Monday, March 28, 2011

Now, back to important stuff


Now that this whole distraction of the heels being alive (sorry Brad) is over, everyone is getting back to talking about something important, NC State's next coach.

Mostly reliable sources confirm Barnes did come to Raleigh last Monday, but has removed his name from consideration. Rumors of some weird stuff in Barnes' personal life played into both his interest and him saying no eventually.

Last Friday morning, before the Duke win. Sean Miller's dad took the heat off Sean by saying the family had talked about it, and he didn't want to be considered for the State job. Don't be surprised if he hasn't heard directly from someone connected to State since the loss Saturday though.

Rumors continue to fly that State is/has worked out a potential deal with Shaka Smart's agents, which will be presented to Shaka at the end of their run. Somewhat hard to believe he will be at VCU next year, but I also don't see State throwing major big-time money at him. In some ways I don't see State hiring him based on this ncaa run, so the question is was he on Yow's b list before the NCAA's. He's obviously really impressive, but his track record is short and skeen was a transfer, although you could figure he may have recruited him there. My guess is that Missouri or Oklahoma may be in the mix for Smart, and state won't get into a bidding war over someone with 2 years head coaching experience. But, if the A list runs dry, you could sure see State fans getting excited over a guy that is this young, connects with kids, and is sure to outlive the neighboring giants.

Tim Brando tweeted yesterday that he was hearing rumblings of a monster ncstate hire. That's all he said. Rumors went crazy on Miller and Barnes again, but some chance that it was something started by our old nemesis Greg Doyell, who has some talk about Billy Donovan and NC State. Can't imagine State paying Donovan money (3.5M) for Donovan.

Also rumors of deal with Mike Brey have been floating around. That one actually could make a lot of sense.

Greg Marshall, Oliver Pernell, Mark Turgeon and a couple of other names keep popping up. Unless she misses on everyone, I still expect it to be a head coach and not a top assistant. Some State fans are asking why not look at Chris Collins or Wojo. In some ways it makes a lot of sense, but the mixed bag (actually more negative than positive) of K's assistants make it somewhat risky at this point.

Let me be the first to say publicly that because this decision can have an effect for the rest of my lifetime as a State fan, it is HUGE. IF a deal doesn't materialize that is A list or very high B, while it would look pathetic publicly, would kill 2 years worth of recruiting, would hurt ticket sales, and would piss off Wolfpack Nation, there is another scenario here. If the right guy isn't going to happen this year, does Yow have the guts to publicly say, "We can't get the guy we want this year, but we will get him, so for now we are naming Towe (whoever) interim coach for 1 year".



Thursday, March 24, 2011

Tudor: UNC's '77 loss to Marquette still stings - North Carolina - NewsObserver.com

Tudor: UNC's '77 loss to Marquette still stings - North Carolina - NewsObserver.com MY FAVORITE TEAM EVER!