Danny

[tetoncat]

I didn't expect him to stay forever. With transfer rules every school is more susceptible to mass losses. What I had hoped for was long enough tenure to create some stability in coaching tree, where an assistant could possibly take over and retain more of team and recruits.
Look at NDSU and SDSU in football great programs and able to roll next assistant right in and don't really miss a beat.
EWU had similar situation a couple years ago. Lost coach, players, but seemed to retain a core and getting a coach quicker were able to be competitive quicker.

[MSU01]

I didn't expect him to stay forever. With transfer rules every school is more susceptible to mass losses. What I had hoped for was long enough tenure to create some stability in coaching tree, where an assistant could possibly take over and retain more of team and recruits.
Look at NDSU and SDSU in football great programs and able to roll next assistant right in and don't really miss a beat.
EWU had similar situation a couple years ago. Lost coach, players, but seemed to retain a core and getting a coach quicker were able to be competitive quicker.

MSU had two assistants on staff (Haslam and Hill) who many thought were qualified and ready to be promoted to Head Coach when Danny left. I doubt we'll ever know the full story but it seemed to me like it was MSU that ultimately chose to bring in an outside hire instead of promoting from within.

[Desert_Bobcat]

I didn't expect him to stay forever. With transfer rules every school is more susceptible to mass losses. What I had hoped for was long enough tenure to create some stability in coaching tree, where an assistant could possibly take over and retain more of team and recruits.
Look at NDSU and SDSU in football great programs and able to roll next assistant right in and don't really miss a beat.
EWU had similar situation a couple years ago. Lost coach, players, but seemed to retain a core and getting a coach quicker were able to be competitive quicker.

MSU had two assistants on staff (Haslam and Hill) who many thought were qualified and ready to be promoted to Head Coach when Danny left. I doubt we'll ever know the full story but it seemed to me like it was MSU that ultimately chose to bring in an outside hire instead of promoting from within.

I have a pretty good feeling everyone on that coaching staff was going to follow Sprink as soon as USU announced it. Personally, I would have much preferred Andy Hill over Haslam for HC but I don’t think either one was given the opportunity to pursue the HC spot by DS

[luckyirishguy25]

Great is really taking it Wyoming, 20pts and 8 boards. 74-53 with 3mins left, Danny is going to make some noise this year.

[rfischer94]

That was a remarkable performance. By my count, he had at least 4 dunks. Some nice steals as well.

[Camo_Cat]

The big question is: would the team have stayed intact if Danny would have stayed? Brown would have stayed in my mind, but maybe not Osobor and definitely not Battle. Battle would have received offers from bigger schools and would have taken that opportunity. We were losing Bello anyway, so it's hard to say how good we would have been. I think we would been the conference favorite again, but maybe not as good as many others would think. It's just easier to blame Danny for leaving and then having others leave as a result.

[technoCat]

The big question is: would the team have stayed intact if Danny would have stayed? Brown would have stayed in my mind, but maybe not Osobor and definitely not Battle. Battle would have received offers from bigger schools and would have taken that opportunity. We were losing Bello anyway, so it's hard to say how good we would have been. I think we would been the conference favorite again, but maybe not as good as many others would think. It's just easier to blame Danny for leaving and then having others leave as a result.

Don't forget the players we would have had coming in that backed out when Danny left. And I disagree Battle leaving would have been 100%. He seemed very attached to Sprinkle. Oh wellz, what's done is done.

Edit: Just want to reiterate I don't blame Danny for taking a better opportunity or the team being pretty much dismantled. Hope he rocks it at USU!

[luckyirishguy25]

https://sports.yahoo.com/zero-to-no-20- ... 31051.html

[ilovethecats]

https://sports.yahoo.com/zero-to-no-20- ... 31051.html

That's awesome.

[MSU01]

Interesting quote from the article:

Sprinkle had urged his top players at Montana State to stick together and go win the Big Sky, but he was pragmatic enough to recruit them when they didn’t listen.

[ilovethecats]

Interesting quote from the article:

Sprinkle had urged his top players at Montana State to stick together and go win the Big Sky, but he was pragmatic enough to recruit them when they didn’t listen.

I heard this from the get go which is why I think some of the stuff said about Sprinks has been garbage.

I've been told by a former coach that in his experience this is often how it goes. Said it's very rare in his opinion that when a coach gets a new gig that he actively recruits players to follow him to his new destination. Said often times it's the exact opposite. But players are going to do what they seem is best for them, and if they like a coach (which everyone loves Danny) and want to follow him what is he going to do? Say no?

I'm so grateful for what Danny did here, and I want to see him and his dudes just crush it at USU.

[aucat]

I'm just curious to know how much attendance has dropped from last year to this year. I feel for Matt Logie. I know he is doing the best he can do but to date I would have to think he is disappointed in the lack of fan enthusiasm at home games. Of course that's just human nature. WHen you have a team performing like we did last year, you can't help but rise out of your seat. Last year I sat right behind the MSU bench when we played Weber and I swear I've never seen a better first half from any MSU team. THey were beasts and just dominated that first half. Weber eventually made it closer but MSU prevailed.

[MSU01]

I'm just curious to know how much attendance has dropped from last year to this year. I feel for Matt Logie. I know he is doing the best he can do but to date I would have to think he is disappointed in the lack of fan enthusiasm at home games. Of course that's just human nature. WHen you have a team performing like we did last year, you can't help but rise out of your seat. Last year I sat right behind the MSU bench when we played Weber and I swear I've never seen a better first half from any MSU team. THey were beasts and just dominated that first half. Weber eventually made it closer but MSU prevailed.

It's tough to compare attendances so far since MSU played virtually no home games last year in the non-conference schedule. The attendance last year for their first two conference home games was 3,172 and 3,232 so that's a pretty good target number to look at for this weekend's home games against NAU and UNC. Even the Weber game you mentioned only had a crowd of 3,270 although I also recall it being a very enthusiastic one. There's always going to be a strong correlation between wins and attendance, I'm sure Logie is well aware that the crowds will improve once he has had a chance to continue strengthening his roster which will hopefully lead to a lot of wins.

[BLACKnBLUEnGOLD]

Don't forget the players we would have had coming in that backed out when Danny left. And I disagree Battle leaving would have been 100%. He seemed very attached to Sprinkle.

Which recruits decommitted? The only one I can remember was a 6-10 forward, Grant something? He hasn't played much for USU I think, but USU has Great Osobor.

Battle ended up at WVU. I don't think that's because USU wouldn't take him. I think he would have ended up at a bigger program regardless

[MSU01]

Don't forget the players we would have had coming in that backed out when Danny left. And I disagree Battle leaving would have been 100%. He seemed very attached to Sprinkle.

Which recruits decommitted? The only one I can remember was a 6-10 forward, Grant something? He hasn't played much for USU I think, but USU has Great Osobor.

Battle ended up at WVU. I don't think that's because USU wouldn't take him. I think he would have ended up at a bigger program regardless

Jackson Grant from Washington and Max Agbonkpolo of USC/Wyoming had both committed to MSU according to the article, although only Grant had announced it on social media.

[luckyirishguy25]

Don't forget the players we would have had coming in that backed out when Danny left. And I disagree Battle leaving would have been 100%. He seemed very attached to Sprinkle.

Which recruits decommitted? The only one I can remember was a 6-10 forward, Grant something? He hasn't played much for USU I think, but USU has Great Osobor.

Battle ended up at WVU. I don't think that's because USU wouldn't take him. I think he would have ended up at a bigger program regardless

According to Danny they did recruit him to USU but they couldn't afford him. Danny's biggest beef with USU right now is lack of a substantial NIL.

[BelgradeBobcat]

Utah State wins at UNLV after leading for 8.4 seconds of the entire game. Darius Brown hit a three to bring USU to within 1. On the play, UNLV was called for fouling Osobor. Osobor hits both free throws. UNLV misses and USU wins. USU got all the calls going down the stretch-it was pretty funny from this neutral fan's perspective. The foul on Osobor was very weak to say the least. Be that as it may, Great Osobor might be the Mountain West MVP. He dominated in the second half.

[bobcatbob]

Utah State wins at UNLV after leading for 8.4 seconds of the entire game. Darius Brown hit a three to bring USU to within 1. On the play, UNLV was called for fouling Osobor. Osobor hits both free throws. UNLV misses and USU wins. USU got all the calls going down the stretch-it was pretty funny from this neutral fan's perspective. The foul on Osobor was very weak to say the least. Be that as it may, Great Osobor might be the Mountain West MVP. He dominated in the second half.

If Osobor keeps playing like he did today, he will be playing in the NBA next!

[MSU01]

I was wondering how USU could score 5 points without any time going off the clock...that explains it. One of the great things about Danny's MSU teams was that they usually found a way to pull out the wins in tight games, like the two semifinal wins over Weber that easily could've gone either way. I saw a few USU players in the Salt Lake airport yesterday while passing through, wanted to congratulate Danny or one of the ex-MSU players but didn't spot any of them. Cool to see them having so much success.

[BelgradeBobcat]

Here's the last play. See the "foul" against Osobor at the free throw line.
A minute or so before that the ball was knocked out of bounds. The replay clearly shows it going off a USU player. The refs looked at it for about 5 minutes. The announcers were wondering why it wasn't quick reversal. Then they gave the ball to USU. It was like they pointed the wrong direction but didn't want to look silly by changing. Brown hit a three on that possession too! Danny got a gift today. HIs team with our players is amazing. Dang, what might have been-even without Raequan this team would have been loaded. Ugh. I just can't get over it. I hope Danny and Great make a ton of money and send a donation or two to poor 'ol MSU someday.