Who is running their search? Chris Collins doesn’t deserve the job he has, let alone a better one.
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If the Northwestern gig doesn’t work out for Chris maybe he can latch on with one of the local junior highs.
WF obviously doesn’t match NW’s history of futility (I don’t think any power conference job does) but I’m not sure it’s that much of a better job - their program success is basically reducible to two coaches (Dave Odom, Skip Prosser), and even within that those guys were really only successful when they had one of two players (Tim Duncan for Odom, Chris Paul for Prosser). I guess Randolph Childress was pretty good.
Still - its a small academically focused private school (just like NW) sitting in the recruiting backyard of several giant monsters with…laxer…standards.
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I was actually just thinking about Wake Forest and how they had Tim Duncan for 4 years and didn’t even get a Final Four out of it.
Anyway, Wake is definitely not a good job because of where it sits in relation to other schools in their state that have a much bigger draw and that they have little history to speak of. Probably still better than NW but I can see the arguent for the reverse. Regardless it’d be a good move for Collins because he’d get at least 4 years without fear of being fired,
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I mean, look at those rosters. Duncan had 1 teammate that triggers even a glimmer of recollection, which was having his freshman and sophomore years overlap with Randolph Childress’s junior/senior years (ok, Treelonnie Owens sparks a glint of recognition, and he was ok, but that is more because of “Treelonnie”). Duncan was more of a bit player as a freshman, so we’re talking 1 year of having a real teammate while he was good (and they won the conference). Junior/Senior Duncan had nobody, and finished 2nd in the ACC.
Yeah I don’t mean to say those teams underperformed, but to have Tim Duncan on your team for 4 years and not have a team that ended up making the final four would feel like a bit of a letdown later on I’d imagine. The guy immediately went for 21 and 12 on a playoff team in the NBA after he graduated
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A couple of interesting names here… Justin Smith… Ibi Watson… and of course Nojel Eastern.
Lol Nojel
Why not
I mean Ibi strikes me as absolutely nuts (6th man in the A10) but at least he’s made a jump shot before.
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I like to think Nojel’s advisory report just said “No”
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I think if we were still in the days of the Bad Boys, Riley/Van Gundy era Knicks or Riley-era Heat there’d be a place for a 6’7” squid who can guard 3-4 positions.
But Nojel’s lack of a single discernible offensive skill strikes me as a problem.
I remember Rusty LaRue as the quarterback of the WF football team, a pitcher on the WF baseball team, and a starting guard on the basketball team. He also had a 4.0 GPA, IIRC. How often does one see a three-sport D-I athlete? He even made the NBA.
I also recall the tall, lanky Spanish kid Ricky Peral, as well as Tony Rutland and Jerry Braswell. Then again, I lived for '90s college hoops and can probably think of more players from that decade than from the 2000s or 2010s.
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“When they say NO!, he says JEL!” NOJEL! NOJEL!!!
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You forgot the “lol” in front of “no.”
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Rusty LaRue always reminds me of Rosey LaRose, from Strange Brew:
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Everyone here is also forgetting Rodney Rogers, who was really good and a first round pick. Also, going way back into the early-to-mid 1980s, they had a kid named Kenny Green who was a first round pick and a star. Wake has had decent teams from time to time. They have more program history than Clemson, for example.
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Josh Howard was really good at Wake too. Darius Songalia, Jeff Teague, Al-Faroq Aminu. Those teams weren’t world beaters, but they won tournament games and had solid seasons with those guys. Wake is a tough job but it is still miles better than Northwestern. NW is among the 5 or so worst Power 5 (6 in hoops) jobs in existence.
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John Collins was really good in college too, and is now an emerging young star for the Hawks.
Songaila is a guy Michigan came close to landing.
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I think that would be the attraction for Collins. Does he have 4 years left at NW if they continue on the current trajectory? I would think not…
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And Chris Paul. And shoutout Justin Gray my most random former favorite player in college basketball.