“It’s an open and national search, and the search begins immediately,” said University President John J. DeGioia on the head coaching vacancy at Georgetown. The real question is, does Georgetown have the prestige to get what it desperately needs: a marquee coach to turn around the sputtering program?
I asked Mike Wilbon of the Washington Post and ESPN’s “Pardon The Interruption” this question, and his response was an unambiguous, “Hell yes.” He thinks Georgetown can have any coach it wants.
I’m not convinced. Georgetown has limited resources. We play at the MCI Center, where the fan base is average at best. Our practice facilities are JV. Our school, despite astronomical tuition, has no significant endowment. Is our administration prepared to shell out money to strengthen basketball, or are they more concerned with other needs?
To Wilbon, Georgetown basketball of the mid-1980’s made GU a top institution. The success of the team led to an increase in applications. With our national ranking in jeopardy of dropping out of the top-25, it’s time to bring in a big-name head coach to revive the University.
Here’s who we should consider:
1. John Thompson III, Head Coach of Princeton University. Who knows if Thompson will want to follow in his father’s footsteps, but as Mike Wilbon said, “Georgetown should make him say no.” He seems to have his father’s coaching genes with three Ivy League Championships under his belt in four years. But is it time for Georgetown to move on from John Thompson, or are they willing to give the genie’s bottle one more rub?
2. Johnny Dawkins, Assistant Coach of Duke University. Duke baby, Duke. He’s been by the side of the cream of the crop, Coach K, for seven years, and he’s got to be dying to give head coaching a try. He could be a complete bust, but he could also be brilliant. Yeah he could pull a Roy Williams on us down the line and ditch us to go back and coach his alma mater. But at this point, who’s not willing to take that risk?
3. Jeff Capel, Head Coach at Virginia Commonwealth and the youngest head coach in Division I at age 29. He’s got the Duke background but he needs to build up the resume. He’s off to a good start, taking small VCU’s Rams to the tournament out of the Colonial League. Capel’s young, he’s smart and he’s determined.
4. Bobby Gonzalez, Head Coach of Manhattan, the 12th seed in this year’s tourney that took down Florida in round one and almost made it to the Sweet Sixteen. He’s won back-to-back Metro Atlantic League championships with a team that plays tough defense, practices hard, and wins. He’s ambitious, flashy and sure to leave Manhattan for St. John’s or Georgetown.
5. Mike Anderson, Conference USA’s Coach of the Year for Sweet Sixteen bound University of Alabama Birmingham. If anyone saw their amazing upset over Kentucky, they saw it came from the coaching. Using 12 players throughout the game and a “40 minutes of hell” strategy, Anderson forced Kentucky to change their style of play. Their relentless defense and total team effort was absolutely beautiful to watch. The longtime prot?g? of Nolan Richardson deserves a serious look, whether or not he chooses to leave the comforts of the South.
Who’s going to restore the hope? We won’t know for a little while, but what we do know is that Big East basketball is only going to get better. Next year the conference invites Louisville, Cinci, DePaul, Marquette and South Fla. The conference will only get tougher, and unless we take the time and effort to pick a great head coach, a demotion to the Patriot League might be in our future.
