http://www.newsobserver.com/122/story/427190.html

Quote :

"The most surprising aspect of N.C. State's basketball coaching search is the belief by some that it's a waste of time for the school to court big names. What a bunch of hogwash. To say State is acting too big for its britches by aiming high is exactly like saying that South Carolina had no business trying to hire Steve Spurrier as its football coach. Or that Rick Pitino, having once coached the basketball team at Kentucky, would never consider Louisville. Wolfpack athletics director Lee Fowler is doing precisely what he should do in swinging for the fences in his quest to find Herb Sendek's replacement. Why not? Even more to the point, why should anyone at State take a defeatist attitude into its own job hunt? That would be just begging to be average. There is no guarantee that Fowler will connect, of course. Texas' Rick Barnes, the No. 1 target all along, has declined. But it certainly wasn't a no-brainer for Barnes. He mulled the offer long and hard. And with good reason. State's basketball situation is attractive by any measure. The fans are passionate, the program's legacy rich and the financial rewards generous. It's safe to say that 75 percent of all current college basketball coaches would jump at the opportunity to coach the Wolfpack. Does that preclude the possibility of landing a coach among the remaining 25 percent? Certainly not. Where basketball is concerned, State is not a mid-major school in a mid-major conference at a mid-major location. It's just the opposite, in fact. State basketball has featured periods of greatness dating back to World War II and has been consistently far above average throughout most of that same stretch. Had it not been for Everett Case winning big at State in the 1940s and '50s, there is every chance that North Carolina would not have hired Frank McGuire and gone undefeated in 1957. Had it not been for State's fans, the ACC Tournament would not have become a national sports fixture. Had it not been for Lorenzo Charles, there wouldn't be a lead highlight film clip for CBS-TV to start each NCAA Tournament. Jim Valvano won a national championship at State at about the same time that Mike Krzyzewski was fighting like the devil to keep Duke fans from storming his front porch. It's true that State has had its moments of turmoil, too. So have North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky, UCLA, Michigan, Kansas and just about every other school that dabbles in high-octane athletics. But the assertion by some that State is a second-class basketball program is more than inaccurate. It's offensive to the ear. Now, Fowler has turned his attention to Memphis coach John Calipari, another big name. Whether Calipari is seriously interested or can pass State's muster isn't known at this point. But if things work out between the parties, you can bet your Chuck Taylor high-tops that he will not arrive in Raleigh with a willingness to concede ACC championships and regional supremacy to North Carolina and Duke. He will go after Williams the same way Williams went after Krzyzewski; the same way Krzyzewski chased Dean Smith in the 1980s and '90s. What's wrong with that? Should State hire a coach, whether that coach is a big, middle or little name, who takes the approach that Duke and Carolina are simply too good for the Pack to attack head-on? That's ridiculous. If something like that made any sort of sense, every other school in the ACC would have dropped football the moment Florida State was admitted as a conference member. I'm not saying that John Calipari ultimately is right for State or that the school is right for him. But you put Calipari on that Wolfpack sideline next season, and it's a stone-cold lock that the country -- and the nation's top high school prospects -- will take immediate notice. No one will scratch their head and ask themselves, "Now who was that guy N.C. State hired?" It comes down to this: State right now has an opportunity to replace a good coach with a great one, and it's going to take a great one to compete against Duke and Carolina. Great coaches can be found almost anywhere. Duke found Krzyzewski at Army. That is a well-known fact. Less known is the fact that Duke once strongly considered hiring Adolph Rupp not long after he was basically forced to retire at Kentucky. Fowler could well wind up bringing in a coach with little or no name recognition, and that coach could turn out to be the next Krzyzewski or Williams. But for anyone to criticize Fowler and State for pursuing a coach capable of making the biggest possible instant impact is absurd at best and ignorant at worst. Here's another way to look at it: Roy Williams said no to Carolina once, but did that stop Dick Baddour and the school from going after the same coach a second time? No, because Carolina wanted to get the best coach it could. State has every right to do the same. If it doesn't work out, so be it. But there is no reason in the world for State to target coaches who think that being third on the block is good enough. "

[Edited on April 10, 2006 at 11:09 AM. Reason : .]

4/10/2006 11:08:01 AM

already posted in calipari thread i believe

4/10/2006 11:08:47 AM

[old]

4/10/2006 11:08:51 AM

DAMMIT

[Edited on April 10, 2006 at 11:09 AM. Reason : .]

4/10/2006 11:09:28 AM

just stop. everyone stop. no more fucking threads about ncstate-calipari. its all been done and if its new post them in their respective places.

4/10/2006 11:09:57 AM

Caulton Tudor is, imo, a new diety to be followed blindly...... assuming he keeps telling the gospel truth about NC State's history.

4/10/2006 12:14:36 PM

That might be one of THE best articles I've read out of the N&O in a very, very, long time.

4/10/2006 12:46:08 PM

That was a good article in my opinion.

4/10/2006 1:06:35 PM

caulton tudor has the beardawg "not-suspended" seal of approval.

4/10/2006 1:14:30 PM

Tudor seems to have done some soul searching of his own since Sendeks departure

4/10/2006 1:40:33 PM

^agreed

4/10/2006 1:43:10 PM

That was a good column.

4/10/2006 5:16:31 PM