It is being reported that Jim Les will be one of the first 4 interviews for the Cal HC job. Others include Russell Turner HC of UC Irvine, Eric Musselman HC of Nevada and Travis DeCuire HC of Montana.
Noooooooooooooooooo... unfortunately not surprising though. He's put our program on the right track, so he was bound to be on the radar for major teams looking for a coach. Such is life being a stepping stone program.
Somewhere during the big dance, he was asked by a reporter whether he was interested in the Cal job and he said (I'm paraphrasing) "no, we have more to accomplish at Davis." I'll see if I can find the quote. With that said, as much as I like my job, I have a price. If I were him and was offered an interview, I would at least look at all the facts.
Not worried yet. The advantage for Cal, with their financial limitations, is it may require less salary to pry Les and McGuire away than Musselman and Turner.
Cal would probably pay Les 3-4 times what he makes here and he would be coaching at a program that expects success at the upper D1 level and has resources. Of course, along with that comes the high pressure to win or get canned. Les is an intense competitor so I could see him aspiring to the upper level of D1 basketball.
On the other hand, he has quite a bit of history and lots of friends and contacts in the Sacramento area His wife, Jodi, is in real estate in the Granite Bay area and, I believe, that his son, Tyler, is working in San Francisco.
i think Les has done a really nice job at Davis, and think he has the program on a upward trajectory. I think he likes Blue, and Blue will do what he can to keep him aboard. Sounds like May reached out last week, which is a good sign.
i would think the Berkeley folk would not be excited about a Les hiring. this is their second major hiring in the past few months, and they need to make a big splash. Les' overall record at Davis is not going to get the Old Blue reaching for their wallets for season tickets and/or donations.
Career record around .500, but he can pitch 2 banner years out of 6. Recruiting would be easier for him at Berkeley, and his NBA creds would work well. Cal may be sensitive how the last coach left so quickly.
If he is offered, how do you not take the job? More cash and a larger platform. You go from Mott to Maples, Matadome to McKale. Hard to turn down the biggest stage Les would ever be on.
I agree with you 6th, 100%. If Cal ends up offering Les the job, I believe there is close to a 0% chance he doesn't take it. Huge pay raise and a chance to coach Pac-12 basketball. If this was in fact our last season with Les, at least we have a competent athletic director at the helm now.
Given the $$$ and the bigger stage, you would think if Cal offered the job to Les that he would leave. But, you know, sometimes coaches just find a place that fits for them in many ways like it was for Sochor here at Davis. Davis has many things which I think are important to Les like our emphasis on scholar ballers with high character and the opportunity to continue to build this program from his vision. He has a lot of history and many friends and contacts in the Sacramento area and has said he and his wife love the area. So I think there a factors here that make the Davis job very special too and that offers a quality of life that may not be as good for him in the bay area.
Yep. And from what I know he doesn't live in Davis, so he doesn't have the deep roots many have - local schools, church, community day to day bonds.
If there is no cap on UC pensions, that could be an added bonus given his years here. Might be a great change of pace for him and his wife, working in a semi urban area. And if they didn't want to live in the Berkeley Hills with a view of the bay, they could reside in suburban areas like Dan ville. Anyway, good luck to coach, I'm sure everything will work out well either way.
The day before Californiagoldenblogs ran the piece that sparked this thread, they ran a piece that threw out Bennett's and Les' names, then quickly dismissed them both.
Had a family member who went to St. Mary's and am aware that the Bears look down on that little college in their backyard. They just might look at a place like that like England looked at the colonies 250 years ago.
If Blue could land the equivalent of Coach Hawkins for our basketball program, then that'd be less worrying. I'm just a little scared that the school would lose all the recruiting momentum it got from the NCAA games