It is not imperative for an educated man only to distinguish emotion or rather, emotion-”less” upon a face and in a person’s eyes. Well such is the reality of one ACC Head Coach. Sidney Lowe does not look like a man sold out to his passion of basketball. I have no doubt that he loves the game, developing talent, leading young men, and NC State. But any previous fire has been hosed down. He won 20 games his first season in ’06-’07, and the future looked bright with a handful of McDonald’s All-Americans and other highly recruited players, but things have never really taken off. He has an 83-73 overall record in 5 seasons, but even worse, a 22-51 conference record. You don’t have a 22-51 conference record in the North Carolina Triad of schools.
Like football in the SEC southern domain, to the state of North Carolina, basketball is life. What other 3 schools in the US have a combined 12 National Championships and countless NCAA Sweet 16′s and Final Fours between them…all the while, with a proximated distance of less than 15 or so miles between each school? Throw in Wake Forest, who’s had great successes and tradition of their own, with alum consisting of Josh Howard, Mugsy Bogues, Randolph Childress, Rodney Rogers, and oh yeah… Chris Paul and Tim Duncan.
Throwing those facts aside for now (although, you can never throw them out) Sidney Lowe has lost his team. He may have lost it for good after last season’s heartbreaking loss to Florida at the RBC Center. That started a trend. He may have lost it well before that fateful game, but it’s gone. And poor State fans, calling for Herb Sendek’s head, who by the way compiled a 72-88 conference record, never finishing below 6th in the conference, taking the Pack to 5 straight NCAA Tournaments, with a Sweet 16 to boot. Meanwhile, Lowe has never finished better than 9th in the Conference and has thus, failed to earn a NCAA bid in 4 seasons (and well on our way for a 5th). But all that’s hodgepodge. As an ACC and Carolina fan, lived in the state of North Carolina, with all my family roots in North Carolina, I say the Wolfpack deserve better. ACC fans, NEED NC State to win. They have too much tradition and legacy to be left to soak in mediocrity year after year. Furthermore, it hurts the conference greatly, RPI, among other things. As a Carolina fan, I admit that as much as I love beating State, it’s un-interesting for me to watch the Heels beat them every single year. Same with Duke. The rivalry has softened. In fact, it’s hard to believe that it has sustained. The Wolfpack nation need a revival.
Listen Sidney, I love the Red Jacket. You can recruit, but can you coach? Can you even relate to the college players? Ya’ll gotta win. I’ve never seen a more boring, un-enthused, selfish brand of basketball than I saw during their defeats to Carolina and Duke. They were essentially playing 1 on 1. You can’t do that to any team, but especially those two squads. I don’t know how many times they would pass the ball once or twice, maybe, and take a bad shot or (figuratively) isolate the lane for a puny, helpless, and pathetic drive to the hoop. There is no offensive or defensive cohesion in that system right now. No ball movement. Selfish play. They don’t box out. They don’t play defense. They play like we did in P.E. circa Middle School Era. Everyone looks lost. Their attitudes reflect their coach.
So here’s the deal, I’m going to give you 12 candidates to replace him at the end of the season. I believe these are viable options. It’s not a bad situation for a coach to go to NC State. Great fan support, decent amount of history and tradition (not so much in recent years, but nothing that can’t be revived), playing against the best of the best every week. The University supports the basketball program. The expectations are as low as ever at this point…You could make the tournament every other year at this point, maybe even stretch that out to once every third year…the fans and school might even be happy for a little while. After the 5th or 6th year, you couldn’t count on that, but my point being, given the context of NC State Basketball and the direction it could take…is a positive one. If you’re a coach, mid-level expectations, take them to an NCAA Tournament in 2 or 3 years…pays well, you get to play Duke and Carolina every year…not a bad decision.
Here are the (realistic) candidates I think could help NC State become moderately closer to what they used to be…keep in mind though, just because I said it’s a good situation for a coach to transition themselves to State, doesn’t mean every coach would consider it (hence, Coach K, Calipari, Self, R. Williams, Izzo, Boeheim, etc.):
1. Billy Gillespie (Kentucky, Texas A&M) Ok, so he’s got some alcohol demons to demolish, but we all have our problems. Obviously as a coach, you need to set a higher values and moral example but if he can get healthy, NC State should take the risk/reward on Gillespie. He can flat out coach. He coached UTEP out of the doldrums in two season marking the most remarkable turnaround in NCAA History, made Texas A&M a perennial force in the Big 12 in 3 years, and got the Kentucky gig. It obviously didn’t go as well as expected, but there didn’t seem to be much loyalty by the Wildcat fan base and he was let go after 2 seasons. He did prove he could recruit, bringing in guys like Patrick Patterson, Alex Legion, Daniel Orton, DeAndre Liggins. NC State isn’t quite the pressure situation that Kentucky is. But it’s an opportunity for both sides. He may even begin to give Carolina and Duke a run for the money every now and then. Assuming his personal life will get right, he is a top candidate and Raleigh would be a great fit.
2. Sean Miller (Arizona, Xavier) I don’t know if NC State is as good of a job as Arizona, but this would be a target. Miller coached in Raleigh under Sendek from 96-01 before moving to Xavier as an assistant to Thad Matta. When Matta left for Ohio State, Miller succeeded him and took the Musketeers to 4 NCAA Tournaments with appearances in a Sweet 16 and Elite 8. In the midst of the Arizona turmoil, he now has them in position to grab the Pac-10 title with a current 20-4 record. Within 3 months on the job, he hauled in the 12th ranked recruiting class (according to Scout.com), so he’s proven he can recruit as well. Being tutored by former Pack coach Sendek and current Buckeye, Matta, it becomes an impressive resume that State should not ignore. He’s familiar with the program, can coach, and recruit.
3. Vinny Del Negro (LA Clippers, Chicago Bulls) So State may not have the resources to cash in on Del Negro, but he is a State alum who did a solid job with Chicago and is now doing well with the Clippers, sans Blake Griffin and the resurgence of Baron Davis. But we all know about the Clippers franchise…always mediocre, with players and coaches essentially a revolving door. There may be no indication that he wants to get out of that and into something more stable at the Collegiate level, but regardless, it would be a major pay decrease. But the guy can coach. State may not want to go in the direction of hiring another NBA guy, but if I were State, I would go after an alum with a decent NBA record. He was 82-82 in Chicago with 2 playoff appearances in 2 seasons before he was let go. Trust me, it’s a lot harder to get into the NBA playoffs versus a field of 68. That’s a major upgrade from Lowe. Besides, his NBA connections (also an Assistant GM in Phoenix) may intrigue some major high school recruits.
4. Andy Kennedy (Ole Miss, Cincinnati) Another former Sendek apprentice. Kennedy has good basketball knowledge and has done a good job at Ole Miss. Because of his “incident” with the cab driver, the Rebels let him keep his job, but denied an extension for now. He’ll probably be cleared, charges dropped, lawsuits settled, lessons learned, but now may be the time to bolt if the opportunity arises. He also coached under Bob Huggins. And I think some of that Huggy fire rubbed off on him a little.
5. Anthony Grant (Alabama) Great job at VCU. Made the Sweet 16 by beating a good Duke team a couple years back. Doing a great job at Alabama. He relates to players well and spent a decade plus with Billy Donavan at Marshall and Florida. Alabama will always be a football school. He hasn’t been there long, but if the job opens up, NC State should be in contact with this guy.
6. Gregg Marshall (Winthrop, Witchita State) I have a feeling Marshall may want to head back to the southeast. He’s built great programs everywhere he’s been and his teams have always been a threat to upset in the Tournament.
7. Russ Springman (Asst. @ Texas) Rick Barnes’ right hand man. Great recruiter. And Texas teaches fundamentals as well as anybody in the country. If he gets a crack at it, I think he could fit in.
8. Josh Pastner (Asst. under Lute Olsen, Memphis) This a stretch. I think it would be a nice debate whether or not Memphis is a better situation than State. But I’d try to talk to him anyways. He’s young, can recruit, and by next year Conference USA will journey into becoming his. He’s a Lute Olsen disciple and has done a great job taking the place of Caliapari. He may want a new challenge. State would be the perfect place to start.
9. Dana Altman (Creighton, Oregon) He was very loyal to Creighton. But he committed to Arkansas a few years ago, only to negate his verbalized acceptance to initially take the job. Last year he finally moved on and took the place of Ernie Kent at Oregon. He has a great system and his players always have his respect. It’s a long shot, but it’s worth asking.
10. Larry Harris (NC State) I would not be surprised if State at least “talks to him”. He’s been there forever as an assistant to Sendek and now Lowe. He would help bridge the gap so to speak. Whether or not it would be too agonizing to keep him there for any length of time might be an issue. But he deserves a talk.
11. Joe Dooley (East Carolina, asst. @ Kansas) He’s been in North Carolina before as the coach of East Carolina. Nobody wins there. But he can coach and Bill Self thought enough of him to add him to his staff at Kansas. Self acknowledges that Dooley helps immensely in the recruiting department. He deserves another crack at it.
12. Mark Few (Gonzaga) I’ve liked this guy for a long time. A lot of schools have liked this guy for a long time. He was once a hugely hot commodity. He’s had his opportunities and seems to want to stay at Gonzaga. We all know he can coach. We all know they win the WAC every year, but he’s bound to get bored with it at some point. He’s still relatively young and has really helped to develop some fantastic players. He’s put a few guys in the NBA (even if Adam Morrison was a bust). He’s worth seeking.
