Looks like Brad Brownell

I was going to do a multi-part series on TDP's train wreck of a search committee but I ended up in the ER over the weekend, complete with Desmondesque cat scan (Lost reference), but as I came to today it seems that Jeff Capel and Scott Drew turned down offers to be the next coach as well as Mississippi State coach Stansbury. Not getting a sniff from Capel and Drew really sucks--I don't think Capel is that great an X's and O's coach but would have been a high profile coach to salvage the wreckage and Drew would have been a great hire to me. I think a lot of the negativity surrounding him is sour grapes and his hiring of some AAU summer league people to staff positions but whatever--he turned us down.

I think hiring Stansbury would have been a step backwards. He can recruit pretty well but has had above average teams in the SEC and not been able to deliver down the stretch. The teams he has coached have been loaded with talent at times but I just don't see him doing much better in the ACC and taking us to the next level.

Other coaches interviewed were Jacksonville's Cliff Warren who is a Paul Hewitt protege. I think I'll pass, he has built a respectable program there after five years but sorry maybe after the jump to a mid-major or more sustained winning. Same goes for the Wofford coach Mike Young who I have great respect for but don't think has shown enough to merit a jump to the ACC just yet. His teams play hard and are well coached (Wofford also doesn't support the bball program nearly as much as it should) but it has taken awhile for him to build to this level. I would not feel confident with him taking the reigns.

Blaine Taylor is an interesting candidate to me. I like the way his ODU teams play, good enough to make it to the second round of the tournament this year, and this is the second program he has achieved success with--doing it first at Montana where he took two teams to the NCAA's. He has had some post-season success--taking his 2006 squad to the NIT semifinals and was an assistant coach for Stew Morrill in the early 90's and then Mike Montgomery from 98'-01'. Am I convinced he could lead this team to the promised land? My main question is his ability to recruit in the south and land top prospects. I think that this hire is the biggest wildcard on the table.

Herb Sendek shut us down. I would have liked to have seen us interview the Xavier coach and probably the Western Kentucky coach but other than Drew from Baylor I really don't see a coach I am thrilled about.

All that said it shouldn't matter because by all accounts and people I have talked to Terry Don is going to land Brad Brownell as his big fish. So lets take a bit closer look. He has posted twenty plus win seasons all four of his years at Wright State but only made the dance in the first year. He coaches in the Horizon league, a highly competitive mid-major that has as its main competition Butler. Most people say apart from Brad Stevens he is the best coaching talent in the league. He has done a good job with two smaller programs, first UNC-Wilmington and then with Wright State. Interesting bit of trivia, Brownell was an assistant under Jerry Wainwright who left UNC-W to go to Richmond and then to DePaul where he was fired this year. You know the rest of the story.

Oh just saw Shakin has a much better write up of this whole thing than me so check it out here. Knowing that Brad Stevens was a pipe dream I think that Brownell is the best name we have so far. I want to see him lock down Marcus Thornton and keep Booker and Johnson on the team. Johnson would flourish in Brownell's offense and hopefully he can teach the team to set some screens and shoot the ball. No more of this needing to recruit better shooters--at the very least I want a guy who can teach. I will miss the pressure D and the full court approach but this year the system looked worn out so maybe we won't miss it much. I do, however, want to win next year--so whatever it takes TDP. If you make a bad hire I want your resignation...

Brief Coaching Analysis: Part 1 Al Skinner

So TDP out is interviewing coaches which is good because we need to get this done and have a coach take back control of this program. Thornton is asking to be let out of his LOI which will happen but he is not against returning to Clemson(although he better understand that he is not going to be allowed to go to another ACC school--thats just standard LOI practice, everyone, everywhere does it). So the first thing I want the new coach to do is go and park his car outside the Thornton home and stay there until the ink dries on his LOI to Clemson.

Next I want him to drive to Union and the home of the Booker's to stroke the ego and let Devin know he will be a focal point of the offense. I was going to write a post about how I hate it when players whine about playing time as freshman (especially when they play more on average than any other freshman and even start a couple of games) but truth be told D Book is our only legit back to the basket post presence and if someone would teach a guard how to throw the ball into the post he could do some damage. No one else will...Bobo?? Grant is a nice complimentary post player and has made great strides but will struggle as the main offensive post threat.

So lets look at who has interviewed thus far. We begin with Al Skinner.

#1 Al Skinner--Fired recently from BC, he has the most wins in BC school history. He is immaculately dressed all the time. At home he sports a tie and on the road a turtleneck or sweater combo (but never a tie on the road). He seems to never wear the same suit twice in a season. I'm not even joking.

His offense is really boring. He played for the ABA Nets team with Julius Erving. He runs a Flex offense where cutters cut across the floor. You may remember the offense from watching your local high school bc it is what the majority of teams run because its pretty simple and gets everyone moving. What BC did nicely was to really pack in the floor making it a very physical game. Learning how to set screens is something Clemson players have never learned so that would be a welcome change.

My feeling right now with Skinner is that we could do worse. He knows how to coach fundamentals. His teams have done alright in the past--he coached some good Rhode Island teams in the 90's to the tournament (the 2nd Round!!) and his Dudley teams at BC were good making it as far as the Sweet 16. But they have been lackluster this past year and losing seasons in 2 of the past 3 seasons doesn't sit well. It seems that Skinner has lost some of his passion for the game, he has never been an amazing recruiter. I think he develops the talent he has adequately though. He has never recruited much directly in the south and he is not young. I feel at this point that he is a fallback after we shoot a little higher.

Thornton Considering Leaving

This is the one thing I just really didn't want to have happen. Marcus Thornton, Mr. Georgia Basketball, is considering asking for a release from his letter of intent. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal but he is the only recruit we have coming in this year and he blossomed as a senior. He would be snatched up by pretty much anyone at this point.

He has the athleticism we need and really would have been good in Purnell's system. I say we sit on it until the new coach is at least signed and if I was the administration I would want to keep him locked in and make him transfer. I know that is a really crummy thing to do but recruiting is done and he is our only recruit...I probably wouldn't be able to do it but I would sure want to.

I think I would be more upset to lose Thornton than I was hearing that Purnell was leaving. At just a hair under 6'8", Marcus Thornton is the power forward/athletic slashing three we need for our offense...