Coaching Carousel 9 - People die climbing mountains

slugboy

slugboy

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Techster said:
You gotta wonder what Scott Drew does with Calipari's resources at Kentucky. You also have to like that he's pretty plugged into the recruiting scene in the state of Texas...as well as knowing walking into a recruit's house with "Kentucky" on your shirt just means something different for CBB players.

Look at their records. I'd give Calipari the nod by a bit for overall success, but Drew and Calipari have the exact same amount of Natty's since Calipari has been at Kentucky. It's been over a decade since Cal won a Natty.

en.wikipedia.org

Scott Drew - Wikipedia

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en.wikipedia.org

John Calipari - Wikipedia

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I’d love for people to complain that it had been a decade since I won a national title.
 

RamblinRed

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If i'm Hurley there's not a chance in the world that I take the KY job.
UConn is a better job than KY - the Fanta twitter points that out. 6 NC's by 3 different coaches in 25 years. Double the next closest program.

I don't think Hurley will seriously consider it. He has a better job and is in an area that he has spent his entire life in. Both his wife and he are from the NE. He's already talking about trying to 3-peat.

UConn has proven it is in a tier by itself.
After UConn i'd put UNC, Duke, Kansas and KY on a 2nd tier.

After those 5 i'd say it is largely an issue of having the right coach at the right school, though I think you could make arguments for AZ, L'ville maybe being on a slightly higher tier than others.
 
slugboy

slugboy

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Scott Drew has been at Baylor since 2003. He seems to have moved into the lead candidate position (if you can trust the industry buzz, and you probably should take that with a grain of salt).

Few at Gonzaga spent a generation building a well oiled machine where everything just works. It looks like Drew has something similar at Baylor. Having every component aligned really helps to build a champion.

Does it make sense to just “transplant a winning coach”?
 

Root4GT

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MtnWasp said:
Scott Drew:

21 seasons at Baylor .646 overall and .522 in conference. 4 strait NCAAT bids (would have been 6 save for COVID year cancellation), but didn't get beyond the round of 32 in any of those seasons. Made NCAAT in 12 of his 21 seasons at Baylor. Made the Elite 8 twice but the last time was in 2012. Made the Sweet 16 in two additional seasons last time being 2017. Finished first in conference twice in 21 seasons, 2nd three times, and 3rd three times, including the last two seasons. (Finished in the top three in conference eight times in 21 years).

Elite enough for Kentucky?
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Baylor won the NCAAT in 2021.
 

MtnWasp

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Root4GT said:
Baylor won the NCAAT in 2021.
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Yes, obviously and that should have been typed in there instead of it being assumed as it is a great achievement.

He's an excellent coach. But he doesn't quite have the sizzle of Pitino or Calipari does he? It takes a lot to excite Kentucky fans. Drew reminds me a little of Tubby Smith. Drew will be 54 years old next season so he should have some juice in the tank. But he does have 21 seasons at one place. Those are some deep roots to transplant.
 

MtnWasp

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Unless they can pull a young Rick Pitino out of a time machine, the only guy that will excite Kentucky fans is Dan Hurley and I would be shocked if he moved. The only way he leaves UCONN is if there is some NCAA violation clouds, or behind the scenes personal conflicts going on the the AD or President.

Kentucky just ran off the perfect coach for them. If you are not satisfied with perfect, then you are destined for some butt hurt. And that is what we are going to see. They will be disappointed with their hire and the next coach's tenure will represent a few years for the Kentucky Kingdom to cool their collective jets of unrealistic expectations.
 
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