I’m hearing that UVA Basketball alum Curtis Staples is in town today for an interview with the AD, Carla Williams, and that the interview has to do with the basketball program.
What I’m being told is that the interview is related to the new general manager position that UVA Athletics is creating for the men’s basketball program.
Staples, a 1998 UVA alum has made no secret of his interest in the new GM position, which he talked about at length with the “Cavalier Connection Podcast” in a live chat broadcast on March 12.
“You’ve got to have somebody that’s going to be passionate about the GM spot, that’s going to really go out there and fight hard for the program,” Staples said in the interview with podcast hosts Jeff Lowe and Jay Ballard.
Where things seem to mesh here: Staples, on Monday, stepped down from his job at Lakewood Christian Academy in White Pine, Tenn., after seven seasons as the head coach of the boys’ basketball program.
Gotta think he didn’t quit that job without thinking he had another opportunity in the pipeline.
The new UVA Basketball head coach, Ryan Odom, indicated at his introductory press conference on Monday that the next step for the basketball program would be the hiring of a general manager.
That the word getting back to me has Staples interviewing with Williams would fit with how I would imagine the position would be structured.
The GM wouldn’t be a real GM if the position was part of the basketball staff answering to Odom.
It only works if the person is in the org chart alongside the head coach, and answering to the athletics director.
The focus for the GM would be creating and then overseeing a front office modeled on the NBA with a scouting and analytics department and staffers leading the financial side of the basketball program.
“I would imagine it would primarily consist of probably just a lot of the contract negotiations with the players now, I mean, because that’s where we said this is a pro model now that we’re using now in college. I would think that would be a huge part of it,” Staples said in the “Cavalier Connection Podcast” interview.
“It’s probably going to be a little bit of fundraising. Also, I would think as well, just being on the same page and making sure you’re on the same page with the head coach and with who they’re recruiting, and making sure they understand how much they have to go out to go after certain kids. I would think would be a combination of those things, almost just like the NBA model, almost just like the NBA model, is what I see,” Staples said.
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Chris Graham
