To extend or not extend
regarding the status of coach Carmody, for a long time i've thought NU has no choice but to give him a contract extension. not because he'd earned it, but because having a coach in a contract year cripples any recruiting efforts. [obviously i wouldn't suggest that Jim Phillips hand out a Paul Hewitt contract; see section C on page 3 - every March 15 his contract renews automatically and is essentially a never-ending six-year deal.] but having a lame duck coach makes those conversations with high school sophomores and juniors very awkward.
however, by my count NU only has one spot left for 2010/2011. (let's all pray Tavaras can find a serviceable back-up point guard.) it sounds like Jeff Ryan will be back with Coble, so that would mean Jershon is their 14th scholarship. i think everyone understands that it's all-or-nothing for the Wildcats next season, since NU is set to lose Capocci, Coble, Peljusic, Ryan and Thompson. even if BC got an extension and was able to bring in a decent class for 2011/2012, it's unlikely that a bunch of freshmen will be able to immediately step in for those guys.
of course, the ideal situation would be for NU to pick up more than one additional recruit for the upcoming season in an effort to upgrade the talent. basically do what John Calipari did last year in Lexington: bring in a bunch of better players so the guys already on the roster are SOL. (how awesome would it be if BC just stopped returning Nick Fruendt's calls?) but i don't see that happening between now and mid-October.
in the end, i think Phillips will give him an extension, but let's hope that the structure of the new contract doesn't financially prohibit NU making a change if/when they need to. given that the team in two years will basically look like last season's roster minus Juice (shudder), i wouldn't be upset if JP rolls the dice and puts both the staff and players on notice that it's 2011 or bust.
however, by my count NU only has one spot left for 2010/2011. (let's all pray Tavaras can find a serviceable back-up point guard.) it sounds like Jeff Ryan will be back with Coble, so that would mean Jershon is their 14th scholarship. i think everyone understands that it's all-or-nothing for the Wildcats next season, since NU is set to lose Capocci, Coble, Peljusic, Ryan and Thompson. even if BC got an extension and was able to bring in a decent class for 2011/2012, it's unlikely that a bunch of freshmen will be able to immediately step in for those guys.
of course, the ideal situation would be for NU to pick up more than one additional recruit for the upcoming season in an effort to upgrade the talent. basically do what John Calipari did last year in Lexington: bring in a bunch of better players so the guys already on the roster are SOL. (how awesome would it be if BC just stopped returning Nick Fruendt's calls?) but i don't see that happening between now and mid-October.
in the end, i think Phillips will give him an extension, but let's hope that the structure of the new contract doesn't financially prohibit NU making a change if/when they need to. given that the team in two years will basically look like last season's roster minus Juice (shudder), i wouldn't be upset if JP rolls the dice and puts both the staff and players on notice that it's 2011 or bust.
posted by Fire Bill Carmody at
9:28 AM
2 Comments:
I remember seeing somewhere that Ryan is coming back as a walk-on, which should free up an extra scholarship.
As I said in response to Loretta8's post at SoP, I don't buy the lame duck coach argument. Calipari, Pitino, Huggins- these guys are always one phone call away from a new job (or conversely, one foot on the banana peel), and yet they don't seem to have problems bringing in players to schools that might become just another name on the coach's resume in two weeks. I'd say Bill Self inherited some nice players from Roy Williams when he left, even though rumors of his departure were swirling for at least two years. With a handful of exceptions, the idea of a coach being with a program for a very long time is pretty damn rare.
Moreover- is the concept of playing for Bill Carmody that big a selling point that his coaching in the last year of a contract will make that big a difference? It's not like they'd be playing for John Wooden or something.
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