With so much focus on the current “Sendek Situation” – and the tendency of so many to pass judgement based on individual games as opposed to the entire body of work – we thought that we would step in with some comments from Dallas.
The following comments are a blend of our personal opinion based on some things that we have been hearing:
Our advice – take a step back, relax, and enjoy the NCAA Tournament.
No matter which “side” that you may reside on the Sendek issue, ultimately it is not going to matter. The only thing that is going to matter in this situation is the market’s interest in Herb Sendek.
Here is why we believe this:
First, NC State is NOT going to fire Herb Sendek. It is that simple. For a million reasons that most average people/employees who are held to certain standards cannot comprehend, Lee Fowler and NC State are not going to ‘fire’ Herb Sendek.
But, Herb Sendek can choose to leave on his own. And, based on what we have heard from some sources, we believe that Sendek has made the decision to leave Raleigh if the situation was “right”. It is the definition of the “right situation” that we are unclear on.
Since we shared the following with you last week as we “set the table” on this topic…
Herb Sendek has been sending feelers throughout various contacts inside of college basketball for the last couple of weeks regarding different potential jobs. One specific job that has been specifically mentioned is Oregon.
…we have learned that Coach Sendek has escalated his discussions inside the world of college basketball regarding his desire to move to a fresh beginning. Sendek is fed up with the current situation at NC State and wants to leave. (Despite what any administrator or player may publicly argue).
But, despite Sendek’s current frustration of the situation, we highly doubt that he will choose to just walk away from his $800k per year paycheck in Raleigh without another job in place. That is not to say that he would not take another job that pays less. Based on Sendek’s past behavior, we just doubt that he will walk away from State without another job lined-up.
So, the question now becomes – can Sendek find a new job that he deems worthy of taking?
Some new jobs have opened in the last couple of days that might be a fit for Sendek – like the unexpected firing at Iowa State. Additionally, some other shoes may still drop – like Seton Hall. And lastly, there is still the domino-effect of the coaching carousel at potential places like Iowa and others. We believe Sendek would gladly accept a job in the tier of a Missouri, Iowa, Seton Hall, and Iowa State. How far down that tier dips is anyone’s guess right now.
A single (or potential couple) of NCAA Tournament win(s) against the backdrop of ten years of coaching should have little impact on your personal belief if Sendek can get the job done at NC State. By the same token, we don’t believe that a couple of NCAA Tournament wins can repair Sendek’s feelings toward the NC State community; nor can they serve to convince him to return to a program that loses three key seniors (and potentially other key players) who are being replaced a middle-of-the-ACC recruiting class.
In our opinion — the more success that Sendek has in the NCAA Tournament, the more marketable he is to other schools.
With that said, maybe NC State fans can finally have some short term success (ie – NCAA Tournament) while also benefiting the long term progress of the program (ie – a new coach).
