Oregon's Scott Duncan to succeed Keating

by omnigeno on Apr 11, 2007 5:02 PM PDT

From the diaries. Join me in giving a warm welcome to Coach Duncan. Given how he recruited for the Ducks I think he will be a dynamite in Westwood. Welcome Coach Duncan. GO BRUINS. -N

From UCLA's Release:

Scott Duncan, who spent the last seven years as an assistant coach at the University of Oregon, has been hired as an assistant coach at UCLA, Bruin head coach Ben Howland announced today. Duncan replaces Kerry Keating, who was announced as the head coach at Santa Clara on April 9, 2007.

"I am very pleased that Scott Duncan has accepted the position of assistant coach," said Howland. "He comes with a great background in coaching and is very well respected as an outstanding recruiter. He is a very experienced coach, an outstanding person and I feel very fortunate to have him join the Bruin family."

Recognized as one of the nation's best assistant coaches and top recruiters, Duncan's hard work and dedication paid off this past season with Oregon reaching the Elite Eight and winning the 2007 Pacific-10 Conference Tournament. That investment continued to pay off with all four freshmen in the recruiting class of 2004 ranked among the nation's top 75. Duncan brings over 25 years of experience as a major college basketball assistant coach.

"When you think of college basketball, the one school that comes to mind to all kids is UCLA," Duncan said. "With all of its national championships, location, rich tradition and history of great coaches and players, UCLA is the pinnacle of college basketball. For someone like me, a person that has devoted his entire life to college basketball, to have an opportunity to work at a place like UCLA, I feel quite lucky and very fortunate."

I'm excited, and I hope he turns out to be a good assistant coach for our program. I trust coach's judge of character and what's a good fit, so we should be fine.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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that's what I want to hear...

a guy say when he's been hired to UCLA. I'm looking forward to seeing him down in Pauley.

by isodore on Apr 11, 2007 3:36 PM PDT reply actions

New Assistant

Could he be coming with a scholarship to fill the one that just opened up? Welcome Scott!!!
Bill

BillSouthBay

by Mensgym on Apr 11, 2007 5:31 PM PDT reply actions

Welcome aboard, Coach Duncan!

Be prepared for sleepless nights, fried corneas from countless horus of video review, and stiff backs from defensive drills...

... and, oh yeah, big wins on national TV, Pac-10 accolades, opponents' offensive ineptitude, crisp offense by your players, awe-inspiring hustle, and nice long Tournament runs.

MIM

And we will have our vengeance, in this game and the next.

by Meriones on Apr 11, 2007 5:36 PM PDT reply actions

I trust Coach Howland

so I'm confident Coach Duncan is exactly the kind of guy we want.

So to Coach Duncan, Welcome Aboard! Frankly, Coach Kent and his teams always made for a difficult opponent. Having part of the Duck Machine now part of the Bruins can only help us.

by Fox 71 on Apr 11, 2007 8:48 PM PDT reply actions

thats odd

a guy with tons of experience at the job Howland is hiring him to do ... and he was successful at it?? who is coming up with these wacko ideas?!

by DumpDorrell on Apr 11, 2007 9:06 PM PDT reply actions

See, DD, that's what you don't understand.

Sometimes you want to hire someone who actually knows what they're doing. For example, let's say, just hypothetically, you want to hire, le't say, a football coach. You would want to get someone who had experience as a head football coach, and who had demonstrated actual achievements in that role.

Now of course no one would be so off the wall when it comes to hiring a football coach. I'm just saying some people might do it that way.

That's why Mr. Guerrero is having a team of freshman premed majors do his open heart surgery. You wouldn't want someone actually skilled on something like that.

by Fox 71 on Apr 11, 2007 9:45 PM PDT up reply actions

Come on now, folks...

... whoever said that being qualified to do your job required you to hire staff members that are qualified to do theirs?

MIM

And we will have our vengeance, in this game and the next.

by Meriones on Apr 12, 2007 6:23 AM PDT up reply actions

lol

by 5214 on Apr 11, 2007 10:55 PM PDT reply actions

DD

I agree with Fox71, who is very clever with the word smithing. Why not take a chance on someone who has no experience, but who, actually, may turn out to be the proverbial needle in that large haystack, and be a worthy coach who we didn't have to pay a lot of money to, and by the way, will not interfere with the ego of the HC? You see DD, there are levels of understanding that you need to seek beyond the headlines!!! :>)
Bill

BillSouthBay

by Mensgym on Apr 12, 2007 9:16 AM PDT reply actions

You guys are setting your sights too high

Better yet, a walk on equipment manager -- graduate assistant -- who can spout the names of famous coaches who have mentored him and will work for the modern day equivalent of "peanuts" -- hair gel.

That would be a real magnanimous hire.

And, isn't that what it's all about?

sjh

by Class of 66 on Apr 12, 2007 9:47 AM PDT up reply actions