Who WIll Be The Next PC Coach?
Friday, March 11, 2011
The boss’ chair in the Providence College men’s basketball office hasn’t even officially been vacated yet and Friar fans want to know. They want to know who is going to be their next head coach?
The firing of Keno Davis is expected any time now. If it is not done today, it is likely to be done over the weekend.
We have already detailed some of the questionable aspects of AD Bob Driscoll’s last search for a new head coach. I would imagine that Driscoll may handle things differently this time around.
Regardless of how Driscoll goes about his search, the names of candidates to replace Davis are plentiful. Here’s a look at some of the names Providence College may consider over the coming days and weeks ahead:
THE BIG NAMES:
Bruce Pearl – The 6th-year Tennessee coach has done a fabulous job for the Vols leading them to the tournament in his first 5 years at the helm and has them positioned for a sixth trip to the Big Dance. Why, then, would Tennessee want to part with Pearl and why would he want to accept a lesser job at PC? Simple. Pearl brought some embarrassment to the program when he violated NCAA recruiting rules and lied about it to investigators. He received an 8-game SEC suspension for his indiscretions. If UT is, in any way, still unhappy about that, they may be willing to let him walk.
Pearl is also a local guy from Boston, Massachusetts and a graduate of Boston College so this would be a homecoming of sorts if he were to come here.
Classify Pearl as a long shot.
Hewitt is in his 11th year with the Yellow Jackets where he enjoyed lots of success in his early years going to 4 NCAA’s including the 2004 Final Four and an NIT in his first seven years.
In his last 4 seasons he has made just one trip to the postseason and his team won’t be going this year following a (13-17) campaign. That certainly doesn’t make him the hottest name out there.
Let’s consider Hewitt a possibility.
However, both coaches teams are doing very well this season and their teams are NCAA Tournament bound. Plus, if both turned the job down last time, it is likely that they would do so again.
Let’s call Pitino and Larranaga out of the question.
POSSIBILITIES:
PC fans got to see him up close and personal last spring when his team traveled east to Providence where they knocked off both Richmond and 9th-ranked Villanova to advance to the Sweet 16.
It would seem doubtful, however, that Bennett would leave St. Mary’s to come to PC as he could be a candidate for a much higher profile job this off season.
Bennett coming to Providence for a second straight spring seems highly unlikely.
Skinner’s resume speaks for itself. He is the winningest coach in Boston College history having gone to 7 NCAA Tournaments and 1 NIT in his 10 seasons at Chestnut Hill.
He’s won in the A-10, the Big East and the ACC and he has a knack for recruiting diamonds in the rough which you have to do at a school like Providence.
Troy Bell, Tyson Wheeler and Cuttino Monley are just a few examples of the great under-recruited players Skinner brought in that turned out to be program-changers.
One more plus is that he recruits tough kids and his teams play tough on both ends of the floor which is something the Friars did not do on Keno Davis’ watch.
Some would say Skinner being out of the game might hurt his chances or that he’s not a guy that is in his office 24/7 but look at the man’s record (247-165) at BC and (385-291) overall.
Skinner should be on PC’s radar.
The Crimson are (23-5) with impressive non-conference wins over Colorado, George Washington and Boston College for the third year in a row. Harvard has an RPI of 34 leaving some to wonder if they have a shot at an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament should they lose to the Tigers.
Let’s also not forget that Amaker went to 1 NCAA Tournament and 2 NIT’s (winning one of the two) while the head coach at Michigan. He also led Seton Hall to a Sweet 16 appearance as well.
Amaker is considered an excellent recruiter but some question his game coaching which has improved in his 4 years at Harvard.
His wife has an excellent job at Harvard and the two reportedly love it up there. Still, if he were to take the PC job, his wife could still work in Cambridge, couldn’t she?
Tommy Amaker should get an interview.
OTHER NAMES:
Kenny McDonald – The Western Kentucky coach is a former Friar (’93) who played for Rick Barnes and coached under him at Texas. In his 3 seasons with the Hilltoppers, he’s had two 20+ win seasons. They finished (16-16) this season.
Ed Cooley – The 5th-year head coach at Fairfield has done a nice job of building a program winning 23 games last season and 24 this year. He came close to taking the Stags to the Big Dance last year and may do it this season if he can win the MAAC Tournament at the #1-seed. Still, this may be a name that excites Rhody fans more given his ties to that program.
There will be other names which will be thrown around but it will ultimately be Driscoll’s decision. Unfortunately, the Providence job is not as desirable as it once was by those in the industry. It’s is one of the toughest jobs in the toughest conference in all of college basketball.
Still, there is a good infrastructure in place at PC where they are committed to having a good men’s basketball program and to see the young men that come through it succeed.
While there is no on-campus arena, the Dunk is a very nice facility and the fitness center on campus and improvements that already have been made and will be made to Alumni Hall and the men’s basketball office are more than adequate.
People say that there’s no great area to recruit around PC but that may be a bit of a misnomer. New England Prep School basketball is among the best in the country attracting some of the top high school players and coaches from top college programs who recruit them.
Let the search begin!
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