I find this Tim Welsh and Kevin Willard tak hysterical.
Welsh? Since when do we take Providence's trash? The guy was run out of town there just like Norm here. It was three years in the making. They HATED him there. Why take him, when he has already failed somewhere.
What has Willard done? Please.
McCaffrey has three tournament runs after this year. The wins. He has never failed or been fired. Does that mean anything to anyone?
As a hysterical one
, I have to say this thread is about prediction, not who people think would be the best coach within reasonable parameters.
Willard hasn't done much but you expect a coach who has done a lot? That coach goes off to a school with bigger pockets. And Willard's team is rolling through the MAAC right now, except for Siena. he built a talent-bereft team into a contender in 3 years, picked up a great passer in recruiting, and has an excellent MAAC big man. He'd be a "local" guy, with "pedigree" (Pitino) - the school can sell this guy as a young coach with real new direction, the way they couldn't with Baron or Welsh.
With Welsh, I just feel like he's been freely commenting on coaching in the Big East in articles and on SNY. That might be his personality and his job, but I wonder if he's positioning himself to be a name for some of the job openings. He recruited NY ok, found some diamond in the rough players, and can coach offense. And he competed (yes, lost a bit, but his mediocrity was better than what St. John's has) in the league at what might be the least appealing school in the conference - Providence has no real local talent pool, less history than a lot of the competition, small city... a lot of coaches turned down the job, and maybe there's a reason they did. It might be considered a "hard to win" place.
Additionally: St. John's might be considered hard to win at as well. If so, Gregory and Brad Stevens (why would he come east? Unless the money is strong that makes little sense) will pass and leave St. John's holding a bag of Welsh.