AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2006 > March > 03 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USNew AD already a good fit to Hewitt
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Let’s get something out of the way, because everything else we discuss in this space involving the state of Georgia Tech basketball will hinge on the following question: So, Paul Hewitt, do you wish to hug the Yellow Jackets’ new athletics director or choke him, and does this mean that you’re staying or going?
Hewitt answered quickly, which was a wonderful sign if you’re partial toward old gold and white.
“Obviously I haven’t worked a day with him,” said Hewitt, referring to Dan Radakovich, the outsider from LSU who was picked over celebrated Tech man Bill Curry to succeed Dave Braine. Just so you know, Braine is Hewitt’s sugar daddy who hired the previously unknown coach from Siena six seasons ago. But back to Radakovich, with Hewitt adding, “I’ll tell you what. I’ve gotten more calls from people who really don’t have a dog in the race, as they say, who have been glowing about this guy. They’ve done some background checks on him, and he always comes up five stars. That includes what I hear from Lonnie Cooper’s office.”
That’s Cooper, the noted Atlanta agent with more than a few clients who have interacted with Radakovich during his journey as a college administrator from Miami (Florida) to Long Beach State to South Carolina to American University and to LSU. That’s also Cooper, Hewitt’s agent, the person who placed all of those clauses in Hewitt’s contract that allow him to bolt to another school within two years after Braine’s departure or to an NBA job at any time.
Looks like Hewitt isn’t going anywhere, which is yet another reason why you can ignore the fluke that is the ongoing bust of a season for Tech. Come next year, with the maturation of what currently is the ACC’s youngest roster, and with the arrival of Javaris Crittenton along with other recruits, the Jackets should rise from the dead in a hurry.
So why did Hewitt still have a mortician’s demeanor? He gets it. He knows that coaches who wish to stay among the elite never are satisfied. As a result, he prefers not to discuss the promise of the future when he has to deal with the mess of now.
“It’s been a very humbling year, and by far, this has been my toughest year,” said Hewitt, whose wildly inconsistent Jackets enter their last conference game of the regular season today at Clemson with a 4-11 record in the ACC and 11-15 overall. Such ugliness happens when you play more freshmen and sophomores than anybody in one of the nation’s toughest conferences, and your accomplished point guard, Jarrett Jack, leaves early for the pros.
Still, with a bunch of shooters such as Anthony Morrow and Lewis Clinch, this Tech team hinted of becoming more prolific on offense than many of its forefathers. The Jackets also have Jeremis Smith, a mostly complete player, and defensive wizard Mario West, all enough to make us surmise before the season that the Jackets would do nothing less than surge on the verge on the ACC tournament.
Instead, they’ve stunk.
“Even that second year when we started out 0-7 at one point and finished out winning eight of the last 10, I knew we were going to be really, really young and that it would be an uphill climb, but this one has caught me off guard,” Hewitt said. “Boy, we’ve lost so many close games that could have made a difference in us being on the bubble of the [NCAA] tournament. Fourteen-point lead to Florida State. Double-figure lead at North Carolina. The game we had here, when we blew an eight-point lead against Duke with eight [minutes] to go. We had games right there.”
They lacked toughness, though, and Hewitt said he’ll help his Jackets acquire it before next season. He’ll also continue to collect the type of gritty players who led Tech to the NCAA title game two seasons ago. Thus his recruiting trips that included one this week to Baton Rouge, where Radakovich remains for the moment as LSU’s senior associate athletics director.
“I stopped by Dan’s office, and I just spent 10 minutes with him,” Hewitt said. “I ran into somebody there that I know on the basketball staff, and he said, ‘You’re getting a great guy.’ So I’m looking forward to working with him.”
Good. No, great.
Permalink | Comments (25) | Categories: Tech / ACC, Terence Moore
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By bill g
March 3, 2006 07:48 PM | Link to this
Hiring an accomplished man with a superb background is a most welcome departure for GT. Hewitt is class and quality. I am glad he feels good about the hire.
Now, if only we can clean up the mess on the flats.
By Bear
March 3, 2006 07:49 PM | Link to this
What do you expect Hewitt to say about his new boss - especially in a public forum.
I’m not sure there is a single person in the US that Paul Hewitt would like working for, except himself……..though this season may be a “humbling experience,” he has an ego the size of Texas.
Hopefully he will leave and Tech can bring in a coach with an outstanding personality, better coaching experience and someone that is not full of themself……….
By The Wreck
March 3, 2006 10:40 PM | Link to this
Hey Bear: Have you ever met coach Hewitt? That’s what I thought.
By roh
March 3, 2006 11:16 PM | Link to this
Bear, Are you crazy??? Tech couldn’t ask for a better basketball coach. Coach Cremins started the entire process and Coach Hewitt is continuing it. He is an execellent recruiter and he is going to continue to do nothing but great things down at Tech!
By T-bone
March 4, 2006 07:23 AM | Link to this
Bear?? Must be from Alabama. He certainly doesn’t know the same Coach Hewitt that the rest of us knows. Go Jackets!!
By Jim O
March 4, 2006 07:58 AM | Link to this
GT did a great job in hiring the last two bb coaches, not going after a big name and getting very talented individuals from small schools. I sincerely hope Rad and Hewitt get along great, because we need both of them!
Was the Baton Rouge trip pre-planned, or did the addition of Rad provide some insight to a recruit?
By p
March 4, 2006 09:28 AM | Link to this
Sure, he can recruit, but EVERY coach in the ACC can recruit. The unanswered question is, can he coach? And looking at the job he did this year, that’s not such an easy question to answer.
By xmann
March 4, 2006 09:58 AM | Link to this
It’s amazing the idiots like bear and the one letter guy (p) that are allowed on this blog, to bad stupidity does’nt get blocked when you make dumb comments!
By DecaturTechfan
March 4, 2006 10:07 AM | Link to this
Bear must be from the backwoods(see Athens) and obviously p is from the toilet. I think people are missing the point that Tech IS a bigtime national sports program and will continue to be. Last time I checked, we had a national championship and a second place national finish more recently than the boyz from hicktown(see Athens). Go Jackets!
By p
March 4, 2006 10:18 AM | Link to this
106-81 is not a record that get mised up with Coach K’s record. Add another loss today and one in the tournament, as well. that record could get you fired at any traditional basketball power.
Oh, this is GT we’re talking about, so I guess a 101-81 record is an un-bee-lievable accomplishment. Truly, it must be a bright spot in these times of NCAA probation for Tech.
By Xenia
March 4, 2006 05:06 PM | Link to this
Hewitt should be worried that HE is a good fit for the new AD.
He did a very poor job of coaching this season. I see an unorganized, basically clueless team out there.
But somehow he has received a vote of confidence from Transparent Tererence.
By Average Joe
March 4, 2006 06:27 PM | Link to this
…would like to see Coach Hewitt improve in two areas…..1) teaching the fundamentals of the shot, i.e. “shooting mechanics” 2) less of the maximum 20 hours of practice devoted to individual drills, i.e. “more team play”
By surfer
March 4, 2006 11:26 PM | Link to this
Nothing against Hewitt as he had some rebuilding to do but the NCAA run year may have been the fluke. I’m wandering how the basketball recruits are handling the academics since the football program seems to be getting all the attention. To say that we’ve hired a great AD because people like him, is well not the best way to judge a potential employee. Bobby Ross was respected not always liked. Bill Curry had integrity and knows the situation at Tech and know what it could breakdown into. Tech is in trouble in the two major sports as far as the momentum and therefore profitability which is critical. Hewitt deserves a little bit more time since he is showing it with some good recruiting in the near future but not too much more time as we’ve only had one good year and the regular season finish was 4th. We are paying these two major coaches $2 million per year and we are loosing $108 million. Again it should be emphasized our new AD has’nt worked at a tough academic school like Tech before neither had Braine or Bill Lewis or Chan Gailey in 20 years. We can warn people all we want but until they have had experienced at it, it’s a different animal. At the same, if we want our new AD to be successful he has to get operating control of the various aspects away from the President and the Football Coach, otherwise his odds are succeeding are diminished. Tech can win in all sports with tough combination of athletics and academics but it requires top people to run the programs. People like Danny Hall. Homer Rice. Bill Curry. Bobby Ross. And yes O’leary. All of these people knew how to combine the two divides in the school, sports and academics. It takes a special breed. LSU is not a place I would look for those types but that does’nt mean we have’nt found that person. Only time will tell.
By Hugh G. Rection
March 5, 2006 07:40 AM | Link to this
T-Mo, thanks for writing an article for once that doesn’t focus on race. Please keep it up.
You’re possibly the most talented of the AJC columnists in terms of your skills and readability, you’re just difficult to pay attention to most of the time since you usually do nothing but baseless race-baiting. You can do better.
By Hugh G. Rection
March 5, 2006 05:47 PM | Link to this
By the way, just to confirm, I totally agree with T-Mo that Hewitt staying at Georgia Tech University is very, very positive for the long term. I’m looking for GTU in the Final Four next year, no joke.
By Ed Jelks
March 6, 2006 07:08 AM | Link to this
Georgia Tech University? Please!
By T-Bone
March 6, 2006 12:37 PM | Link to this
I can’t believe the mentality of you GT fans out there who don’t support Coach Hewitt! He is, by all accounts, one of the classiest coaches in college sports, and took a team that lost its best player to the Final Four in 2004. This is the best example that coaching is a “what have you done for me lately” profession. If Jarrett Jack were in a Jackets uniform this year, all of you would be singing Hewitt’s praises. Replacing Jack with Zam Frederick (or Mario West) is like replacing Stephon Marbury with Travis Spivey (remember that debacle?). With Javaris Crittenton and Thaddeus Young added to this already talented group, Tech will finish in the upper division of the ACC and receive a first-round bye in the league tourney next season. You know what that means? NCAA tournament next year, and Mario West is the only senior in 2007. The future looks bright, and Hewitt is the reason. Give credit where it is deserved. And to those of you who think Hewitt should be replaced, be careful what you wish for…
By Greg
March 6, 2006 02:39 PM | Link to this
You’re right, p. 101-81 (a winning percentage of .555) is absolutely shameful. Nevermind that your beloved coach K tallied a record of 85-65 over his first 5 seasons (a winning percentage of .566 for you UGA grads). These are unacceptable records for upper echelon programs. Fire both Coach Hewitt and Coach K!!! Oh wait, I must have gotten their records “mised” up.
By Greg
March 6, 2006 02:40 PM | Link to this
You’re right, p. 101-81 (a winning percentage of .555) is absolutely shameful. Nevermind that your beloved coach K tallied a record of 85-65 over his first 5 seasons (a winning percentage of .566 for you UGA grads). These are unacceptable records for upper echelon programs. Fire both Coach Hewitt and Coach K!!! Oh wait, I must have gotten their records “mised” up.
By p
March 6, 2006 04:40 PM | Link to this
Roy Williams is 72-21 in his first 3 years at UNC.
By p
March 6, 2006 04:43 PM | Link to this
Roy Williams is 72-21 in his first 3 years at UNC.
By James
March 6, 2006 09:19 PM | Link to this
Hewwitt is a great coach and a great man. I’m sure he’s gonna love working for Dan Radakovich, or however you spell it.Coach Cremins gave Tech it’s basketball name, and Coach Hewwitt is helping us keep it. But Hewwitt’s legacy is like the Curry-Ross situation long ago. Bill Curry recruited alot of the team that won the 1990 National Championship, and Bobby Ross coached them. But Coach Hewwitt recruited the team that went to the Final Four in 2004, and he also coached them. A team with good recruits and bad coaching is gonna be a not so good team, vice-versa. But every now and then, you get inexperienced recruits and that results in a bad season, like what happened this season. Hewwitt will always be here for Tech.
But the difference between Curry and Hewwitt? Tech football needed Curry. He left for Alabama just so he would be known better. Tech basketball now needs Hewwitt. And he’s still here. That, my friends, is the mark of a great coach.
By James
March 7, 2006 08:29 PM | Link to this
Ok, P. Refresh my memory. How many times has UGA been to the Final Four? And who was the last team to go to the Final Four: Georgia Tech or UGA?
By wes
March 8, 2006 03:39 PM | Link to this
“Bear” is obviously a mutt in disguise. Hewitt will end up being the best coach in Georgia Tech history. Go f yourself “Bear”.
By wes
March 8, 2006 03:40 PM | Link to this
“Bear” is obviously a mutt in disguise. You’re a loser. Hewitt is awesome. Hewitt will end up being the best coach in Georgia Tech history.