Isiah Thomas gets to restart his coaching career in college

You just got to wonder how the hell this came to be? What, one day the FIU AD was sitting around thinking to himself, "I need a new coach. I bet Zeke will take it."

I mean, really, how does Thomas end up at that school, of all places?

 

Isiah's recruiting problems won't be his past. It will be his high-self regard. I think that Big Chee is right that Isiah is charismatic and can really sell himself to inner-city kids regardless of his employment history. He is going to tell his story of escaping the Chicago slums and using his time at IU as a springboard to a better life and the mothers of those kids are going to eat that stuff right off a spoon.

Lets face it -- the man has failed spectacularly at pretty much everything he has done since he retired from the NBA, yet people still keep giving him chances. He's got an ability to sell people when he wants to turn that charm on. And if Isiah sticks to finding hidden gems and taking risks on kids that the big schools pass on, he has the potential to be a success. But Isiah being Isiah, he is going to think he can get the top recruits and will constantly over-estimate his abilities. That is the danger.

 

Nothing could hurt FIU.
In this century, the best they'd done is finish second-to-last twice in the division. They have had one winning record this past decade when they went 16-14 in 99-2000.
What I mean to say is that they suck.
And hiring Thomas is a homerun, even if they are terrible because they can't get any worse.
About the only way FIU could get worse is if Thomas managed to get them on probation.

 

If I'm working for the school's sports information department, I'm going to sleep each night expecting the phone to ring at 3 a.m. And those calls never are good news.

 

Isiah just did a pretty lengthy live interview on ESPN in which he admitted that it was him and not his daughter who took the late night ambulance ride. He said he had taken some sleeping pills. Asked if it was a suicide attempt, he paused, then said something like "I can tell you I like living." Never directly denied suicide.

He's also rumored to be considering Tim Hardaway as an assistant, which would mean FIU would have a sexual harrasser and a homophobe on the staff. Fun times.

 

Apparently, Thomas is donating his first-year's salary back to the FIU athletic department. What a classy move, right? Well, he's still bagging $12 million from the Knicks.

Wonder what his salary is going to be at FIU?

 

The university president introduced him as Isiah Thompson.

Awesome.

 

Dunno. But they'll get what they paid for.

 

That is spectacular. Surprised Zeke didn't do something to lose the gig right then.

But seriously, Big Chee is dead on here. The people he will be recruiting either will not care about his troubles, might not know about them at all and, if they do, will probably be inclined to believe he was given a bum deal. The disconnect between white and black America is very real, with many, many black people truly believing that any successful, powerful black person (and especially a black man of Isiah's fame) will be targeted for a "high-tech lynching" as Clarence Thomas once said.

I ain't saying I agree with it, but it is what it is.

And if Isiah can keep himself from being himself for oh, about two years, his team will be ready to compete for an NCAA auto bid. He'll steal enough guys from lower-tier teams in major conferences that this team will quickly be dangerous in the Sun Belt.

Finally, I would give a month's salary to see Thomas and Kermit Davis strip down to their briefs and engage in a slap fight. Those two clowns ... holy shit.

 

Down side: a sexual harrasser and a homophobe on the same coaching staff.
Plus side: the two greatest point guards ever to come out of Chicago (at least until Derrick Rose catches them) on the same coaching staff.

I could see that combo doing quite nicely persuading Rust Belt kids to come play for former NBA legends in sunny Miami. I suspect Isiah will prove to be a highly adept recruiter, he's always known how to lay the charm on thick in initial meetings. If he could persuade the Knicks, Pacers, and Raptors ownership to hand their franchises over to him, then he should have no problem schmoozing the 17 year old who spent his childhood idolizing the NBA.

 

Right up there with the president of the Music City Bowl calling Mike Shula "Dave" twice in the same press conference ... at both the beginning and the end.

And when Pat Dye was introduced as Auburn's coach in 1981, he said he was proud to be named coach at "the University of Auburn."