Sunday, May 22, 2011

John Becker In As Coach

Coach Becker. I can get down with that.

The University of Vermont made John Becker the head coach of the men's basketball program on Friday. The hire was not as juicy as it could have been, but it was a safe and calculated hire. The team will face less of a transition period going into next season, assuming that Becker's style of coaching will not differ dramatically from that of former Coach Mike Lonergan. Also, returning players and recruits who committed to play at Vermont will be less likely to look into playing at another program, which is often a concern when you hire a coach from outside of your program.

Becker has previous head coaching experience at Division III Gallaudet University, a school for the deaf and hearing impaired. He then moved on to being an assistant coach at Catholic University (where Lonergan used to coach) before coming to Vermont to be an assistant under Lonergan. That type of experience had to be what set Becker apart from Lonergan's top assistant at Vermont, Hajj Turner, who will be going to GW with Lonergan.

Apparently, Becker had tears in his eyes while he was being announced as the head coach. Imagine how hard he will be bawling when Vermont wins an NCAA tournament game.

1 comment:

  1. Like the positivity Buster. This team will be formidable if everyone stays put.

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