Not Hiring Doug Gottlieb Continues to Look Great for Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State has avoided hiring its former point guard on multiple occasions, and that decision has never looked better.
For the third time in the past decade, former OSU point guard and radio host Doug Gottlieb campaigned for the head coaching position. After missing out on the job in 2016 and 2017, Gottlieb was a small part of Mike Boynton’s staff last season, leading to his name predictably being brought up again in 2024.
After the Cowboys went a different direction again by hiring Steve Lutz from Western Kentucky, Gottlieb also chose a different path. Gottlieb never pursued another coaching gig after his first two rejections. However, this year, he took the head coaching position at Green Bay.
While he is only 13 games into his head coaching career there, it has been nothing short of a disaster. Not only has Gottlieb refused to give coaching his full attention by still hosting his radio show, but his team has also begun the season 2-11.
After starting the year 2-3 with wins against only Western Illinois and SIUE, Gottlieb’s squad hit rock bottom on Wednesday. Green Bay hosted Division II Michigan Tech and lost 72-70.
As if it wasn’t enough that Green Bay lost its eighth straight and fell at home to a Division II team, Gottlieb called Michigan Tech “Nobody U” in his pregame press conference, saying he doesn’t understand what can be learned in a game his team will win by 20.
Green Bay head coach Doug Gottlieb referred to D2 Michigan Tech as “Nobody U” before the game
— College Basketball Content (@CBBcontent) December 18, 2024
Green Bay just lost 72-70 to Nobody U pic.twitter.com/K8aHakUApd
Meanwhile, the Cowboys already took care of business against Gottlieb’s squad in the season opener on their way to a 6-3 record with two more nonconference contests before Big 12 play. Lutz’s team has seemed well-prepared and focused going into every game this season.
While the Cowboys have had some tough losses thus far, it’s not difficult to imagine how much worse they might be if Gottlieb was at the helm.
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.