if we time it right, brad stevens will be out soon...i believe he is growing tired of that league.
I saw Stevens on the sidelines for the Cs last night, and was thinking the same thing. How can we get him to UNC?
Not sure if this makes sense, but I like to think of it as....
in the NBA, you either have the stud athletes to compete, or you don't. Sure there is strategy in running set offenses, etc. - but I think it is harder to overcome and be successful in the NBA if you are a superior strategy guy - with lesser players. Look at all the great teams of the last 30 years in the NBA and it is really the players that stand out more than the coaches (with possibly the exception of San Antonio/ Popovich but still he's always had very good long career players).
In college, I think you can accomplish a lot more, with <= talent compared to opponents, via pure superior strategy and coaching. Stevens accomplished a lot at Butler, and look at what guys like Mark Few accomplish at Gonzaga and Scott Drew at Baylor. They have turned both schools into consistent competitors, and without getting a lot of 5 star OAD uber-talents out of high school.
I'd take any of those 3 over someone "in the family" if the decision were made today. Unless someone could name a UNC alum who is killing it in D1 right now on their own. Maybe Jerod Haase from Stanford, or Wes Miller from UNCG? They have had flashes, but neither seem like slam dunks as proven next hires.
If comparing "get someone in the family" vs. "proven track record of getting most success out of lesser known kids at lesser known schools" - well the comparison seems pretty obvious on which group to choose from. Granted it could be really hard to get people out there to consider UNC. I would like it to be someone who has been head coach elsewhere for a while. I don't think Few is going anywhere. May have a chance with Stevens or Drew or Oats.
Likely Roy is pretty good friends with these guys, and other good candidates from up and coming schools that we don't even know about. I think that it is realistic for Roy and whoever else is deciding on the successor (Bubba C?) to make as a condition of hiring, carrying on the core UNC Family traditions regarding staying in contact with players and families, senior night starters, etc. Even some of the principles and styles to maintain. (Play hard. Play smart. Play together)
We know Roy does a lot of things the same as what DES did, but has done at least as many things his own unique way that worked for him and he developed his own identity and style at Kansas. So - what does -"keeping it in the family" even mean? Even Roy isn't copycatting all that Dean did - and not all that Dean or Roy have done are always 100% foolproof against competitors. So just go for the smartest basketball mind, the best motivator of kids today, who hopefully is decent at recruiting. But it should be easier to recruit kids to UNC - a top 5 all time college bb school and pipeline to TV and NBA contacts galore....than to Butler, Baylor, Gonzaga, UNCG, Stanford.
Last thing - I do just think that the team should choose someone who runs mid- to up-tempo. Meaning no coach from UVA, most of the Big 10 schools, most of the Big East schools. Though Jay Wright would be a great candidate too, if we could lure him away.
team in the conference.
