Ironically, the one thing I hope this hire does is change the climage of WFU basketball. I'm over the inuendo, the use of PR as a weapon to mollify the BOT while fighting an agitated and frustrated fanbase, the distrust of the AD, and the lack of transparent and honest dialogue between the school and fans.
The last 8 years have been awful, starting with the nut punch, the loss to WVU and everything that followed. Wake's time in the doldrums has to come to an end. We've paid our dues. It's time to be relevant once more. If not, we are in trouble. At the end of the day, I firmly believe that our sports program is the best advertisement for Wake Forest. It costs far more to revive a moribund program than to maintain a good program, and at some point in this new era I fear that the economics to push for an upper tier bb team may not make sense to the administrators.
So here is my request to the AD's office: make this a fresh start. Erase the past. Hire out of exhilaration rather than fear. Hire a coach that excites us, brings in quality recruits, makes Oct-March enjoyable again. I just want, in most years, to be a reasonable contender for the ACC Tournament and the regular season crown and to have a decent chance at the sweet 16. I know this is beyond the reach of most programs. Historically, although Wake may not be Kentucky or Kansas, these milestones are not unreasonable. The structure is there, we just need the right coach.
In return, unlike the Buzz hire which I bitched about from day 1, i won't complain about this hire, no matter my initial feelings, until his impact on the program becomes clear in light of these milestones. Of course, make the right hire and this isn't even an issue...
In hindsight, Dave Odom's years with Childress, Roders and Duncan were glory years, as was Prosser's time with Howard and then Paul. I deeply wish we could have seen what he would have done with the Teague, JJ and Aminu class.
That is all.
The last 8 years have been awful, starting with the nut punch, the loss to WVU and everything that followed. Wake's time in the doldrums has to come to an end. We've paid our dues. It's time to be relevant once more. If not, we are in trouble. At the end of the day, I firmly believe that our sports program is the best advertisement for Wake Forest. It costs far more to revive a moribund program than to maintain a good program, and at some point in this new era I fear that the economics to push for an upper tier bb team may not make sense to the administrators.
So here is my request to the AD's office: make this a fresh start. Erase the past. Hire out of exhilaration rather than fear. Hire a coach that excites us, brings in quality recruits, makes Oct-March enjoyable again. I just want, in most years, to be a reasonable contender for the ACC Tournament and the regular season crown and to have a decent chance at the sweet 16. I know this is beyond the reach of most programs. Historically, although Wake may not be Kentucky or Kansas, these milestones are not unreasonable. The structure is there, we just need the right coach.
In return, unlike the Buzz hire which I bitched about from day 1, i won't complain about this hire, no matter my initial feelings, until his impact on the program becomes clear in light of these milestones. Of course, make the right hire and this isn't even an issue...
In hindsight, Dave Odom's years with Childress, Roders and Duncan were glory years, as was Prosser's time with Howard and then Paul. I deeply wish we could have seen what he would have done with the Teague, JJ and Aminu class.
That is all.
