To be clear, we are hearing nothing concrete from our sources at this point. However, this morning’s media reports indicate that West Virginia’s John Beilein has emerged as NC State’s top coaching candidate.
This article sets the stage for where the search currently stands. The article also references Jay Bilas, who was interviewed on 610 WFNZ in Charlotte yesterday morning. Bilas, who has traditionally been respectful of the NC State job but who made some strangely critical remarks a few weeks ago, was back to his normally astute self.
Bilas shared some interesting perspectives about the search that we didn’t see chronicled on other message boards. Bilas shared that Lee Fowler had failed to market NC State’s job effectively/appropriately, both prior to the search and during it. Bilas also commented on Fowler’s execution of the search and politely criticized the pace at which Fowler has moved both in the assessment phase and in negotiations with the candidates.
We couldn’t agree more with Jay; but, we are going refrain from going through more of this until our de-brief mode after the completion of the search.
A newspaper in West Virginia says basically reported the News & Observer‘s report linked here.
“West Virginia’s John Beilein emerged late Tuesday as the leading candidate to replace former N.C. State coach Herb Sendek. Beilein, who is under contract at West Virginia through 2012, is believed to have moved ahead of former UCLA coach Steve Lavin, now an ESPN analyst.”
The West Virginia article went on to say:
Mike Parsons, WVU’s deputy director of athletics, said at 10 p.m. Tuesday that N.C. State had not asked for permission to speak to Beilein. That isn’t mandatory, but merely a courtesy observed by most colleges in situations such as this.
“As far as West Virginia is concerned, he is still our coach,� Parsons said.
A source close to the university said earlier in the evening that Beilein probably is gone but that “it’s not a done deal yet.�
* The media reports from this morning do indicate that Beilein may be emerging. However, we don’t have any clear evidence to back this up. As has primarily been the case of late, “behind the scenes” signals are mixed.
* We don’t know where things stand with Lavin at this moment as we’ve given up trying to track much of the information, but we told you yesterday that the further that we got from last Friday then the less chance it will be Lavin.
* After the end of the 2006 season, we were not expecting Andrew Brackman to every play basketball at NC State again. Considering what Beilein has been able to do with players similar to Brackman, one can’t help but wonder if Brackman won’t be one of Beilein’s top “recruits”.
We’ve heard/seen quite a few Wolfpackers ‘concerned’ about Beilein’s offense being so similar to that of Herb Sendek’s. We understand that concern since our own BJD95 has very strong feelings about the matter, as well. But, too many uneducated Wolfpackers are also mistaking Beilein for Sendek in other characteristics like personality. This is hogwash. Beilein has many, many more anciallary skills necessary to be a successful head coach
For a neat experience, you should click on this link and watch the West Virginia Basketball Recruiting Video. It is refreshing to see someone who understands how to market. One can only imagine what Beilein’s ability to think strategically and market can do with the archives of NC State’s Basketball history.
IF Beilein is ultimately NC State’s hire, we will have plenty of time to discuss and debate all the granular issues.
