Well, the Darrin Horn party keeps on truckin’.
It has been confirmed that Horn will be the next coach of the Gamecocks, with the board of “trees” (as the great John Palms once said) meeting at 11 a.m. to approve Horn’s contract, I mean, talk about the future of the basketball program, potentially about a coach? They don’t know who.
The more I read about and learn about the guy, the better I’m feeling. I think this is going to be a good hire.
Two things really make me smile in regards to this hire. First a quote from a blog entry from the Louisville Courier-Journal’s Rick Bozich.
For more than a year, Horn has believed that South Carolina the one of those places where somebody could win — and win big in college basketball. Several other coaches have echoed those thoughts about South Carolina being a sleeping giant. State school. Decent recruiting base. Nice facilities. Solid fan base. SEC status. I’ve heard it from several guys. No reason to be intimidated by the rest of the SEC East.
Now THAT is the kind of attitude we need for the basketball program. We would do well to have it be more prevalent throughout the University community at large, but for the basketball program, this is EXACTLY what is needed.
Second, a quote from this article from The Worldwide Leader:
Another potential candidate (to replace Horn at WKU) who would fit (WKU AD Wood) Selig’s profile is Florida assistant Larry Shyatt, a former head coach who has been credited with much of the defensive work on the Gators’ back-to-back national champions.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Okay, well, I find this ironic in a way. See, there was a rumor floating around that Shyatt talked with VCU Head Coach Anthony Grant, who was an early target for us. Apparently Shyatt told his buddy Grant (remember that Grant is also a former Gator assistant) in no certain terms that he should steer clear of the Carolina job, because there’s no way he could win consistently in Columbia. Of course, that’s funny coming from Shyatt, who I believe only posted a 2-3 mark against the lowly, wayward Gamecocks in his time as the clemson head man.
Grant in turn listened, and apparently told us to go chase our tail. Of course, he’s looking foolishly arrogant, as apparently some of the jobs he thought he could pick and choose from aren’t exactly beating down his door.
But, back on point … we have our guy, and Shyatt could heading to the mid-major ranks because someone else apparently thought that the Gamecocks are ready to be a power in college basketball. Talk about delicious!
Well, I’m excited. Tomorrow afternoon, we take the first steps to hopefully building a bright and prosperous future!
