St Johns is not hiring Speedy Claxton. He might be 4th or 5th on their list,
at best. I know he's our legend, I get it, but he's accomplished next to nothing yet on a national scale. This will likely offend someone on this board, I have no doubt.
I can't stand SJU, but historically that is one of the top 50 college hoops programs. They have completely bombed their last few hires. The program is a mess. But the potential is absolutely there. They need a top flight
PROVEN HC. They need a leader who is a program resurrector and builder. Not a hope. Lavin has been their best in the last 30+ YEARS, think about that, and he only had a .60 winning % and was out in 5 years. Pitino would be a home run hire, but they'll have to give him a stellar package to outbid the Hoyas or TT or whoever.
You all get a bit wrapped up in the Hofstra hype. The objective reality is that Speedy has been a HC for all of 2 seasons, he's won 20+ games in each (which is nice, but not
nearly as big of a deal as some of you make it out to be), and has bowed out in the quarterfinals and the semis in one of the worst conferences in the entire NCAA. And that's WITH the POY.
He's not the
first choice on any list except HU. That's just local media hype.
Speedy might have interest, sure, but he's not one of their top targets. There are other mid major guys who have done more and have the dances on their resume. And that matters.
College coaching has become absurd, and the coaches are cashing in on nothing but pure hype, possibility, and maybes. Kudos to them, I knock no one for being able to get all they can. But coaches and their agents have mastered this game and are playing the system beautifully. Speedy wasn't going to be hired away by ANY big program this year, I will take that to the bank. A Fordham level, sure. A Georgetown or SJU? No.
But he smartly used the extremely low % ("so you're telling me there's a chance?!") as leverage because hey who can really say for sure. He landed himself a fantastic extension on some far out possibility that wasn't going to really happen because it's hard to tangibly prove it. HU also knows they will have a hard finding someone better because they simply don't have the skill nor the crazy $ it takes today to buy winners.
CofC was at MUCH greater risk to lose Kelsey because he's proven more. Nope, doesn't matter that Speedy beat them once. They produced a RANKED program, a 30 win season (!), and an NCAAT berth. In year
2. He would be a near lock at GT w/out that new $.
I am not against Speedy's extension, despite what my fan club thinks, BUT I do think it's a bit premature based on a VERY small sample size - and one that actually hasn't proven he's going to put out an NCAA program consistently yet. Can he? Think/hope so. Will he? Up to him. Speedy wasn't the best coach available, and still isn't, but I do think he's one of the best guys for
this program - largely because it's clear he truly loves it. He will take care of it. And he is good. He just isn't great...yet.
And if you all think
I'M tough and "unrealistic" on him and this program LOL
go visit a few other programs. This is child's play.
