Is Chris Mack Throwing Xavier Under the Bus?

[gosports1]

Interesting the different takes on this. I interpreted the mediocre comments to be coming from the kid and what he perceived Xavier to be, not something he heard from Mack. Does this kid even have an recollection of Xaviers history other than the Mack years?

[GumbyDamnit!]

Additionally, X doesn’t have to recruit like L’ville. One of the pressures at a school like L’ville is to compete with the likes of UK, Duke, KU, UNC. The temptation may be to woo as many McD AA’s as possible, fit be damned.

I don't think Louisville's produced a single one-and-done in 15+ years under Pitino. Which is kind of funny if you ask me.

No but I think if you look at the players that he began to target, the recruits were more in line with the types of players Coach K and Cal went after.

18 - A Simons, Langford (L’ville lean before Pitino got fired)
17 - B Bowen, M Williams
16 - VJ King
15 - D Mitchell

Mitchell bolts after 2 years; NO ONE expected guys like Simons and Bowen to stick around for more than a year or two max. Langford is a probable OAD and it looked likely he was heading to L’ville.

Point is there is a pressure at a place like L’ville to keep up with blue blood programs like UK. I think Pitino felt it. I expect Mack to as well. It may cause him to get away from recruiting for fit, in favor of recruiting for ranking. And following a coaching legend like Pitino can’t be easy. I think Mack figured out a good recipe for prolonged success at X that included a healthy dose of mature (physically and experience) players. It will be interesting if L’ville struggles early if Mack tries to be something he is not.

[adoraz]

I'd take a job at Xavier over Louisville no question. Louisville would be a far more stressful place to work at. If you're not recruiting five stars every year and going to the Sweet 16 at a minimum, your season will be seen as a disappointment. Mack may get a 1 year pass but that's it. Jay already showed the conference twice what can be done at a mid sized BE school.

I dislike Louisville regardless, so I hope to see Mack fail there. I'd say the same about any coach, however.

[gtmoBlue]

Louisville is a top 10-20 program nationally. It is a "destination" job with the name, prestige, & resources to contend for the national championship. If a coach gets the opportunity to coach there, he accepts it. Not my fav school, but one helluva opportunity for Mack. He's good enough to make the best of his chance.

[adoraz]

Louisville is a top 10-20 program nationally. It is a "destination" job with the name, prestige, & resources to contend for the national championship. If a coach gets the opportunity to coach there, he accepts it. Not my fav school, but one helluva opportunity for Mack. He's good enough to make the best of his chance.

If Mack is squeaky clean then sure, but as the FBI reports have shown, there's violations at the majority of colleges.

Louisville will throw Mack under the bus even faster than they threw Rick under it if there are ANY violations. Then of course he needs to win, so good luck getting 5 stars to commit.

Granted, Louisville's violations were clearly a lot more severe than most of what has come out of the FBI reports. But still, there are going to be two major microscopes on him at all times.

Honestly, I'm surprised he took the job. Then again, $$$$$$$$.

[muskienick]

Chris Mack is not stupid enough to mess up this chance for greatness by cheating or doing other illegal or immoral things like Ricky P did. He'll get 2-3 years to get the program back to a certain amount of respectability. It'll be then when the fans and Administration start making him prove that he really belongs in such a lofty job.

[adoraz]

Chris Mack is not stupid enough to mess up this chance for greatness by cheating or doing other illegal or immoral things like Ricky P did. He'll get 2-3 years to get the program back to a certain amount of respectability. It'll be then when the fans and Administration start making him prove that he really belongs in such a lofty job.

Did you think Sean Miller was a stupid person?

I generally don't trust anybody in sports to always do the right thing. Probably due to growing up during the steroids era in baseball... an era that never seems to truly end.