Former Vandy coach Melanie Balcomb hired by South Carolina

#1
Only1COJ

Only1COJ

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COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina is adding former longtime Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb to its women's basketball staff to direct offensive analytics.
 
#4
#4
She knows offense. Great pick up by Staley.

The Lady Vols will have their work cut out for them in the SEC this season. Their rivals are stocking up on great coaches and all star players. Very competitive league, for sure.
 
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#6
#6
Balcomb is coaching offense not with a team of Vandy scrubs, but a team including Kaela Davis, Allisha Gray, Alaina Coates and A'ja Wilson?

Might as well wrap up the SEC title (and possibly NCAA crown) now...
 
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#9
This hire just made South Carolina a very, very tough team to beat. The one thing they have been missing is a good offensive scheme and with the hiring of Balcomb, they will now have one. South Carolina will be the team to beat for the NCAA title now in my opinion.
 
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Amb3096 said:
Balcomb is coaching offense not with a team of Vandy scrubs, but a team including Kaela Davis, Allisha Gray, Alaina Coates and A'ja Wilson?

Might as well wrap up the SEC title (and possibly NCAA crown) now...
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Well SC already has 3 assistant coaches, so Balcomb won't necessarily actually coach the players on offense... But she will have the ear of Dawn. She's essentially going to be the "offensive mind" of Dawn, which is still good for both parties involved. Keeps Balcomb close to the game at an elite level while helping SC improve on that side of the ball.
 
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#11
ever hear of that old adage, "Too many cooks in the Kitchen" ?


USC don't need more cooks.
 
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#12
volmania8 said:
This hire just made South Carolina a very, very tough team to beat. The one thing they have been missing is a good offensive scheme and with the hiring of Balcomb, they will now have one. South Carolina will be the team to beat for the NCAA title now in my opinion.
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Shes a good hire, but not THAT good of a hire. UConn is still the team to beat.
 
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#14
#14
More questions than answers IMO. Will she be responsible for the offense? Will the offense be completely redone, i.e., a new scheme? Will she create the offensive game plan for each game? Will she make in-game adjustments?

Five coaches seems a bit much to me...is one of the other assistants leaving?

SC was already the favorite IMO to win the SEC title anyway, so the Balcomb hire was unnecessary for that. Is this hire an effort to get over the "hump" of winning a national championship or an acknowledgement by Dawn that SC's offense is subpar?
 
#15
#15
do y'all really think that the great Aja Wilson and Alaina Coates are going to agree to start doing Balcombs beloved "Post Flops"?!?
 
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#17
#17
Amb3096 said:
Balcomb is coaching offense not with a team of Vandy scrubs, but a team including Kaela Davis, Allisha Gray, Alaina Coates and A'ja Wilson?

Might as well wrap up the SEC title (and possibly NCAA crown) now...
Click to expand...

She is not all that. SC is great without MB. She just traded up.
I'm way more impressed with Vandys hires.
 
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#18
#18
vol-un-tear said:
She is not all that. SC is great without MB. She just traded up.
I'm way more impressed with Vandys hires.
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Balcomb can run a pretty offense. It's just been a long time since she had the players at Vandy to really take advantage of it. To be honest, SC had some games last year where their offense was an ugly sequence of one-on-five moves. If Balcomb can help get a system in place to maximize SC's offensive potential, then Dawn will have gotten her money's worth, and then some!
 
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#19
#19
I'm not going to lie, if I was an elite high school player, I'd have to come to the SEC! With all these coaching hires at Vandy and SC, it's about to be even tougher on the recruiting trail for us.
 
#21
#21
Interesting hire and a good one I think. I have been surprised that with Dawn's background as a world class point guard she has struggled to get SC and especially her PGs to perform well on offense in big games.

I do not think this will be a game changer - by NCAA rule she will not be allowed to actually coach the players on the court - but she will be able to coach the coaches and share her insights on what she is seeing in practice and games.

TN in my opinion would really benefit from finding this type of hire, though in TN's case replacing one of the current assistants. As an outside observer, I don't see any indication that there is a 'good offensive mind' on the TN staff.
 
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#22
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Amb3096 said:
Balcomb can run a pretty offense. It's just been a long time since she had the players at Vandy to really take advantage of it. To be honest, SC had some games last year where their offense was an ugly sequence of one-on-five moves. If Balcomb can help get a system in place to maximize SC's offensive potential, then Dawn will have gotten her money's worth, and then some!
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Balcomb should have recruited the right players to run her offense for her own team.

Balcomb, all of a sudden, has become a magical and stellar coach after getting Fired by Vanderbilt.
 
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#23
#23
Franklin Pierce said:
Balcomb should have recruited the right players to run her offense for her own team.

Balcomb, all of a sudden, has become a magical and stellar coach after getting Fired by Vanderbilt.
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Vandy has harder admissions guidelines for student athletes. That limits her options.

Switch teams, and there's no way Balcomb takes Tennessee to lower than 2nd place in the SEC this past season.

She is a solid coach.
 
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#24
#24
Amb3096 said:
Vandy has harder admissions guidelines for student athletes. That limits her options.

Switch teams, and there's no way Balcomb takes Tennessee to lower than 2nd place in the SEC this past season.

She is a solid coach.
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Pure Speculation. Does Vanderbilt have higher admissions standards than Stanford? Why didn't another school hire her as a head coach if she is such a great coach?

She has a very Minor role at South Carolina.
 
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#25
#25
I would be very surprised if she hadn't been offered head coaching positions and turned them down. She appeared to be very burned out over the past 2 years. I think this position at SoCar will be good both for her and for SC.

And according to a bazillion sites I found by googling, Stanford and Vanderbilt's admitted students have nearly identical SAT scores, which I realize is an imperfect proxy for admission standards but does show the schools are in the same ballpark.
 
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