It's kind of funny....

[Dane Pound]

Former Danes coach Scott Hicks may well set the record for most consecutive losses for a D1 team at Loyola this year. I think most of us would still consider him only the 2nd worst coach we've had here.

[Dane96]

He was a good guy. Dont really know what he was thinking when he left (said his wife wanted to be near home...but I am not buying).

[professor]

His wife is from the Albany area!

[DOWNTOWN]

Purely from an interest stand point, has it ever been determined why he left? What was it that he and Beeten saw that made them unhappy at Albany? I am just wondering if it had anything to do with a difference of opinion between themselves and the administration as to how they thought the transition process should progress.

[Dane96]

Was it him or his wife...someone wanted to get closer to family. I could have sworn i read that. Prof...is he from that area? I am almost positive that one of them had family there.

[Dane Pound]

At the time he left I think we had an interim Athletic Director (was it Ford then? or Cummings-Danson?). I thought one of the reasons he left was because he probably figured a new AD would want to bring in his own coach. He was near the end of his contract also and Cetnar and Haggerty were graduating. He probably figured things were as good as they were going to get.

[UAalum72]

Also, the president of Loyola performed the Hicks' wedding ceremony, so they had a personal relationship there. He probably got a raise as well.

[sarge965]

Hicks left when we were facing a change in Athletic Director's. Dr. McElroy had not been hired yet and Loyola was offering a multi-year contract. Hicks took the Loyola job thinking that whoever was hired as the UAlbany AD would want their own guy in as head basketball coach. Hicks is from Oneida and his wife is from Troy originally. This move was made for family reasons related to perceived financial stability not for geographical reasons. In the end, I would still put up with all the turmoil if if knew from the start that Will Brown would eventually become the coach. He is by far the best coach Albany has had since the retirement of Doc.

[Classof72/74]

Also, the president of Loyola performed the Hicks' wedding ceremony, so they had a personal relationship there. He probably got a raise as well.

 

The story as I remember it was that the new prez at Loyola had been Hick's boss at LeMoyne (academic VP or something similar) so they went back a ways together, plus Hicks was coming off a successful transition season bringing UA from D-II to D-I so his stock was on the rise (and FWIW Loyola was committed to "rebuilding").

[AlbanyObserver]

I think Dane Pound made some good points regarding Hicks departure ... He also had a prior Le Moyne connection that was involved in the hiring process at Loyola. At the time, Hicks probably felt good that he was a "wanted commodity" despite the fact the Albany program wasn't above .500 in his final season there.

 

Let's also remember that Albany didn't have conference affiliation at that point in time and the America East Conference wasn't even close to being on the radar. McElroy was the guy that sealed the deal when he arrived.

 

Finally, I think Hicks realized he wouldn't be able to recruit Division I talent without conference affiliation. However, let's realize he only got a raise of mere pennies to jump to Loyola.

 

Looking back at everything, Hicks would have been better off staying and being patient with the Albany program. But, the question is, would he have lasted with McElroy in the picture???

 

I think we will all agree that despite the Beeten crisis, we are all happy to have Will Brown onboard!!!!! Things happen for a reason. You have to endure adversity to reach success.

[olddog71]

There may have been some financial issues involved.

 

The biggest was the salary. I think Hicks made $80,000 his last year. He may have wanted more. Eventually, the coach's salary settled at around $120,000.

[reeder]

Article in USA today about Hicks and Loyola going for the record for most consecutive losses (couldn't find it in the online edition). I think it was 29 consecutive losses and one of two winless teams in Div 1 this year.