[NU Sports] BB Coaching Change? (fwd)

[Mark Ament]

I've stayed out of this discussion for about as long as I can.  I've 
expressed before on this list my respect for Carmody as a coach.  I 
think he is one of the top coaches in the Big Ten.  The problem NU faces 
started long before BC got to Evanston and he has made great strides 
towards overcoming many of them.

Recruiting is the end all and be all of college basketball success.  
More than any one factor, it is the reason for our long NCAA futility.  
The Daily Herald series on our CPL experience points out some of the 
problems and some of the opportunities that now lie ahead.  As 
mentioned, the addition of Tavaras Hardy will reap major benefits down 
the line.  It's an unfortunate accident of timing that Craig Robinson 
got his much deserved head coaching job at Brown just as his 
brother-in-law, Barack Obama, chooses to run for President.  I'm sure 
that were he still at NU, those connections could pay big recruiting 
dividends.  Hopefully, they still will, as we are not likely to be go 
after too many of the same kids.

Facilities is a major, major factor.  The arms race in college athletics 
is very real and NU is far behind in basketball.  When recruits visit 
Evanston, they see a great campus, with decent athletic facilities and 
terrible basketball facilities.  The message is that NU doesn't care.  
Why would they want to come?  Sure, the fix-up will help, but it's a 
band-aid as far as I can tell.  I haven't seen detailed plans, but 
unless McGaw is being drastically overhauled (i.e. essentially gutted 
and rebuilt from the inside out) then it will be too little.

The academic issue is real, although Tavaras will help some.  Don't hold 
up Vandy, Duke and Stanford.  The standards are different.  The 
exceptions that NU makes for athletes are nowhere near as exceptional as 
those made by our "peer" institutions.  Duke might as well be running a 
remedial education program for the basketball team with the admission 
standards it applies.  As for Vandy, well, it does play in the SEC - 
need I say more.  Stanford has always maintained a separate set of 
standards for exceptional students of all types - be they athletes, 
celebrities or children of politicians.

In the end, it comes down to a perception on the part of high school 
kids about the place of basketball in the college community and the 
perception at NU is that basketball doesn't hold a very high place in 
the lives of the students or the administration.  The games are not 
particularly well attended and the facilities are at mid-major, if not 
low major quality. That is not a recipe for recruiting success.  Until 
that changes, don't expect miracles from Carmody.
Mark

SportsBiz <http://thesportsbizblog.blogspot.com> - The Business of 
Sports Illuminated
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Jim Leonard wrote:
> Everyone,
>
> I received the email below from another NU fan who asked me to post it to this list for discussion. I think the point is valid. If our trustees were willing to invest in NU basketball, I think we'd be more competitive. 
>
> Go Cats,
> Jim
>
> ----- Original Message ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> IMO, the root of our problem is a 60 year or so background of administrations that don't have sufficient interest in basketball. They have not and will not provide the things a good program needs, like better facilities and the funds to let a good coach hire top assistants and keep them.
>  
> Academics? No excuse. Duke debunks that. So, does Stanford. And, just the other day Vanderbilt beat Florida, the national champs! Vanderbilt, no less, a school with high academic standards. 
>  
> As to coaching, no one can convince me, that in the past 60 years or so we have not had some capable coaches, guys like Tex Winter, and arguably even our present coach, Bill C. 
>  
> Yes, coaching is not the transcendent problem. Rather, I say to myself, "It's no support, Stupid!" Considering 60 years of basketball obscurity, it just has to be that! Our administrations just don't want to provide the $ for top notch facilities, competitive wages for assistants, and recruiting. Over the years, our trustees consistently refuse to provide our coaches the tools they need to compete. Their interest has been and is more on football and other sports. Since the 40s (?), for Northwestern, basketball has been on the back burner.
>  
> Bottom line:  The buck stops with the trustees.
>
>
>  
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