BB decline and Harlan.

[Trailgoat]

Offseason football filler alert.

Wondering if Craig Smith is being set up to succeed at Utah? Not sure why more light isn’t shined on Harlan who was not well liked by the fan base in his later years at USF. Under Harlan’s watch at USF the already bad BB program declined and Harlan was criticized for mismanaging the known academic scandal at USF during his tenure. Harlan fired two BB coaches during his five years at USF including one he hired. The already bad BB program at USF got worse during Harlan’s time at USF.

LK had Utah BB moving in the right direction with 20 plus wins, NIT runner up, and two NCAA appearance, and NIT appearance during the five years prior to Harlan’s hire. Utah BB dramatically declined the season after Harlan was hired and it’s continued to get worse. What happened with USF BB during Harlan’s tenure is very similar to what we’re seeing at Utah since he took over as AD. Is the Utah BB program getting the support it needs from an AD with a poor performance history managing BB programs, who knows? Something is not right with the program and I hope Taylor Randall is looking beyond letting Craig Smith die on the sword if he’s not getting the needed support from his AD who’s solution to poor BB attendance is covering up seats with curtains. IMO, Smith has a much more credible track record than Harlan. All I’m saying is Taylor Randall needs to start looking beyond the BB HC and not let a good coach like CS be the scapegoat for Harlan not doing his job. I get the BB HC is responsible for the team success, but if his boss is not good at his job, the HC will not be set up to succeed. Just another perspective.

[Xanthis]

Your argument means absolutely nothing when you start defending LK. The dude was a dumpster fire and was only here because of the ridiculous contract he swindled out of Chris Hill. What support is Craig Smith not getting that you think he should be getting?

[Trailgoat]

Not defending LK, only pointing out there was a substanial BB record change following Harlan being hired. I recognize Utah BB was bad before LK, but he had five decent years rebuilding the program. Ther is a lot more to it, LK seemed to checkout and a lot of players transferred out in the last few years he was at Utah. Was it happening before Chris Hill left, I don’t know and not sure what support is missing, that’s my question? Something is not going right with the program and I am hopeful administration and boosters are looking beyond the HC for answers.

[Rick]

You clearly missed Trailgoat’s point.  Larry’s program was a success pre-Harlan and then a “dumpster fire” after Harlan came on board.  I personally would like to some day hear from Larry himself what he thinks happened because something abruptly changed and no one knows for sure what it was.  I personally think Larry became a bit discouraged around all the illegal nonsense that U of A was getting away with at that time but I don’t have any definitive proof of that.

[UteThunder]

If Harlan is the problem, how can the Women’s team be so successful but the men’s team can’t? 

I don’t know the answer to that question and I don’t know if Harlan is a good AD or not. Aside from scheduling some good football games like Florida and LSU, I can’t tell how good he is at his job.

[Tony (admin)]

White male patriarchy? 

[pedro]

OP’s argument aside, the answer to your question is Pili.  Watch what happens once she is gone

[Yergensen]

Is there any evidence to date that indicates Harlan is anything more than a sustainer? He hasn’t done much of anything transformational (see transformation under Chris Hill). Perhaps he hasn’t had to, but I would be a lot more comfortable with Chris Hill and Pres. Randall navigating realignment than I am with Harlan.

[Charlie]

Don’t know Harlan but the football team, WBB, and other sports seems to be doing just fine. As for MBB, Larry had the time to evaluate and I agreed with the change. As to Craig, his progress from the time he walked in the door thru 2 season is as good as can be expected. At the mid point in league play we bounced between 2nd and 3rd place before the two starting guards went down. What team have you seen play well without their starting back court? They were back on the court for the conference tournament but they were not back with their game.

Smith may or may not be the guy to satisfy us, however, he is off to a good start. Two years starting at rock bottom is not enough time but for only wild guesses. Next he needs to bring in a number of new players like last year. If he can do that he stays on schedule. He is likely to do better next year with the injury bug. We are anxious because we don’t see names. The portal and international players are a mystery at this point but we would like to see a HS guy like Keita. I expect that there is interest because Utah’s arrow is pointing up. Oddly, Brandon’s decision is big so I would consider him Smith’s most important recruit. Either way, I expect next years finish to improve from #7.

As for Harlan, I am not seeing an issue. As for other schools, I covet their resources but I am not coveting others ADs.

[Ute Bc]

We are very fortunate to have Harlan. The trajectory of the athletic department is all moving in the right direction. LK was awful and set us in for years of mediocrity. The downfall of the basketball program happened because of 2 MAJOR hiring blunders in Giacoletti and worse yet – Boylen.

[palos_verdes_ute]

I’m not big fan of Harlan, but there are other barometers to way an AD is measured.  First and foremost, many don’t know he was hired to raise revenue.  His business like stance, schmoozing, and adeptness in fund raising is the big reason why he is here.   Completing the SEZ fund raising, ticket price increase, campaigning, etc.  are all efforts that he is very involved.   

—-

As for the Craig Smith hire, there was no doubt LK had to go and there wasn’t a lot of coaches on the market that year.   That was the first major hire Harlan made since he’s been on campus.   If CS fails, he gets a second try…no biggie and very normal for programs. 

 

[concerned]

And:  Harlan has little to no decision-making role in realignment.  That falls to Pres Randall and the other presidents

[pedro]

I agree with you right up until the Coach K defense.  I gave him every chance in my fandom, but his last year showed he wasn’t making progress.  

But Harlan sucks.  I’m surprised so many defend him.  He is NOT fan friendly at all. His goal is the next job and that is pretty clear.  If you are giving him kudos for scheduling his last school and Arkansa, you don’t understand the product we have here, nor does he.

[Author]

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