Originally Posted by
jimsumner
The three W's were Wenzel, Old Dominion coach Paul Webb and Mississippi coach Bob Weltlich. Weltlich had been an assistant at IU for Bob Knight and he was the subject of Tom Butters' call to Knight, the one in which Butters asked Knight if there was anyone else he should be asking about and, well, we know the rest.
Thanks. I figured if anyone knew if would be you.
Webb is the only guy from the list I had never heard of, so I Googled him.
Due in large part to success at DII Randolph-Macon prior to arriving at ODU, Webb entered the 1981 season with 17 fewer lifetime wins than Dean Smith. Webb was only 2 years older than Dean, so there may be an alternate universe where Webb gets hired at Duke and ends up as the all-time NCAA wins leader (only to be eventually passed by DePaul's Mike Krzyzewski). Then again, Webb retired in 1985 at the age of 55, so who knows how long he would have coached if he were offered the Duke job.*
Webb also seems to have a bit of a different personality than Coach K. Here is a story from a recent profile.
"The Richmond Coliseum was packed and VCU fans, especially black-and-gold clad students, were hurling insults at [ODU].
Danny Kottak, a 6-foot-5, gifted and gritty forward from Louisville, was VCU's resident bad boy and he was in the proximity of things as players mixed it up late in the second half.
As officials were restoring order, Webb saw something headed towards him through the corner of his eye and ducked. The Budweiser bounced off his chest and he caught it on the rebound.
...
Webb held up the beer, looked up at Kottak and deadpanned, "You want a beer?"
Even with emotions running so high, Kottak laughed and shook his head no."
Somehow I don't think Coach K would have reacted the same way.
*There are also plenty of alternative universes where Webb goes 45-75 after four years at Duke and gets fired.