In life, who you know is infinitely more important than what you know and this old adage certainly reigns supreme in the recruiting world.
That old maxim is certainly a macro level theme of the John Calipari 30 for 30 “One and Not Done,” which premieres tomorrow night (review at this link, exclusive with the director at this link, preview info and trailer at this link), but another more micro level lesson in the documentary certainly applies to the Illini basketball news that was announced today.
The lesson being, assistant college basketball coaches are judged primarily by what they can do on the recruiting trail.
Yes, if you’re an assistant, your value is determined by what kind of players you can bring in to the program, and that obviously hinges on connections.
That’s the thinking here as Illini basketball announced the hiring of two more assistant coaches. Head coach Brad Underwood announced Wednesday the hiring of Ron Coleman as assistant coach and Stephen Gentry as assistant to the head coach.
Ron “Chin” Coleman comes to Champaign after having served the last two years as an assistant at UIC under coach Steve McClain. Much more importantly, Chin Coleman coached one of the top AAU programs in the country, the Mac Irvin Fire, from 2005-11. He also coached at the prep level in Chicago, leading Benjamin Mays Academy before becoming associate head coach at Whitney Young.
Having such a strong connection to Mac Irvin Fire makes Coleman such a HUGE get. Notable MIF alumni include: Jabari Parker, Jahlil Okafor, Cliff Alexander, Billy Garrett, Wayne Blackshear, Sam Thompson Jr. and Kiefer Sykes.
Underwood summed it up perfectly in his statement via the school release: “He has tremendous knowledge of the state of Illinois and city of Chicago, growing up and playing there, and then cutting his coaching teeth at the high school and grassroots level with the Mac Irvin Fire.”
Coleman, a Chicago native and graduate of South Shore, is the walk behind the “we’re going to keep the top talent here in state” talk. Every time there’s regime change in Illini basketball we hear the new leadership espouse the ideal of “we’re going to keep the best blue chip prospects in the state at home.”
This is a strong maneuver that will really make a difference in reaching that goal.
Gentry comes to Illini basketball having served as Underwood’s Director of Player Development at Oklahoma State. Gentry also was part of Underwood’s staff at Stephen F. Austin, serving as assistant coach. So he’s essentially Underwood’s right hand man.
Speaking of a right hand man, Orlando Antigua served in that capacity for Calipari at both Memphis and Kentucky. Kenny Payne now fills that role for Coach Cal, but Antigua’s move to the Illini basketball program seems to be vastly underrated. Landing Antigua is major coup for the Illini, as he was the lead recruiter and many of the bluest of Cal’s blue chip signees.
While there has been somewhat of a backlash against the Antigua hire, those bashing it could just be ignorant. Those who know Antigua better, like say the documentarian of the Coach Cal 30 for 30, give only extensive praise for his character.
AAU is an enterprise that certainly will polarize. There are a lot of conflicting opinions out there about both its role and its influence on the college game. There’s plenty of good reason for that, but regardless of where you stand on it, you cannot deny the powerful role that the programs play in determining where the top recruits will land.
Perhaps some in the Illini basketball supporter community will object to the addition of a major “AAU guy,” just like they objected to the Antigua hire. All one can really say to that is…if you like the taste of hot dogs/sausage, try not to focus on how those products are made.
Illinois Athletic Director Josh Whitman handed Underwood an assistant salary pool of $850,000 which is tops in the B1G (football is third in the league by the way).
They’re not going to invest that kind of money without cautious vetting, so no worries Illini nation.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times and NBC Chicago.com, contributes to Chicago Tribune.com, Bold, WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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