The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay were the talk of the college basketball world for the last few days. UWGB hired a controversial and fascinating candidate in Doug Gottlieb as its men’s basketball coach on Tuesday. It created an interesting dichotomy online, with many WTF comments and other’s saying the broadcaster/radio host and basketball analyst is very knowledgeable. Either way, it’s a talker and will be fascinating to see play out.
UWGB hires national broadcaster/radio host Doug Gottlieb
Things seemed to be looking up for UWGB under Sundance Wicks, who took over as the Phoenix’s head man last year. After the Phoenix had a disastrous 2022-23 season, winning just three games, Wicks created a buzz around UWGB. Wicks guided the Phoenix to an 18-win season and the team led the Horizon League for part of the season.
When Wicks was hired as the UWGB coach, Gottlieb was a finalist for the job.
Wicks went home by agreeing to become the head coach at Wyoming vacating the UWGB post. Well, the Phoenix made a move that generated a lot of talk but is truly full of unknowns. Gottlieb, who is known as a national radio host and college basketball analyst, was the man Green Bay hired this time around.
Coaches talk a lot about how unsustainable and psychologically punishing their schedules are. So how does one compete and do a radio show at the same time? On the most fascinating hoops hire in years: https://t.co/FJmI2XHODp
— Eamonn Brennan (@eamonnbrennan) May 17, 2024
Gottlieb was introduced as the UWGB coach Wednesday. The chatter surrounding the hiring of Gottlieb spans the gamut. Just the hiring was interesting, but what makes things even more odd is Gottlieb is going to continue to do his radio show for FOX while being the head coach of UWGB.
“Most coaches have their own coach’s show – obviously not live, not for two hours live nationally,” Gottlieb said in the AP article. “Most coaches have moments in which they’re out of the office and somebody else is managing the players and situations. But obviously we’re going to play it kind of as we go here.”
Gottlieb acknowledged in his press conference the possibility he may have to give up his radio show if the two jobs aren’t jiving and said it’s a ‘let’s see how it works’ scenario in the AP article.
"Doug Gottlieb will be a terrific coach at UWGB."
– @CoachShakaSmart, @MarquetteMBB pic.twitter.com/WUHBOPUiqB
— Green Bay Men’s Basketball (@gbphoenixmbb) May 14, 2024
The controversial hire will be fascinating to watch play out. I think many feel this will either turn out very well or be a disaster. One thing already giving pause to fans who think this will flop is Gottlieb keeping the radio show. It seems like an odd hire, but there are some ties to the Badger State for Gottlieb.
Mixed reviews on the UWGB hiring of Gottlieb
While there was a lot of chatter around the move, lets dive into the background a bit. The move does make some sense. Gottlieb was born in Wisconsin and his father Bob, was the head coach at UW-Milwaukee from 1975-1980.
Gottlieb did receive some very encouraging endorsements from Shaka Smart, Brian Anderson and Fran McCaffery among others. Skepticism also will continue to surround the hire as X reacted in shock.
While many dislike the move by UWGB, there really isn’t much to lose for a program that has one NCAA Tournament appearance in nearly three decades. It will be fascinating to see what happens. The program is somewhat used as a steppingstone for coaches like Brian Wardle (Bradley), Tod Kowalczyk (Toledo), Linc Darner and now Wicks (Wyoming). The program can have success and did under those coaches and many remember the most memorable coach at UWGB, Dick Bennett.
Gottlieb seems to know his stuff but that doesn’t mean he will be a good coach, especially given he has no experience at the college level.
Gottlieb said via a UWGB press release: “Every kid has a dream growing up, some want to be firefighter, others want to be president, I have always wanted to be a head basketball coach at the Division I level.”
Green Bay is expected to hire sports talk radio host Doug Gottlieb as its next head coach, source tells SI.
Gottlieb has hunted college jobs for years and now gets an opportunity at Green Bay, where he interviewed last year before the job eventually went to Sundance Wicks.
— Kevin Sweeney (@CBB_Central) May 14, 2024
As a broadcaster, he currently hosts the Doug Gottlieb Show on Fox Sports Radio, and a podcast covering the biggest stories across college basketball and the NBA. He worked as a broadcaster at ESPN, CBS Sports and Fox Sports.
UWGB hire will be fascinating to watch
While UWGB only has one NCAA Tournament win under its belt in program history and one appearance (2017) in 28 years, the program could have landed a proven coach. It’s going to be interesting to see how this goes for the Phoenix.
