HOWEVER, coaches CAN learn, depends on things
last year had to be a wake-up for Acker. He knows it was not good. Unless he is totally devoid of self-awareness, he should know.
Expected a first year Head coach to be fantastic is silly. there is some growth that can occur. Acker is young, but I do not know him. Can he get out of his own way and learn to learn?. Does he have the right staff around him, to either delegate and also learn? I do not know. Is Smitherin just a yes man to him? more SDSU brotherhood stuff?
I'm not sure the current AD is a good guiding force for facilitating coaching training/learning /growth given what has come out and SUCCESSFUL coaches who demonstrated LEARNING bailing.
Monson never demonstrated LEARNING. 2022 was classic. Pre-season we sucked, then by NECESSITY of injuries to bigs CDM was forced to do perimeter based SPACED (what a concept) offense and just so happened with Murray/Cobb/Slater it was ideal, and AT suddenly thrived in his PF role.
we'll see, I'm just willing to cut him slack given the circumstances and drastic change in MBB landscape, he's not alone in the Big West in having to re-tool.
I'm not so high on this roster coming in next year, I question if there is even the talent of Austin and Askew at the top, maybe depth wise might be a bit better.
at lease Acker has MOTIVATION, he needs this to work out for his career, that's like the best thing going, lol. 
Previous Message
You said the most important point. Mid or low major basketball has changed drastically. That is why Acker will not do well. He probably would have been an ok hire 15 years ago. Acker is still stuck with the Aztec mentalility. Aztec basektball has decent NIL (we don't), much better facilities, and a recent history of winning (we don't). This has lead to much more continuity of the roster from year to year. They know they can afford to build in the Aztec Way or Culture or whatever you want to call it. LBSU doesn't have that luxury to build a system like the Aztecs. We need someone who is flexible (Acker's not), someone who can bring 8-10 new players every year and mold them into a team (Acker can't). It's pointless to tell Smitheran because he only hires Aztecs, but you need to hire coaches who are use to that type of coaching environment. Those are coaches at the D2, D3 and JUCO level. Iowa's coach McCallum was at D2 in 2022. Cal Poly's coach was at D2 and while his regular season wasn't great, they played really well in the BWT. You could argue UCSD had a coach with a D2 background (Olsen) since he took over when they were in D2. There are other examples of these type of success at the low-mid major level. Watch how UCR does this year. They just hired a D2 coach with prior D1 Assistant coaching experience. Even after being hired late, he pulled in 8-10 portal transfers. My bet is that he gets them to play as a team sooner than Acker will this year because this is all he knows.
I'm resigned to that fact that Acker will be here for the duration of his contract but I won't be happy about it. We're just going to see a repeat of what we saw in his first year. Play a system that is not suited for the talent. Lose 10 players to the portal. Bring in 10 new players for the following year and repeat all over again. I've been a supporter for 50 years so it's a little late for me to give up on LBSU basketball. I hope Acker undergoes some miraculous personality change and adjusts to this new reality.
If you think my early take on Acker might be off. Just remember, I was on this board soon after Conoley was announced as the new president 10 or so years ago and said she was significantly underqualified to be the president of LBSU. How did that early take turn out? Previous Message
Are we doing this again!!!! He has been here one year. Give the guy at least 1/2 his contracct to get it right. Mid major basketball has changed since Monson left. Every team has massive turn over. NO COACH can build around recruits because they don't stay --- $$$- how much can I get elsewhere????? I think mid major coaching is now who you can get each year and how well they jell. It's year to year. Previous Message
Do you have someone specific in mind or the profile for a new coach? Previous Message
Let me pick the next coach…… Previous Message
I do not feel mbb is headed in the right direction. I agree our recruiting is the same as for last year. Aker is a nice man but not an effective coach. And if he has a 5 year contract our program is in big trouble.
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on 7/2/2025, 9:51 am, in reply to "