I didn't see any press release but Custer is now listed on the Rambler website as "Director of Player Development".


https://loyolaramblers.com/sports/mens- ... custer/337

I’m confused. Didn’t they give him this job last year for a couple weeks and then he quit?

Probably realized the corporate world sucks and missed being around the game. Can't blame him. And cool to see Porter take him under his wing. Clayton has a good basketball mind and can become a successful coach, I think. Miss watching him play a lot. Guess I'll go watch some 2017-2018 highlights (again).

Clayton's recent hire will help ease the inevitable coaching transition next year when Porter leaves for a P5 job following another deep Rambler run in The Tournament.

Porter will doubtless take his loyal batman Matt Gordon with him. That leaves Drew Valentine at age 30 to step into Porter's shoes as head coach. London Dokubo and Pat Wallace move up to assistant coach. Custer slides into London's Director of Basketball Operations job.

I am debating what should happen with Jermaine Kimbrough. His short tenure at Loyola seems nondescript and undistinguished to me, but I don't know what he contributes behind the scenes. It doesn't appear he's been much of a force in recruiting. And I find his Twitter account an irritating collection of clichéd slogans.

If it were up to me I'd let him go and hire as top assistant somebody with head coaching experience to help Drew manage game situations and just generally act as mentor and advisor.

Drew Valentine is not going to be Loyola's head coach next season. We won't be paying our next head coach over $1 million like Porter, but we should have a plentiful enough budget to hire someone with head coaching experience or an up-and-coming high major assistant.

I agree we should be able to attract somebody with head coaching experience, but I think we should slot him as top assistant or "associate head coach" with Valentine as #1.
I'm thinking of an older guy in his 60s.

So...Jim Whitesell???

Barry Hinson.

I think the good ones will most assuredly want the head coaching job outright and not an associate head coach position to what might be the youngest coach in the NCAA. If those experienced guys are going to be a top assistant, they'll do it at a Power 5 school under a more established coach. If you look at football, the Alabama model of taking retread guys and dusting them off (like Lane Kiffin) only works at big-time places like Alabama where you're coaching under a legend.

Moreover, it could completely undercut Valentine from the start if the older guy and Valentine don't mesh. No offense to Drew, but I would hope we could find someone with experience as a head coach or a more seasoned assistant at a really established program. Maybe we find guys with both.

I think our fundamental disagreement is that you don't think Drew is ready for the top spot and I do. Mullins was 32 when he took the helm at SIU and he overachieved in his first year. I think given the right support Drew would too.

Hiring Drew would likely mean we maintain the same core of promising young assistants we have now. If as you propose we hire instead an ambitious former head coach or top assistant from a P5 school that would surely mean Drew's departure for being passed over. It would also likely mean a big turnover in staff as the new guy would want to bring in his own people.

I like the idea of promoting from within and maintaining continuity while you seem to prefer starting from scratch with a new cast of characters. Both approaches have their merits and faults and neither one is guaranteed to succeed...but I'm right and you're wrong.