In a lot of ways, it's too bad that Mike Brey won't be coming to N.C.
State. He's had a tough time the last couple of years at Notre Dame, but
some of it was beyond his control. And his accomplishments at Delaware
were remarkable.
What we would have enjoyed at State would have been watching him revive
State's traditional D.C. pipeline. Brey has great recruiting connections
up there- during his time at Duke, at one point Duke more or less owned the area
and got more or less what they wanted out of D.C. and Northern Virginia.
State got some great talent out of that talent bed in years past - Kenny
Carr, Hawkeye Whitney, Rodney Monroe, Dereck Whittenburg and Sidney Lowe, among
others. Morgan Wooten of DeMatha seemed to have a soft spot for State.
That would have been fun. The academics wouldn't have been a big deal
for Brey - he has negotiated admissions at Duke and Notre Dame. Pity.
And speaking of State, Andy Katz took a fairly extended break and still
didn't miss much about their search. His latest comments:
Want to know why more candidates are turning the job down than considering
it?
Here is a sampling of the criticisms of NC State from those who have flirted
with the job:
- Academics -- NC State is tougher to get into than people think and Herb
Sendek had low-maintenance players academically. - Ego -- Few coaches want to throw themselves in the middle of a Hall of
Fame coach (Duke's Mike Krzyzewski) and a potential HOF member (North
Carolina's Roy Williams). - Treatment of Sendek -- Coaches read and listen to their brethren and a lot
aren't thrilled with the way Sendek was treated, despite going to five
straight NCAA Tournaments. - Guaranteed money -- There is concern that all of the potential contract
wouldn't be guaranteed if a firing occurs.