Yesterday, Northwestern was eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament, thus ending any NCAA Tournament hopes that they might have had. Just hours before that result completed their previous coach, Bill Carmody, clinched a tourney berth in his very first season at his new school, Holy Cross.
Obviously, Carmody was on the program’s mind as current coach Chris Collins mentioned him during his postgame press conference.
Now that's a Cinderella story: Holy Cross wins @PatriotLeague at Lehigh. Bill Carmody goes to @marchmadness after heartache at Northwestern.
— Andy Katz (@TheAndyKatz) March 10, 2016
“I didn’t think the program was in an awful place,” Collins said when answering a question about his outgoing senior class.
“Coach Carmody is a helluva coach. He proved that last night. I wouldn’t have come to Northwestern if I didn’t think we weren’t in a place where we could build on what he did.”
“And for what those guys have done for me the past three years, I could never repay them. They have given me everything. I feel I have given them everything. We have gotten better,” Collins continued.
Bill Carmody was the only coach in Northwestern history to win 20 games in a season, and he did it twice.
Collins tied him this season and should NU get a postseason game, he’ll have the chance to hit 21 and break that record. Carmody took the Wildcats as close to the NCAA Tournament as any coach ever has, but he was let go for not being able to get over the hump.
Now Carmody prepares for the big dance next week while two of his recruits to Evanston, Alex Olah and Tre Demps, are in limbo regarding the chance to college basketball again. The NIT likely doesn’t have enough available slots to take a team with NU’s resume, and the CBI doesn’t seem like an attractive option for the school. There have been rumblings that the Vegas 16 could be possible option.
Olah sent a text congratulations to Carmody and spoke very highly of what he learned from his former coach.
He kind of helped me with everything,” Olah told The Sports Bank.
“He introduced me to the Big Ten, and what college basketball is like. It was a great experience for me, a great freshman year just to get it going, and you like said (he built) kind of the foundation of our program.”
“This program is going up and it’s going to keep going up.”
Olah said Carmody texted back his gratitude for the big man’s message and wished Northwestern good luck in the Big Ten Tournament.
As for Demps, he admitted that he didn’t see eye with Carmody, and he doesn’t keep in touch with him. Demps did still wish Carmody the best in the big dance.
Olah said he’ll be paying attention to the Holy Cross Crusaders in the big dance, and he hopes that good things come their way.
“I’ve always supported Coach Carmody and I’ll watch them play in the tournament. Hopefully they’ll make a big run.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram