Also, something doesn't seem right about how this ended. Very surprised and concerned that we haven't seen positive comments and thanks from Aaron for his time at Richmond. Weird to see comments from Hallock and Hardt but none from Roussell. Has a little sting of how Rocco and London left. Roussell has better character than both of them. He would never say bad things on his way out like Rocco, and I didn't think he would abruptly leave without saying much like London.
Say it ain't so ...
- Thread starter Section9_RowD
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32counter
Assistant coach
The firing of the UVA coach (April 4) and the hiring of Roussell (April 7j was a suspiciously short time frame.
This was a done deal before it was a done deal just as London did in 2009.
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Yep. It does seem that way. F uva for handling things the way they do...
Spider17
Assistant coach
For as much as I’ve complained about Hardt and Hallock mishandling our men’s basketball program, I do not blame them at all here. This is just my opinion, but I really believe that they did their best to retain Roussell which probably included a very competitive salary/NIL budget even if it wasn’t quite at the UVA level. From what people say, both Hardt and Hallock were at a bunch of women’s games. I even saw Hallock on tv for the NCAA game. Hardt had a good relationship with Roussell. Roussell mentioned a lot about the support he’s received from the admin. At the end of the day, Roussell probably wanted to test the waters of a P4 school to see what he can achieve. I don’t blame him. I just don’t like the platitudes of coaches saying “grass isn’t always greener” and saying how happy he is here and how great everyone is, only to leave soon after that.
The toughest part in this, is I hope all the progress made by Roussell and the women’s team the past 4 years isn’t just wiped away next season. We have a good recruiting class coming in. We’ve had great attendance this year around 2K. It just stinks to think that if all our good players leave and we aren’t very good next year, the attendance will likely plummet and we’ll be starting from square 1 again.
The toughest part in this, is I hope all the progress made by Roussell and the women’s team the past 4 years isn’t just wiped away next season. We have a good recruiting class coming in. We’ve had great attendance this year around 2K. It just stinks to think that if all our good players leave and we aren’t very good next year, the attendance will likely plummet and we’ll be starting from square 1 again.
I agree with you, 17. Hallock is an incredible supporter. He was out in LA last year too. I've spoken with him in the past, and he is a strong supporter of athletics, our student-athletes, and our coaches, specifically Roussell as we spoke about how he is exactly the kind of coach, person, and ambassador for the school we desire. So, I am quite confident Hardt and the school put together as competitive of a package including NIL as possible. The problem is college sports is flooded with money and corrupt. As I said years ago, the end result of the portal and NIL for programs like ours will be status quo with a much lower ceiling.
Besides the state of college athletics, the big problem here is uva. As stated earlier in this thread, I expect uva made an offer to Roussell before firing their previous coach. Roussell probably got caught up in this and feathers were ruffled between Hardt, Hallock, Roussell, and uva. It is just too odd that Roussell has not made any statements. Something did not end well between him and Richmond, which is so unfortunate because the relationship while he was here was fantastic.
Besides the state of college athletics, the big problem here is uva. As stated earlier in this thread, I expect uva made an offer to Roussell before firing their previous coach. Roussell probably got caught up in this and feathers were ruffled between Hardt, Hallock, Roussell, and uva. It is just too odd that Roussell has not made any statements. Something did not end well between him and Richmond, which is so unfortunate because the relationship while he was here was fantastic.
Spider17
Assistant coach
I disagree here. I think with an excellent coach and institutional commitment, the portal and NIL gives us a higher ceiling than before. We see that with Schertz at SLU. What I imagine Richmond would continue to achieve with Roussell here.
I have no idea how it ended between them. I imagine Hardt/Hallock felt hurt and disappointed like all of us Richmond fans did when we heard the announcement. Not only was Roussell an excellent coach, but he seemed to genuinely love it here and his recent comments and actions on several occasions supported that as much. So it came as a bit of surprise.
Right now we’re the best mid major or at least top 3 mid major job in the country. I think we can be attractive to many top coaches. Wished Roussell would’ve stayed for the long term but it is what it is. Have to move on to the next one. I’d rather have this problem of needing to replace a good coach with another good coach than being stuck with Mooney on the men’s side and dragging out mediocrity for another year.
MrTbone
All A-10 player
I get the malaise but this is exactly what we've been asking for on the men's side, get a talented coach who elevates the program and will likely move on, then you repeat. VCU has figured this out, so should we. If Hardt is at all worth his salt, he'll go get a fantastic replacement and we'll prove that you can get a new coach and succeed.
Fear should have no residence in our thinking, that's why we are where we are with Mooney.
The comment is more praising how good Roussell is.. Beilein level. He could take uva to the final 4 in a few years...and he could have done similar here with more commitment. He's that good. There aren't many coaches in college basketball at his level. So, yes, I do expect a significant downgrade...not because we're little 'ole Richmond but because there aren't many coaches at his level across all of Div 1.
Yes, with institutional commitment. However, with the amount of big money out there, most schools aren't able to match the bigger schools. So it becomes buy your championship, which is super boring. Smaller schools will never be able to outbid the bigger schools. In the past we had some advantages of being a great academic small school with a beautiful campus, great facilities, etc. Pride entered into the equation, now it's mostly just money, outbidding each other. We have resources greater than many so we can outbid many schools our size, but we can't outbid the huge schools. So we end up about in the same place we were, which was fairly high on the scale, but now with no upward chance of breaking into the top tier because we almost always will be outbid. Either way it's money rather than pride in the school that drives it all now, which takes away a big part of the joy. I'm not interested in winning a championshio because we outbid the orher team in buying players. Money has always been a factor to a large degree, but now it's pretty much all there is.
Spider17
Assistant coach
Money gets us in the convo with top recruits in ways we wouldn’t have been considered before, but good coaching is what puts it all together. There’s also levels to this when I say “top recruits”. Money or no money, UR is not going to get someone that UConn or South Carolina is after. Money, though, could help us land that former top 100 recruit that didn’t have the best success at their P4 school that before NIL wouldn’t have given us a second thought. A great coach will bring out the best in the players he or she has. That’s what we had with Roussell. Now, we need to find the next Roussell.
Sections 204and5
Bench player
While you can't believe everything you read, just saw a post saying UVA first offered Kenny Brooks the job and he declined. This was attributed to Kentucky Sports Radio.
Coaching makes a huge difference, which is why I'm so devastated. And the girls loved him and each other. Great chemistry. Positive experience for all. It was ideal. Roussell is special on all levels including personal with great character. Hopefully we can the next Roussell, but I don't think he/she is out there. Maybe we land in the ballpark.
Spider17
Assistant coach
This is why I think his departure has hurt us fans and admin more than other coaches leaving in a long time. The team loved him, the fans loved him. The admin really supported him. He seemed to love the team, this program, and the university. He took us to levels never seen before and seemed to have the backing from admin and growing fan attendance/support to continue the momentum. Unfortunately, wasn’t enough.
The longer this goes with no comments without a statement from Roussell, the more I know something went wrong between Roussell and Richmond. It is not his style to walk away without gratitude, praise for his team and school that he showed tremendous pride and appreciation for over the years. Something ain't right and that sucks bad because this was our chance to get on the national stage.
Very well stated. Couldn't agree more. This really stings. He believed he could build something big here, and I think he could have.
MrTbone
All A-10 player
Again, I get it, I think he’s a great coach. But you’re probably underselling the market, there are plenty of talented coaches out there, most of whom would jump at the chance to take over a program coming off three straight ncaa tournaments.
Hopefully we capitalize on the success.
MrTbone
All A-10 player
It’s also possible he was asked not to say anything with it being UR giving day? Just speculating…
Hmmm. Worked the wrong way on me. I made it very clear I wasn't giving because of the mis-handling and loss of Roussell. Might have been more inclined to give if he had left some positive words on his way out.
PhillySpider
Starter
So my take on no comment from Roussell isn't so much that things went sour between the parties but rather that Roussell understands that with us with no head coach at the moment, the time is right for us him to recruit oor incoming class (and current roster) and he can't be so two-faced as to say how great Richmond was/is while actively raiding the cupboard at the same time. I don't worry about the current team as much as the incoming class. Note the " as much" language. Worried about both quite frankly. But he will no doubt lose some of UVA's incoming class and will look to the kids he recruited here as his best shot to fill the void.
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