I have witnessed a couple of 'changing of the guards' in my lifetime of college basketball coaches. Actually, this is the 2nd one and the 'old guard' from my college days is seeing the end times. Coach K, Roy Williams, and Jim Boeheim are hanging on but certainly removed from the spotlight, this year.. For Boeheim, it has been a few years and Williams the same.. I think the jury is out for Tom Izzo as the loss of leadership from Cassius Winston and Xavier Tillman has proven too much for that program to recover for this year, anyways.
I think a lot of people are happy that coaches of the "One and Dones" are struggling. Coach K's Duke team and John Calipari's Kentucky team are struggling like they have not seen in years. I would like basketball to return to where there is a development phase in players at the college level.. Maybe that is impossible but for this year, the 'One and Done' programs are having a hard time and I dont feel real bad about it. Roy Williams was kinda recruiting that way at North Carolina, as well. Tom Izzo does not recruit "One and Dones" but he is seeing struggles that he has not had previously in his years in the program at Michigan State. Like I said, Jim Boeheim is almost becoming an afterthought on the national radar at Syracuse.
This past year, even if you you go back 5 years, we have had the deaths of coaches that were fixtures in the college game. I think of Lute Olson, Billy Tubbs, John Thompson, John Chaney(just a few days ago), Jimmy Collins, Eddie Sutton, Lou Henson, Smokey Gaines, Boyd Grant... That is just some of the more well known ones. If you go back a few years, we lost Jerry Tarkanian, Guy Lewis, Dean Smith, Rollie Massimino, etc. Of Course, John Wooden.
There are still old school coaches hanging on though long retired. Our own Jim Dutcher and Clem Haskins qualify.. Lou Carnesecca and Joe B. Hall are in their 90s.. Lefty Driesell is close. Bobby Knight, Gene Keady, and Denny Crum are in their 80s as is Larry Brown. Heck, we can even throw in Dick Vitale in that group, Just a period of basketball that is legendary and guys that loved the game and kids.. Coaches that transitioned when society transitioned and still made huge impacts on people, before and after.
Now, the game is changing.. Kids play as much basketball as ever but they just play differently. Not as anxious to learn the details of the game.. Lot more run and gun with dunks and 3 point shooting all over the place.. Just play differently.. Not so many zone defenses nor traps as there once was in the game. Certainly, the shot clock and 3 point line have factored greatly in some of the changes of the game.. No more "4 corners offense" of North Carolina. I do miss Al McGuire and his takes on the game.
Leadership and consistency of quality of play. It is going to be harder for younger coaches to demand that from the players coming up.. They dont get it at home as much anymore.. Maybe a less agriculturally centered economy has hurt us in the home in terms of teamwork and self discipline AS WELL AS ACCEPTING VERBAL DISCIPLINE. PATIENCE, etc.. Though I would say kids are athletic as I have ever seen them and shooting 3 pointers has gotten so much better from all positions on the floor.
I wrote all of this to point out that old guard coaches were interested in developing leadership to the point that they would spend their lives teaching the PROCESS of becoming a leader as well as the FUNDAMENTALS.. Tom Izzo is finding out that losing leaders like TIllman and Winston are a huge difference in wins and losses as leadership demands toughness. I would hope that our coaches in our programs see that mental toughness and leadership are PROCESSES so it is not just teaching the facts of becoming a leader but guiding kids through the process of what it takes to become a leader. This is the area of basketball that I see as a struggle for the kids of this generation that was much more keenly focused in the past.. IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT TO SUSTAIN A WINNING PROGRAM.
I think a lot of people are happy that coaches of the "One and Dones" are struggling. Coach K's Duke team and John Calipari's Kentucky team are struggling like they have not seen in years. I would like basketball to return to where there is a development phase in players at the college level.. Maybe that is impossible but for this year, the 'One and Done' programs are having a hard time and I dont feel real bad about it. Roy Williams was kinda recruiting that way at North Carolina, as well. Tom Izzo does not recruit "One and Dones" but he is seeing struggles that he has not had previously in his years in the program at Michigan State. Like I said, Jim Boeheim is almost becoming an afterthought on the national radar at Syracuse.
This past year, even if you you go back 5 years, we have had the deaths of coaches that were fixtures in the college game. I think of Lute Olson, Billy Tubbs, John Thompson, John Chaney(just a few days ago), Jimmy Collins, Eddie Sutton, Lou Henson, Smokey Gaines, Boyd Grant... That is just some of the more well known ones. If you go back a few years, we lost Jerry Tarkanian, Guy Lewis, Dean Smith, Rollie Massimino, etc. Of Course, John Wooden.
There are still old school coaches hanging on though long retired. Our own Jim Dutcher and Clem Haskins qualify.. Lou Carnesecca and Joe B. Hall are in their 90s.. Lefty Driesell is close. Bobby Knight, Gene Keady, and Denny Crum are in their 80s as is Larry Brown. Heck, we can even throw in Dick Vitale in that group, Just a period of basketball that is legendary and guys that loved the game and kids.. Coaches that transitioned when society transitioned and still made huge impacts on people, before and after.
Now, the game is changing.. Kids play as much basketball as ever but they just play differently. Not as anxious to learn the details of the game.. Lot more run and gun with dunks and 3 point shooting all over the place.. Just play differently.. Not so many zone defenses nor traps as there once was in the game. Certainly, the shot clock and 3 point line have factored greatly in some of the changes of the game.. No more "4 corners offense" of North Carolina. I do miss Al McGuire and his takes on the game.
Leadership and consistency of quality of play. It is going to be harder for younger coaches to demand that from the players coming up.. They dont get it at home as much anymore.. Maybe a less agriculturally centered economy has hurt us in the home in terms of teamwork and self discipline AS WELL AS ACCEPTING VERBAL DISCIPLINE. PATIENCE, etc.. Though I would say kids are athletic as I have ever seen them and shooting 3 pointers has gotten so much better from all positions on the floor.
I wrote all of this to point out that old guard coaches were interested in developing leadership to the point that they would spend their lives teaching the PROCESS of becoming a leader as well as the FUNDAMENTALS.. Tom Izzo is finding out that losing leaders like TIllman and Winston are a huge difference in wins and losses as leadership demands toughness. I would hope that our coaches in our programs see that mental toughness and leadership are PROCESSES so it is not just teaching the facts of becoming a leader but guiding kids through the process of what it takes to become a leader. This is the area of basketball that I see as a struggle for the kids of this generation that was much more keenly focused in the past.. IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT TO SUSTAIN A WINNING PROGRAM.
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