OB Confirming Aston as HC

O

outlookdude

250+ Posts
Per Chip Brown…..

“While Aston may not be the biggest name nationally, I was told exactly why she would be coming to Texas: recruiting Texas high schools.

“Aston, 47, is a tireless worker who helped recruit the talent at Texas that reached the Final Four here in 2003, a roster that included All-Americans Stacy Stephens and Heather Schreiber.

"Five years ago, all of women's college basketball thought Texas hit a home run with the hire of Gail Goestenkors," the source said. "But for whatever reason, Gail never made the kind of inroads in Texas that she needed.

"Karen Aston comes in and has all those relationships already established from her time as an assistant at Texas and Baylor and last season as the head coach at North Texas.

"She is passionate, hard-working, committed. The players love her, but she's tough, too. She makes sense right now for Texas. Even if Texas had gone out and hired someone like Brenda Friese from Maryland, who has won a national title, it would take time for Brenda to learn the vast landscape of recruiting in Texas.

"I think Karen is the right fit at the right time. She recruited most of the talent on the Texas team that went to the Final Four in 2003. So she knows her way around the state. And she knows the people at Texas."

…And other stuff along the same lines…..says to expect a press conference next week.
 
It's so strange that Chris Plonsky hired a new soccer coach in January who had no ties to Texas whatsoever. Angela Kelly grew up in Canada, played soccer at North Carolina, and eventually became the head coach at Tennesee. The assistant coaches Kelly hired were from Tennessee and Iowa; no ties to Texas.

But, now, the rationale for the women's hoops hire is needing connections in Texas?

For the short-term, I'm not sure Aston is a big enough "name" to keep Imani Stafford, the 6'7 signee from California, in the fold. We'll find out shortly if Imani asks for a release from her LOI once the hire is made official.

I agree we need a tireless and proven recruiter, but with Baylor and A&M dominating in-state recruiting, the approach I was thinking was that the next head coach had to at least be a "national" name in order to sign some out-of-state prospects in the short term while working on the Texas connections for the long term.
 
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Seattle
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Why would CP make a decision before all coaches have a chance to reply. KA may be a feel good ole cowgirl, but can she recruit McDonald's all American top 75 only? Premiere coaches may not have had the chance to respond,in a class act way. I thought we were looking for a coach that was established. Long time assistants of top 25 schools would be my first look. Donate some money to UNT and befreind a recruiter for only ONE state.Lets get our head out of our ten gallon hat and look around.
 
it will be interesting to see the details of the contract. While I like Karen Aston, I don't consider her a "home run"signing. She certainly has the contacts and is a very good evaluator of talent. Biggest thing will be if she can keep the 2012 class and the 2013 verbals, at least the ones from Texas. Wonder if we will see anyone transfer out? If she wins, especially in the NCAAs, everyone will be happy, if she has the same difficulty in the NCAAs as Coach G, calls for her head will be coming within a couple of years.

Given her past history with Texas, I certainly hope she has a successful return.
 
I agree, no home run, but some thought the same of Mack Brown.

I suppose it is too late to hire Kenya Landers and her husband as assistants because they announced they were heading to Ole Miss. With Aston they would have made an interesting trio if UT had taken them on. But I doubt they would have come to Texas considering they are headed to the SEC. Just kidding.
 
If Karen is hired and can show good results with this team I will have to say Texas got ripped off big time the past 5 years.
 
I think it's weird that Aston is texting people that she got the job when the dept hasn't even made an announcement yet, and the regents don't meet until Monday. Even if it's a done deal you should really wait for an official announcement and press conference.
 
I think Kim still wanted this job; otherwise she would not have said it publicly (she shouldn't). Shots fired first by Kim. There will be dogfights in Big 12.
 
We are talking about a woman who has some medical issue and is preparing her team for Final Four; now she voluntarily pre-announced a hire for Texas … unbelievable!

I wanted Kim, but would give Aston the benefit of doubt.
 
Aston did txt personal friends and family, I can confirm that. And I don't think that's improper at all, I do however take exception to the fact that Kim broke that confidence to the media, although unintentional I'm sure. But we already knew and Monday was just a formality, so no harm no foul IMO. Let's not be that group of fans who grasp at straws or look for reasons to dislike opposing coaches, she did nothing wrong here.
 
I do not know what information people have that men were not or would not be considered. The two men most often mentioned on this board have little reason to leave where they are that I can see. The Kentucky coach is home where he has ties. He made the elite eight this year. He is in a great conference. Kentucky is drawing interest from the top recruits in the country. I see no apparent reason for him to be interested in making a move. The Louisville coach is a Kentucky native. He coaches in a strong conference for basketball, the Big East. He is recruiting well and has made one final four already. Texas might be able to offer not only a bigger salary but a bigger budget. Still, he might like where he is.
 
Thanks for sharing, Seattle. Interesting read (including comments from a couple of Baylor fans). Even more interesting to read the link in a post by vowelguy.
 
Plonsky likely set some limits for Aston's disclosure of the hiring, for example family and her players at UNT, and perhaps professionals for whom she has worked, but Mulkey's public disclosure was a not very classy spotlight grabbing act

Mulkey should have kept this news buttoned up until the press conference so Aston could enjoy being hired for her dream job and the undiluted publicity which would be helpful in her initial recruiting (retention) efforts.
 
I don't think you can really fault the recipient of the text...it's Mulkey, folks! Karen is the one who sent the text, and whether or not she and Kim have worked together, or are friends, it wasn't a very smart thing to do. And even if there have been "sources" who have confirmed the selection, no way should the HC of one of our main rivals be discussing our new HC before there's even been a statement or release from our own AD.
 
Yeah, I thought it was weird for Mulkey to steal Aston's moment. But, I blame Aston for telling Mulkey to begin with (and possibly not telling Mulkey to keep it to herself) . . .
 
Pulling a ****** thing like that by Mulkey is the exact reason we would never hire her here. She's a class a *****.
 
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