Bearcat Jeff, I would say when the program reaches #1 in the nation, that qualifies as pretty great. We were #1 a number of times under Huggs. We had all-americans. We had the consensus national player of the year. We were #1 and the favorite to win the national championship in 2000 before the Martin injury. Your facts are a little off in that Huggs best years were not his first two. His first two were NITs. Years 3 and 4 were Final 4/Elite 8. Cronin hasn't sniffed #1 in 7 yrs. His players can't even make 1st team all-league, much less get close to all-american. He's put nobody in the NBA. Most of his team can't shoot, can't pass, can't throw the ball inbounds, etc. When Huggs took over, the program had been decimated for over 10 years, with losing seasons and no NCAAs. The roster was so thin that we had to start a football player.
I was excited when Mick got the job. He has done very well with graduation rates and reducing the negative publicity. He has returned us to the NCAA. But, he has shown very little ability in developing players over 4 years, especially big men. His coaching in February for most of his time here has been atrocious, and this year is no different. His recruiting, for the most part has been disappointing. This year's shows some promise, but we were excited by some of his past classes, only to see them not be as good as expected.
What does this all mean? Mick is a decent coach who has done a good job returning us to respectability after starting in a difficult situation. He's one of us. He's a Bearcat. But, lets call a spade, a spade. He has a long way to go to match the success that preceded him. This year the team underachieved massively, now barely able to defeat the Big East bottom feeders in overtime at home on Senior Day. Our record on our home court is beyond embarrassing. We should still make the dance, but only by the skin of our teeth. I'll cut Mick a break this year. I hope this was just a chemistry thing, but I expect to see our team play much better than we have this year. I hope Mick continues to improve as a coach. I hope he is still here in 20 years, but he must perform a lot better than he has this year. All this being said, I hope Mick brings us a victory on Wednesday, and then he shocks everyone with an upset of Georgetown. I know this team has it in them, and God knows, we're certainly due to get hot! On to MSG.......GO CATS!!!!!