Closing the Book on Herb Sendek

Yes, it is a little bit late for a post-mortem. However, I was relieved to be done with the constant Sendek talk, and all of us at SFN have been focused on the future, primarily the search for Sendek’s replacement.

That said, I think a brief discussion (during this “no new news” lull in the coaching search) is warranted. As I have noted in the past, I believe that Herb Sendek had plateaued at NC State. He was consistently doing a “pretty good” job the last 5 seasons, but never really got over the hump. Considering how long it took to get to the “pretty good” level, there just wasn’t enough goodwill built up to ride the wave any longer.

I was ready for a coaching change, no doubt. But I can still appreciate the fact that Herb Sendek unquestionably left NC State basketball in a better situation than when he first took the reins. For those of you who are younger than me, I simply can’t explain how terrible the Les Robinson era was. The overall talent was questionable, even though we did have 2 NBA first round picks (Gugliatta and Fuller) during that time. But even if you don’t hold Les Robinson fully responsible for that (NC State did have some self-imposed recruiting restrictions and above-standard academic requirements), his performance was still abyssmal. 5 consecutive losing seasons. An embarrasing loss to Campbell. An absolutely humiliating home loss to Florida Atlantic (at the time, about 1-23 and most assuredly DEAD LAST among all Division I teams in RPI at the time). NC State was the laughing stock of the ACC.

Sendek made NC State instantly respectable. One of my fondest NC State memories was the miracle ACCT run during Sendek’s first year. I was in law school at the time, surrounded by stunned Duke fans and a handful of unlikely allies (UNC fans) for the Friday upset. What a thing of beauty. I remember watching the final seconds tick away during UNC’s hard-fought win in the final, certain that we would be back – and victorious. It was wonderful to have hope again.

Sadly, that hope turned to skepticism as the years went by and the performance improved only slightly (if at all). Then came Year Six, and the change in style to allow NC State to get to the NCAAT level – but seemingly to guarantee there would be no championship runs. Still, the heartbreaking 2nd round loss to UConn lit a spark of hope similar to that of the miracle ACCT run of Year One. But again, the spark did not ultimately catch, and NC State remained in B-minus limbo. Sendek was performing too well to be fired, but not well enough to be embraced by the fanbase, who understandably hungered for more.

The Arizona State saga gave everyone the fresh start they needed. Sendek gets a nice job in a very nice city. His family doesn’t have to face the pressure that inevitably comes from being at a school like NC State for a long time, without major success. NC State gets to have its fans excited about basketball again, with the hope that comes from the new and unknown. And possibly the exhiliration of landing a star coach that would not have taken the job when the program was in shambles.

In any event, thanks to Herb Sendek for making NC State respectable again. Even more thanks for asking about the depth of residual support within the Wolfpack Club “rank and file” (also, related thanks to the friends who gave him honest and useful advice on that front). And thanks for leaving when the time was right. Ten years is simply long enough to stay in one place, unless you are on your way to being a legend.

Herb Sendek was never going to be a legend at NC State. But, since he left of his own volition when he did, he can be remembered as a pretty good coach. And he’ll likely make Arizona State competitive again. Raising a program from the doldrums to a competitive level involves a different skill set than taking a solid program to the next level. And who knows – perhaps with a clean slate and lessons learned from his time at NC State, maybe he’ll get Arizona State to that next level. And maybe the next coach will do the same for NC State, building on the foundation that Sendek helped repair. Everybody wins. For a good summary of this general notion, scroll down to April 3 and read Tom Suiter’s blog post entitled “Sendek’s Departure Good For Both Sides.”

One final note – some voices on the radio and internet have claimed that those who worked in favor of a coaching change are somehow disassociating themselves from their role in Sendek’s departure. Nothing could be further from the truth. I don’t want to be arrogant and claim that SFN (or myself personally) was the straw that broke the camel’s back. But to the extent that the logical, objective criticism presented here and elsewhere had any impact in Sendek’s decision to pursue and ultimately accept the Arizona State offer, I’m damned proud of it. And I’ll stand by it as the right thing to do, whether or not we land a Barnes or Calipari. I could care less whether the likes of Andy Katz and Jay Bilas want to look down their noses at us.

NOTE: Please don’t use the comments to rip Sendek in a tasteless fashion. That’s not the point of this post/thread. Thanks!

About BJD95

1995 NC State graduate, sufferer of Les and MOC during my entire student tenure. An equal-opportunity objective critic and analyst of Wolfpack sports.

General NCS Basketball

39 Responses to Closing the Book on Herb Sendek

  1. Lou 04/05/2006 at 7:03 PM #

    way too quiet over here…something fishy

  2. MCG95 04/05/2006 at 7:54 PM #

    Well put, BJD. It is nice to have something to feel excited and hopeful about.

    MCG – 95

  3. Boonie 04/05/2006 at 8:06 PM #

    PTI was demonstrating some ignorance today. In one segment Wilbon and Lebatard debated on whether Jim Larranaga should stay at George Mason or take the State job. Wilbon said stay, Lebatard said go, no one thought to mention that he has not and probably will not be offered the job. Then Wilbon spouted the media party line of Sendek being run out of town by whiny fans after having gotten to five NCAA tournaments. Lots of insight from the PTI guys tonight.

  4. beowolf 04/05/2006 at 8:46 PM #

    *I said it at the beginning of the year and will repeat it now: all Herb Sendek ever had to do to win the hearts and minds of Wolfpack fans was win championships. It is not impossible. Even an ACCT championship this year would have quelled much of the criticism.*

    BINGO.

    I told my pals that even though I didn’t care for the offense, all Herb had to do was hang a banner.

  5. Pakkfan 04/05/2006 at 9:43 PM #

    I have a feeling tommorow will be a good day for Wolfpack Basketball.

  6. Greg 04/05/2006 at 10:18 PM #

    Heelsfan,

    I was at that practice. Herb was shaken afterwards, but I also remember he wouldnt let the particular drill end despite the fact Marco was on the floor.

    Marco never had respect for Herb afterwards and transferred shortly thereafter, midseason I believe.

  7. Greg 04/05/2006 at 10:21 PM #

    ^ I want to further comment on my statement that Herb thought Marco had just twisted an ankle, not that he had anything serious.

    For those of you who are interested, stick close to the computer screens tomorrow… 😉

  8. beowolf 04/05/2006 at 10:31 PM #

    I’m interested, Greg. Any particular reason why, or just a “feeling” of good news?

  9. J Ro 04/05/2006 at 10:36 PM #

    I dream of the day that NC State can once again go into a matchup with either UNC/Duke and have a 50/50 shot of coming home with a win on any given night.

    I believe that landing a big name coach, could lead to this dream becoming reality. However, all teams in the NCAA (not just State) struggle to be competitive with these two schools.

    I find it interesting that noone has mentioned that Rick Barnes lost big to Duke earlier in the year!! Yet everyone seems to think that a coaching change will automatically lead to more success against these two schools!!

    I feel that Herb did a good job. However, it was time for a change because fans have lost excitement in NC State basketball due to our lack of wins against the two blues. One thing is for sure, Herb couldn’t get us over the hump, and the possibility (hope) of having more success with another coach should lead to Wolfpack nation once again being reunited!!

    Good luck with your new gig Herb. You represented NC State well!!

  10. Mike 04/05/2006 at 10:36 PM #

    Herb is gone, Tempe is a beautiful area, and he should do well there. I never thought of him as bad guy, a bad coach, but it was time to move on. I agreed he could not take us to the next level.

    Now, with regards to Herb and his family being harrassed……..I heard after the ACC Tourney, and I was as angry as anyone, that Herb got harrassed in church of all places. He told the family to stay home becuase he did not want them subjected to it. Whoever the jerk(s) was/were that would harrass a man in his own church is a complete embarrassment to the program and the University. I have no proof, only grapevine talk.

    On a personal note, I have heard from several people who said Herb was not very nice to the little guy, the average fan. I have heard this from several people, but still no reason to harass the man’s family. Yes, wiht a position like this, once can expect some criticism from message boards, radio shows, fan in stands etc. There is absolutely NO JUSTIFICATION to harrass his family. Last time I checked, Herb’s wife and kids did not draw up the plays in the time outs so we could not get a shot off in the last seconds. That was all Herb. But let the man worship in peace.

  11. David 04/05/2006 at 11:50 PM #

    I’ve lived through the Sloan years, the Valvano years, the Robinson years and now the Sendeck years. The bb program was in shambles (those who weren’t around then have no idea how bad the press was) when Robinson came in. Les did exactly what he was hired to do – and this had little with winning on the court. By the same token, Herb also did much of what he was hired to do. It was time for a change but I have nothing but respect for Herb’s integrity (a few differences on coaching but then what do I know). Anyone who harrassed his family should rot in ****.
    I wish Herb well unless ASU plays the pack.

    David

  12. Josh L. 04/06/2006 at 7:31 AM #

    This was an excellent article. Thank you for saying the nice things you did about Sendek…while I’m not sure it was the best thing for him to go personally, this is an argument that I can easily accept, and can even see the potential for it being the right one as well.

  13. [waves] 04/15/2006 at 5:49 PM #

    Great post!

    I hope, tho, we haven’t shot ourselves in the foot.

    At the end of this past year, we ranked in the top four in the conference in every major statistical catagory — including field goal % defence and scoring. The lone exception was rebounding — we were ahead of Duke, tho.

    The new coach has work to do!

  14. LEXINGTON GIRL 02/26/2008 at 12:48 AM #

    Thank you, SFN, for giving me a chance to post a youtube spot from the memorable UCONN game during Herb’s tenure here. He and his family are close personal friends of mine and they cherish their time in Raleigh and hate that they felt they needed to leave. Believe me, they miss you every day, although they are very happy where they are. I also personally miss the great memories I had as a fan at NCSU, and want to share one of my favorite’s here:

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