Daily word on UT and Pearl

[damasa]

Unimane said:

UWM has to count on Pearl's ties to the community and friendships, etc. because all of the material factors favor UT greatly. At some point, though, you have to realize Pearl is going to ge anyway.

I doubt anyone truly believes Pearl will stay at UWM for his entire career, he oculd leave for UT this year. But I also highly doubt we'd see Pearl stay at UT for his entire career as well, it's just one of those things, history goes against both schools.

Believe it though, Pearl's ties to Milwaukee and WI are pretty tight in many ways.

I think that if Pearl takes the job at UT it will be largely due to the money factor, who could resist that much? But I couldn't honestly see Pearl staying there that long either. He would probably use it as a base to move onto another program.

I guess we'll see shortly.

[CreamCity]

Comparing total compensation packages between UWM and UT, it turns out that UT has a major advantage that hasn't been mentioned in any media. Like most states (but not Wisconsin), UT includes free tuition for families of all faculty and staff -- and may be one of the states that also offers the equivalent of its tuition to colleges elsewhere. Pearl has a daughter at UW-Madison, a wife at UWM, and and a son two years from college. All three could add up to a lot more than the cost of a country club membership or the revenue from basketball camps. UWM can't compete with that.

[PantherAlumBB]

<i>UWM has to count on Pearl's ties to the community and friendships, etc. because all of the material factors favor UT greatly.</i>

I think that's mostly right but the more I think about it, I wonder if it is necessarily true that the money for Pearl at UT - while certainly more - is greater by the magnitude that we think it is. If the salary offered is more like what Peterson was getting (850k), its not clear to me that UWM can't get within artillery range of that. It seems to me that the business case for doubling his salary - or even taking it up to 750 or more - could be quite strong. If he comes back, there is every reason to believe that increased revenue and contributions will more than cover that.

But the resource issue also involves resources and opportunities to build a program. UT has a clear advantage in that area except that ... no one has managed to do it there. I agree that O'Neill was not the most loyal guy in the world, but why did he leave? My impression is that he flamed out. Certainly, he didn't use UT as a stepping stone to Northwestern.

[NYCVol]

PantherAlumBB said:

I agree that O'Neill was not the most loyal guy in the world, but why did he leave? My impression is that he flamed out. Certainly, he didn't use UT as a stepping stone to Northwestern.

O'Neill left because he was cheating on his wife and his wife demanded that they move out of there. She wasn't the biggest fan of living in Knoxville either.

[PantherAlumBB]

Really? That wouldn't surprise me. Not sure which way that cuts. On the one hand, there's no reason to think Pearl would cheat on his wife. On the other hand, it causes me to rethink my assumption that Knoxville isn't that much of a negative.

[Unimane]

PantherAlumBB said:

<i>UWM has to count on Pearl's ties to the community and friendships, etc. because all of the material factors favor UT greatly.</i>

I think that's mostly right but the more I think about it, I wonder if it is necessarily true that the money for Pearl at UT - while certainly more - is greater by the magnitude that we think it is. If the salary offered is more like what Peterson was getting (850k), its not clear to me that UWM can't get within artillery range of that. It seems to me that the business case for doubling his salary - or even taking it up to 750 or more - could be quite strong. If he comes back, there is every reason to believe that increased revenue and contributions will more than cover that.

But the resource issue also involves resources and opportunities to build a program. UT has a clear advantage in that area except that ... no one has managed to do it there. I agree that O'Neill was not the most loyal guy in the world, but why did he leave? My impression is that he flamed out. Certainly, he didn't use UT as a stepping stone to Northwestern.

As far as the resources, the salary is just the begining. UT has a big deal with Adidas and there's a coaches show and promotional stuff he can get money from at UT that would push him above 1 million for sure.

I also think Pearl will do well at UT. The coaches before him have had less success for varying reasons. Peterson was just a mediocre coach who did OK at other schools but benefited from being a very nice guy and Michael Jordan's roommate. Jerry Green was the fifth choice when he was hired and won 20 games every year, but never could instill discipline or respect among the players (Plus, he told UT fans they could go to K-Mart. Not the best way to endear yourself, Tennessee people are particularly sensitive about the "hillibilly" stuff.) and UT flamed out in March every year.

O'Neil had a good set up. He brought UT back from the mess of Wade Houston and had good players when he left. He was sort of a wanderer as it was and didn't get along with the UT AD.

Pearl faces none of these obstacles. He is a better coach than Peterson, has the respect of his players unlike Green and didn't inherit nearly the mess of O'Neil, plus he has a different AD to work with. Plus, Tennessee is a potentially good state for basketball. UT is THE school in the state, Memphis really is far separate from UT, nothing like Wis and Marquette, it might as well be in Arkansas. Plus, Tennessee produces a bunch of good players. Florida will start two next year and there are two kids that could potentially go pro from HS next year from the state.

[volntitan]

There were some personal issues in O'Neil's life that forced him to leave Knoxville. Suffice it to say the wife he went to Knoxville with, he didn't leave with her.