Just wanted to chime in on the state of Pitt basketball. I know folks are all over the place on where we are and where we are headed. Having coached basketball for over forty years at the grade school, H.S. and D-1 level I know how hard it is to build a program over a team. If your in it for the long haul and you have the support of the administration you can take the long solid build a foundation approach. That is doing things right and demanding that your players buy in or else. This requires patience which come with the knowledge that one good recruiting class (unlike football) can get you over the hump.
Here comes the downside of that approach(especially over the last 5 years) if you don't succumb to the whims of the players who won't buy in, they just leave. And no matter what was going on in the locker room or on the court, the coaching staff will ultimately take the heat. If your in it for the short term, you do whatever the kids want you to do to keep them here and you may have some early success before you move on to another gig. However once you go down that road you can never go back, the underclassmen just wait for their turn to run the ship.
I'm not saying that Capel taking the hard road will pay-off, but if he bounces back and has a good 22 recruiting class it will be with all the players that bought into his system. Teams last until that group of players leave, a program will last as long as the coach is there. It ain't complicated but it damn sure ain't easy.
HTP
Peace
Here comes the downside of that approach(especially over the last 5 years) if you don't succumb to the whims of the players who won't buy in, they just leave. And no matter what was going on in the locker room or on the court, the coaching staff will ultimately take the heat. If your in it for the short term, you do whatever the kids want you to do to keep them here and you may have some early success before you move on to another gig. However once you go down that road you can never go back, the underclassmen just wait for their turn to run the ship.
I'm not saying that Capel taking the hard road will pay-off, but if he bounces back and has a good 22 recruiting class it will be with all the players that bought into his system. Teams last until that group of players leave, a program will last as long as the coach is there. It ain't complicated but it damn sure ain't easy.
HTP
Peace
