes.
4. Uptempo basketball with 5 guys playing 38 minutes, exhausted at crunch time.

When Ferry came here, he talked incessantly about "the way I want to play."  He wasn't going to change just because the team just went 10-22.  That wasn't his fault, according to him.

There were people who wanted Danny Nee retained because of the recruits he had coming in when he was fired.  Those kids went elsewhere, as did his entire roster except for Ajax & Achara.  But Ron Everhart turned it around & now we have to hope for a new coach who can turn it around again.

At some point, Duquesne really does need to get to the point where we keep a coach for a very long time.  But when it's obvious that you have the wrong guy, like Ferry, you have to cut your losses & move on.

There is nothing that Ferry accomplished here that would earn him another minute.