Bill Carmody has had a few things to say about
his move from Princeton to Northwestern. First, the system basically stands,
and that leads to an interesting question about the Big 10, which is TV:
Wisconsin won a lot of praise, and justly so, for their magnificent performance
last season. They were just tremendous. They were not, however, good
TV. With the Badgers and Northwestern both playing slow-down games, and
with Minnesota still in probation's toilet, and Michigan still shaky, and Penn
State being Penn State, the Big 10/1 is not exactly going to be
scintillating next year. As a matter of fact, you could argue that it may go
through some of what the ACC went through the last two years. It'll be
interesting. But more interesting is how the TV ratings will do with a number of
teams playing Ugly Ball, either by choice or by circumstance.
Illinois and Michigan State will buck this, and maybe Indiana, Iowa, and Ohio
State, but still, it's going to be interesting to see how this affects the
conference and television.
Carmody
says it's not really that slow, and maybe with better athletes it won't
be. But he won't see Dartmouth or Brown, either. However, he thinks the
system will
be even more effective in the Big 10/1.
Meanwhile, Princeton has stayed in the family, hiring Carmody's assistant,
John Thompson III, son of the former Georgetown coach. He's young - 34 - and
trained under his father and Pete Carrill, so obviously his knowledge is deeper
than many 34 year olds, somewhat like Steve Alford or Jeff Lebo or Mike Dunleavy
Jr - guys who are lifers at a young age, in other words. Here's
some comments on his prospects.