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2019-Whenever Misc. Grab Bag Thread

As two candidates bow out, it looks like State has settled on Gainey. Corrigan just needs to close the deal and get the contract done. In fact, there’s rumors that his contract has been agreed while I was typing. So … hey.

I think it’s a good decision by State. It’s not a glamour hire, but rather a long term play to see if they can get a guy plugged in for a decade or more. My guy in the Furman athletics office just told me that State narrowed it down to a short list pretty quickly and interviewed Gainey, Schertz and Richey. Sounds like they decided that Schertz’s buyout was going to be too expensive/complicated. Hiring Gainey gave them a chance to put that money into the program directly, while Richey was more of a fallback in case everything else went south. So, basically a very expedient and professional search … for once. Nice.

FWIW, it sounds like Richey may be a candidate at a couple of other schools as well. Furman is convinced he’ll leave this spring.
 
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Wade had his intro presser at LSU today and he may as well have cut and pasted his statements from when he got hired by State last year. And both of his public posts since the move are verified AI generated slop. He also took a few shots at State and especially Corrigan when pressed. State fans may not have warmed to their AD, but he’s widely respected in college sports … unlike Will Wade. So … yeah. Throw shade skippy. We’ll see you down the road eventually.
 
Not sure how I feel about the Gainey hire. I thought State could do better, but I don’t really have much insight on their inner workings like I once did. Most of my contacts in Raleigh have either moved on or want/have nothing to do with Boo. I like that they got a young guy, who is State through and through, because if he can learn how to be the head guy at that level, he’ll be in Raleigh forever. That’s just good for ACC basketball and good for Raleigh. But, it can set them back even further if the lights are too bright. I hope he does well. Having good programs in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill is good for all 3 schools.
 
They wanted a guy who actually understood the job and had the baseline skill set to stick around. Honestly, Keatts was that kind of guy too, but was so stubbornly possessive about his preferred systems that he never grew into the job. Coaches need an ego, but his was way out of proportion with his actual accomplishments. I like Justin personally, which colors some of my opinion, but he’s a defensive tactician and a strong recruiter who’s still deeply tied to the program’s alumni in a positive way. You’re asking a guy to grow into it and figure it out over time and you need those basics to give that play a chance. That part, Boo absolutely nailed. Now it’s down to execution over time.

As for “better” … I get the sentiment, and you always want to get the best talent you can. But after live action Lyle Lanley* left town, what they need right now is a guy who actually knows the score and is all in anyway. I liked Corrigan’s three finalists and felt like they all fit the profile in different ways. I’d have been more skeptical of Gainey’s lack of head coaching experience last year, but following THAT? Yeah, good call.

*the guy who sold Springfield a monorail in The Simpsons
 
My former neighbor when I was a kid is flying around the moon this week. She is a few years younger than me but we knew each other as kids. She spent her first couple of years at my high school in Jacksonville (White Oak) before going on to NC School of science and math and eventually NC State. Pretty cool.
 
Fayettenamcanesfan said:
My former neighbor when I was a kid is flying around the moon this week. She is a few years younger than me but we knew each other as kids. She spent her first couple of years at my high school in Jacksonville (White Oak) before going on to NC School of science and math and eventually NC State. Pretty cool.
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Christina Koch? She spent almost a full year on the International Space Statin from March 2019 - February 2020.

Funny story…I was flying home from Germany through Frankfurt Airport. That’s the closest commercial airport to the former Rhein Main Air Force Base. I was checking in behind a bunch of Air Force officers. One of them was wearing oversized pilot’s wings and another said he’d never seen the, before. The guy said “they’re astronaut wings”. So he got a rash of crap from the others.
 
andyt said:
Christina Koch? She spent almost a full year on the International Space Statin from March 2019 - February 2020.

Funny story…I was flying home from Germany through Frankfurt Airport. That’s the closest commercial airport to the former Rhein Main Air Force Base. I was checking in behind a bunch of Air Force officers. One of them was wearing oversized pilot’s wings and another said he’d never seen the, before. The guy said “they’re astronaut wings”. So he got a rash of crap from the others.
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Yea. I mean she’s been all over the local news for the last 10 years because of it, but I just think it’s cool She’s going to the moon. She broke the record for longest time in space for a female astronaut on that trip.
 
Fayettenamcanesfan said:
Yea. I mean she’s been all over the local news for the last 10 years because of it, but I just think it’s cool She’s going to the moon. She broke the record for longest time in space for a female astronaut on that trip.
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My brain keeps thinking "Pack in Space" in the Muppets Pigs in Space intro.

Go Pack! To the Moon and back.
 
Yea. Was told late last night that they have/had been in talks with him as well as Donovan. Hard to tell who they had 1 or 1B but if Donovan really wants the job like his people claim behind closed doors, it will be his. But I don’t take anything serious until the ink dries these days. So many high leverage games to be played.
 
I’m not sure about Donovan. We’re starting to see reporters backpedaling on the timing, which usually means that something has broken down. Maybe it works out, I dunno, but the current vibes are not good. I’m not sure what they have up their sleeves for next steps. Lloyd was the more likely of the Final Four guys to listen to UNC’s pitch but he just ended up leveraging the interest into full program autonomy at Arizona. May is firmly established at Michigan, which can absolutely match UNC for both budget and clout points. With no ties to the school or even the conference, I’ve never been sure about that one. I think the window for Dusty May was two years ago when he got his big job at Michigan.

Hey, at least they aren’t competing with Kansas, since Self staved off forced retirement and bought himself another year there. That means Carolina is the biggest opening out there, so even their Plan B options would be extensive.
 
jeffbear said:
I’m not sure about Donovan. We’re starting to see reporters backpedaling on the timing, which usually means that something has broken down. Maybe it works out, I dunno, but the current vibes are not good. I’m not sure what they have up their sleeves for next steps. Lloyd was the more likely of the Final Four guys to listen to UNC’s pitch but he just ended up leveraging the interest into full program autonomy at Arizona. May is firmly established at Michigan, which can absolutely match UNC for both budget and clout points. With no ties to the school or even the conference, I’ve never been sure about that one. I think the window for Dusty May was two years ago when he got his big job at Michigan.

Hey, at least they aren’t competing with Kansas, since Self staved off forced retirement and bought himself another year there. That means Carolina is the biggest opening out there, so even their Plan B options would be extensive.
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I’ll have an update tonight when I get home. But I don’t think May is a legit option. I’ve heard he was on the list but UNC did not ‘love’ the idea. With Donovan, who knows. I know for a fact he wanted it when roy retired so much so that he personally called roy the same day to put his name out there. Since then his ‘people’ have always made it known that the only college job he would want IF he left the NBA was Carolina. What does that mean? Who knows these days, I don’t think I’d trust my grandma during these times in college and pro athletics….especially the wild Wild West NCAA.

I’m about to give up on sources. I know they are legit but honestly, candidates and players lie to them these days too. It’s nothing like it used to be. It’s crazy. If I didn’t work in the industry I’d have stopped following this circus years ago. It’s so slimy
 
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