Suppose you had to play one game… for all the marbles… and you could use your time machine (or TARDIS) to put together a team of 12 players at their peaks. Who would you pick? Well, the Confidential does not know who YOU would pick. But here is who the Confidential would pick for Duke:
As a Syracuse fan and now an ACC fan, I have always had a loyalty to Jim Boeheim and a healthy degree of healthy, spirited dislike for Coach K and Duke. I am not saying that Duke is not a great program. I would be hard-pressed to make an argument that any other coach in college basketball is superior to Coach K. 1,000 wins and (now) five championships speak for themselves. Still, to me, Duke is the New York Yankees of college basketball… when you meet a non-alum fan living outside the region, you cannot help but think “fair weather.” And it is beyond debate that Duke seemingly “gets the calls” as much as any team in any sport. Somewhere along the way, Dick Vitale converted from a basketball knowledge savant to a Coach K agent and Duke promoter, which grew intolerable. So, if any praise for Duke and Coach K comes from this writer, it is a brand new feeling. But here it goes… props to Coach K and Duke for the national championship this year.
Update: As you may recall, we are trying to decide the active coaching Mount Rushmore (see below or click here). So far, we have selected Coach K, Tom Izzo, and Rick Pitino. We need help deciding the fourth member of the group. We have had good arguments for Jim Boeheim, John Calipari, Billy Donovan, and Roy Williams. We will decide via the following poll. As they say in Chicago, vote early and often… ha ha ha. Thanks in advance.
Thanks again!
Original article:
In the past, the Confidential had some fun with Mount Rushmores for each ACC school. We picked three spots and let fans pick the 4th spot. Today, the focus is on college basketball as a whole–specifically, the active coaches. It should be pretty easy to guess a few of the names, but rounding out the 4th (and eliminating the others in the process) may be difficult. In any event, here is the list… you can vote on who gets #4.
The first spot… Coach K.
There is no need to reinvent the wheel here. This is how we described him over a year ago:
If it needs to be explained, you haven’t been following sports since Jimmy Carter was running the country. You want longevity? 30+ years at Duke. You want success? The most wins of any mens’ basketball coach ever. You want national titles? How about four of them for Duke in his tenure. Throw in some gold medals and the absence of serious controversy, and you’ve got yourself one of the easiest Mount Rushmore spots ever.
This applies to active basketball coaching as well. More recently, he is now over 1,000 wins and is back in the running for another national title.
The second spot… Tom Izzo.
Sure, this is a bit knee-jerk. But Izzo just took a 7-seed to the Final Four. “Only” one national championship, but how about seven Final Fours in 20 years of coaching. And 9 Elite Eights and 13 Sweet Sixteens. Other than Coach K, who else has that kind of resume?
Well, maybe the next guy. The third spot… Rick Pitino.
Pitino has two championships, one with Kentucky and one with Louisville. Pitino also has seven Final Fours, including one with Providence. Like Izzo, there is a sense (well-founded) that Louisville will be a better team in March than December.
The fourth spot? The Confidential will leave this to you. Here are some names to consider voting for the 4th spot:
Anyway, let us know who deserves the 4th spot and why…
In the past, the Confidential had some fun with Mount Rushmores for each ACC school. We picked three spots and let fans pick the 4th spot. Today, the focus is on college basketball as a whole–specifically, the active coaches. It should be pretty easy to guess a few of the names, but rounding out the 4th (and eliminating the others in the process) may be difficult. In any event, here is the list… you can vote on who gets #4.
With the recent NCAA violations and penalties, the fact that changes were in store for Syracuse is NOT surprising. And here they are. Syracuse athletic director, Darryl Gross, is resigning (you know how this works) as athletic director. The more surprising announcement is that Jim Boeheim will retire in 3 years. Here is the Confidential’s quick take.
The Brackets are set. The field is locked. The bubbles have burst. And the ACC is well-represented moving forward. Here is our early analysis. (Stay tuned for the Confidential bracket contest details!)
March Madness! The Big Dance! The Bubble! Every March, college basketball fans obsess about these topics. And then the brackets come out and everyone fills one out… trying to decide whether to be a homer or hedge against your school losing early. But what if your school is not in the bracket? If your schools stinks (see Northwestern), so be it. But when you are Syracuse and used to being in the field… it is extremely difficult for fans. Some may not even bother. For the rest of the Syracuse fans (and other schools’ fans stuck watching from afar)…regardless of who you PICK to win… who do you ROOT for?
Suppose you had to play one game… for all the marbles… and you could use your time machine (or TARDIS) to put together a team of 12 players at their peaks. Who would you pick? Well, the Confidential does not know who YOU would pick. But here is who the Confidential would pick for Clemson:
Suppose you had to play one game… for all the marbles… and you could use your time machine (or TARDIS) to put together a team of 12 players at their peaks. Who would you pick? Well, the Confidential does not know who YOU would pick. But here is who the Confidential would pick for Boston College:
Suppose you had to play one game… for all the marbles… and you could use your time machine (or TARDIS) to put together a team of 12 players at their peaks. Who would you pick? Well, the Confidential does not know who YOU would pick. But here is who the Confidential would pick for Virginia Tech:
The Confidential 