Wow where to begin, okay
1. Butler is a private university. That experience matters when talking about the likelihood of being able to fit in to the environment that is Duke.
2. He's young, handsome and charismatic. He's a homerun just from the aesthetics and marketability. He has a welcoming aura that I believe would instantly bode well with parents, coaches and mentors who have a lot of say so.
Now that the BS is out of the way lets get to the nitty gritty.
3. 166-49 at Butler making the NCAA tourney 5 of 6 years including back to back national title appearances. NOBODY from Dukes current tree even approaches that. K lost in his two first title attempts in 86 and 90. Brad has built a reputation as a coach who's teams play HARD NOSE defense.
4. HIs current coaching job is arguably a more severe pressure cooker than Duke and that's saying a lot. The Boston Celtics is arguably the most storied franchise in ALL of sports not just basketball. A place that breeds and expects excellence due to the success of the Sox, Patriots and to some extent even the Bruins. Yet his style has translated wonderfully from college to the pros. He's loved in Boston (for now) and he certainly has gotten more out of this Celtics team than ANYONE even thought possible. Hall of Famer Pitino wasn't able to make it in Boston. He's already done enough to have enough credibility with kids in Highschool who are expected to be NBA level talent players and out of him vs ALL the in family guys ONLY HE can make the claim that he has successfully coached at the highest level and that his system works at the highest level.
5. Amaker, Wojo, Collins, Capel, dawkins, hurley
NONE of them bring the level of credibility and experience being the HC in a high pressure position that Brad does. ALL of them are as unproven as it gets for a job like Duke.
I submit my argument to you! Lol
For the record, I'm not arguing he's not a great choice. I'm just not as sold or enamored as some that it would be a homerun hire.
1.) Being at a private university is crucial. I agree there. The academic standards aren't as tough and he's not recruiting 3- and 4-star players. At Duke he's recruiting the best players in the country. I'm not saying he can't do it, but there's a few people he'd be up against for the job that have done it and done it well.
2.) Coach K was polish, a military man whose head coaching experience consisted of being the lead man at West Point. He did play and study under one of the all-time greats, but he was as unproven as they come taking the Duke job. I don't need to list his accolades for you because you know them.
3.) His resume is impressive. I can't argue with that. But he still lost 24 games his final two season's at Butler. The runs his 2010 and 2011 teams went on were spectacular and it vastly improved the school's image, but from a recruiting standpoint he wasn't hitting homeruns based off the back-to-back Final Fours.
4.) I won't argue he's not in a pressure cooker situation right now. Obviously the Celtics history stands among some of the greatest in all of sport. But let's be honest for a second, he came into a situation at Boston where he wasn't expected to be the savior right away. He's done a splendid job, but splendid at Duke puts you on the hot seat. I'd argue that going to Duke and replacing not only the greatest college basketball coach of all-time, but maybe the greatest coach in all of sport all-time brings with it some pressure as well. Looks at Coach K's history over the last 30 years. It's unmatched. And now rewind in your brain 12 months ago when Duke fans, some on this board, were questioning whether or not he was washed up. Like I said, lots of pressure in Boston, but it's no picnic here either. He'd be replacing the greatest coach the sport has seen.
5.) I don't think anyone is arguing for Hurley, Amaker, Wojo or Collins anymore. We know the path this is headed down. It's Jeff Capel....quite clearly. He doesn't have the head coaching success as say a Stevens, but he has almost as much experience. In addition to that, he has played and coached under the best. He has become one of the top recruiters in the country. He leads Duke's preparation going into games. K has entrusted him to take the lead in most practices. Coach Stevens, as good as he's been, has done none of that. It's not to say he can't, but those of us who appreciate K's system, what it means, what it stands for and what it's become almost are entitled to trust Coach K if he feels he has the best successor in mind.
Once again, I'm not harping on Stevens whatsoever. I think he's great. And I can say the last place I want to see him at is a school at UNC because I think he could be very successful. Like you said, he has the traits. But initially I want K's traits. I know it won't be the same and I know it may come with some down times....but I trust it and want to ride it out.
There's my $.02.