Shaka

[GRGB]

A big East job recruiting in DFW...yeah, that sucks.

[hoopmanx]

So our most important hire in years is being handled by a rookie firm?

David Braine is no rookie. He was a helluva AD in a hoops possessed league. Very on board w/braine being on board. Things are looking up

[couch 'em]

We didn't hire a firm, we hired a man. Looks like a good one

[Mitch McConnell]

His profile is impressive. Great work at Ga Tech. UNC grad.

[hoopmanx]

You'd have to think w/braine involved, Hewitt will be revisited

[Mitch McConnell]

I could like Hewitt. He started at Siena NY. He is a good recruiter. He knows the east. That could be key for Bernardi and Blaise to relax. I don't know his recruiting inroads at Ga Tech but I guess he got his fair share there. Maybe a good x and o guy on the bench.

[Hoop Fan]

sounds like Amaker or Capel to me. Hopefully not Hewitt, lets go younger with more upside. Wish we could get Bruiser. Johnny Jones could be a home run, but i see SMU going safe image wise with Dukies like Amaker or Capel.

[couch 'em]

My gut, based just on what has been posted on boards, is Amaker

[Hoop Fan]

I could like Hewitt. He started at Siena NY. He is a good recruiter. He knows the east. That could be key for Bernardi and Blaise to relax. I don't know his recruiting inroads at Ga Tech but I guess he got his fair share there. Maybe a good x and o guy on the bench.

well, he recruited Chris Bosh out of Dallas Lincoln (Bhops boy). Still not sure about him though.

[couch 'em]

Fits the image, has academic school background, has big east background. Made NCAAs this year

[ponyscott]

Any of the three mentioned are capable of getting the SMU program to the next level...Hewitt was a kick [deleted] recruiter and had several 'one and dones' at GT which maybe led to his downfall as the team cohesiveness was lacking ....
The Braine GT connection will be interesting if Hewitt gets a call....GT paid Hewitt a whopping $7.2 million to just hit the road...big time buy out.

From their web site:

David T. Braine is a national leader in collegiate athletics where he brings a wealth of experience to Academic Search, Inc. in this field. He began his career as a graduate assistant at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and most recently retired from Georgia Tech as their Athletics Director in 2006. In between, he served as an assistant football coach at four different institutions (Virginia Military Institute, The University of Richmond, Georgia Tech, and The University of Virginia). Braine also served as an Assistant Athletics Director at The University of Virginia and Associate Athletics Director at Fresno State University. In total, he served twenty-one years as an Athletics Director at the following institutions: Marshall University, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech. Braine received his B.S. and M.A.T. from The University of North Carolina. He is married and has four children and eleven grand children

[Mitch McConnell]

I could like Hewitt. He started at Siena NY. He is a good recruiter. He knows the east. That could be key for Bernardi and Blaise to relax. I don't know his recruiting inroads at Ga Tech but I guess he got his fair share there. Maybe a good x and o guy on the bench.

well, he recruited Chris Bosh out of Dallas Lincoln (Bhops boy). Still not sure about him though.

I thought about Bosch right after I posted. Don't discount Bruiser. They're still in the NIT so we have wait until they're done.

[PonyKai]

Given our W/L record over the last ten years, we would kill for Hewitt's career record, despite his bench gaffs.

[Hoop Fan]

Given our W/L record over the last ten years, we would kill for Hewitt's career record, despite his bench gaffs.

didn't we rationalize Doh the same way? I'd take Hewitt over Doh most any day but i think SMU needs to go younger.

[ponyscott]

From last October, 2011:

Former Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech athletic director Dave Braine conflicted by ACC expansion

By Doug Doughty

Like many of the ACC administrators of his era, former Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech athletic director Dave Braine feels somewhat conflicted by ACC expansion that twice has come at the expense of the Big East.

In the most recent ACC expansion, Pittsburgh and Syracuse joined former Big East brethren Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech.

"I still have a soft spot in my heart for the Big East Conference," said Braine, whose 10 years in Blacksburg (1987-1997) coincided with Virginia Tech's 1991 acceptance by the Big East for football.

"If it wasn't for [ex-commissioner] Mike Tranghese and the University of Miami starting the Big East football conference, Virginia Tech wouldn't be where it is today.

"Now, it looks as if the Big East Conference is going to be taking a back seat, unless they get Army and Navy. That would help. I was kind of hoping, if the ACC went to 16, that it would be Army and Navy who they brought in."

Braine sees that as unlikely because Army and Navy wouldn't bring an increase in television revenue.

"I promise you, the conference didn't do anything without first talking to ESPN and saying, 'OK, if we do this, how much is this thing going to increase?'" Braine said. "It's easy to divide by 12 and by 14 and by 16."

Former ACC commissioner Gene Corrigan spoke of the eerie timing of the ACC announcement, which came one day after the death of Big East founder Dave Gavitt. Braine finds himself thinking of former Miami athletic director Sam Jankovich, a Hokies' ally in their move to the Big East.

Braine was the athletic director at Georgia Tech when the Hokies were admitted in 2003. He has a good feel for what a long shot that was.

"I hadn't been at Virginia Tech that long when I made a trip down to talk to the powers-that-be at N.C. State, at Duke and at Chapel Hill and was told it would never happen," Braine said. "[They said] Virginia Tech would never get in the ACC. That just tells you how things change. That was probably '91, '92 [or] '93, that period of time."

Braine, whose permanent home is in Blacksburg, said he feels better than he has in years after a bout with Crohn's disease. At 68, he's still sharp enough to be running a big-time athletic department but sounded as if he preferred retirement in a phone interview from his fall beach trip.