Don’t forget who Dean’s top assistant coach was during the Jordan years.
Dean Smith’s top assistant throughout his career from start to finish was Bill Guthridge.
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Come on. Which guy did Kansas hire when it was looking for a young, up and coming coach?
I am a huge fan of Roy Williams. His Kansas team’s and his Carolina team’s but Bill Guthridge was always Dean Smith’s right hand man. That’s why Guthridge succeded Smith at UNC.
Additionally Guthridge turned down numerous head coaching positions to stay with Coach Smith
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Three things:
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Guthridge may have turned down some jobs, but he wasn’t offered Kansas, either. You really think Kansas hired Dean’s #2 assistant?
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If UNC could have hired Roy when Dean retired, they would have.
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Guthridge was a great assistant, but in his second year as a head coach, they lost to Weber State in the first round of the tourney, and in his third year, while they made the Final Four, it was out of nowhere as they were a 14 loss team. They started going downhill by then, and it accelerated under Doherty until Roy came back to fix things.
Guth was also like 70 then
Both are great coaches in completely different ways. Let’s just leave it at that.
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Are you implying that there have been dominoes to already fall privately?
Man, sure seems like Pierce and Wagner are a bit duplicative in their skill sets if Wagner is indeed on board. And neither really addresses the glaring need on this team, which Beilein himself acknowledged, for more ballhandlers. That’s why my ideal finish would be Wagner and Hyland.
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Wagner is onboard?
With Zavier at PG next year, what is more important: non-Zavier ballhandlers or Shooters/passers?
It is just speculation based on circumstances
As a 150-160lb freshman, could we expect Hyland to contribute that much more NEXT SEASON (2019/20) at the 2 position than could Brooks, Bajema, and Wagner (if he commits to us)?
Hyland may have more 2 position career potential, but next year is what I am most concerned about. For the 2020/21 season, Bajema as a sophomore and somebody like 2020 recruit JAR (Jabri Abdur Rahim) could be just as good or better than Hyland.
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My instinct would be to say ballhandlers, but I guess it’d be a pretty compelling argument to say we know Zavier will dominate the ball so might as well get shooters
Would you rate position/role or readiness to play higher on the priority list?
Position/role, but I’m of a different mind than many on this board and probably John Beilein himself. Beilein is looking to win a championship next year, whereas I just don’t think next year’s team is going to be a Final Four contender given the known weaknesses. I’m very skeptical. I’d rather build for the year after.
In which case evaluating someone like Hyland or Bridges would have to focus more on comparing against 2020 options, right?
Btw people, I would feel confident about Pierce coming here.
Piecing all the information together:
- Michigan overtook original favorite Notre Dame after a great visit
- UNC insiders are not sure how well the visit went, and whether they made a jump or not
- Pierce spoke to a Michigan site first about his timeline
- Buzz about Pierce’s role at UNC being a concern, while there hasn’t been any sort of negative buzz for Michigan
Normal recruiting tea leaves point to him announcing as a Wolverine today or tomorrow. #3 is the big one. Whoever is getting the direct/best access usually is a good indicator.
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I agree completely. I, for one, will be very happy if/when this happens. While he’s not going to replicate his numbers at William & Mary, he’s extremely smart, he’s very versatile position wise, and he’s a perfect fit for what we need to go with next year’s team. For those who are concerned about how we’ll fare as a team next year, Pierce (assuming he starts) would give us a lineup of 3 seniors and a junior with the fifth spot yet to be determined. Those teams, especially ones where the upperclassmen have been multi-year starters and/or contributors at the college level, generally do quite well.
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Listening to Sam this morning he covered pretty much everything we already know. Michigan “seemed” to lead after his visit to Ann Arbor. There is very possibly a better opportunity for playing time at Michigan. Justin had said he would take a few days to process before announcing his decision, etc. This was all in response to a caller being concerned that we hadn’t heard anything yet, and gosh, he finished his visit to UNC two days ago.
Sam also talked about UNC only having one spot left and being a serious contender for Precious Achiawu. Sam also said, however, we don’t know what Carolina is telling Pierce about that, the recruitment of Achiawu, and how much they are prioritizing Pierce.
While this discussion was going on I couldn’t help thinking about the entire admission to graduate school and the administrative aspect of a grad transfer. Lo and behold Shelley Kovach called in. Shelley is a long time Michigan Academic Advisor who has worked with both athletes and non athletes. Shelley talked about all of the paperwork and administrative stuff that has to take place. She suggested perhaps the young man is waiting for final word on admission to Michigan’s graduate program, and especially with the new transfer portal administrative rules, etc. Makes sense.
Finally, We all want to know sooner rather than later, but this is an important decision for the young man. He did say he wanted to make an announcement before he graduates from William and Mary. That graduation ceremony takes place on May 12. I certainly hope we don’t have to wait that long, and we MAY hear today or tomorrow, but we may not.
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