BobStackFan4Life
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I know some of the people on here thought Wellman should go after Howland while others, most notably rj, felt Wake should not go near him. Anyway, saw this on the frontpage of CBS Sports this morning. For some reason they don't mention the Wake opening.
And the California native with three Final Fours on his resume would've taken either job if offered. He tried to get involved at both places. But for reasons I'll never understand even if I live to be a million years old, Tennessee and Missouri each passed. And, at this point, that looks like the best thing to ever happen to Mississippi State.
"[Ben Howland has] proven what he can do," Schnider Herard, a consensus top-50 national recruit in the Class of 2016, told Scout.com's Evan Daniels on Wednesday, a few moments after publicly committing to Mississippi State. "He's been to the NCAA Tournament and has guys in the [NBA]. Everyone knows he's a great coach."
Everyone, apparently, except the geniuses at Tennessee and Missouri.
Let's instead focus on Mississippi State and what Howland is doing in Starkville. He got hired in March and quickly gained a commitment from Malik Newman, a five-star recruit who could lead the SEC in scoring this season. That development -- along with three other commitments -- helped Howland secure a recruiting class that ranked 20th nationally, according to 247Sports, just four months after moving to the Magnolia State.
Not bad.
And now things are even better.
Herard's commitment gives Howland four commitments from the Class of 2016, three of which are consensus top-100 national recruits. So now Mississippi State's class is ranked 10th in 2016, according to 247Sports. And Daniels believes it could actually improve.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/25363361/ben-howland-still-making-mizzou-tennessee-look-silly-for-passing-on-himBottom line, here's the lesson: Don't overthink it, you brilliant athletic directors. When you're a middle-of-the-pack power-conference program, at best, like Missouri or Tennessee, and you have a chance to hire a man who has made three Final Fours and was, just a year earlier, playing an up-tempo brand of basketball that resulted in an outright Pac-12 title, you make that hire. You turn UCLA's loss into your gain. Because, if you don't, then somebody else -- like Mississippi State, for instance -- will eventually turn your loss into theirs.