MBB: UNC-CH 77, Wake Forest 68

[sagegrouse]

Gaudio may not be long for Winston-Salem. I am not a fan. Why do so many ACC schools have such sub-par coaches?

Hiring a basketball coach results in a multi-year contract, and there are no sure things. The worst circumstance is when the coach has initial success and gets a long-term contract to keep him from leaving. This is where GT is with Paul Hewitt. After reaching the NC championship game in 2004, the AD IIRC gave him a large "evergreen" contract at $1.5M per. Evergreen means it renews automatically for an additional year each year. I think the buyout price has been quoted at $7.5 million. The previous AD (Braine) was concerned about losing Hewitt to the NBA or a higher profile program. Well,... it seemed like a good idea at the time. Moreover, I have a hard time seeing wealthy Tech alumni putting together a buyout fund for a basketball coach like ND alums did to dump Charlie Weis.

Gaudio passed his trial-by-fire in taking over from Skip Prosser and got a multi-year contract. The Wake AD's situation is not nearly as tough, except that, although Dino doesn't seem to be the answer, the team is winning games and making the NCAAs. You could get someone no better than Dino or maybe even worse.

I am skeptical about Sidney Lowe, which makes me an enthusiast compared with the typical State alum. Nevertheless, he really hasn't had the horses. Javi G. as your ACC point guard? JJ Hickson for only one year? Apparently he has some talent coming in. I think he will get another couple of years.

Haith may or may not be the answer at Miami. His problem may be lack of ticket sales: the basketball revenues must be the lowest in the ACC. The threat to him is a big-name coach (Isiah?) who can build enthusiasm and fill the seats.

The other factor: what established coach wants to be in the ACC with the Duke and UNC juggernaut?

sagegrouse

[David]

Hiring a basketball coach results in a multi-year contract, and there are no sure things. The worst circumstance is when the coach has initial success and gets a long-term contract to keep him from leaving. This is where GT is with Paul Hewitt. After reaching the NC championship game in 2004, the AD IIRC gave him a large "evergreen" contract at $1.5M per. Evergreen means it renews automatically for an additional year each year. I think the buyout price has been quoted at $7.5 million. The previous AD (Braine) was concerned about losing Hewitt to the NBA or a higher profile program. Well,... it seemed like a good idea at the time. Moreover, I have a hard time seeing wealthy Tech alumni putting together a buyout fund for a basketball coach like ND alums did to dump Charlie Weis.

Gaudio passed his trial-by-fire in taking over from Skip Prosser and got a multi-year contract. The Wake AD's situation is not nearly as tough, except that, although Dino doesn't seem to be the answer, the team is winning games and making the NCAAs. You could get someone no better than Dino or maybe even worse.

I am skeptical about Sidney Lowe, which makes me an enthusiast compared with the typical State alum. Nevertheless, he really hasn't had the horses. Javi G. as your ACC point guard? JJ Hickson for only one year? Apparently he has some talent coming in. I think he will get another couple of years.

Haith may or may not be the answer at Miami. His problem may be lack of ticket sales: the basketball revenues must be the lowest in the ACC. The threat to him is a big-name coach (Isiah?) who can build enthusiasm and fill the seats.

The other factor: what established coach wants to be in the ACC with the Duke and UNC juggernaut?

sagegrouse

Nice response. As to your last point, the "Duke and UNC juggernaut" could work in the other direction as well. A rising Duke/UNC tide (media attention; nationally televised games; better SOS; games at Cameron, etc.) could actually help to float other ACC boats...

On a related note, I was struck by Jim Young's article linked on the DBR front page comparing Duke 1995 to UNC 2010. The description of the ACC's strength in 1995 is impressive. Young writes: "Even without a strong Duke team, the league was a monster in 1995. Wake Forest won the conference tournament and was the No. 1 seed in the East Region. UNC was a No. 2 seed and reached the Final Four. Maryland was a No. 3 seed and made it to the Sweet 16. UVa was a No. 4 seed and knocked off No. 1 seed Kansas (coached by a guy named Roy Williams) in the Sweet 16 on its way to the Elite Eight." How much of the difference between the quality of the league in 1995 versus 2010 is due to coaching?

[moonpie23]

The other factor: what established coach wants to be in the ACC with the Duke and UNC juggernaut?sagegrouse

i think there are two...and i said this during the coaching search for NC state after herb left.


1. Mark Few
2. Bob Knight

[roywhite]

i think there are two...and i said this during the coaching search for NC state after herb left.

1. Mark Few
2. Bob Knight

Maybe so, but I think Tony Bennett made a good career choice in taking the UVa job:

1. He's young and smart
2. He sees Coach K and Roy Williams as leaving sometime in the next several years (who really knows?)
3. Virginia has many elements of success---great arena, some tradition, hunger for a winner, and a fertile recruiting area
4. He'll be building a program which has been down for a while, so short-term expectations are reasonable

[Jim3k]

i think there are two...and i said this during the coaching search for NC state after herb left.


1. Mark Few
2. Bob Knight

What you are really saying is 'zero.'

Few is never leaving Gonzaga. He would have talked to Arizona last year if he had any interest in anywhere else, but he would not even have an opening discussion. Money is not an issue with him. He's the king of the Inland Empire. No reason to leave.

Knight no longer has the fire. After all, he quit Texas Tech midseason, exhausted. I think some health issues contributed to that decision.