LOL. Ridiculed. Ridiculed for what? Making people think. Thinking outside the box. Not accepting failure as an option. That is what I did.
My post highlighted three events that would have to occur to make people think. Russell Westbrook gets traded (which has happened), Billy Donovan resigning (could happen but he may get fired during the season) and Miami having a second consecutive losing season in men's basketball. Those were the three scenarios that would have to occur that prompt my article to ask a question? Should Miami consider hiring Billy Donovan.
I was "ridiculed" because it made people think outside of their box and some people became uncomfortable. They never gave a legitimate reason. Their excuses were he will take a bigger job (low self esteem about Miami), it will not happen (accepting being average or below) and can't (I just use can't because thinking of a reason requires too much work). I laugh because that is the same way people thought of the football program before Howard Schnellenberger had a crazy idea about the University of Miami. His idea was "I can win in football at the University of Miami".
I laugh because the perception of the University of Miami is this poor little private school with no money or resources to compete in any sports. I laugh because the football, baseball, women's basketball, tennis and track and field teams participated in post-season play with one tennis player (Estela Perez-Somarriba) along with a track and field (Michelle Atherley) winning a National Championship. Pretty good for a school "allegedly" not good in sports. So the real question is, does Miami have the right people in place to take the next step as expectations are being raised where making the postseason is the norm and winning in the postseason is the goal. That is where people became uncomfortable and the "ridicule" began.
Billy Donovan will go where he can get paid and where he thinks he can win. If he thinks that is the University of Miami than he will come. Surely, if he can recruit kids to Gainesville, FL (no disrespect to Gainesville but it is not Miami or Coral Gables) than recruiting kids to come to Miami will be much easier giving the reputation and success he has experienced. Would if cost a lot of money to get Billy Donovan to coach at the University of Miami? Absolutely but the true question is, how much money would that generate for the school and how soon will the school see that money? The buzz of having Billy Donovan as the head coach would sellout the Watsco Center. I don't mean selling the allotment of season tickets. I mean turn on the TV and you don't see any empty seats selling out the arena. It means more Nationally televised games and it puts Miami in the National spotlight in the college basketball world. There are more pros than cons but you get my point.
Finally and again, I am a firm supporter of Coach L and his staff. I greatly appreciate what he has done in raising the expectations and showing people that winning at Miami is a true possibility. I fully expect him to win 20 plus games this season, compete for the ACC championship and make the NCAA tournament (winning a game or two) after adding two more grad transfers to use all 13 scholarships. Unfortunately, if that does not happened and Miami does not meet those expectations and Billy Donovan is available. Then the AD has to ask himself, what is best for the program?
Again, that is too much for some people to process so I will not comment anymore about this. All I wanted to do is make you think.