The Good The Fair And The Ugly

I thought it would be fun to go back a few years and find something written on a blog to write about. The following was written on a blog no long being maintained April 16, 2007 about the coaching changes coming in college basketball.

Good Hires

Billy Gillipse – Kentucky – Despite the slimeball move of leaving A&M after agreeing to a contract extension (honestly, what are the point of contract in college athletic anymore?) I still think he is the best young coach in college basketball. Perfect for rebuilding the Kentucky program. Just look at the wonders Gillipse did at doormats UTEP and Texas A&M. In my opinion, Gillipse is a better fit at Kentucky than Donovan would have been.

Stan Heath – South Florida – Still not exactly sure why he was fired after making back to back NCAA Tournament appearance at Arkansas, but Stan Heath actually lucked out. Not only does he get to leave the insane fan base in Arkansas, he gets to coach in the Big East. While he has some rebuilding to do at USF, it not like their isn’t a large recruiting base in Florida.

John Beilein – Michigan – Great move by Beilein. He took the West Virginia program as far as it could go. Time to move to Michigan, a school that should be rivaling Florida and Ohio State for two sport supremacy.

Bad Hires

Bob Huggins – West Virginia – The least surprising coaching move of the offseason was Huggins bailing on K State (the only school that would give him a chance) after one season for a paycheck. Great character influence on the student athletes of West Virgina. I have a hard time seeing the Mountaineers being successful without Beilein’s quirky offense. West Virginia isn’t exactly teeming with basketball talent. As I have said before, never trust a man who wears one of those garbage bag jackets to a basketball game.

Frank Martin – Kansas State An unproven assistant coach taking over the #1 ranked recruiting class in the country….sounds like trouble to me. I guess it worked for Larry Coker, for a few years anyway.

Steve Alford – New Mexico – There is something fishy about someone leaving a Big ten school to got to New Mexico. His Iowa team perennial underachieved in the post season outside of the Big Ten tournament and has survived on name recognition for awhile now.

My thoughts on what was written three years later and how I would rank his thoughts.

Billy Gillispie – Off of reputation it sounded like a good choice but when you can’t spell a coaches name your opinion is a little suspect. Ugly

Stan Heath – Stan Heath has moved South Florida to the middle of the Big East. Fair

John Beilein – His seat is getting warm as he hasn’t managed to get Michigan to where the fans want. Fair

Bob Huggins – Not only has Huggins succeeded at West Virginia his team also had the highest collective GPA of any men’s basketball team in the Big East. Beyond Ugly

Frank Martin – The Fiery coach has proved everyone wrong. Even Me Ugly

Steve Alford – Alford has become right at home in the Pit. Its probably a better place for him than Indiana where he would have always been in the chair throwers shadow. Ugly

It just goes to show that even when you think you have coaching figured out things don’t always work out the way you expect them to.