2008 Woodie Awards
Gravette: Don't Phil it up
Jared Gravette
Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: Sports
In all seriousness, how long does it take to hire a basketball coach?
Jacksonville State University has been without a coach since March 3 — almost six weeks ago — when it was announced that Mike LaPlante's contract would not be renewed.
The athletic department has been holding interviews with four finalists — Charles Burkett, Phillip Pearson, Tim Maloney and James Green — throughout this week and last in an attempt to fill the void left after LaPlante's departure.
Burkett was an assistant at JSU in 1995 before beginning a very successful high school coaching career at Saks. He has since moved to Hoover to coach the Bucs.
Maloney is currently the associate head coach at UMass and has served as an assistant at Florida, Buffalo and Eastern Kentucky throughout his career.
Green is the current head coach at Mississippi Valley State and also has head coaching experience at Southern Mississippi.
In my opinion, any of these guys would make a better hire than Pearson, who has spent nine seasons under Mark Gottfried at Alabama.
JSU reached for an assistant coach eight years ago when they brought in LaPlante from Auburn, and that didn't work out very well.
That aside, Pearson's current program at Alabama is in shambles. Why Gottfried and his coaching staff are still in Tuscaloosa after missing the NCAA and NIT tournaments two years in a row, I will never know.
But to add insult to injury, Alabama is likely losing the majority of their team. Alabama's two best players — Ronald Steele and Richard Hendrix — have already declared for the NBA draft with Alonzo Gee yet to make a decision.
Rumors have also been swirling around that the Crimson Tide may lose at least three other players to transfers.
Really, it's getting so bad that JSU could probably beat Alabama next year if they were on the schedule.
Alabama has had some of the most talented athletes in all of college basketball over the last six or seven years.
With players like Gerald Wallace and Mo Williams coming through the program, there is no reason the Crimson Tide shouldn't have made a Final Four.
The furthest Alabama has ever gone in the tournament is to the Elite Eight. That team wasn't as talented as some of the previous teams under Gottfried, but the leadership and grit of Antoine Pettway put them over the top.
If JSU wants a coach with ties to Alabama, why not Pettway? He knows what it feels like to play in big games and the leadership aspect is certainly there.
Nothing against Pearson, he could turn out to be a great head coach, but I hope he can figure out how to use the athleticism of his players because Gottfried still hasn't figured that one out.
The Gamecocks have good athletes on their roster. Nick Murphy, Jonathan Toles and others are great basketball players, and JSU needs a coach who knows how to use their skills to put wins on the board.
Jacksonville State University has been without a coach since March 3 — almost six weeks ago — when it was announced that Mike LaPlante's contract would not be renewed.
The athletic department has been holding interviews with four finalists — Charles Burkett, Phillip Pearson, Tim Maloney and James Green — throughout this week and last in an attempt to fill the void left after LaPlante's departure.
Burkett was an assistant at JSU in 1995 before beginning a very successful high school coaching career at Saks. He has since moved to Hoover to coach the Bucs.
Maloney is currently the associate head coach at UMass and has served as an assistant at Florida, Buffalo and Eastern Kentucky throughout his career.
Green is the current head coach at Mississippi Valley State and also has head coaching experience at Southern Mississippi.
In my opinion, any of these guys would make a better hire than Pearson, who has spent nine seasons under Mark Gottfried at Alabama.
JSU reached for an assistant coach eight years ago when they brought in LaPlante from Auburn, and that didn't work out very well.
That aside, Pearson's current program at Alabama is in shambles. Why Gottfried and his coaching staff are still in Tuscaloosa after missing the NCAA and NIT tournaments two years in a row, I will never know.
But to add insult to injury, Alabama is likely losing the majority of their team. Alabama's two best players — Ronald Steele and Richard Hendrix — have already declared for the NBA draft with Alonzo Gee yet to make a decision.
Rumors have also been swirling around that the Crimson Tide may lose at least three other players to transfers.
Really, it's getting so bad that JSU could probably beat Alabama next year if they were on the schedule.
Alabama has had some of the most talented athletes in all of college basketball over the last six or seven years.
With players like Gerald Wallace and Mo Williams coming through the program, there is no reason the Crimson Tide shouldn't have made a Final Four.
The furthest Alabama has ever gone in the tournament is to the Elite Eight. That team wasn't as talented as some of the previous teams under Gottfried, but the leadership and grit of Antoine Pettway put them over the top.
If JSU wants a coach with ties to Alabama, why not Pettway? He knows what it feels like to play in big games and the leadership aspect is certainly there.
Nothing against Pearson, he could turn out to be a great head coach, but I hope he can figure out how to use the athleticism of his players because Gottfried still hasn't figured that one out.
The Gamecocks have good athletes on their roster. Nick Murphy, Jonathan Toles and others are great basketball players, and JSU needs a coach who knows how to use their skills to put wins on the board.
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