A few weeks back, Sacramento State put themselves into the minds of college sports fans.
The perennial losers were in negotiations to make Michael Vick its new head football coach. It looked like Vick was heading to the little-known school until he had an about-face and decided that he would take the same position at Norfolk State.
It made sense for the Virginia Tech legend to be closer to the place where his name means so much.
Missing out on Vick didn’t discourage the Hornets.
That didn’t discourage the Hornets’ brass.
They swung big on football and missed out on one of the most popular NFL players before he ruined his career with off-the-field discretions.
Now, it was time to go after a former NBA player for the basketball program.
They got a hit this time when Mike Bibby decided to take the job. Bibby has some coaching experience, but time will tell how much of that experience will be applicable.
Bibby has been an assistant on the Puerto Rican National Team, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Memphis Grizzlies summer league teams, and the NBA G-League Ignite.
He was also a high school coach at Shadow Mountain High School.
In the past, the hire would be slammed because NBA coaches supposedly fail in college, but we see more coaches with NBA/G League experience getting hired in the NIL era. G League coaches are especially desired because many of them have player development backgrounds. It makes them perfect for the transactional world of college athletics.
What concerns me the most is Bibby’s staff.
If you’re going down this path, you must have an experienced X’s and O’s guy to accompany the development piece.
The two associated head coaches are Michael Bibby and Raymond Walcott. The younger Bibby has high school coaching experience as an assistant, and Walcott has been a high school assistant and head coach/trainer for both Dime Academy and Team Bibby.
If the sirens haven’t gone off, check to see if you have a pulse. This could end up like a Homer Simpson disaster at Mr. Burns’ nuclear plant.
Jason Fraser and Greg Moody II don’t bring that much more than the associate head coaches.
No one on the staff has tangible head coaching experience, and this spells disaster.
The Hornets have a history of losing. Brian Katz was there for 13 seasons and had a winning record twice. The most successful season ended with a trip to the second round of the CIT. That was in the 2014-15 season.
So, I can understand why a school like Sacramento State would swing for the fences. I agree with it. I also can understand hiring Bibby, even though it isn’t a move I would have made.
What I can’t get down with is a staff that has more questions than the inexperienced head coach.
