I think this guy may want to stay close to home for his whole career. He’s supposedly turned down a lot of offers to end up at Drake, which is in his back yard.
People don't realize it was Mark Adams, the power behind the success of Beard, with his "No Middle" Defense. Adams designed it, and it's why Tech had a great run under him. Mark Adams won highly-contested recruiting wars for Kevin Obanor, Fardaws Aimaq, Bryson Williams, Adonis Arms, Elijah Fisher, Pop Isaacs, to name a few. Adams was a laid-back, West Texan, with a drawl, old-time guy, who some Big Donor thought Mark Adams wasn't "sexy" enough in the Coaching circle.........then, like Mike Leach in football, Rick Barnes at Texas, who just got railroaded out, by some spurious charge as a ruse to release him. When Fardaws Aimaq committed to Tech, a new Offensive whiz, Steve Green was hired to balance out Mark Adams "No Middle" tough Defense. But Fardaws got injured, and never played until January of this year, and was not in shape enough to make an impact. At the same time, Daniel Batcho, a 6'11" center, was ill, hurt, and never a factor, so FIVE Freshmen and 3 Sophomores had to be rushed into a major role, and Tech lost the first 8 Conference games.........but, with experience with the Freshmen grew, and the Pop Isaacs, Elijah Fishers, Robert Jennings all progressed nicely, and Tech began a great winning streak beginning with an epic 23-pt. comeback win against Iowa State..........they were definitely trending in the right direction, but the Offense was supposed to be run through Fardaws and he didn't even play, and Batcho petered out as a non-factor. The Big Donor was influential in saying a "Bible Verse" quoted by Mark Adams caused a problem, when like Mike Leach, when the "Powers that be" want you gone, they'll come up with many ways to get it done. I can't blame Mark Adams in the least for having to play 5 Freshmen and 3 sophomores.........and if one is honest: Tech beat UT, lost barely to them, was right there with both KU games, BU games, so even without Fardaws and Batcho, Tech was very competitive, but the Big Donor and Co. wanted Mark out, so they got their wish. I feel sorry for Mark Adams, as all those players wanted to play for him. Jaylon Tyson, Tech's best returning player, transferred back to Tech once Mark Adams got the job, and even sat on the bench all year ready to play his basically first year, and was productive.........somehow, he got in the "doghouse" with the new Coach, and he fled with Daws to California. I am a lifetime (65 yr. old) Tech fan with family all went to Tech, and have followed them since 1969-70 season, with Gene Gibson, I think was the Coach. I'll support Grant McCasland in every way to build something special at Tech..........but had to chime in and say the reason Tech was successful these past 6 years (Beard + Adams) was the power behind the throne, in Mark Adams' defense. Wreck 'em!
TTU grad here. Let's just move on. There are reasons Adams contributed to his own firing, which I'm not going to rehash here out of decorum and respect. I cannot wait for TTU basketball's future! Between McCasland's defense and Mccollum's offense, we're doing some creative things schematic like Leach's Air Raid. The future has real potential!
Let's get it going in the right direction coach! I still think we need a rim protector and rebounder with that last scholarship coach. What about the international players?
Hey Tim, interesting fact. As a member of Coach Orser's first team at Mines, the players had a bunch of ownership and leadership from the get go. I arrived on campus in August of 2001 and we didn't have a coach. We had an active role in selecting the next coach for Mines. Each of the finalists interviewed with us. Coach O was tremendously impressive. 1 question we asked him was "Where do you see yourself in 10 years?" His response was that he saw himself looking moving up to a Div 1 program because he turned our program around. He was refreshing honest. And was our first choice. After 2 years, I came to the realization that engineering wasn't for me and chose to transfer, but his toughness and care for his players made that decision so hard. I loved playing for Coach O and love to see the success he has brought to Mines. I transferred to John Brown University, and in my senior year we won the NAIA National Championship. One of the first things I did was send Coach O an email to thank him. Without his coaching, I would not have developed to the player I was or learn how to win or some of the motion schemes and defense principles and toughness and work ethic. He is deserving of everything he has accomplished.
