DePaul Recruiting, Georgetown Recruiting, Louisville Recruiting, USF Recruiting

BELLY OF THE BE-AST: THE QUESTIONS (FINAL EDITION)

by RAY MERNAGH

Heading to the “Pete” in Pittsburgh tonight to watch Pitt play Wofford, a team with something Pitt is lacking (experience). Before I grab a bite to eat and head out I might as well hit you with the final four questions. Today we look at Louisville, Georgetown, South Florida and DePaul.

Q: Has Louisville’s recruiting been hurt by the TMZ-like atmosphere that was created once it became public knowledge that Rick Pitino was being extorted?

Can’t answer that right now. If Louisville can get Tobias Harris for 2010 and Marquise Teague and Wayne Blackshear in 2011 nobody will care and the answer will be a resounding no. They thought they had Fab Melo wrapped so when Syracuse landed him that was a blow. However I think losing Richard Pitino the son to Florida (for whatever reason) has definitely hurt their recruiting. Young Pitino is a comer in the business and had built never-before-roads into certain areas for his Pops. People really underestimate how big of a loss he was and continues to be. Wait until this Spring/Fall/Summer when you start seeing him influencing recruiting battles in Billy D’s favor. He’s that good. Ron Everhart, who’s been a head coach for a long time, called him the best assistant he ever had…by far. I think his absence has hurt.

Q: When will we know if Georgetown will be back to form and not more of the same Hoyas of last season?

December 8th. Georgetown plays Butler at the Garden. If they win or play the Bulldogs tough then they’ll be a team to be reckoned with. If they get their doors blown off they might struggle to get out of the first round of NCAA play, and yes, I’m assuming they’re going to make the tournament (any team with a year-under-his-belt Greg Monroe should).

Q: Should Stan Heath be in trouble at South Florida?

No. Maybe if more off-the-court stuff happens but based on results/recruiting/effort? No way. South Florida is the toughest job in the Big East and it isn’t even close (it isn’t the toughest job in D-1 basketball as Vitale claims, if they were in a lesser conference they could get it rolling). A philosophy change might be in order to get it done down there in the Big East, maybe follow the blueprint of a WVU under the previous coach or try to recruit Butler-type players? Not really sure, I just know that Heath doesn’t deserve to get fired. He gets at least two more years as long as the off-the-court issues are kept to a minimum.

Q: Is this the last season for Wainwright at DePaul?

Yes. He’s a really good guy, very funny and a decent-enough coach but they need to blow that thing up and start over BECAUSE IT JUST AIN’T WORKING. Funny thing is DePaul might want to look on their bench and hand it all over to Tracy Webster. Chicago guy, would do the job for average money until he proved himself, and would know what he needs to make a run at it. I doubt they’ll do that but they could do a lot worse.

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