I wouldn't pass judgment on the hiring of
Ricky Stokes just yet. In most cases, a fair evaluation period of a head
coach consists of three years, if not four.
But the initial reaction here to East
Carolina athletics director Terry Holland's decision to hire his former
floor general is not one of awe.
With a landscape that features no shortage of
assistants on the rise and proven head coaches from lower level schools,
it's natural to question Holland's thinking. Though Stokes once was an
up-and-comer himself, he struggled in his first stint as a head coach at
Virginia Tech, which at the time had a hoops climate akin to ECU's.
Of all the proposed possibilities, Winthrop
head coach Gregg Marshall seemed a logical option. With his run of success,
he would have been labeled an impressive hire by almost every measure.
Among assistant coaches, Maryland's Dave
Dickerson might have made sizable waves. Any time you tap the top aide from
a national championship program, potential recruits pay attention and the
national media takes notice.
"We call it the longest 19 inches in the
world, is moving from that assistant coach's seat to the head coach's seat
in basketball," Holland said last week. "It can be overwhelming to be placed
in that head coaching position."
And perhaps that is one of the draws to
Stokes.
Not only is he familiar with the first chair,
he also understands the demands of coaching hoops in a football culture. A
quick study of the Hokies Stokes inherited draws similarities to the Pirates
he now will oversee.
The only difference is Stokes' prospects for
success now are somewhat improved given East Carolina's new conference
scenario. The reconfigured Conference USA looks more like the league former
Pirates coach Bill Herrion inherited — the CAA — than the juggernaut into
which he was quickly thrust.
Heck, given that, logic questions the
decision to fire Herrion instead of granting him a year to test the new
make-up of C-USA.
"When we tried to put our finger on it, we
had a very popular coach, a person we all think a great deal of," Holland
said. "But it looked like to me that we had reached the point that literally
we — and I don't fault anyone individually here, but obviously Bill is the
leader of that — we all were trying too hard to make this thing work.
"And at some point, that kind of pressure, I
think, becomes unhealthy. As Nick and I talked, we both were convinced that
was not a healthy situation for the individuals involved, as well as for our
program."
Any tension that existed with Herrion is
unlikely to percolate between Holland and Stokes. The duo has an existing
relationship that is predicated on both admiration and respect.
Stokes is to Holland what Steve Wojciechowski
is to Mike Krzyzewski — a hard-working protégé whose overachievement
fighting spirit earned him eternal favor with his coach.
That ultimately had to factor into Holland's
decision.
Holland himself has labeled East Carolina a
special place in special circumstances that requires special leaders in
order to succeed. That stance is one he says applies to both athletics and
the university and region as a whole.
Stokes has spent a lifetime hearing he can't,
but he almost always does despite fairly large odds. The case can be made
that he is East Carolina personified.
So was Stokes a good hire? The bottom line is
we just don't know.
In the near term, Stokes should enjoy a run
of reasonable success. The Pirates return a solid nucleus of talent and now
have a more manageable league gauntlet.
The future is less certain. Much of that will
depend on Stokes' efforts in recruiting, Holland's ability to schedule
strategically, and where the Pirates eventually settle in the conference
fold.
Regardless, there are a couple of facts that
can't be overlooked.
One, Holland knows as much about the college
hardwood as anyone on the planet. If he saw something in Stokes as both a
player and coach, who is anyone to question his decision for a reunion?
Two, there is little chance that Holland
would gamble now given the urgency of the situation. With some of ECU's
conference future perhaps pending on an improved basketball profile, you can
bet that Holland tapped the guy he thought would best position the Pirates
for their next jump.
This is a hire that no doubt doesn't measure
high on any seismic chart. But an AD's main responsibility is to make the
right hire, not the sexiest one.
From that angle, Holland deserves the benefit
of the doubt.