MBB: [non-ACC] Coaching Carousel - 2011 edition

[billyj]

Paul Hewitt took GT to the NCAA championship game. What has Sid Lowe done? Why does he still have a job lol (let alone it pays millions).

[Chris Randolph]

It was time for Hewitt to go. It has been time for Lowe to go...

Tubby Smith to Georgia Tech might be a good move for both Tubby and GT. I could see him getting out at Minnesota, that is not ideal basketball country

[wsb3]

I thought the deal breaker was he has such a huge buyout that GT could not or did not want to afford it. What changed in a year?

I think Hewitt was offered a job last year and turned it down.. St. Johns? I wonder if he regrets that now.

[pfrduke]

I thought the deal breaker was he has such a huge buyout that GT could not or did not want to afford it. What changed in a year?

I think Hewitt was offered a job last year and turned it down.. St. Johns? I wonder if he regrets that now.

St. John's certainly doesn't.

[OldPhiKap]

I thought the deal breaker was he has such a huge buyout that GT could not or did not want to afford it. What changed in a year?

I think Hewitt was offered a job last year and turned it down.. St. Johns? I wonder if he regrets that now.

Tech is renovating/replacing the Thriller Dome but attendance is horrible. Couldn't afford NOT to fire him at this point.

[Atlanta Duke]

Hewitt's nemesis Mark Bradley says good riddance while wondering how it went so bad after 2004

I thought then that Georgia Tech had on its hands a man capable of being — dare I say it? — the next Krzyzewski.

http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-bl...all-went-away/

[pamtar]

Cremins back to GT! Thanks to the G-man for the idea.

[wsb3]

St. John's certainly doesn't.

Good point..

[Reilly]

I want somebody to go find Hewitt and say: "Paul, you just got canned. Are you surprised?"

When GT won a game in Cameron early in his career (it broke some streak of ours maybe, or perhaps was just the 2nd time we had lost in the last bajillion games or something) the sideline reporter asked Hewitt if he was surprised his team could come into Cameron and play so well. It was an innocent enough question, the typical fluff that these sideline reporters engage in.

Hewitt blinked and did a double take and got all wide-eyed, and said "surprised? why would I be surprised?" [as in, I'm the best thing since John Wooden strode a sideline, and expect to win in Cameron, Allen Field House and every other venue I may grace with my presence ...] Came off as such the donkey.

Ever since then, over the next oh so many years of GT under-performance and Duke whippings, my friend and I always say at whatever whipping Duke dispenses: "surprised? are you surprised Duke just beat the stuffing out of GT?"

[devildeac]

Wonder if El Sid would trade his red jacket for a yellow jacket...

(no way I'm serious about that one though...)

[wilson]

It was time for Hewitt to go. It has been time for Lowe to go...

Tubby Smith to Georgia Tech might be a good move for both Tubby and GT. I could see him getting out at Minnesota, that is not ideal basketball country

Tubby has recently said that he and his wife really like Minnesota, and that he plans to finish his career there.
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebaske...h-career-at-um
Moreover, GA Tech will presumably have to go the "rising star" route, rather than hiring a big established name. Hewitt's buyout is $7.2 million, they still owe Chan freakin' Gailey another million and a quarter or so (despite the fact that he hasn't coached at Tech in 3 seasons), and they're about to break ground on a fancy (read: expensive) new arena. I really don't think Tech will have a bunch of cash to throw at their next basketball coach. Tubby's current deal pays him just short of $3.5 million a year, way more than Hewitt ever made in a season at Tech.
Even if Tech significantly ups the salary of their next head guy (which, again, I consider unlikely), it certainly won't be enough to lure Tubby away from a place where he's avowedly happy and into a program that's in the dumps.

[wsb3]

Just read a link where Paul Hewitt gets 120k monthly for five years not to coach. Now that is good money if you can get it.

[wilson]

Just read a link where Paul Hewitt gets 120k monthly for five years not to coach. Now that is good money if you can get it.

How's this for irony? The former AD who gave him that contract is named...
Dave Braine.
Wonder what his middle name is?
Bird?
Pea?
Lame?

[billyj]

Just read a link where Paul Hewitt gets 120k monthly for five years not to coach. Now that is good money if you can get it.

Dear GT athletic director,
It is with great honor that I am applying for the 120k-monthly-non-coaching position at your esteemed institution. Given my prior experience not coaching, I think I will fit the role nicely. My other qualifications include ....

[hurleyfor3]

Utah will be joining the Pac 12 with a new coach.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=6210252

[1 24 90]

Just read a link where Paul Hewitt gets 120k monthly for five years not to coach. Now that is good money if you can get it.

I'm a little sick to my stomach right now.

[-bdbd]

Tubby has recently said that he and his wife really like Minnesota, and that he plans to finish his career there.
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebaske...h-career-at-um
Moreover, GA Tech will presumably have to go the "rising star" route, rather than hiring a big established name. Hewitt's buyout is $7.2 million, they still owe Chan freakin' Gailey another million and a quarter or so (despite the fact that he hasn't coached at Tech in 3 seasons), and they're about to break ground on a fancy (read: expensive) new arena. I really don't think Tech will have a bunch of cash to throw at their next basketball coach. Tubby's current deal pays him just short of $3.5 million a year, way more than Hewitt ever made in a season at Tech.
Even if Tech significantly ups the salary of their next head guy (which, again, I consider unlikely), it certainly won't be enough to lure Tubby away from a place where he's avowedly happy and into a program that's in the dumps.

All good points. Money woes will dictate GT has to go the "young and up-coming" HC route. Anybody think the Duke assistants might be interested in this or the NCSU gig? Collins and Wojo must be looking by now. With the new stadium, and the urban location in a good recruiting state, and a decent tradition, GT might be an attractive opportunity for a high-profile assistant like Collins, for example. And GT has solid academics to boot.

As an aside, I have a co-worker who was a college roomie of Hewitt's. He has told me that "Hewy" really disliked K, and felt that K had run up the score on him several times (by keeping starters in too long of clear Duke victories). So I suspect the Duke staff sheds few tears for this ACC departure.

At least we have, likely, one less competitor in the Tony Parker (from GA) recruiting sweepstakes...

[Atlanta Duke]

As an aside, I have a co-worker who was a college roomie of Hewitt's. He has told me that "Hewy" really disliked K, and felt that K had run up the score on him several times (by keeping starters in too long of clear Duke victories). So I suspect the Duke staff sheds few tears for this ACC departure.

Hewitt was on Atlanta sports talk shortly after he was riding high following the 2004 NCAA championship appearance and went on at length how difficult it was for teams such as Maryland or GA Tech to compete in the ACC against the bias of conference officials for the Duke-Chapel Hill duopoly.

That was for public consumption - IMO Hewitt had a dislike for K similar to that K had for Dean when K was trying to build up Duke to challenge UNC and K did not Tech's chippy style of play. Hewitt's dislike for Duke (and the AJC's Mark Bradley) appeared to grow after Tech receded into irrelevance.

[ArkieDukie]

The local TV station in Fayetteville, AR, is reporting that Pelphrey won't be returning next year as the head coach of the Razorbacks. This is the only place I've seen a report of Pelphrey's departure, but I think the fact that it's the local station makes it more believable. http://www.4029tv.com/news/27156286/detail.html

[sagegrouse]

How's this for irony? The former AD who gave him that contract is named...
Dave Braine.
Wonder what his middle name is?
Bird?
Pea?
Lame?

I dunno, but I bet he's heard them all -- probably by the time he was seven years old. The second grade is merciless. One kid in my second grade class, was named William Nathaniel Ball IV -- Nat Ball -- from a fine old Charleston family. We used to tell him, "you fly to school and then bounce home."

sagegrouse