The Case for Pat

Iowa needs a new basketball coach and I have an idea. It's a radical, game-changing, outside-the-box idea that would attract national attention, massive media attention and get the fan base talking- and whether they're talking smack or lovin' the idea one thing will be for certain: they'll show up to see how this goes.

There's a lot of talk about Bruce Pearl from Tennessee and Keno Davis from Providence (probably the most likely candidate. The Quiet Man makes a compelling case) but I think there's another coach in Knoxville that would be a better hire. Yes, I'm talking of the great Pat Summitt. She's won 8 national titles, 15 SEC titles and 14 SEC tournaments. She's an 8 time SEC Coach of the Year and a 7 time NCAA Coach of the Year and the Naismith Coach of the 20th Century and she is the winningest coach in Division I basketball and let's face it: if we're gonna splurge and hire a big name Coach, then why not go for the best out there?

Sure, you can argue that there are fundamental differences between the Men's Game and the Women's Game. You can even make bad jokes about 'fundamentals' versus the 'physical, dunking type of game' but I defy anyone out there to name me a person that knows more about basketball than Pat Summitt. I think it's a proven fact by now that she can coach a team. In fact, she's so hardcore, she makes her team practice against a boys practice squad (I believe so, anyway) to toughen them up and she's got the record to prove it.

After three dismal seasons of Lickliter and Alford's public relation disaster (had he dismissed Pierce from the team from the get-go he might still be here) and the titanic stupidity of firing Dr. Tom Davis, Iowa is in desperate need of a game-changer, so to speak. Basketball has ceased to become a revenue generating sport. People don't want to go and watch Iowa lose to teams like Duquesne, in fact, they don't really want to go at all. At this point, we could clone Lisa Bluder and probably get better results. Kirk Ferentz could double up and I'm willing to bet he could get more than 10 wins out of them. We need a massive, earth-shattering, game changing new Coach- and Pat Summitt would be about as out-of-the-box as we can get.

First of all, there'd be the media attention: plenty of men coach D-I women's teams, but so far, no women have gone the other direction. Iowa, if they hired Summitt (and if she came) would be the first D-I Men's Program to be coached by a woman. There's a quiet and determined love for women's basketball out there amongst the Hawkeye faithful- the excitement this move would generate would be palpable, immediate and whether people loved it or hated it, people would show up just to see what happens. All of which translates into more dinero for the Athletics Department and a fan base that would be interested and dare I say even a little excited once again.

Second of all, what can anyone offer Summitt in Women's Basketball? I mean, seriously- every D-I women's program out there would kill for a Coach like Summitt, but what possible reason does she have to leave Tennessee? She's won every title, amassed every honor you can think of and coached some of the best women the game has ever seen. She is the Naismith Coach of the 20th Century for cryin' out loud- other than maintaining her level of excellence year after year (which, with very few exceptions she has maintained fairly well) what is there left to challenge her?

Iowa has the one thing she hasn't done yet: revive and Coach a D-I Men's Basketball program. Screw Bruce Pearl. Let him slather orange paint all over himself and stalk the sidelines- if we're going to send Barta to Tennessee and he doesn't even offer her the job- seriously, then we need a new AD.

After all, if you want to be the best, it would help if you make the effort to go out and get the best.

(Though this whole idea is probably a massive pipedream, I'd say the Quiet Man has the right of it. Keno may be a little new to head coaching, but he'd be a solid choice. If you can get him away from Providence.)