SJ 2009-09 Coaching Carousel thread

[Sam Mills 51]

Tough to use that as an excuse when Duke is in your league. Not sure what holds them back. Recruiting misses in the ACC are certainly tough to play through, and Leitao has had plenty of them. Sylven Landesberg is the only plus recruit he's brought to C'ville. Lots of mediocrity in there -- Tucker, Farrakhan, Scott, Baker, Zeglinski, etc. You can't compete in the ACC if 80 percent of your recruits are misses.

Not disputing your main point - Leitao has crapped the bed on recruiting. But you can't honestly argue that Duke's academic standards for basketball players are tougher than, well, anyone's. I think Jay Williams and Carlos Boozer took more classes at N.C. Central than they did at Duke. Their 3-year degree program is a freakin' joke. It's virtually impossible to be academically ineligible as a Duke basketball player.

See, I didn't realize that. I was basing that thought off of everyone talking about how it's impossible to win in football at Duke or Northwestern or Vandy because of academic standards.

Football is a different story, but K's not letting any of his players let their grades slip.

One of my friends went to the h.s. summer program at Duke in the mid-90s (and later went there and cheered for b-ball and football) and was in classes with Greg Newton, who was busted for cheating at Duke during their lean years. Not a super-genius. She also acknowledged that Duke was tough as hell to get into but very, very easy to do well at. Teachers would bend over backward to help you succeed, which is a great thing if you're paying beaucoup bucks to go there.

The money statement's right there. Not an easy school to get into, but once you're there - if you REALLY care - you won't get left behind.

As for Dave Leitao, the move was at least a year early. Craig Littlepage might not want to slip up again given the Pete Gillen saga, followed by Leitao's tenure. He might follow the next failed coach out the exit door.

Can't see Tubby leaving Minnesota now. Same with Beilein in Ann Arbor. It could be Jeff Capel if he really wants to either return to the state where his father had plenty of success or return to the ACC - or the aforementioned Mr. Grant (sorry Moddy ... could be very tough to keep him).

 

[terrier]

Thread bump...
Couple more names being thrown around at Boston U.: ex-Providence coach Tim Welsh and UConn assistant Andre Lafleur.

 

[Moderator1]

Michael Wilbon wrote a pretty good column on a certain coach I know and love:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/20/AR2009032003689.html

My "Google alert" today showed me lots of stuff that said he's Alabama's leading candidate.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Michael Wilbon wrote a pretty good column on a certain coach I know and love:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/20/AR2009032003689.html

My "Google alert" today showed me lots of stuff that said he's Alabama's leading candidate.

Hate to say it but that would be a great hire for Bama.

 

[Moderator1]

Why do you hate to say it?

 

[93Devil]

Why do you hate to say it?

I would hate to see him there as well.

Bama and Georgia do not seem like cherry jobs. Who knows, maybe those football schools can have their basketball programs turned around like Donovan did with Florida.

I think he has a better chance of having a consistant top-10 at Virginia. I know that sounds crazy, but being the only black head coach in the ACC once Sid Lowe is sent packing could be a very big recruiting tool. Grant would own Richmond, Virginia Beach and a good portion of D.C. Maybe he would lose some players to Tech, but Moddy, I don't see it unless UVA won't admit the player.

At Georgia, he would be battling the southern ACC schools for players along with Florida. At Alabama, he might have a better recruiting region, but he is still battling some good SEC coaches and Florida for many players.

 

[Ralph Waldo Henderson]

Why do you hate to say it?

I would hate to see him there as well.

Bama and Georgia do not seem like cherry jobs. Who knows, maybe those football schools can have their basketball programs turned around like Donovan did with Florida.

I think he has a better chance of having a consistant top-10 at Virginia. I know that sounds crazy, but being the only black head coach in the ACC once Sid Lowe is sent packing could be a very big recruiting tool. Grant would own Richmond, Virginia Beach and a good portion of D.C. Maybe he would lose some players to Tech, but Moddy, I don't see it unless UVA won't admit the player.

At Georgia, he would be battling the southern ACC schools for players along with Florida. At Alabama, he might have a better recruiting region, but he is still battling some good SEC coaches and Florida for many players.

Only black coach in the ACC? Um ... Al Skinner, Paul Hewitt, Leonard Hamilton, Frank Haith, Oliver Purnell ... dude a MAJORITY of the coaches in the league right now are black.

 

[93Devil]

Massaschuttes, Georgia, Florida, Florida, South Carolina...

Nothing in Virginia, Maryland or North Carolina.

All Grant would need to do is control Virginia and pluck the odd kid out of Florida where he already has ties.

 

[JackReacher]

Massaschuttes, Georgia, Florida, Florida, South Carolina...

Nothing in Virginia, Maryland or North Carolina.

All Grant would need to do is control Virginia and pluck the odd kid out of Florida where he already has ties.

Grant would have to do far more than just control Virginia. Hoops in Va. is good, but not that good.

 

[expendable]

Massaschuttes, Georgia, Florida, Florida, South Carolina...

Nothing in Virginia, Maryland or North Carolina.

All Grant would need to do is control Virginia and pluck the odd kid out of Florida where he already has ties.

Grant would have to do far more than just control Virginia. Hoops in Va. is good, but not that good.

And, anybody decent in Virginia usually ends up wearing some shade of blue and white.

 

[Cosmo]

And the second-tier guys who might dominate in the CAA but are marginal ACC players end up at UVa [/calvinbaker&mikescott]

 

[93Devil]

Well if UVA could have kept Ed Davis in state, it would have been a start.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Why do you hate to say it?

Hate it for VCU. Guy's a hell of a coach.

 

[Ralph Waldo Henderson]

Massaschuttes, Georgia, Florida, Florida, South Carolina...

Nothing in Virginia, Maryland or North Carolina.

All Grant would need to do is control Virginia and pluck the odd kid out of Florida where he already has ties.

My bad. When you said "ACC" I assumed you meant Atlantic Coast Conference, not three Mid-Atlantic states of your choosing.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Why do you hate to say it?

I would hate to see him there as well.

Bama and Georgia do not seem like cherry jobs. Who knows, maybe those football schools can have their basketball programs turned around like Donovan did with Florida.

I think he has a better chance of having a consistant top-10 at Virginia. I know that sounds crazy, but being the only black head coach in the ACC once Sid Lowe is sent packing could be a very big recruiting tool. Grant would own Richmond, Virginia Beach and a good portion of D.C. Maybe he would lose some players to Tech, but Moddy, I don't see it unless UVA won't admit the player.

At Georgia, he would be battling the southern ACC schools for players along with Florida. At Alabama, he might have a better recruiting region, but he is still battling some good SEC coaches and Florida for many players.

Um, lemme see:

Al Skinner - Boston College
Sidney Lowe - North Carolina State
Oliver Purnell - Clemson
Paul Hewitt - Georgia Tech
Leonard Hamilton - Florida State
Frank Haith - Miami

ONLY black coach in the ACC? Are you kidding? That's half the conference schools ... was more than half with Dave Leitao.

For someone so eager to argue, getting your basic facts straight would be an excellent start.

 

[93Devil]

Why do you hate to say it?

I would hate to see him there as well.

Bama and Georgia do not seem like cherry jobs. Who knows, maybe those football schools can have their basketball programs turned around like Donovan did with Florida.

I think he has a better chance of having a consistant top-10 at Virginia. I know that sounds crazy, but being the only black head coach in the ACC once Sid Lowe is sent packing could be a very big recruiting tool. Grant would own Richmond, Virginia Beach and a good portion of D.C. Maybe he would lose some players to Tech, but Moddy, I don't see it unless UVA won't admit the player.

At Georgia, he would be battling the southern ACC schools for players along with Florida. At Alabama, he might have a better recruiting region, but he is still battling some good SEC coaches and Florida for many players.

Um, lemme see:

Al Skinner - Boston College
Sidney Lowe - North Carolina State
Oliver Purnell - Clemson
Paul Hewitt - Georgia Tech
Leonard Hamilton - Florida State
Frank Haith - Miami

ONLY black coach in the ACC? Are you kidding? That's half the conference schools ... was more than half with Dave Leitao.

For someone so eager to argue, getting your basic facts straight would be an excellent start.

In his state and his two neighboring states, he does not have any competition. If NC State keeps Lowe, then that is his only competition.

If you are a top high school player in Richmond, Miami or Atlanta is a long way from home. Geographically, five of those coaches are very far away.

This was already stated on the second page of this thread.

 

[PopeDirkBenedict]

The idea that black players will gravitate toward a black coach is largely a fallacy. Players of all colors are all looking for different things in a program. Some want to be nearby, some don't care. Some want prestige, some want to come build something. Some value early playing time, some don't care. Grant will be a good recruiter where ever he goes next because he is personable, hard-working, charismatic and has a track record of success, not because he is black.

I would gravitate toward UGA or Bama if I was an up-and-coming head coach. The SEC schools have athletic departments that are insanely endowed, so you can get resources, but bball is just a diversion until spring football. If you succeed at a school like that, the big boys will come calling. The right coach could turn UGA or Bama into a perennial favorite to win the conference. I don't think the same opportunity exists at UVA.

 

[JackReacher]

A couple Bama papers are reporting the job is Grant's if he wants it. A decision could come very soon, maybe today or tomorrow.

http://blog.al.com/rapsheet/2009/03/vcus_anthony_grant_could_earn.html

 

[Ralph Waldo Henderson]

High Point has made its decision, hiring Scott Cherry from South Carolina, so the dominoes can start falling.

In small school news, Kentucky is done playing in the NIT, so the axe should fall on Gillispie sometime today. Let the fun begin.

 

[PeteyPirate]

Scott Cherry, the former benchwarmer for UNC? Oh god.