[NU Sports] Basketball recruiting

[NEONRye at aol.com]

I think it's more than money.  Unlike RW's "spread offense", which  gives 
recruits a chance to shine offensively and creatively, the "Princeton  Offense", 
which can be a beautiful thing to behold, requires players to  sublimate their 
offensive "game" to the system.  I'm not the first lister  to note this, and 
I'm sure I won't be the last.   And while it does  give us the ability to 
topple better teams, it also hamstrings us in the end, as  there are just so many 
players who either can't fit in (and thus aren't  recruited, although 
otherwise qualified) or don't want to (so they don't  come to Evanston, even if they 
have the "smarts").  
 
In normal circumstances I would say stay with Carmody, as he seems to be a  
classy guy and represents the school well--and it's not like he can't  coach.  
However, when you have wandered in the desert for several  generations, you 
need a new approach to get to the "Promised Land" (How about  Springsteen for 
Coach!).  I am looking to Mark Murphy, in whom I place a  lot of faith, to find 
a way to break NU's "schneid" of 67 years.  It's time  for a "celebrity coach" 
(backed by a strong set of recruiting assistants) to  break the cycle of 
mediocrity (and even that's an overstatement, since most  years we have losing 
records).  Someone (perhaps an ex-Bull like a Steve  Kerr, if he were interested) 
who can attract media attention and make NU a  "sexy" pick for a HS hoops 
star with brains (and hopefully brawn).  
 
Paul Levinson