Any coach that comes in when a team is 0-3 and turns that team around to 10-5 deserves a fair amount of credit.
When I read yesterday that Wellman is 64 it dawned on me, as Pilchard stated earlier, that Wellman will never hire a young coach. He probably doesn't even know anybody in college athletics under the age of 50. All of "his guys" are older and on the downside of their career. Look at Bzz. He's basically said this is one last run at being a head coach before collecting social security.
It's impossible to make a HR hire of a 58 year old. The shelf-life is just too limited.
Look at the clear HR hires of our lifetime in the ACC: Dean Smith, age 32. Coach K, age 31.
He will be Duke or UNC's coach one day if we do not hire him now.
I said this 2 years ago and I am saying it now. He is our best chance at starting a huge 30+ year run. That is what we all want and need and that does not start with a broken down old man who will be dead soon.
This kid knows every high school coach in this State and has been dedicating his life to coaching ACC and college basketball on a daily basis for years. He is focused and will not stop and can be had for a steal as he grew up watching the Deacs. He wore #22 at UNC for a reason.
The credibility he has from winning that title recruiting wise cannot be overstated. Vic Bubas went to N.C. State. Bones McKinney went to Carolina. The fact that he went to Carolina and played for Roy is actually a strength for us--not a weakness.
Maybe I am being a little nitpicky, but, I really hate absolute statements like this. If a team is 0-3 because it played 3 great teams and the new coach comes in and takes them to 10-5 against a bunch of really crappy teams, does the coach still deserve a fair amount of credit? I don't know but I doubt the turn-around in record is any big deal in that scenario.
I don't know the details of the situation here, but, from the stats someone else posted it looks like a lot of the improvement in w-l record may have come from playing worse competition or the same competition at home instead of away...
Well said. However, that may not apply when hiring a big donor's son. Sure Wes Miller is a young coach, but he's connected to a contemporary of Wellman.
Well said. However, that may not apply when hiring a big donor's son. Sure Wes Miller is a young coach, but he's connected to a contemporary of Wellman.
UNCG played Davidson in Greensboro shortly after Miller took over; Davidson won 92-63. Davidson is clearly the class of the SoCon this year (14-2 with two games remaining), but UNCG has been playing really well for a month and a half now--much better than they were when Davidson beat them. They've pretty much got the #1 seed from the North Division wrapped up for the conference tournament in two weeks.
I was always surprised that Dement didn't get more out of that roster, as they certainly had enough talent to compete in the SoCon. Of course, one of their problems has been that they are playing a ridiculously tough non-conference schedule in an attempt to get fans of BCS programs to come and buy tickets at the Coliseum.
I know you know this already, but, the possiblity of making the HR hire is definitely there with a young coach, but so is the risk of the strikeout.
HA! No way a Tarheel ever coaches at Duke - not sure if anyone has been paying attention but that is a pretty large rivalry.
Wake has an opportunity to absolutely kill it with Wes Miller. I think it's low risk, high reward. If we hire him and he's not great right off, he has time to grow and is a young guy that fans will definitely be willing to get behind and give him the required time.
Miller has ties to Wake so he would definitely consider us. This is the best opportunity Wake may have ever had in hiring a basketball coach. We need to take this.
Doesn't he have a .500 record?
This is the best opportunity Wake may have ever had in hiring a basketball coach.