Potential Bill Self Heir Apparent: Keep an Eye on UT Arlington this season
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Scott Cross
- Age: 42
- Career Record: 210-149
- Resume: As of the end of the 2015–16 season, Cross (a former Maverick player and assistant coach) has the second-most wins in UTA history and is the only coach with a career winning record at the university. He has led the program to its four best season win totals (including a program-best 27 wins in 2016–17), four post-season tournaments (prior to his arrival the program had only one post-season appearance in the prior 46 years of its history) and its first-ever post-season tournament win in 2016. Team is also off to a 6-1 start, with their only loss on the road at Alabama, 77-76.
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Interesting find.
Hadn’t heard of him.
Sounds like he has done a good job at a mid major .
Can you describe the kind of game his teams play?
Cross’ pedigree is decidedly unimpressive. He played and assisted Eddie McCarter, at UTA, then succeeded him. McCarter was less than .500 He graduated from UAB, when it was a D2 school (Gene Bartow took it over the following year when UAB entered D1 as I recall). McCarter was so-so in 14 years at UTA and now is at West Alabama U. I could find no indication of McCarter’s coach at UAB.
Conclusion: KU will likely do much better. KU’s history is to hire coaches with either impressive pedigrees, or with impressive accomplishments as assistants within the KU program.
Cross’ next stop is likely a major, rather than an elite. Texas might be smart to hire him to replace their current coach.
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@jaybate-1.0 I never thought of him directly to KU. I figured he would go to a major school in the SEC first(Auburn has to be looking for a way to get rid of Pearl). If he shows he can win there, he would then be on my short list. I think he makes the jump from UTA this season to a major program after this season because this is his last year with this core group.
I would define his style of play as a similar style to Hoiberg. He likes to play 4 guys who can handle the ball. His 4/PF is a guy who is basically an oversized wing and then an athletic rebounder at the 5. The guards move the ball well and yet they all have the green light to shoot at any time.
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Thanks for the explanation. Makes sense.
