Norwood Teague knows what he is doing. I feel fairly confident in saying that. He helped turn Virginia Commonwealth into one of the top basketball programs in the country, perhaps even more well regarded than the one he moved to Minnesota for. He has demonstrated that it takes an innovative young mind like Anthony Grant or Shaka Smart to bring energy and enthusiasm to the job, as well as coaching and recruiting prowess.
After the initial feelings of bemusement and chagrin at the firing of Tubby Smith, I have slowly come to appreciate Teague’s perspective. He’s built programs before, and he wants to do it again. He just wants to do it from the ground up, using his own people and honoring, perhaps, his loyalty to the people he has encountered via Villa 7 and his work in developing coaching networking systems.
With that in mind, with the fact that Teague wants to build the program his way, why on earth would he be looking at Flip Saunders? Sure, there may be pressure from boosters, and he does have ties to the state, but the list of coaches who have made the transition from NBA to NCAA is very short. Jeff Bzdelik is the only name I can think of, and he has been nothing short of a disaster at Colorado and Wake Forest.
That’s a general strike against him as a college coach, but there are still more that make Flip wrong for this position. The first is his age. Flip is older than Tubby (What is it with Minnesota. Can’t they get a coach with a real name?) was when he was brought in from Kentucky, and therefore Flip doesn’t seem like someone that is in it for the long haul. Second is the clout that Flip has among the boosters of the program. Teague wants to run the program. He doesn’t want the boosters to select his coach for him, not when there is a plan in place, especially when the plan has worked for him in the past.
The state of Minnesota has a strong recruiting class, but despite what many local pundits say, keeping in-state recruits isn’t the most important element of the job here. It’s not often that you can build a winning team based solely on Minnesota talent. Flip Saunders may have a little bit of local clout, but he doesn’t have the national presence that this job demands.
The Gophers need to get someone young and enthusiastic. The Big Names are probably all gone at this point. Now, they need to start thinking about getting some young, fresh blood.
(Also, Flip Saunders will hold out to be the Timberwolves GM)
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