Q's Take on the Basketball Search
Making sense of the Georgia Tech basketball opening has been hard because Yellow Jackets athletic director Mike Bobinski wanted it that way. There are no boosters in the loop, search committees or anything like that. This is his make or break moment at Georgia Tech and he is calling the shots himself.
Experts have been touting names like Fran McCaffery (the Volvo of Big 10 coaches), Jeff Capel and Mark Price, but so far nothing has happened.
My theory on what is going on and it is based on talking to people in basketball circles, knowing Bobinski some and reading the tealeaves is Bryce Drew (Valparaiso) is the top guy.
Bobinski made his overtures to Chris Mack (Xavier) and Archie Miller (Dayton) but both of those guys have better jobs and one could be in line to replace Thad Motta at Ohio State in the next year or two. Will Wade (VCU) was not particularly enamored with the job either and he got a boatload of cash and a mega extension out of flirting with the Jackets and Vanderbilt.
Mark Price was never a legitimate candidate because he only checked off one box of the many things Bobinski listed in his search, a name that could draw fans. Price's legacy would buy him a year and he knew better and withdrew his own name quickly before anything happened.
Capel, a longtime Duke assistant has been gunning for his boss's job for many years and Mike Krzyzewski's days at Duke are numbered. Health issues and age are slowly catching up with Coach K and it is doubtful he will see the next decade on the sideline in Durham. Capel flamed out at Oklahoma spectacularly including a full player revolt, locking his team out of the locker room and a NCAA investigation that led to vacating wins. Those issues along with the long unspoken and true ban of Krzyzewski former assistants coaching in the ACC make him a long shot at best. Capel does appear to have a tremendous PR team though and he is a good coach who deserves a shot again.
Other names floated around include Jay Larranaga who like Price doesn't check enough of the boxes on the job and could make twice what Tech can pay in the NBA and Kevin Keatts (UNC-Wilmington) who is still riding in the wake of the Louisville escort scandal. Keatts needs to clear his name before he takes another job.
That leaves Tech at Drew or a surprise candidate. Drew is still coaching in the NIT and he is considered one of the top young coaches in college basketball. He has experience in the NBA, his dad is a coaching legend at Valparaiso who Drew worked for and he is well regarded as a recruiter.
One AAU coach anonymously told Jacketsonline out of all the candidates mentioned for the Tech job, Wade, Drew and Capel would get the most traction in Atlanta.
Bobinski cited a lack of vision and program building, recruiting and winning as factors for Gregory's demise.
I was wrong about Brian Gregory when he was hired, I couldn't believe my old friend Dan Radakovich could be lured into that mistake instead of taking a chance last time. Tech cannot afford another mistake, this is a high-pressure hire for Bobinski and his job and the diminishing legacy of the Yellow Jacket basketball is at stake.