Ahead of the curve on Scott Drew, Bruce Pearl

Coaches College Basketball On the Record32

As you watch(ed) the 2010 NCAA Tournament Regional Finals on Sunday, we thought we would take a quick look back to some past entries on the blog that had particular relevancy today.

First, let’s take a moment and draw your attention to this entry from April 15, 2009.

It is a good entry in general. But, on a day that Baylor is getting ready to play Duke for the opportunity to advance to the Final Four, I don’t mind tooting our horn and highlighting the following:

While we are discussing Baylor, can I just say Scott Drew to get it on the record now? This guy is going places.

An entire year ago as the Baylor Bears were heading into a season where they were to be chosen to finish 10th in the Big XII conference. But, we were giving you something to watch.

And…just to note…we didn’t stop there. If I may take a moment to highlight WHY you should be spending regular time on our Message Forums — it would be this detailed conversation on Scott Drew over three months ago.

Thank you for allowing us to indulge for a moment. We choose to be a little more ‘out there’ with opinion and perspective than you get from most of the more static sites that seem to be scared of their own shadows as it relates to forming an opinion. So, it is important to us to highlight some of our differentiating factors.

We also have noticed a big spike in visitors who are struggling with reading comprehension and drawing accurate conclusions even when they are clearly told something to the contrary. Just so we don’t get sideways on the topic of Scott Drew…please note that we are no endorsing him for anything.

One of the names I enjoy following has been Scott Drew at Baylor. If you are not familiar with the horrible mess that Drew inherited when he accepted the job then you should do a little researching & reading. (Forget for a moment that Waco, TX and the Baptist school of Baylor is one of the less fun and more miserable places on the face of the planet).

Now…please note I said that I enjoy following him; I did not say that I had necessarily held him in high regard. I just think he sits more in my realm of awareness because I lived in Texas at the time of the Dave Bliss scandal and I think it is fascinating that anyone would coach at Baylor, let alone be successful.

Secondly, in March of 2008 we took a similar look back at comments that Jeff made on the blog in 2005:

I’ve been watching Pearl and his program from the periphery over the last couple of years and have been more than just a little impressed with what I have seen. Therefore, I wanted to go on record as recognizing this as a great hire for UT. It will be interesting to watch their program develop.

For kicks…I will predict that within four years from today, the Tennessee basketball program will have very strong momentum after appearing in at least two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and will be obviously established at the top of the 2nd tier of SEC Basketball schools just under Kentucky and Florida- a tier currently inhabited by Alabama, Mississippi State, and LSU.

Ok…maybe he hedged a little. As convinced as SFN was in Pearl’s ability to succeed, we admit that we cushioned more than was needed in our prediction of his success. Pearl is in his 5th season at Tennessee; and is currently participating in his fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament. He is 62-28 against SEC competition, compiling a winning record against every program in the conference except Kentucky.

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Coaches College Basketball On the Record

32 Responses to Ahead of the curve on Scott Drew, Bruce Pearl

  1. RickJ 03/28/2010 at 1:24 PM #

    Great stuff – One of the unusual things about Scott Drew is he did not play high school or college basketball in spite of his father being the Valpo coach for years. He was a manager for the Butler team during college. I think a lot of people mistake him for his brother, Bryce, who was a terrific player for his Dad at Valpo and hit one the best buzzer beaters in the history of the NCAA Tournament.

    Before Baylor he was the coach at Valpo for one year and did pretty good. I would love to know why Baylor hired him 7 years ago with so little a track record and at such a young age – a heck of a hire.

  2. TheAliasTroll 03/28/2010 at 1:32 PM #

    Hell, why not endorse him for “something”? I mean the man is staring at a final four appearance in the face.

  3. StateFans 03/28/2010 at 2:35 PM #

    ^Because I don’t know enough yet to feel comfortable that he is never going to get busted for bending some rules.

  4. one00_proof 03/28/2010 at 2:47 PM #

    ^—ding ding, that’s the one knock on him. Think Calipari without WWW. While Calipari is under the microscope, he has WWW to do the rule bending for him. Drew is known to tip toe dangerously on the line.

  5. ncsukyle 03/28/2010 at 2:47 PM #

    While we’re talking about up and coming coaches, what about the Butler coach, Brad Stevens. He’s going to be pretty good also and if we had to pick a successor to Lowe right now he’d be a close 2nd to Drew.

  6. StateFans 03/28/2010 at 2:50 PM #

    Can’t help but love Brad Stevens. I spoke with a member of the ACC media earlier in the year that told me that Stevens would be his choice for hire if NC State was ever in the market for a new coach.

  7. Wolfy__79 03/28/2010 at 3:24 PM #

    absolutely agree, i would like to see either of those two end up in raleigh. stevens is terribly young, i’m sure he’s on alot of schools’ radar.

  8. StateFans 03/28/2010 at 3:37 PM #

    I think Stevens may be too young for my liking. If NC State were to need a coach in the next couple of years, I feel as though we need much more of a Gary Williams type than Herb Sendek type to compete with the top of the conference.

    How often has the quiet, polite, yet-to-be-established type broken through in the ACC?

    Skip Prosser & Gary Williams are the two closest things to challenging the Blue Bloods in the last 20 years. Both of them were seasoned, experienced from big conferences, and felt very comfortable in themselves and their programs to go on the offensive.

  9. TheAliasTroll 03/28/2010 at 3:47 PM #

    I would love to have Brad Stevens. I can’t even imagine how good of a coach he’s gonna be when he grows up.

    lol

  10. wolfmanmat 03/28/2010 at 4:06 PM #

    Brad Stevens: He’s a young guy, from Indianapolis who coaches in indianapolis for a program that recruits a specific type of player and has no ties to Raleigh…not sure he’d be a great fit for ud.

  11. TheAliasTroll 03/28/2010 at 4:16 PM #

    He’s 33 and in the final four with a “mid major”, he’d be a perfect fit us.

  12. Wulfpack 03/28/2010 at 4:36 PM #

    Surely, Butler is going to lock him up long term after this season. Northern Iowa just gave its coach a 10 year deal after their run. Stevens will be in high demand. There will be a ton of suitors. And you are going to have to pay top dollar to have any kind of chance.

  13. Wolfy__79 03/28/2010 at 5:44 PM #

    my whole thing about picking up coaches like that is why would they leave their current team when they appear to be achieving on the highest level??? same for barnes, i wouldn’t leave texas for NCSU.

  14. TheAliasTroll 03/28/2010 at 6:11 PM #

    I agree with both Wolfy__79 and Wulfpack. I don’t see how we’d realistically be able to get Stevens to come here, nor do I think we really would have a chance with all the other variables in play. But I will say this, I sure as heck wouldn’t complain if we were ever to somehow land him.

    It’s a fun topic to discuss, but it’s really a moot point for at least a year.

    I’m just hoping Mr. Lowe really climbs that college coaching learning curve next year with some alleged ACC caliber guards and starts putting up some significantly bigger numbers in that ACC win column. I’m dying over here waiting to really enjoy an NC State basketball season.

  15. Wulfpack 03/28/2010 at 7:19 PM #

    Was not very impressed with Scott Drew and Baylor tonight. Looked an awful lot like Georgia Tech out there.

  16. TheAliasTroll 03/28/2010 at 7:23 PM #

    I’m rooting for a Baylor/Duke match up. I personally think it’d be an outstanding matchup.

  17. 61Packer 03/28/2010 at 8:07 PM #

    Why are we talking about getting a new coach? When Lowe goes 7-9 in the ACC next season, Fowler will give him a lifetime contract.

    LOWe EXPECTATIONS U- that’s us.

  18. blpack 03/28/2010 at 9:49 PM #

    One more year, either way. Lots of good coaches out there who would be thrilled to come to Raleigh. No one comes with you-know-who still here though.

  19. ThomYorkepack 03/28/2010 at 10:20 PM #

    Stevens can write his own ticket now, and wait for the perfect opportunity to move on from Butler. Ironically, him making the Final 4 probably makes it less likely we could hire him.

    I imagine he’ll stay at Butler long enough to do a whole bunch of winning, while keeping a close eye on what Tom Crean is doing at IU.

  20. MatSci94 03/28/2010 at 10:22 PM #

    “Locking up” a coach isn’t so much about the years or the money, but what the buyout looks like. (is it generally low, are there schools listed as exceptions, does it drop after year X, etc)

  21. BJD95 03/28/2010 at 11:06 PM #

    I’m not going to shake my head disapprovingly at Scott Drew. Something about stones and glass houses comes to mind.

    That said, Baylor was really tight today, and it showed. Actually, of the four “up and coming” major conference programs in the Elite Eight, only one survived to Indy. It’s the one with a coach that had been there before (Huggy Bear).

    Still, Baylor, K State, and Tennessee can certainly be proud of what the accomplished, given their programs’ track record in the modern era.

    I’m rooting for a Butler/WV final, which is the exact opposite of what CBS wants.

  22. ncsu_kappa 03/29/2010 at 1:46 AM #

    I would be very interested to know how Foulup could successfully sell the NC State job to a potential up and coming coach for football or basketball? An older one (O’Brien) has less to lose because their careers are essentially over already so why not hit a pay day before retirement. Why would a Pearl, Drew, or Stevens remotely consider NC State given the high likelihood of failure by our definition?

    My only guess is money but it would have to be more than a Miami, FSU, BC, would pay because expectations are a lot lower. I think we are in a dolphins/cowboys situation. We need proven, been there coaching experience to turn us around in 3 years to respectability, then I think we maybe able to attract a young gun like Stevens. Lowe makes the job look hard and Sendek (and media) made us look unappreciative.

  23. Wulfpack 03/29/2010 at 6:37 AM #

    “Why would a Pearl, Drew, or Stevens remotely consider NC State given the high likelihood of failure by our definition?”

    It’s highly doubtful any of those guys would even consider NCSU. My point has always been that we need to find the NEXT Pearl, Drew, Stevens, etc. Nobody knew who these guys were not too long ago. Some people just know how to create their own luck. Of course, we all agree with LF in charge this isn’t going to happen.

    “Locking up” a coach isn’t so much about the years or the money, but what the buyout looks like.”

    Agreed. Interestingly, Butler plays football in the Pioneer League with Davidson, Campbell, Dayton, San Diego, etc. It’s a non-scholarship league. You’d have to think that the folks in charge are going to get together to throw everything they have at him to stay.

  24. Daily Update 03/29/2010 at 8:07 AM #

    Hiring Pearl before UT was the move that NC State should have made. He really was the perfect coach for NC State. Not a chance he would leave UT for NC State at this point. There is no reason to do so. He has everything he needs at UT.

    Are people seriously saying the Butler coach wouldn’t leave Butler for our job? He and Drew might take another job over ours, but Butler and Baylor aren’t going to be the last stops for those guys(assuming they keep winning).

  25. The Busdriver 03/29/2010 at 9:11 AM #

    Off-topic somewhat, but people will not let this go. From ESPN this monring on LAvin possibly taking the St. John’s job:
    “Lavin was working at ESPN in Bristol, Conn., over the weekend and was expected to stay in the area so he could meet with Monasch. Lavin was on the verge of accepting the NC State job in 2006 in a whirlwind time for the Wolfpack after Herb Sendek went to Arizona State. The Wolfpack offered the job to then-Memphis coach John Calipari who turned it down. Lavin ultimately withdrew and stayed at ESPN.”

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