UNC hires Crawley and other links

Former BC Women's Basketball Coach Sylvia Crawley is back in the ACC as an assistant at North Carolina. Because Women's Basketball doesn't get all that much attention, the Crawley tenure is often overlooked in how bad things got. Hopefully the rebuild is almost complete.

Olivier Hanlan's early struggles have disappointed some Jazz followers. If he cannot get more play in the Summer League, he's probably headed for the D-League.

Jay Paterno reached out to BC about staff jobs in the past. This came out as part of his lawsuit against the NCAA. He's been rejected by a number of Power 5 schools as well as James Madison. It is unclear if he talked to BC under Spaz or Addazio. As far as I know, Jay never enabled or ignored Sandusky's crimes. HE probably deserves another chance to prove himself as a coach. I don't see it happening at BC though...Addazio seems pretty committed to hiring from his own network.

What to make of the Erik Johnson hire

Erik Johnson is the new Women's Basketball Coach. Congratulations to him and welcome back to Boston College. I know very little about Johnson. Based on his resume and his head coaching track record, Johnson was as good a candidate as anyone. It's not like he has big shoes to fill and the program has no where to go but up. But the Johnson hire probably felt very familiar to critics of Gene D. Obviously there are exceptions to these cases, but they do form a pattern.

1. Hiring former BC Assistants that he already knew. Johnson is just the latest. Spaz, Jags, Aoki, and Gambino were all BC assistants under Gene. Donahue was one of the few finalists in the last basketball search that didn't have a BC connection.

I want guys who know BC as head coaches. There are enough quirks to our school and programs that familiarity helps any learning curve. But Gene's reliance on his network means many good candidates don't get consideration. Cynics would also wonder if these coaches are hired because they are willing to kiss Gene's ring.

2. Gene is more willing to share responsibility when it comes to sports other than football. Gene credited Steve Donahue for assisting in the process. When he hired Crawley he also leaned on basketball guys he knew to asses her ability. I know he seeks feedback and recommendations on the football searches, but ultimately he is making the call and taking responsibility for what happens on the football field. In the other sports he either doesn't have the connections or doesn't trust himself to make a solid pick. In general I am glad he asked for Donahue for feedback.

3. Money is not an issue. We always hear how tight the purse strings are at BC, yet here we are handing out another big contract. BC only seems to go cheap when it can be used as a crutch to neutralize candidates that might be a threat to Gene's power.

I know when we make our next football change, Gene will want to hire someone he knows. But if he knows that we know his M.O., maybe there is a chance for him to make a great hire.

Potential replacements for Crawley

I am sure Gene has a few potential names lined up for the women's basketball opening. These are a few that I've already heard mentioned.

Jen Rizzotti; Head Coach, University of Hartford
Rizzotti's name was mentioned when Inglese was fired. At the time she was pregnant, so that may have been a factor in her not wanting to make a move then. She's experienced and she's worked in New England. The only drawback might be the UConn connection.

Kelly Greenberg; Head Coach, Boston University
Knows the area. Has recruited at an Ivy League school earlier in her career. She also worked at Holy Cross.

Kenny Brooks; Head Coach, James Madison
A couple of Crawley's BC players actually transferred to James Madison and found success there. He's been a head coach for many years and won consistently.

Crawley's tenure ends for a variety of reasons and what it means

Sylvia Crawley resigned this afternoon as head coach of the BC women's basketball team. The official release from the school listed "health reasons" as the basis for her decision. As in the past, the school then felt the need to explain that these health issues are "non-life-threatening, treatable condition..." I hate being the constant cynic, but I think the change was made because Crawley wasn't a very good coach. A 67-63 record (20-38 ACC) capped off by this year's 7-23 season was enough to do anyone in.

None of this is a surprise. I predicted Crawley would be gone in December. Following Cathy Inglese would have been tough for anyone, but Crawley seemed like a bad fit from the start. She's wasn't particularly good at the Xs and Os and her supposed forte -- recruiting -- resulted in highly-rated recruits, but lots of turnover, transfers and losing. She didn't ingrain herself into BC and carried herself at practices and games like she didn't want to be there. I know she has other interests outside of basketball. Maybe she can now focus on them.

Because very few are paying attention, this story won't be a big deal nor will it get the scrutiny it deserves. But our current women's basketball situation was the canary in the coal mine. In 2008 a successful and well-regarded coach was forced out. There was no fireable offense. It was more about power and differing philosophies with her boss. BC filled the role with someone who was not qualified and not cut out to be a head coach in the ACC. Now we have to clean up that mess and are certainly worse off than we were four years ago.

I hope this is a sign that despite public proclamations, Gene is willing to correct his mistakes. Because I can see this football season playing out a lot like this year's women's basketball season.

Women's hoops sent packing and other links

The Women's basketball season ended yesterday with another blowout loss. They wrapped up their season with a 7-23 record. The difference between their rough season and the men's team or even Cathy Inglese's terrible record in 1995, is that this is Sylvia Crawley's 4th year and things are trending downward. This should be when things start improving. The roster is young in part because of heavy turnover. Gene is under enough of a microscope now that I don't think he will make a move on her, but you have to question where this program is headed.

Earlier in the week SI.com posted a ACC Spring preview.

Spaz holds the No. 1 spot on Athlon's hot seat list.

This article reviews how Stanford became a recruiting power without compromising who they are. I hope we look to some in the Harbaugh tree the next time we have an opening for a head coach.

Women's hoops blownout and other links

If more people cared, I think there would be outrage about the Women's basketball team. Wednesday night North Carolina ran them out of the building, winning 77-46. BC is now the only ACC team yet to get a conference win and only has five wins overall. The concern is that this is Crawley's fourth season and the decline has been steady. BC fans can be patient but I think BC needs to show a little more fight as the season winds down.

Tom Coughlin's reputation for delivering in big games started at BC. (Thanks to Dave for the link.)

Donnie Fletcher is making the most of his time at the Senior Bowl practices. This report noted that he had speed in one on one drills. He also showed strength and pushed a WR around.

One of BC's Plan B recruits -- Jameson McShea -- decided not to commit and is going to Harvard. Gene told Around the Res that this class would have 18-19 recruits. If Spaz is on the same page, he better scrounge up some new verbals quickly.

Cory Schneider weighed in on the Tim Thomas White House controversy.

Crawley's extension and other links

BC added two more years to Sylvia Crawley's contract. My initial reaction was: "why?" Nothing against Crawley, but has she done anything yet to earn a new/longer deal? Was she going anywhere? Let's hope her strong recruiting translates to more wins.

After a year covering the BC hockey team, BC alum Tom Grace is going back to Pittsburgh to be the voice of the Penguins again. You have to admire a guy who follows his dream.

Former Eagle Mark Nori is getting his first head coaching job at a high school in Ohio.

The notes section of this article mentions Chase Hounshell interest in BC.

Baseball assistant Steve Englert is staying on at BC under his former colleague Mike Gambino.