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Quick thoughts:
– I agree with Tau that more teams are said to play an up tempo attacking style than who actually do it. Even Louisville packs it back in a zone and slows down the offense. The last ACC team outside of UNC to really push it was Maryland when Gary had them going to final fours.
– If we do top out at consistent 5 seeds, then I’m fine with that. It would put us back in the top 25, which is basically the program meeting expectations based on its inputs. It has been a long time since we did that and I would like to get there before worrying about whether we can over achieve.
– I would have been fine with Wade at Clemson. He honestly didn’t scare me in that role. I’d be surprised if they actually surpassed Purnell’s results. I think LSU is a better job than Clemson. There’s typically enough talent around the state of Louisiana to win big if one can keep them home and being the only game in town will help with that.
– If that scenarios with Wade played out that way, then Clemson dodged a bullet. Brownell is a dead man walking, but Clemson is better knowing just how excited Wade was about coaching there.The best thing about that press conference was a public commitment to the same style of play that he had at UNCW. Keatts said he believed it worked at Hargrave, worked at Wilmington and worked at the highest level at Louisville. That’s music to my ears because that attacking style is what I’ve wanted to see out of NC State for a long, long time. He rightly said that the fan base will find it entertaining, and I loved that he said that if the fans paid to show up, he felt it was the team’s job to put forth maximum effort.
It will be interesting to see how the staff is assembled.
Sounds like three things:
1) OSU mishandled a valuable asset
2) Illinois quickly and aggressively showed him the money. Good for them, but he may do the same to them.
3) He was an up and comer at lower levels in Illinois. It is a good combo of hot name and the right region.I have a hard time reading Smart and what’s happening at Texas. I’ve heard there will be a masssive turnover in players at Texas this offseason. If that happens and it is more of the same, then Smart will be out quickly (as Texas doesn’t suffer fools). I tend to think he’ll turn it around.
I do think that VCU has it rolling in a way that allows coaches to plug in and be successful. It is a huge part of what scares me about Wade.
Keatts inherited nothing at UNCW and quickly turned it around. Here’s to hoping he can do the same here!
I like Yow and think she’s done a good job overall. My biggest concern with her when we hired her are finances. I’m told someone is watching that and she’s running in the black.
I thought she completely blew it with “the email” and the hiring of Gott, but she seems to have learned from that. Both ensuing searches have been run much better.
My only other real criticism was Doug a Reynolds project that didn’t allow us to return for men’s basketball. I’m not sure what the plan is for after the ESA, but it won’t be Reynolds, which is a shame for this alum who watched many a game there.
The non-revenue sports are the best they’ve been in 30 years. Women’s basketball is finally getting back to what we came to expect under Kay. I actually think football could turn it around. I’m more excited about this hire in men’s basketball than any since V. Things are looking up….
Yogi: I wasn’t high on Smart 6 years ago, but actually warmed to him after. It wasn’t that I thought Smart was bad, but just that I thought we were a little caught up in the hype of the tournament run.
I like Keatts better this time than Smart then. I honestly am pretty excited about the style of play. This is what I have wanted to see out of us for 20+ years (attacking style that takes the game to the opponent as opposed to sitting back). I think it’d be a fun system to play in and it should enable a team that can recruit like NC State can to go very deep into a bench.
Talk to the hiring manager. They’re the one who wants you. They’re the one who has to find budget for you. They’re the one who has to go to bat. They’re the one that has to build the teams. They’re often at odds with HR.
HR’s job is to pay you the least possible amount you’d be willing to take to do the job. Apologies to any HR types who might be our readership. I think you do a thankless job and do advacote for the average employee at a macro level, but this is not one of those ways.
College basketball and football are a very dirty business. I’m of the opinion that most don’t want to
how the sausage is made. They’d instead like to believe that “their team” is clean and everyone else is
cheating. Just doesn’t work that way unless you have a massively good institutional level cover up (UNC) or actually are fairly clean and lose a lot (State).I’d bet the search firm checked in on this. That is part of what they are paid to do.
Paki: I agree with you. Keatts may be a home run, and I really hope he is. He looks like a better hire to me than Lowe or Gott were.
Statistically speaking the vast majority of coaching hires don’t make it past 7 years. It is highly likely that we’ll make another basketball hire within the next ten years. By then Archie will have made enough money to be set for life. Maybe State will be more appealing then. And to be clear I’m not holding out some hope for that. I’m just saying stranger things have happened and I’m a believer in good kharma.
Congrats Coach Keatts. I hope you are highly successful.
Archie was my first pick, but I guess it was clear he wasn’t coming based on the timing of the hire. We clearly had two viable candidates and moved quickly with the one we preferred once he was eliminated from the tournament. That’s worlds better than our last two
searches and I think the results are better as well (though time will tell on that).Nothing about what I have seen out of the ACC in the NCAA really scares me for next year. Get enough kids back and get them playing as a functional unit and we could see quick improvement.
Come on guys. It could be as simple as they like Ohio, have a great gig at Dayton and he’s already paid about as much as we paid our last coach (and our new hire) but with lots less risk. Everything isn’t some massive conspiracy theory.
I’m also not one to burn bridges with good job candidates. I’ve had several people who I’ve hired that said no a few times before they finally said yes. ORW spurned UNC one time before accepting….
I agree that 6 at $2.2 is eye opening. I would have put him on a 4 year deal. That would line up well with the AD transition.
My biggest issue with Yow hasn’t been the person she’s hired. Outside of Gott, I was fine with every one of them. My issue is how she’s handled the contracts…
I’m actually excited about Keatts. I liked him a LOT more than Wade. I have watched his teams play quite a few games and they play an interesting style of basketball that will really resonate with our fans. I see much more upside out of Keatts than any of the retreads.
As I thought about our potential candidates, I thought about who I wouldn’t want to see the most on the other sideline. It was Keatts. If he were at Louisville after Pitino, I honestly think they wouldn’t miss a beat. I’m not saying they’d have hired him, but I am saying that I would not have wanted to go on the road to Louisville to play them with him as the head man. Maybe we flipped the script?
Welcome Coach Keatts. Time to get to work recruiting our own players, some new ones and in building a staff. Assistants will be key.
Troll: Do you actually believe that was the reason? It makes zero sense. “Hey little bro, don’t take that job that’s a big salary bump for you because I might get a job at the rival company across the street in a few years. Okay thanks!”
Arch was clearly offered and said no. No hard feelings. I’ve later hired people who have said no multiple times in the past. Shrugs. Sometimes the timing just isn’t right.
There are plenty of reasons not to take a job for someone with a young family. No sour grapes from me with Archie. I wish him the best and hope that is the message communicated back to him. I have to think we tried and that is all I wanted.
Having said that, I’m actually excited about Keatts. I liked him a LOT more than Wade. I have watched his teams play quite a few games and they play an interesting style of basketball that will really resonate with our fans. I see much more upside out of Keatts than any of the retreads.
As I thought about our potential candidates, I thought about who I wouldn’t want to see the most on the other sideline. It was Keatts. If he were at Louisville after Pitino, I honestly think they wouldn’t miss a beat. I’m not saying they’d have hired him, but I am saying that I would not have wanted to go on the road to Louisville to play them with him as the head man. Maybe we flipped the script?
Welcome Coach Keatts. Time to get to work recruiting our own players, some new ones and in building a staff. Assistants will be key.
Some of you are acting like jilted lovers. I too wanted Archie. He was my top pick. It wasn’t just this year either. I wanted him 3 years ago. But hey, we tried and he said no. No hard feelings. Those grapes weren’t sour.
I wish Archie the best as long as he’s not playing against us.
I’m not a Crean fan because he’s by accounts (know of someone who worked with him at Marquette) a complete ass. If IU decides they can’t put up with you and can only stand you if you are winning, then that is saying something given the long leash they gave the General. I also tend to think that his record at IU was fairly mixed, and represents his ceiling at a high major.
Could we do worse? Absolutely, and we have. Would he do better than Keatts? I don’t know. Would I hire him over Archie? Not a chance. Would I hire him over Keatts? Unclear……………… It’d come down to interviews, the desire they have for the job, their vision, the contract numbers, etc..
If we don’t get Archie, I won’t be mad at Yow. I think she’s clearly trying. If we get him, we get him, but if we don’t we will have tried. That is all I wanted from Yow — to make a REAL run at Archie and not piddle around with Gott when it was obvious he wasn’t the guy. The NC State path would have been to go with Gott again next year and have Archie wind up at Indiana, Ohio State, etc. where we’d likely not get that chance. We made the bold move (even if Yow had to be drug there), got out early and SHOULD know by now whether Archie is serious.
I don’t think the other “good” candidates are really in play (Marshall, Holtmann). They may both end up at other jobs this offseason, but I just don’t see them landing here.
That leaves the Wade/Keatts level. It’s a roll of the dice with either one. Keatts has at least built something, and has the Hargrave experience. He’s ready to move up, but it might be a big jump from UNCW to here (Brownell went to Wright State in between UNCW and an ACC job). Wade’s improved Chattanooga, and has kept the seat warm at VCU, but nothing there seems “can’t miss” to me. It screams Sendek (young, super smart, good coaching tree) and DD (didn’t screw up a rolling mid-major). Both may be great, but both may bust out. My concern with Wade is that we’ll be “on the hook” much longer with him (ah la the 10 years of Sendek), and that he fits Yow’s hiring profile better. I like how Keatts’ teams play, but the stats aren’t good and he’s yet to knock off anyone really bigger.
Chop: That’s the way they’ve looked every time I’ve seen them play this year. They win on effort, the fact that the refs won’t call every foul, and by having more athletic players. To me they look like the team that rolls the balls out that BJD talks about.
I think it is also why Wade is 3-13 agains the Power 5 + Big East. That style of play can beat up on teams with lesser talent (and VCU has about the second most I’ve seen in the A10 behind Rhode Island this season), but it doesn’t really work against teams with more skilled players.
Contrast that with Archie who is 23-13 against the P5+Big East (and actually has done better against those opponents than Marshall or Holtmann). Miller’s team is smaller and looks much more like a mid-major, but they’re better basketball players who move the ball with the pass, move without the ball and play smothering half court defense. Give me that any day.
I just don’t understand the crush some have in Wade. He’s going to have to win his next 20 in a row against the P5+Big East to match Archie. He is the scariest coach in the search to me because he reminds me of a cross of DD and Sendek. Shudders…
If we’re rolling the dice at that level, give me Keatts. He’ll boom or bust much quicker, and I personally think he’s done more with less than Wade. And yeah, he’s not really punched up well either as yesterday pushed him to 0-5 against the P5+Big East.
I don’t think Marshall is in play, and there are rumors that Holtmann is already out. Regardless, those two and Archie look significantly better than Wade and Keatts to me.
I watched both Keatts and Wade’s teams again today. I’d see a half dozen games out of each team this year and UNCW again impressed me more. I prefer their style and there was a far bigger discrepancy in talent between UNCW and UVA than between VCU and St. Mary’s. Yes the last possession of UNCW was ugly, but much of the game for VCU was ugly.
That’s actually been consistent of the games I’ve seen out of VCU this year. Maybe it is just me, but they just never look that good. They play hard but they foul a lot, the offense is ugly and they have no shooters. I also thought Wunderkid again got outcoaches tonight, admittedly by a guy I’ve been a big fan of for a long time. It’s too bad Bennett is staying at St. Mary’s.
Wade and Keatts are both huge gambles at about the same level in my mind. One has a better platform currently to work from and inherited more. Neither have really shown the ability to punch up. I’m not sure why anyone would want one candidate and be diametrically opposed to the other.
Please, please, please not Crean. That guy is a first class jerk.
If Fowler were hiring, you’d better believe this scenario would be a possibility. In true NC State/Fowler fashion we would pay the buyout to hire Crean (well, unless Fowler didn’t check on it and then later choked on it), and then Archie ended up at IU. We’d hear through back channels over the next 5 years how Archie really wanted this job but Fowler hired Crean. Shudders…
I just don’t see it happening this time, particularly not with several younger coaches seemingly in play that all fit Yow’s hiring profile better. I’m convinced she is always looking for her next James Franklin. If/when we avoid Crean, and one of the coaches with more upside is hired, I hope we as a fan base can thank ourselves that we didn’t overpay for another retread.
To be balanced, what does it say about expectations at IU if they’re running him out of town? Where are the national articles blasting them given he has won two conference titles in the past 5 seasons and had IU in the top 10 for a good number of weeks? Archie (and others) are supposed to prefer IU and think our fans are unreasonable and unrealistic yet we have Lowe and Sendek 5 years of no tournaments and no ACC titles of any sort, but IU is running off Crean? Where are the UNC and Duke media guys weighing in with their opinion on that?
As for Keatts, I put him on the same line as Wade. They’re both high risk hires. Keatts actually has more experience as a head man, but I’m not sure how relevant his is. Wade looks an awful lot like DD or Sendek did when we hired them. Both could work, and we’ve clearly hired worse than them the last two times (Lowe and Gott).
If we do hire either, I’ll know we’ve pushed hard with Archie and he’s just not coming, which I would be sad about but would be fine with. That’s what I wanted for State — to get out of purgatory with Gott and make a real run at Archie before he took a Power 5 job, and we’ll have done that. If it is Wade or Keatts, then I will clearly be in their corner and pulling for them and honestly believe we are better off than we have been with Gott.
BK: Arch and his brother do not want to compete. They’ve said that in interviews, which is why they’ve not scheduled one another. I can’t see Arch taking Cal, and if Arch were at State, I can’t see Sean taking UNC or Duke (not that he’d likely be in play for those).
I think it’s Archie or Wade with Keatts as the floor. With each passing day, I personally feel better about Archie. Like BJD, that’s who I want and have wanted for several years.
I think our search will be will likely be done and announced by the end of next week…..
I don’t buy the Murphy Uber story…
We’ll know in 2.5 weeks unless something strange happens. The tournament will be as interesting this year as bowl season was in 2000.
Wade fits the DD profile. He also fits what Yow seems to like in her coaching hires, though she broke away from that with Wes Moore. Then there’s also the supposed agent connection. My guess is Archie or Wade.
Archie to Indiana
Wade to Clemson
Keatts to Georgetown or L’ville
Collins to Duke in a couple of years when K retires
Marshall to UNC when Williams retires, because they’ll pony up the cash for qualityI know you were saying this in jest, but that turn of events will not happen. UNC will never hire Marshall but will stay in the family. 😉
