We Say Goodbye, You Say Hello

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Goodbye Kyrie.  Hello Coach Gottfried.

Today we’ll examine the changing of the guard in two programs, how one was handled brilliantly, how the other was handled poorly, and how both programs will arguably be better off in the long run.

Kyrie Irving Enters the Draft

This was a no brainer from the moment Kyrie stepped foot on campus.  Despite a record day of traffic to the blog (up 150% over the 2nd highest day) about the “Kyrie Irving Letter”, there is literally nothing to discuss here regarding the decision to go to the NBA.  The discussion, at this point, centers around the return on investment that Duke received from recruiting a point guard that played just 11 games as a Blue Devil.  A narrow view suggests that a Sweet 16 exit and a 2nd place regular season finish in the ACC was a disappointment for a team that entered the year as the defending champions with hopes of a 5th title in its crosshairs.  Even the way Duke went out with All-American Nolan Smith struggling through a tough shooting night against Arizona sparked criticism of Kyrie’s return to the lineup following his freak turf toe injury that sidelined him for the majority of the season.  But in the long run, expect the Kyrie Experiment to pay off huge returns for the Duke basketball program.

It’s been widely reported that following the 2004 early departure of Luol Deng and the decision of Shaun Livingston to completely skip his collegiate career by entering the NBA out of high school that Coach K and his staff shifted their recruiting focus to more three and four-year type players.  It also needs to be understood that the majority of the sportswriting world doesn’t follow recruiting closely, and most hindsight reviews of recruiting make the false assumptions that coaches always sign who they target.  Between 2005 and 2010, Coach K made offers to many projected “one and done” players, but with no success.  The perception was that one year players had no place at Duke; a perception mainly fed by the release of Kris Humphries from his letter of intent in 2004 to pursue his year of college elsewhere, and by the extended careers of alleged “sure-fire” one year players like Josh McRoberts and Shavlik Randolph.  But even as recently as 2009, Duke was heavily involved with John Wall until the final decision to go to Kentucky.

This perception, as with any in college basketball recruiting, picked up steam behind closed doors on the recruiting trail.  UNC guard Dexter Strickland gave a glimpse into the negative recruiting pitch of his coach Roy Williams when he spoke of his former teammate’s decision to attend Duke.  Strickland commented, “I think it’s a good pick for him, I just hope that system doesn’t change who he is as a player.”  I wonder where Dexter become such an expert on “that system” …

Regardless of where this perception began and how it continued to grow, the commitment of Kyrie Irving to do Duke did a lot to change that.  As with most offensive systems, Coach K’s is at its best with an elite point guard, a the fact that a well-liked and well-respected high school point guard committed speaks volumes across the AAU circuit.  You almost have to wonder … if Duke had not have recruited John Wall, would Duke have gotten Kyrie Irving?  If Duke had not have signed Kyrie Irving, would Duke have signed Austin Rivers and Quinn Cook?  And so on.  That’s how recruiting success works … you earn a win with a guy that people look up to and respect, and it begins a chain reaction of getting better access to more players in the circuit.  If that player has a bad experience at your school, you’re in trouble.  Having said that, Kyrie had a fantastic experience.

The injury, even though it kept him on the sidelines and out of the highlight reels for the season, may have turned into a blessing in disguise for Duke’s program.  It’s every NBA prospect’s biggest fear about the one and done rule … what happens if I go to college and get hurt?  Will it hurt my stock?  Will my coach rush me back?  Do I have to say a 2nd year?  Duke passed each of these tests with flying colors.  Even though UNC bloggers and pundits seemed to have a problem with it, the highly publicized rehab work from www.dukeblueplanet.com to the morning TV show “The Doctors” put it out there for all to see: Duke is the best place in the world to get injured.  In fact, I wouldn’t look past the issues that UNC folks had with Duke “exploiting Kyrie’s injury”, I’d take it as proof of its effectiveness as a recruiting tool. 

While Kyrie was recovering, Duke was patient.  Even the final decision to return to the court for the NCAA tournament was entirely on Kyrie’s shoulders; never once did K push for a rushed return to the court.  The downside to returning at all is that Kyrie could send one of two messages to NBA scouts.  Either he’s back and 100%, or he’s damaged goods.  Kyrie’s performance in the NCAA tournament could have cost him millions of dollars, and Duke handled that risk perfectly.  Following the season, there was no talk of pros and cons being provided by the coaching staff.  There was one decision and one decision only for Kyrie to make as a projected top 3 pick in the NBA draft. 

The impact of Kyrie’s legacy as a Duke player will not be felt for a few years, and much of it still hinges on his success as an NBA player.  But looking down the road, Kyrie Irving does more good for Duke in the long run playing next season in the NBA instead of playing in Durham as a Blue Devil.  Does it hurt losing the team’s best player?  Obviously.  But Cook, Thornton, Rivers and Curry are pretty damn good band aids. 

NC State Welcomes Gottfried

Gottfried, in my opinion, is a good hire for NC State.  He won me over in the press conference with one short statement in response to Debbie Yow firing both guns in the air shouting “We’re back, baby!” by answering, “Slow down, Debbie.”  BRILLIANT.  At that moment, I knew State had hired a guy who not only fully understands that State fans needed to hear their AD putting the rest of the world on notice, but who also fully understands that it’s the LAST thing that NC State needs to say.  Yow made a good move in hiring Gottfried, but it’s a shame it was sandwiched between two of the dumbest moves I’ve ever seen an AD make.

It all started with a letter.  Just days after becoming a huge fan of how Debbie Yow was handling the coaching search privately and on her own terms while being baited over and over again by the media to pull back the curtains, she did the unthinkable.  She sent a “don’t panic” letter to NC State fans and boosters who, from the outside looking in, weren’t panicking at all.  Two phrases from her letter, “square one” and “poor shape”, contributed to an epic reversal of control in this search.  Not only did she suddenly open the curtains to her office, she didn’t clean up before she let company in.  The job that she’d touted as one of the best posts available was now suddenly considered to be in “poor shape”?  And all of this was on the heels of discussions regarding a some general reluctance to work for Yow.  To me, it came off as a desperate attempt to deflect the blame.

I wish I could remember the film, I believe it’s “The Kingdom” but don’t quote me on that.  In the movie, there’s a politician who’s giving advice to someone and recounts a story where his predecessor gave him two letters to open if he ever found himself with the world closing in on him.  The first letter said, “Blame me, the guy who came before you.”  The second letter said “Tell the guy taking your job to write two letters.”  That’s how I saw this move by Yow.  Let’s make sure to blame the guy we just fired.  But the worst part of the letter … IT WASN’T NECESSARY!!!   Yow was sitting beside her coach at the press conference less than 48 hours after releasing her letter.  Now Gottfried appears like a rush hire, a last-ditch effort.  Bad move in my opinion.

I’m not even going to talk about Yow’s “J’Accuse” to Gary Williams during the press conference.  That’s another post for another day.  But I’m going to talk about the mistake of managing the team’s PR during the press conference.  Yow retained Monte Towe to maintain contact with recruits and to be available for the current players.  How does his responsibility not include coaching his players on how to appear at the press conference?  The team trickled in, one by one, on their own.  As one local sports personality put it, CJ Leslie’s body language appeared that he was doing everyone a favor by showing up to hear his new coach.  Ryan Harrow appeared disinterested and was probably researching new schools on his shiny new iPad while Gottfried spoke.  Those players should have arrived together, dressed in suits or jackets and ties, and sitting attentively as their new coach addressed the media.  I’m sorry, but when the knock on your team is that the players are soft and uncoachable, you’re giving the message that maybe changing coaches wasn’t the right move to make in the first place.  Towe, as an extension of Debbie Yow, should have been aware of that optic at that moment.  Extremely disappointing that NC State lost an opportunity to really come off as winners in the press conference.

At least Gottfried appears to be the kind of leader who will take control over behavior like that.