Unless Roy Williams shoots 62 nine straight days and suddenly joins the senior tour, the ACC coaching storms have subsided for another summer.
In the aftermath, analysts doing the math reported a seismic shift. Since the spring of 2009, eight of the 12 jobs have changed hands.
They didn't change hands because Utopia had taken root. In the ACC, the closest thing to Utopia is Georgia Tech's Mfon Udofia, and he isn't.
The ACC feeds off the only Twin Towers of Utopia in college basketball, Duke and North Carolina, winners of four NCAA championships over the past 11 seasons and wily camouflage agents hiding the ACC's decline.
Maryland won the 2002 national title and, in loud testimony to Gary Williams' abilities, shared first place with eventual NCAA king Duke in 2010. But trophies couldn't hide the cold fact that Maryland recruiting had slipped, leaving the Terps on the tournament fringe until last season, when they couldn't even get the NIT handout.
Williams recently married again, and then he was shot down by NBA-bound Jordan Williams. It was a perfect time to retire, while the faithful still had faith in the emotional allure of Garyland.
He gets his name on the fancy court now. He can claim personal victory over former athletics director Debbie Yow, who took the exit ramp to N.C. State last summer just as her political position was eroding. Williams got the last laugh when Yow punctuated her hiring of Mark Gottfried by accusing Williams of trying to sabotage the Wolfpack search — without any evidence, of course.
The Maryland folks got another laugh Wednesday when Mark Turgeon, the outstanding new hire, explained that he accepted the offer only after receiving Williams' blessing. "I know Gary's not going to try to sabotage Maryland basketball," Turgeon said.
Turgeon, 46, coached Texas A&M to four straight NCAA tournaments, consistency matched by only Mike Krzyzewski in the ACC. The litmus test: If Turgeon can navigate the murky recruiting swamps around D.C. and retain some of the area's stars, Maryland could build on the Williams foundation.
The ACC's image has suffered for a reason: declining production. When Florida State reached the regional semis against Virginia Commonwealth, it became the first ACC team other than Duke or Carolina to get that far since 2006. Leonard Hamilton solidified his grip through FSU's third straight NCAA bid and his players' commitment to defense.
The fourth holdover coach, Virginia Tech's Seth Greenberg, typically extracts considerable energy from his athletes but, alas, has attracted just one NCAA invitation in his past 16 seasons at three stops (which makes for an extremely complex conspiracy theory).
Among the other three ACC switches this spring, nothing seemed stranger than the Georgia Tech soap opera. The esteemed institute backed itself into a corner with Paul Hewitt's automatic contract renewals and $7 million buyout. He finally departed, richer than your typical engineer, but the long goodbye left the Tech wallet a tad light.
Maybe that explains the hiring of Dayton's Brian Gregory, whose team beat Carolina for the 2010 NIT title but also finished seventh or worse in the Atlantic 10 five of the past six seasons.
Miami probably succeeded in the short run. Jim Larranaga, 61, took George Mason to the 2006 Final Four. He knows how to maximize potential through fundamentals, execution and strategy. Miami has lots of unrefined potential, especially Reggie Johnson, Durand Scott and Malcolm Grant.
Frank Haith, a fine recruiter with Alamance County roots, had been trying to hitch a ride out of town ahead of the forming posse.
While he was hitchhiking, Missouri inexplicably rolled up and offered a limo stuffed with millions. Haith accepted the lottery windfall with a feline grin.
Gottfried won a different sort of lottery. He had been a TV analyst since Alabama cut him loose. Predecessor Sidney Lowe maintained civility and kept State out of NCAA trouble, but the Wolfpack also stayed out of the tournament his entire tenure. That could change under Gottfried, who welcomes some capable holdovers but must hustle to find a point-guard replacement for transfer Ryan Harrow.
Gottfried's neighborhood issues won't change much until Duke or Carolina rams into a retirement crisis, which will become a historic crossroads moment for the ACC.
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