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Eazybetz Take on College Basketball 2009/2010by Carlo M. November 18, 2009.
College Basketball is upon us. With the inevitable demise of former USC Basketball coach Tim Floyd--the somewhat revived program looked for a new leader under suppressed circumstances. With NCAA sanctions looming, an entire recruiting class gone, and early NBA defections, a team once penciled in to go deep into the 2010 Men's Tourney--even whispers of the Final Four--suddenly, the Trojans finishing 8th or 9th in the PAC 10 is a realistic possibility. Perhaps only Washington State will be less successful.
So what coach was willing to take on an almost hopeless situation? Surely not Pitt's Jamie Dixon--USC's wishful hope and first choice. Yes, he is from LA and his wife is a Trojan alumni, but to go from a program that cares, to a program that is more worried about its 2015 football recruiting class: Dixon obviously was a no-go.
All other preferred options were quickly gone. Former NBA coaches Jeff Van Gundy said no while Reggie Theus was willing--but just too controversial of a choice given the state of the program. With seemingly nowhere to go and starting at ground zero--USC shockingly released an e-mail announcing it has hired a coach.
And your 2009-2010 USC Men's Basketball Coach is... Kevin O'Neil? Yes, the former Coach at the Universities of Marquette, Northwestern, Tennessee and Arizona (Interim). Former NBA assistant to close friends Jeff Van Gundy and Rick Carlisle and former Head Coach of the Toronto Raptors.
This blogger admits he was surprised and even dismayed. Read every USC message board and the fans were up in arms. Anger followed by depression hit instantly. After all...this is USC!
Wait a minute... this is not football. This is a hoops program that even after three consecutive March Madness bids (considered a success here) the fans struggled to fill the seats. Realistically, who was going to take this job? Almost sure NCAA sanctions looming and an indifferent fan base? A fan base that Tim Floyd slowly was awakening. Only to have the reset button hit so suddenly the moment allegations surfaced of Floyd giving $1,000 to an OJ Mayo-linked individual.
No, despite the initial shock, and after only a brief attempt at research, I have come to the conclusion and believe USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett made the right choice in Kevin O'Neil. There was not going to be a big name. There really was only two choices: (1) Hire an established retread known to be clean, (2) Hire a hotshot up-and-coming assistant--and not know what you are getting.
O'Neil, aka "KO", if nothing else, knows basketball, is clean, and stresses education, defense, and a self-sacrificing spirit. He will NOT attract Prima Dona like Mayo or other me-first one-and-done recruits. He will build the program slowly but ethically. And maybe like his Tennessee coaching stint, he will restore a franchise in shambles (5 wins the year before), and allow the next coach to succeed (20-win seasons four times consecutively once he left).
Or, this may also end up like his one year stint with the Arizona Wildcats, where his notorious volatile personality overwhelmed the players, the assistants and even Lute Olson. All O'Neil had to do was keep his mouth closed for one year and he would have been the next coach of a storied program. He failed to do so and was run out of town.
Maybe he is just holding down the program and restoring a measure of respectability and discipline until the likes of Dixon will reconsider coming back home. Or maybe, he will be the next washed up retread to resurrect his career in the fashion of Pete Carroll... OR maybe he wills burnout the first season with Tim Floyd's players unaccustomed to the fiery O'Neil at the helm and everything will spin out of control.
This really is one hire that can be absolutely fantastic or completely nuts. Either way, it is an intriguing hire that was the best case in a hopeless situation.
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