A Great Take On ACC Competitiveness
And why changing the schedule isn’t the answer.
Over at Card Chronicle via SBN, Mike Rutherford does a better job than we did of explaining what will change things for ACC Basketball: better coaches and players.
And much of the groundwork for that is already in place. Look at what Pat Kelsey accomplished at Louisville in Year 1. That was one of the greatest coaching jobs we’ve ever seen.
Now several teams have made smart changes and good players will likely follow. Pretty clearly, Ryan Odom knows what he’s doing. No one who has paid attention expects Jai Lucas to fail at Miami. Will Wade is going to win at NC State. Damon Stoudamire showed some nice chops this past season in the face of devastating injuries. Toss in Duke’s Jon Scheyer, Clemson’s Brad Brownell and SMU’s Andy Enfield and that’s a very solid base going forward.
You’ll notice we didn’t mention UNC. Most Tar Heel fans, we think, would agree that Hubert Davis has been pretty erratic. It’s not really our place to call for his firing and there’s no reason for UNC to listen if we did. They can and probably should ignore us.
If the erratic play continues, UNC’s hand will be forced. And do not underestimate this:
Will Wade is very likely to win in Raleigh. If there is a sense that UNC has fallen to third place locally, there’s no way that Davis keeps his job. And then things get really interesting for two reasons: the 60+year run of Dean Smith’s family is basically over. Who would they hire? Wes Miller? The bloom is somewhat off of that rose.
That would mean that for the first time since 1961, UNC’s basic approach to the basketball program will be entrusted to an outsider.
Of course it came close to that in 2005. When UNC was trying (for the second time) to lure Ol’ Roy Williams back to Chapel Hill, Smith supposedly told him that if he didn’t take the job, that he would push for Rick Majerus.
If Davis doesn’t excel consistently, a UNC opening could be one of the great opportunities of the last several decades. History tells us what we need to know: when State hired Everett Case, UNC paid big money and hired Frank McGuire. They’ll do what they have to do if the neighbors get some clear separation. Ladies and gentlemen, start your checkbooks!
And as we said previously, as much fun as it is to see UNC stinking the joint up, the ACC needs them to be good.