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Per the twitterverse

https://twitter.com/jonrothstein/status/...zmZs2hY8IA

Excellent! I'm pumped. He is a great recruiter. He is cousin's with Cornell Mann for all you Mann lovers out there.

Also here is another confirming tweet https://twitter.com/kylebaustin/status/1...7739385864

Welcome to Kalamazoo, Coach Stephens.

Tony Paul: https://twitter.com/tonypaul1984/status/...zJBGA7E5Bg

Good 2nd choice to Saddi.

"Stephens' contract is expected to nearly double that of Bates, in terms of salary and years. Bates was on a three-year deal contract $220,000 a year."

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports...1649090565

Hmm, not sure how I feel about this. But I'll cheer for him & the program. Maybe he has connections to the NBA & P5 programs that'll attract recruits. I usually like ties to the MAC, although he did spent some time at Oakland tho.

He's a MSU alum too. Hiring Big 10 blue bloods always makes me think when we had Jack Harbuagh as football coach, just a total disaster.

Okay, I got my criticism out of the way.

(04-04-2022 11:50 AM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Hmm, not sure how I feel about this. But I'll cheer for him & the program. Maybe he has connections to the NBA & P5 programs that'll attract recruits. I usually like ties to the MAC, although he did spent some time at Oakland tho.

His 19 years @ State means he has great in state recruiting relationships. I don’t think the NBA has anything to do with it.

Seems strange to me a top Michigan assistant declined us twice but a top Michigan St assistant said yes.

(04-04-2022 11:58 AM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Seems strange to me a top Michigan assistant declined us twice but a top Michigan St assistant said yes.

Maybe not this year, but I have a suspicion that dominos are going to start to fall at MSU…Izzo can’t coach forever.

(04-04-2022 12:06 PM)wmutkelaw Wrote:  

(04-04-2022 11:58 AM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Seems strange to me a top Michigan assistant declined us twice but a top Michigan St assistant said yes.

Maybe not this year, but I have a suspicion that dominos are going to start to fall at MSU…Izzo can’t coach forever.

Hoping that with Stephen’s East Lansing and MSU ties he can keep our 2 currently signed recruits in the fold. Could help with the big kid from Williamston (Lansing area) and the Hannah kid (Detroit area) as well as any other kids already in the program.

(04-04-2022 11:58 AM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Seems strange to me a top Michigan assistant declined us twice but a top Michigan St assistant said yes.

Beilein & Juwan have been hiring much better assistants than Izzo lately.

I'm happy with this hire. He's got a generation of assistant coaching experience and I'm sure he's excited to prove himself and build a program in his image. I hope he's able to retain Bates surprisingly good recruiting class and coach them up to being top half of the MAC within 1-2 seasons.

I wish there was a way to retain Bates. I feel he was put in an impossible spot…yet still recruited well, and got WMU through the Covid season.

No real issue except this is something both parties could've done much sooner than 2022-23.

I'm assuming he's trying to prove himself as a head coach to replace Izzo. He's a temp.

(04-04-2022 01:32 PM)sketownguy Wrote:  I'm assuming he's trying to prove himself as a head coach to replace Izzo. He's a temp.

Fine! He isn’t gonna succeed Izzo unless he has success here. So go for it…shoot for the MSU job. If he gets it someday it likely means he took advantage of his opportunity here.

(04-04-2022 01:39 PM)Broncos83 Wrote:  

(04-04-2022 01:32 PM)sketownguy Wrote:  I'm assuming he's trying to prove himself as a head coach to replace Izzo. He's a temp.

Fine! He isn’t gonna succeed Izzo unless he has success here. So go for it…shoot for the MSU job. If he gets it someday it likely means he took advantage of his opportunity here.

Yes…I would love to see WMU make a run…Stephens move on…rinse, repeat…

I bet Stephens reads the tea leaves…Drew Valentine is a popular name in Lansing and at MSU. Perhaps Stephens knows the only way to compete with the younger Valentine (for the eventual MSU gig) is to hone his own head coach credentials. Granted, I am not delusional…WMU is nowhere near Loyola Chicago in success or prestige…maybe someday.

(04-04-2022 11:47 AM)Nacho Wrote:  "Stephens' contract is expected to nearly double that of Bates, in terms of salary and years. Bates was on a three-year deal contract $220,000 a year."

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports...1649090565

If accurate, this is a good sign. From what I can tell this gets us back to being competitive salary-wise in the conference.