For those who remember when Ben Howland was announced as Pitt's next coach,

[daytonpanther]

I recall a very less than warm reception coming from our fan base (on this site) and his Northern Arizona coaching background. We sold Ben without a Peterson Center and we should be able to sell another candidate with where Pitt is today. Back then everyone felt we could have hired better (Gillen, Calipari). My point goes for Jamie as well - unproven coach that develops the performance level of good players. On the flip, you had Willard which most of us thought was a solid hire but recruited skilled players with poor integrity. Facilities upgrade, ACC conference, and fan expectations are all higher now than when Ben was recruited to Pitt.

My point is to allow the process to run its course. Trust Pitt to hire a man with integrity and past success. A coach who wants to be at Pitt and will work hard to elevate his team to this level of ACC competition. In the long-run, that coach will be a better hire than a sitting coach who wishes they were back in the old Big East and somewhere other than Pitt.

Jamie is gone, so next coach come on up! Let's support the results and anticipate the fresh start.

HTP

 

[Black_Man_Panther]

I was one of those... until a friend of mine (who had played PG at OU) told me... "no... no... this guy can coach". So I went over to his place and watched NA play a game in the NIT. They featured euro-trash centers. I was thinking ... euro-trash might work in the BE. Little did I know, Howland just changed w/ what would work.

 

[Pittbaseball11]

Didn't Howland get placed here by Sonny Vaccaro and adidas, thought? With the thought being he'd be groomed at a smaller adidas school in the hopes of bringing them success and then leaving for a larger adidas school?