:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/49146487/usa-today-9091676.0.jpg)
No great surprise here: NC State's Cat Barber is off to work.
| If you're going to shop Amazon please start here and help DBR |
|---|
| Drop us a line at our new address |
Barber told State coach Mark Gottfried that he's in the draft to stay.
He has a daughter and wants to make a living, so who can blame him?
Even if the NBA doesn't work out, Barber could play for years and years internationally and should make a good living for a long time.
After Jamie Dixon left, Pitt had to make a run at the Miller brothers, both of whom have apparently said no. Arizona's Sean said no quite publicly, while Archie apparently let it be known privately that he wasn't interested. So on to The Next Guy.
Whoever that is, Pitt's hired a search firm.
Pittsburgh has a unique identity, as hardass as anywhere in the country. If they find the right coach to feed into that, he'll be a huge success. A guy like Gregg Marshall could be a great fit. They probably can't get Marshall, but someone with his (better) qualities would be a great fit.
Archie has some of them, but that ship has apparently left port.
Since it's not Miller Time, A.D. Scott Barnes has some qualities that he'd like to find in a coach and one of them is having as a style that puts fannies in the seats as they like to say.
Fortunately that rules out native son Herb Sendek. We went to one game at NC State and it was absolutely dreadful. He managed to smother all the life and fun out of that team.
If he really wants to try a wild card, what about Duggar Baucom?
He made his reputation at VMI where, of all places, he introduced his loot and shoot offense. You may remember that during the Dark Days at Kentucky (aka the Billy Gillespie interregnum) VMI actually beat the Wildcats in Lexington, a feat which resulted in death threats and a lower Kentucky birth rate for months.
Just kidding on that last one, but the depression in the Commonwealth was real.
For whatever reason, Baucom left VMI for the Citadel. It's odd to think of his wide open system at military academies but maybe it's like Germans on the autobahn: it's the one place where regimentation gives way to exhilaration.
Who knows? He could just be at the level where he's meant to be.
They'd never do it of course. He's not an impressive enough hire. But he'd be fun.
It's probably a bit late now, but we've never understood why Bob McKillop's name never comes up in coaching searches, because the guy is a great, great coach. He's made Davidson relevant and it's not just because of Stephen Curry. People forget how bad Davidson was before McKillop overhauled that program.
We'd have to consider King Rice too, after his breakout at Monmouth, Scott Cherry who's done a fine job at High Point, Kevin Keatts of Wilmington and Andy Toole of Robert Morris.
At Pitt right now, the odds of bagging a big-time coach are slim. Barnes would be better advised to find a young rising star.