Impressive Achievement
UW basketball is about to accomplish an inconceivable feat. This will be the third time in the last ten years that their team will miss the tournament while having TWO first round picks on their team. There was also the year they had a losing record while having the number one pick in the draft.
At what point should people call for Hopkins to be fired? He has at least a bit of leeway after winning the conference last year, but this season was completely unacceptable, and I don't expect the team to be much better next year.
For that matter, when should Cohen be put on the hot seat? Petersen basically hired himself, and the Hopkins hire she made is not the slam dunk people anointed it as. The ADs offices lack of prep for the OC search was frankly embarrassing as well. They only held THREE INTERVIEWS. Lazy. That's why we are stuck with Donovan.
Posted Mar 11, 2020, 11:30 PM UTC
To imply Cohen needs to be on the hot seat is lunacy, negligent and short sighted, to say the least. She has done fantastically well as the AD and honestly, she can stay as long as she wants to be here.
Hopkins is fine and basketball will be fine. You have down years occasionally. The problem with this season was that we had elite athletes, not necessarily elite basketball players. Stewart has nothing left to show and will be a lottery pick. McDaniels, though, really needs another year if only to figure out how to play well with others. Too many times this season he exhibited poor body language when faced with a challenge or didn’t have the ball in his hands as much as he’s probably used to. He’s not going to stay because the athleticism he’s shown at times is elite and what the NBA wants.
Find a squad of guys who can play together consistently and the results will be better. Having lottery picks is cool but I’d rather see a team that gels and fires on all cylinders with great basketball players rather than elite athletes.
I will start with Hopkins. I am not saying to fire him now, but I think you can make the argument that he should be on the hot seat next year. The team didn't have "elite basketball players", who's fault is that? These are almost all Hopkins guys. He is responsible for not putting together a proper roster. We had sweet 16 level talent and got LAST in the league. We got beat twice by WSU!
On to Cohen. The statement: "She can stay as long as she wants." is a big fucking problem. NO ONE in our athletic department should get that much leeway. I am also curious as to what exactly you think her accomplishments are, because I'm at a loss.
Do you have any idea what the primary responsibilities of an AD are? I’ll spell them out and provide examples.
-Hiring coaches: Petersen, retaining Lake to provide continuity, Hopkins. Heather Tarr was extended to make sure softball is top notch. Meggs was extended given what he’s been able to do with baseball compared to the history of the program (it’s been dogshit).
-procuring equipment and apparel: ditching Nike for Adidas and getting a huge deal in the process.
-Promoting Events: not sure you’ve noticed but the quality of social media surrounding games, schedules and communications has drastically improved since Woodward and Emmert.
-Facilities: Husky Stadium is better maintained. HecEd gets attention that it sure didn’t when I was a student in the late 00’s. Football got its locker rooms updated to keep up with recruiting needs.
In addition to that she places an emphasis on academics we haven’t seen in ages. Our student athletes are graduating at a 91% rate! 91%! Six teams have perfect scores. Football is at 90%. It’s above the NCAA averages and well above the PAC-12 schools that aren’t Stanford. Cal was at 85. Øregøn at 80.
So yeah, I’m thrilled with what Cohen is doing and how she’s going about her job.
Hell yeah. Cohen is great. I love that she has created a culture where academics is just as important as athletics.
Would you happen to work in the AD office?
Not even close. I work in healthcare IT.