It's that time of year: College coach carousel!

It may show up a number of places then. I definitely remember Feinstein using it to lay the foundation for anonymous Herb Sendek's hiring (the book took place during his rookie season). I do think you have the order right though, with the barber waxing poetic about Dean and not Sloan. I'm guessing both books have the "Jim Valvano, Iona College/You're awfully young to own your own college" cocktail party anecdote as well.

 

There's been a Todd Lickliter sighting. He's one of the candidates for the job at IUPUI:

http://www.indystar.com/article/20110404/SPORTS0607/104040314/IUPUI-coaching-possibles-Howard-Lickliter-John

 

Gottfried's resume looks a lot like Herb Sendek's, only Herb wasn't forced to resign in the middle of a season. But at least he doesn't run that damn Princeton offense, right Wolfpack fans?

 

Apparently Yow just called out Gary Williams at the presser to announce the Gottfried hire. I think we have an N.C. State-Maryland rivalry heating up here.

 

What was wrong with that Princeton offense? When it worked, it was unbeatable. Unless it didn't work at all, it was still quite effective.

I do recall that one game against Duke, Herb cut up Duke's defense so badly that no trauma surgeon could have repaired the Devils. And this was before they were laid open by the likes of Villanova's quick guards two years ago or Derrick Williams and friends a couple of weeks ago.

They can realistically do it again. But it will almost certainly take patience and some brick-by-brick building and that's the problem with the Wolfpack Club. Herb Sendek could have been on his way, but the folks in red polyester put him under such siege that it make escaping to Tempe a viable alternative.

What is his strength? Recruiting? Xs and Os? Does he realize what kind of assistant coaches he needs to shore up the potential trouble spots?

Wolfpack fans can only hope that Gottfried learned something from getting guys like Ronard Steele. Need to find guys who won't cause this sort of mess, and be the kind of coach who can see these problems and address them before they blow up to this kind of magnitude.

A couple of the athletes are already there, provided C.J. Leslie isn't one-and-done, for starters. Can he really coach? Sidney Lowe is a fantastic man and stellar ambassador, but the youth and lack of coaching reared its head in too many spots last year.

John Feinstein also had the anecdote in one of his basketball books. Was it "A March to Madness"? (Have those books, but they're boxed up and staying there until further notice ... )

 

Sam, I'm with you. Blue font was implied. I heard a lot of complaints about the offense during Herb's run and I never understood it. More than one N.C. State fan told me they'd rather lose with Sidney than win with Herb and have to watch the Princeton offense. :

 

Gottfried once turned Bama from the #1 team in the nation into a 10-seed in the NCAA tournament, all in about three months. That's...something, I guess?

 

Wow, I'm not sure this was a wise move. You get into a public pissing match with the coach at your old school when one of the knocks on you is that you are hard to work with? Does taking the low road make things any better? And you are indirectly taking a shot at the coach whose hiring you are announcing by suggesting perhaps the only reason he's sitting next to you right now is because Gary Williams scared the good candidates away?

 

... and that's the biggest reason NCSU is in such a mess with the program.

Too many fans couldn't stand Herb, and too many of them celebrated when he went to Tempe. Those fans thought they had the best of all worlds ... didn't have to can Herb, got rid of the Princeton offense and, for @#$%$'s sake, get someone to beat Duke and Chapel Hill.

Well, guess what? Herb found kids who could handle the ball, run a proper offense, pass the ball without resentment, shoot and play some defense. Oh yeah ... they all graduated, too. What an idiotic coach.

Figure out which side of the fence I stand ... and have since the inmates were allowed to run the asylum. The results have spoken for themselves.

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If Debbie Yow really said what she did about Gary Williams, she's neither as smart nor as classy as her sister. Kay wouldn't have gone into any presser looking for a fight. Then again, did Kay have an enemy on the planet?

 

Sam, Gottfried's definitely a recruiter first and foremost. He's a mediocre-to-terrible in-game coach.

His track record of developing players was a mixed bag at Alabama. He turned a couple of guys --- notably Chuck Davis and Jermareo Davidson --- from middling recruits to All-SEC-type players, while others --- most notably Richard Hendrix and Alonzo Gee --- didn't see to make any kind of progress under him.