College basketball coaching carousel thread

IIRC, and I think I do, Georgetown was very seriously considering dropping its whole athletic program to D-II or D-III before Thompson got the hoops team going.

 

I think that while Ewing may be a competent NBA assistant coach the transition to college will be tough. The typical 18 year old has no real memory of him as star and Ewing has no experience recruiting. F0r example, is he the guy who can establish a D.C. area recruiting base?

 

But even though it's been a few years since they've played, the names Ewing and Drexler have to mean a lot more to a hs kid than Hoiberg.

 

edit: guess maybe Calvin Murphy, although not as big a star and Niagara never was the power G Town was.

Calvin Murphy never coached at Niagara.

 

Yeah, I know all that, and certainly I'm not saying the Ewing hire is without risk for all those reasons.

But, he does have positives as listed above: he keeps the JT contingent on board while appearing to be at least reasonably independent; he does have name recognition for recruits; his Xs and Os acumen is fairly decent; and he should certainly be able to hire a couple of decent assistants well steeped in NCAA recruiting regs, etc etc.

Of course it could all fly to pieces, but again Georgetown didn't have any slam dunk options.

 

NC State already learned how these hires go and went out and got Kevin Keatts this time. Keatts would have been a great hire for Georgetown if it could have beaten State to the punch.

 

Coaching big time college basketball is a very complicated dance that a lot of times even the best basketball minds aren't up for. You've got to stroke the egos of teenagers, AAU slimeballs, administrators and rich boosters while simultaneously making it clear you are the BAMF in charge. You've got to figure the ways you can massage the NCAA rule book and find loopholes. And get the admissions office on your side.

How do you manage the roster? Are you going to take three one-and-dones in a single recruiting class? Stick to developing four-year guys? Find some kind of balance? Are you keeping tabs on your guys or are you going to be shocked when you lose four players to transfers and grades? Do you know people who are going to tip you off that the power forward at Siena who can really rebound is graduating early and wants to transfer up? Then do you know who to call to express interest because you can't "officially" start recruiting until he gets a release?

 

Georgetown should be a very good job. Great recruiting base - you can get a top 25-ish class each year just from DC alone. It's one of the better urban environments I can think of for any school, let alone a hoops power. Among the DC high majors, it's certainly light years ahead of College Park. If a kid wants to play in a city, what city school offers a better urban environment than Georgetown, even if they don't have a Metro station? St. John's is a 30-minute commute to Manhattan. I don't know the Chicago schools well enough to comment on them.

DC is also a nice place to set down roots with your family, even if $2 million goes faster than in a lot of places. Jay Wright has proven you can win at the highest level in the new Big East.

The big downsides are facilities (no viable on-campus gym) and Big John. But the program has dipped enough that if Ewing (or the next coach) wins there, Big John has little choice but to give him space or risk looking extremely petty.

 

I can't imagine any decent prospect giving a shit.

 

Define "superstar." At UCLA they brought back Larry Farmer then Walt Hazzard. Hazzard might qualify. Both did poorly as coaches. Together they might have succeeded. Farmer could coach but couldn't recruit. Hazzard could recruit but he couldn't coach.

 

Still wondering if the academic restrictions scared off coaches with legitimate credentials.

 

Staff will be key for Ewing. Will need former big time head coach and couple of young recruiters with local ties to have a chance.