What was the sentiment when we hired Skip?

[buckets]

I wasn't around when we hired Skip, but what did people think of the hire at the time? Good coach? Too old? Were people excited or cautious? Was he a surprise hire or did people see it coming?

Looks like he had a really solid but not spectacular run at Xavier. Now, I'm not sure that we could snag a coach from X.

 

[DeaconSig]

really excited. Won the fuck out of the press conference.

 

[94Deac]

Whatever wavering there was dissipated quickly. Witty, funny, friendly, charismatic, and oh yeah- good recruiter and game winner. Was he John Wooden? No. Did he make [Redacted] look like a shit-shoveling mute? All day long.

 

[Say Hey Deac]

People were pumped about Skip. The name kind of came out of nowhere, but mainly because I think people didn't think he'd be interested in leaving Cincinnati, and also the boards were entirely fixated on John Pelphrey. He nailed the press conference, where his personality and humor were a welcome change from the seriousness of Odom.

 

[Fuck Your Couch]

Wasn't on the boards back then either. Reaction kind of sounds like board reaction to Clawson. People on the boards though have made references to concerns over his postseason success when he was hired, although that could be hindsight posting.

 

[ManhassetDeac]

I remember a lot of casual fans not having any idea who Skip was. But then, he so quickly engaged students and crushed press conferences that everyone was excited.

 

[PhDeac]

Wasn't on the boards back then either. Reaction kind of sounds like board reaction to Clawson. People on the boards though have made references to concerns over his postseason success when he was hired, although that could be hindsight posting.

There was a poster from X who came over and mentioned postseason problems but he generally was dismissed.

As a fanbase, we were aiming lower. People make fun of the Pelphrey hype but it made sense given where we got Odom.

 

[DeacsOrDie]

really excited. Won the fuck out of the press conference.

Better than Clawson's?

 

[KidA23]

I was a NEXT LEVEL reader/lurker on the Scout boards at the time, and recall vividly a combination of (i) utter shock that he was even available and would be willing to listen to an offer from Wake, and (ii) nearly universal enthusiasm and praise for the move. As others have stated, our rumored candidates at the time were Beilein and Dr. John Giannini, while the boards' preferred target was Pelphrey. I don't recall ever reading any scuttlebutt or rumors re: Skip.

Upon the announcement of Skip's hiring, I recall a collective e-boner for Wellman that he was able to pull it off and reel in a guy like Skip. To be fair, in the immediate days that followed (prior to the introductory PC), there were a fair number of posts expressing skepticism over his post-season record: an issue that, unfortunately, remains unresolved and will continue that way. And of course, we all recall our collective reaction to his press conference; it was Clawson, but to an 11.

 

[Iron Mike Sharpe]

IIRC - a lot of the buzz pre-Skip was that John Beilein was the top candidate. In fact I think the talk was we had a plane set to go up to Richmond if Skip turned us down. People were somewhat lukewarm toward Beilien. Interesting to think about where we would be now if we had picked Beilein.

 

[KidA23]

Better than Clawson's?

The "We're not the University of North Carolina at Winston-Salem; we're Wake Forest" line alone (paraphrased) regarding Wake's need to recruit top-level talent was the one thing Wake Forest basketball fans had always been dying to hear, even if they didn't consciously realize it.

Clawson's press conference was awesome because he "gets" that we should be aiming to win ACC championships, and that this can be done at Wake. Skip's press conference was awesome because he "got" that Wake basketball as an entity needed to stop its inferiority complex with respect to the UNCs and Dukes of the world, and instead take this conference from them using the very same blue-chip players they had always taken from us. That was music to the ears like I don't think I've ever felt as a sports fan, or will ever again.

 

[RJKarl]

IIRC - a lot of the buzz pre-Skip was that John Beilein was the top candidate. In fact I think the talk was we had a plane set to go up to Richmond if Skip turned us down. People were somewhat lukewarm toward Beilien. Interesting to think about where we would be now if we had picked Beilein.

Like what would have happened had Skip not died.....I definitely believe Skip might have won a NC. He knew how to coach NBA talent and never had one as talented as we were two years later.

 

[Iron Mike Sharpe]

Things also could have turned out a lot differently if Skip took the Pitt job. As unbelievable as it seems now, there was actually a time when the boards were used to rally to KEEP our coach.

 

[berneses]

There was a poster from X who came over and mentioned postseason problems but he generally was dismissed.

As a fanbase, we were aiming lower. People make fun of the Pelphrey hype but it made sense given where we got Odom.

the postseason stuff turned out to be true but everything else about Skip was great.

 

[buckets]

Things also could have turned out a lot differently if Skip took the Pitt job. As unbelievable as it seems now, there was actually a time when the boards were used to rally to KEEP our coach.

I"ve tried to find the article, but there was a news story about how Skip had a stack like a foot high of printed out emails from Wake fans begging him to stay

Crazy thing is... before AFA, he was sitting on a lukewarm seat

 

[2&2 Slider To Leyritz]

I think there was a good amount of excitement primarily because of how boring Odom-ball was to watch, especially when we could see how athletic a lot of the guys on that team were (Howard, Scott, Dawson, even Darius). Everyone had been complaining for years how we unnecessarily slowed things down when the game nationally was speeding up. Wellman basically gave the fans what they had been asking for - an up-tempo coach.

 

[94Deac]

Things also could have turned out a lot differently if Skip took the Pitt job. As unbelievable as it seems now, there was actually a time when the boards were used to rally to KEEP our coach.

IIRC, there was a large group who actually made signs and/or picketed at the athletic dept when Skip was flirting with Pitt. There was a true fear of losing the guy and people really came together to do whatever they could to get him to stay. Makes the day he died all the more gut wrenching. Just an instant black hole. Still unfilled.

 

[EatLeadCommie]

What KidA said. Skip's personality quickly won over any skeptics, and he immediately engaged the student body and got them excited about hoops, revamped the student section, etc... Can you possibly imagine the outpouring of e-mail love and support for Buzz if somebody else were to actually think of hiring him (like Pitt did with Skip)? We wanted him to stay because we genuinely loved Skip. He was one of a kind.

 

[deaconson]

Whatever wavering there was dissipated quickly. Witty, funny, friendly, charismatic, and oh yeah- good recruiter and game winner. Was he John Wooden? No. Did he make [Redacted] look like a shit-shoveling mute? All day long.

if bzz were mute we would all be better off. especially the team.

 

[TheShot]

extremely positive.

seemed to come out of nowhere.