Miami
has hired Frank Haith, who was Rick Barnes' right-hand man at Texas, and at
first glance, it looks like a good hire.
Haith knows the ACC well, having worked for Dave Odom, where he had a hand in
recruiting Rodney Rogers and Randolph Childress, among others.
He seems like a guy who should do well, and we think Miami made a sharp hire,
considering their financial restraints. Give Paul Dee credit: he's a
pretty smart A.D., and our guess is this hire will reinforce that perception.
At Texas, Haith recruited T. J. Ford, Brandon Mouton, and most of the tall
talent Texas had to offer.
He'll be starting over for sure: Miami has eight rising sophomores and
juniors and two rising seniors, which means, barring transfers, a maximum of
three players, and getting started this late means the pool is significantly
reduced. So we'll have to see how recruiting goes for him for a year or
two.
Our favorite player on Miami's team so far: Durham's own Anthony King, who
lists his nickname as - yep - "King."
Not everyone is impressed. Greg Stoda of the Palm Beach Post, thinks
that Miami is giving up, essentially, and that it's a poor hire. We'll
see. His argument is that Miami is only interested in football, and this
is just a stop-gap measure, but any guy who can put Rodney Rogers, Randolph
Childress, and T.J. Ford on his resume is doing okay.
Lately, we're kind of intrigued with the possibilities of basketball at Miami
and Virginia Tech. Both schools have hired very energetic coaches, and we
expect to see a whirlwind of activity in both places. How much success
results is a different issue, but energy is a prerequisite.
Finally, it's worth mentioning that the ACC, long a lily-white conference
when it came to coaches, now has black coaches at Miami, FSU, Georgia Tech and
Clemson - everywhere south of North Carolina. Add Al Skinner at B.C. soon
enough, and it's evident how much things have changed.