Rod Strickland
Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 6:44 pmIf you want recruiting prowess. It's hard to beat Strick. But his baggage is undeniable.
http://dallas.sbnation.com/2012/3/20/28 ... tt-doherty
To turn the corner, SMU has to lock down it's backyard. The road to relevance starts with the talent that's readily available in South Dallas. However, the perception of a school located in the middle of Highland Park in the rest of the city is well captured in this comment on dallasnews.com: "SMU really has no connection to Dallas Period! They are content to sit on their own little island waiting to star in their own movie version of 'The Help!'"
Deserved or not, that's what the school's next coach will have to overcome if SMU has any chance of becoming relevant in college basketball.
It's not impossible, as Mike Dement showed at times during his 14-year stretch on the Hilltop. Armed with a coaching staff that included Tubbs, Dement was able to land Jeryl Sasser (the No. 2 prospect in the state) from Kimball and Willie Davis from Lincoln. Two years later, Quinton Ross (Kimball) came as well. Sasser and Ross went on to the NBA while Davis had a long career overseas. Since then, the talent just hasn't been there.
As it stands now, the Mustangs have a Division III player running the point, a mis-used Top 100 recruit and a few other pieces that might qualify as Division I talent. At a certain point, talent is the name of the game in college basketball and SMU needs someone who can recruit local products like Le'Bryan Nash and Perry Jones III, someone who can get the support of both the Highland Park boosters and the DISD coaches. Someone like Rod Strickland.
The ex-NBA star is working in an administrative role with Kentucky for John Calipari (read: recruiting). Strickland's career would command the respect of recruits and give SMU instant credibility. If he follows his mentor's model of building a program, he could turn SMU into Dallas' Memphis -- a hometown team built up on local prospects. Beyond that, he's a hire that could get the boosters excited, especially with the team moving into the Big East.
Unfortunately, he also has 4 DUI's and no head coaching experience. While his track record as a player indicates he knows the game inside and out, it's an easy thing for Steve Orsini to point to as a reason for not hiring him should the boosters object to his penchant for going hard in the car. The boosters could overlook the DUIs easily in the name of winning ... if the most recent one wasn't less than two years ago.
http://dallas.sbnation.com/2012/3/20/28 ... tt-doherty
To turn the corner, SMU has to lock down it's backyard. The road to relevance starts with the talent that's readily available in South Dallas. However, the perception of a school located in the middle of Highland Park in the rest of the city is well captured in this comment on dallasnews.com: "SMU really has no connection to Dallas Period! They are content to sit on their own little island waiting to star in their own movie version of 'The Help!'"
Deserved or not, that's what the school's next coach will have to overcome if SMU has any chance of becoming relevant in college basketball.
It's not impossible, as Mike Dement showed at times during his 14-year stretch on the Hilltop. Armed with a coaching staff that included Tubbs, Dement was able to land Jeryl Sasser (the No. 2 prospect in the state) from Kimball and Willie Davis from Lincoln. Two years later, Quinton Ross (Kimball) came as well. Sasser and Ross went on to the NBA while Davis had a long career overseas. Since then, the talent just hasn't been there.
As it stands now, the Mustangs have a Division III player running the point, a mis-used Top 100 recruit and a few other pieces that might qualify as Division I talent. At a certain point, talent is the name of the game in college basketball and SMU needs someone who can recruit local products like Le'Bryan Nash and Perry Jones III, someone who can get the support of both the Highland Park boosters and the DISD coaches. Someone like Rod Strickland.
The ex-NBA star is working in an administrative role with Kentucky for John Calipari (read: recruiting). Strickland's career would command the respect of recruits and give SMU instant credibility. If he follows his mentor's model of building a program, he could turn SMU into Dallas' Memphis -- a hometown team built up on local prospects. Beyond that, he's a hire that could get the boosters excited, especially with the team moving into the Big East.
Unfortunately, he also has 4 DUI's and no head coaching experience. While his track record as a player indicates he knows the game inside and out, it's an easy thing for Steve Orsini to point to as a reason for not hiring him should the boosters object to his penchant for going hard in the car. The boosters could overlook the DUIs easily in the name of winning ... if the most recent one wasn't less than two years ago.
