One Year Ago Today- Sendek Bolts for ASU

General NCS Basketball36

If you want to take a trip down memory lane. Go back and read the blog entries from April 2006. You will get a good laugh. SFN will gladly take gifts of “paper.”

About StateFans

'StateFansNation' is the shared profile used by any/all of the dozen or so authors that contribute to the blog. You may not always agree with us, but you will have little doubt about where we stand on most issues. Please follow us on Twitter and FaceBook

General NCS Basketball

36 Responses to One Year Ago Today- Sendek Bolts for ASU

  1. tvp 04/01/2007 at 9:31 AM #

    Best. April. Fool’s. Day. Ever.

  2. BJD95 04/01/2007 at 9:45 AM #

    misty water-color memories…

  3. forst8 04/01/2007 at 9:51 AM #

    Just wondering how many folks would like to go back and change history and keep Sendek here? Let me rephrase that —- Is there even one person who would truly like to do that?

  4. thebigwood 04/01/2007 at 10:05 AM #

    ^Cedar

  5. redfred2 04/01/2007 at 10:07 AM #

    ^Sendek

  6. tractor57 04/01/2007 at 10:23 AM #

    One year later I really think all parties benefited in the end. I wish ASU much success unless we play them and I am really pleased with the prospects for State’s basketball program.
    You just don’t know how glad I am that we missed on “the squid” (speaking of those who benefited) and the others. A messy scene for sure but State came out well.

  7. MadWolf92 04/01/2007 at 10:33 AM #

    I’m very glad that he left that way and that we didn’t have to fire him.

  8. MadWolf92 04/01/2007 at 10:34 AM #

    ^ I was sick of the infighting, not that all of it has gone away, mind you.

  9. BJD95 04/01/2007 at 10:46 AM #

    The move was good for Sendek and good for NC State. It’s nice when everything works out like that.

  10. Mr O 04/01/2007 at 10:56 AM #

    It was time for both parties to go in a different direction.

  11. jwrenn29 04/01/2007 at 1:14 PM #

    I won’t pretend to be nice: I’m just simply glad Sendek is gone. I feel nothing but relief. I don’t hate the man, I just don’t want him anywhere near our program. I actually have HOPE for next season, and even beyond!

  12. graywolf 04/01/2007 at 2:53 PM #

    Glad he found it within himself to leave for greener pastures.
    Now I look forward to basketball season.

  13. Jeremy Hyatt 04/01/2007 at 3:02 PM #

    Well i think that we should be nice; he elevated our program, and made NC State relevant again, giving us a lot national exposure in basketball. A sweet sixteen appearance is nothing to sneeze at. But obviously, as time rolled on we saw that his peak results combined with his personality and coaching style wasn’t the best fit for what we hoped to accomplish. Let’s face it, we have high expectation not dissimilar to that of a Kentucky or a UNC, some think too high, but in the end we are simply striving to elevate our program to another level. Herb Sendek is an excellent coach (a little on the intellectual, reserved side mind you) and class act and did good things with our basketball program, and for that we shouldn’t have such a short memory.

  14. Jimmy V 04/01/2007 at 6:24 PM #

    Herb Sendek had a long time to leave his mark on NCSU. When he first came, I was cautiously optimistic. I was feeling good during the late season run of ’96-’97. The team was competitive and won three games in the ACC Tournament. I thought, “Herb is going NCSU great again.” It never happened in ten years. By the end of his fourth year, I was questioning the decision to hire him. We went on a skid that year and then we bottomed out in ’00-’01. Herb never really tried that hard to connect with NCSU’s tradition. He distanced himself from it when he should have been embracing it. His attitude didn’t help him a bit as he was defensive and critical of those who dared to question him. I am thankful for Jeff and this website as it worked diligently to make a change in the basketball program. Some have criticized this site, but I love it! You don’t have the crap you have over at PackPride. I am BigMike and recently I was banned at PackPride for using a choice word. Here you can say what you want (within reason) and they don’t sugarcoat it here. Over there, there are some moderators who are on power trips. Anyway . . . This site is fantastic because it gives latebreaking news concerning Pack football and basketball, the coaches and sometimes it has interesting articles about things in college sports. All PackPride is is a propaganda site controlled by thought police and certain moderators whom I don’t particularly care for. I adopt the name Jimmy V on this site because I loved Jim Valvano to death. This site was on a crusade for a coaching change the last few years when the gopack.com and the other sites are just tools to promote the coaches and always say positive stuff. I don’t disagree with the lobbying for a coaching change as I was one of those who felt it was time for Herb to leave.

    Herb did lead NCSU to five NCAA bids and for that, he has to get some credit. He did improve the program from where it was under Les Robinson. But my brother and I went to see NCSU-UNC in ’06 in Raleigh. I expected to see Sendek’s team win or lose close. And I was shocked to see a lackluster effort, resulting in an embarassing home loss by 24 points. Sometimes a team has bad games. But to lose by 24 at home to a big rival in a coach’s tenth year said a lot about the state of Herb’s program. This blowout loss with some veterans on the Pack’s team.

    Herb was 8-38 against two teams that matter a lot. And, as was documented very well on here, he even had a losing record against Wake. I think he was 8-14 against them.

    Then, in Sid’s first year, they sweep Wake, beat UNC at home, beat Duke in the ACC Tournament. They make a nice little run in the NIT. All with a roster with five or six good players and the rest decent. But Sid didn’t have a tremendous amount of talent in comparison to what he faced in the ACC. I bought tickets again to see some home basketball games in Raleigh this year. That was a first for me since ’00-’01.

    I think Sid did a great job. For all of the comparisons between Herb’s first year and Sid’s first year, I get a different feeling with Sidney Lowe. I think he has more intangibles than Sendek had and I think he’ll be more successful than Herb was. I could be wrong. But Sid embraces the expectations. He wants to win big. Sendek did not want to win big or let’s say he didn’t know how to win big.

    I think Herb’s a good fit at ASU and will do well out there. They’ve had four NCAA bids in 27 years so the history is not very good in basketball. If he makes it to two or three NCAAs, they’ll be giving Sendek godlike status out there. I don’t think making the NCAAs is all that big of a deal, but for a school with such little tradition and support, it will be a big deal.

    Herb had his shot here. He improved the program, but he never won the ACC and that’s part of his history, whether people like CedarGrove or Bob Kennel like it or not. I don’t say that to start a fight, but you have to tell the whole truth about the man’s tenure here. The fans put up with a lot of crap here over ten years, including weak scheduling, a boring offense, numerous transfers, a dictatorial coach who couldn’t take a little bit of criticism, and most of all, getting repeatedly hammered by Duke and UNC year after year after year.

    Thank God that era is now in the rearview mirror and will fade into the past.

    Thank God for Sidney Lowe and his passion.

    And thank you, Statefans.com and the founders of this site, for the great work in covering Wolfpack sports and the great site this is, allowing free speech. Thank you for your work in lobbying for a new coach.

    I wish nothing bad on Herb. I’m sure at some point the NCAA Tournament, in coming years, will put NCSU against Arizona State, either the first round or the second round.

    It will happen. Trust me.

    Excited about next year for State. The program, I think, will be NCAA Tournament bound in just Sid’s second year. Now that’s coaching for you: an NCAA bid in just a man’s second year.

  15. Jimmy V 04/01/2007 at 6:50 PM #

    This is what truly matters as people reflect on Herb Sendek, as NC State fans, in the future . . .

    Herb will be remembered on the totempole about fourth after Jim Valvano, Norm Sloan, and Everett Case. Not ranking those men one through three. I’m saying that Herb didn’t get the program up to where Jim Valvano and Norm Sloan had it: competing for national titles. Herb was better than Les Robinson. But he didn’t live up to what Norm Sloan and Jim Valvano did.

    Ultimately, he’ll be remembered by most as a decent coach who made State pretty good, but never close to great. And it was apparent that, had Herb made the decision to have continued at State, he was never going to elevate the program to championship status. Sid will win an ACC title or two or three before his time is up. I think Sendek could have coached ten more years at State and he would have never done that. And the frustration among the fans would have continued.

    If coaches at NC State have won a national title in basketball, it can be done again. That’s the way I look at it. If Sid never wins the national title, I won’t call for a coaching change. Because winning that takes some luck sometimes in tight games. I do want State to become a national contender again, meaning they make the Final 8 or Final 4 every 3-4 years. Under Les and Sendek, we weren’t relevant on the national scene.

    I think Sid will change that.

  16. gumbydammit 04/01/2007 at 9:35 PM #

    Suck Ferb Hendek. Good, no, great, no, make that OUTSTANDING riddance.

  17. legacyman 04/02/2007 at 6:56 AM #

    The former coach had a better W-L record than Les with no restrictions yet the former guy couldn’t figure a way to beat unc-ch or dook. Les was 5-7 against deano, not against Matt D. and the two worst teams in unc-ch’s history of the last fifty years. So I don’t think one can flatly state that the former guy was better than Les, at what? Nothing that matters much.

  18. Rick 04/02/2007 at 7:31 AM #

    Ten years was too long.

    Good coaches make a quiker impact.
    Look at Ohio State, Georgetown and UCLA.

  19. BoKnowsNCS71 04/02/2007 at 7:47 AM #

    Thank goodness he did not stay and depart this year. LAst year was a zoo. But adding us to the circus of horrors with Ky, Ark, and other schools looking for a coach, contracts getting higher, and what appears to be a huge game of musical chairs — well it would have been really painful.

    He’s working his magic in Arizona. Sid’s working his here. Let’s leave it at that.

  20. RedTerror29 04/02/2007 at 8:45 AM #

    I remember this well. I was out of town all weekend and when I first got back to SFN I started with the topmost posts. It took a while for me to figure out what was going on and even longer for it to sink in and me believe it.

    On the other hand the Amato firing was no surprise. The only question was would they do it before the ECU game. (I thought we would have won they game had they acted preemtively, so I skipped the game in disgust.)

  21. redfred2 04/02/2007 at 9:57 AM #

    Jimmy V, good post(s), you pretty much summarized it all.

    Year four was also when I really started to get immune to the “Well, he’s better than Les” koolaid. I say that a coach doesn’t have to have a overwhelming personalty in the public eye, but that he does have to be able to communicate enough at least to show that he knows what the program he is leading is all about. Even though we had a great tradition before he arrived, Herb didn’t seem to care, he had his own set of values and he was dead set and determined to make the whole of NC State embrace his ceiling as acceptable. Many did, mostly the younger folks, readily accepted his lower standards, while others of us never would. No titles, one sweet sixteen, six years on down the line, and here we are. I am almost certain that we will be back doing what we were supposed to be bowing down to Mr Herb Sendek for in his tenth season, but in this next and second season under Sidney Lowe.

    But, if for some reason we don’t, I still say that the spirit of old is coming back and no one can deny that. The intangibles you mentioned that are embodied in the new coaching staff, will mean more for the future of NC State University, and athletics as a whole, than any past streak of consecutive, but lack lustre, NCAA appearances.

  22. CedarGroveWolf 04/02/2007 at 11:24 AM #

    from Tony Haynes:
    “NC State’s next men’s basketball coach should place a call to Herb Sendek and say “thank you.” He should thank Sendek for leaving for Arizona State, thus opening up one of the most attractive jobs in college basketball. He should also thank Sendek for abandoning his office in the beautiful new Dail Basketball Complex, a facility that has been operational for only one year. But most of all, the new coach should thank Sendek for building a program that has been winning on a consistent basis, while also maintaining a squeaky clean image. Very few coaches get an opportunity such as this. ”

    “With its reputation bruised by sanctions imposed by both the NCAA and the school five years earlier, NC State basketball had become a perennial bottom of the ACC basement afterthought. Les Robinson had been successful in restoring the Wolfpack’s academic reputation, but was forced to do so at the expense of the on-court product”

    “Some of the comments made about Sendek and his program have indeed been unfair, but those heated feelings only stem from the desire to return to the glory days and the yearning to compete with Duke and North Carolina.

    It’s a phenomenon that NC State’s next coach will have to deal with.

    But thankfully for him, the program he’ll inherit is a lot better off than the one Sendek started constructing from scratch 10 years ago.

    From that standpoint, Sendek did exactly what he was hired to do.”

  23. redfred2 04/02/2007 at 12:19 PM #

    Cedar and Tony Robinson

    Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,….and another…Y E S!!!

    We mostly agree on the point that Herb did better than a handicapped Les Robinson. That is, and HAS BEEN, decided

    Just because Herb Sendek did exactly what a like, and totally misguided, NC State administration asked of him, didn’t mean anyone of us should have just accepted it. Especially over time. Sendek’s accomplishments were apparently good enough for the uninspired administration, some sports writers, and many fans out there, but it just wasn’t good enough for the people who KNEW, and still KNOW, we could have been doing much more. AND, it wasn’t good enough for NC STATE.

    We almost lost it all!!!

    Luckily, and I mean VERY luckily, Lee Fowler stumbled and bumbled his way onto the only coach who could have restored the passion. Not just any ordinary passion for college basketball, but a passion for NC STATE BASKETBALL, just as it once was, and should always be. Lee Fowler’s inadvertent hiring of Sidney Lowe now looks like a stroke of genius because there is still a generation around who remembers oh so well, and we now have a coach who remembers right along with us. Fortunately, not too much time had pasted and it’s not too late to reconnect and restore that tradition.

  24. CedarGroveWolf 04/02/2007 at 12:41 PM #

    “the only coach who could have restored the passion. Not just any ordinary passion for college basketball, but a passion for NC STATE BASKETBALL”

    don’t know if that’s true. Passion is great, but it’s all about winning.

  25. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 04/02/2007 at 12:54 PM #

    NC State basketball is fun again!

    Les had a strong passion for NC State unlike Sendek, who led NC State to five consecutive NCAA tournaments.

1 2

Leave a Reply