In a surprising development, NC State’s student newspaper ran this article today. As a student at NC State from 1991-1995, I remember the dogged level of irrational support the Technician’s sports page gave to a clearly overmatched Les Robinson. With that context, Ryan Reynolds’ article certainly adds another log to an already raging fire of Sendek criticism in the press. The article closes very well:
“Nine seasons have yielded no regular-season ACC titles, no ACC Tournament titles, three NCAA Tournament bids and no Sweet 16s. That isn’t really impressive for a coach at a school known for its basketball history.
But for State Athletics Director Lee Fowler, those three (if a miracle happens, maybe four) NCAA Tournament bids are good enough for him. If that was the case for athletic directors throughout the ACC then Dave Odom would have gotten a lifetime contract for taking Wake Forest to the Elite 8 in 1996, and Matt Doherty would still be coaching at North Carolina, because he took the Heels to the second round of the NCAA Tournament his first season.
But both coaches are gone now. Under fire, Odom left Wake Forest for South Carolina, and everyone knows how the guillotine was brought down on Doherty.
Wake Forest and North Carolina currently have top-10 programs and will both get, at worst, No. 2 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. Think those athletics directors are second-guessing themselves now? I seriously doubt it.
And then there’s the Pack – that other team from North Carolina that has played above expectations for one season in the last decade.
The gap between State and the other three Tobacco Road schools keeps increasing.
Something has to change.”
There’s really no logical way to refute any of that. It is increasingly clear that the Sendek era at NC State is in its death throes, and it is only a matter of how much collateral damage is done before Sendek moves on.
For those of you who are ready to take action, redandwhitefromstate.com is hosting this petition supporting Sendek’s removal. You can fax or mail in your petition, which will be collected and delivered to Chancellor Oblinger.
On a personal note, my wife has pledged to watch games with me again once Sendek is gone. She considers my current viewing of inevitably mediocre Sendek performances to be masochistic at best. It’s hard to argue with her – at least on that particular point.
