and one last thought
To those who suggest, not incorrectly, that Bob's two-year, lame-duck status would have hurt recruiting, remember this:
'92 Final Four starters: Van Exel, Blount, Nelson, Martin, Buford: Four JuCos and a transfer from Akron. All two -year guys. Is there any reason to believe that Huggs, 13 years later, his resume well known, his move to a great league in place, could not have done the same thing again? And had he, would there be any earthly reason he wouldnt finish his career at UC?
Just a thought.
10 Comments:
Doc:
The answer to your question is : no. The reason the events happened is Jason Bennett expressed a problem with the lame duck status, and Walker and Mayo (who were UC bound) would have been next. Hugs saw the writing on the wall. He could not have recruited the guys he would have going into the Big East with all the new facilities he helped build.
Not quite true Paul. It's one thing to sell recruits on a dream of building a program, it's another to ask someone to commit to UC when it's likely the head coach will be gone in 2 years and even less if one of the players gets in any trouble - acacemically or with the law. Nancy was trying to make it impossible for him to stay - she wanted him to resign - she just used the lame duck staus to get her goal. This way she did not have to take full responsibility for just firing him. She knew how to work office politics and how to make it hard even on Andy Kennedy. You will never make her out to be a sympatheic figure. She's a big girl and the president of a University, so she should be able to handle the flack for her actions. Don't get me wrong, I feel little sympathy for Bob Huggins - I just believe that after working for Nancy for a few months Bob realized he was in a no-win situation and decided to move on. To save face he demanded a new contract or extension of his old contract knowing the unlikely hood of Nancy ever changing her mind. By this time I am sure he had done some networking, and knew he would have a new job in a couple of years. The only people to be hurt by all this were the players (the ones who graduated and never got in trouble) being labeled by the University as being some type of Outlaws. But Nancy was only perpetuating this myth - and she really didn't care that she stomped on peoples reputations as long as she got Bob. The story is far from over - now we have SEX - ALCOHOL - RECRUITING in the football program. But Bob is no longer around to take the heat, it falls on the University - Nancy's child.
Nancy has made Bob Huggins a martyr to thousands of UC fans...
...and ruined my much anticipated entertainment from November - March every year.
Now the Bearcats can join the Bengals and Reds in the wonderful realm of mediocrity.
Doc.......
You have to be kidding.....
Go ahead and ask Mick if he ever used information about another school, coach, etc, to his advantage when he recruited for Huggins and Pittino.
You pegging the "Lame Duck" label to Huggins contradicts your assertion that it was not an obstacle.
Actually Buford was a one year guy.
Absolutely he could have mined the junior colleges to rebuild the program and put more pressure on the administration.
The question is if the administrations would have allowed a 5 JUCO recruiting class or two.
I'm recalling a focus on players who will be with the university for four years. So the suggestion that he could simply rebuild with Juco Players is incorrect.
Throw on top of that, why are players in Juco, normally they are either not academically strong or they have been in some sort of trouble leaving them with Juco as the only option...in other words, not the sort of players UC would be allowed to recruit.
Who cares? The Buckeyes are #1.
None of the good players go to JUCO anymore. They go to Prep-school. It's not the same as 1992. This year's JUCO All-Stars are a prime example.
Buford played at Akron for Huggins: he transferred in for a shot at glory. If iy wasn't for jucos and prep schools, Mick would be suiting up the IM All-Stars. Deonta Vaughn came from Indianapolis Arlington to attend Harmony, that great diploma/grade inflation mill. Mick will have to recruit JuCo and prepschool "leftovers" to even catch a whiff of Big East tourney. Hope UC fans get used to losing, and the arrogant BOT gets used to losing money.
The lameduck status would have been the thing that brought the UC program down. No recruiting success if Huggins stays. Letting Huggins go and then going with an interim coach instead of naming a coach right away robbed a year of recruiting. Thus, bringing the program into the pits it is in now. No one could ever convince me that an intelligent woman such as Ms. Z could not see what she was doing with the games that were played with Huggins and AK, and the men's basketball program.
Now, with my passion robbed, I have to watch a team that plays states away if I want to root for a team from my gut. Why should I, or anyone else care any longer about a program that cares little about the product or what depths they sink it to with their games and decisions designed to hurt Huggins and then AK.
Ms. Z has gotten what she wants. The UC men's basketball program is a joke and will be for a long, long time. And long after she is gone.
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