When Wake CANS THE MANN

When Wake CANS THE MANN
by Jordan Stowe

With all the cancellations and the sports world upside down, it leaves me pondering what’s next for a Wake Forest Basketball program that desperately needs to right the ship before it gets lost forever. I have compiled a list of who I think would be top candidates for when Wake decides to CAN THE MANN.

First up:

Shaka Smart, Texas Longhorns: Shaka Smart is a young promising prodigy head coach from Virginia Commonwealth University. Smart was fresh off of a miracle 2011 Final Four run when he joined the Texas staff in 2012-2013 season. Known for his defensive strategies wreaking havoc on opposing offenses, Coach Smart led VCU to four seasons with 26 or more victories. He currently has a winning record at Texas with 90 wins to 73 losses. Danny Manning has a record of 115-139. Which also includes two seasons at Tulsa with a lackluster performance of just barely above .500 each season at Tulsa.

Tubby Smith, High Point University : Former Alumni and current coach of High Point University it may be hard to lure him away from the court that bears his name. In his 28 years as a head coach, Smith has achieved 26 winning seasons. In 2005, he joined Roy Williams, Nolan Richardson, Denny Crum, and Jim Boeheim as the only head coaches to win 365 games in 15 seasons or fewer. With Texas Tech’s invitation to the 2016 NCAA Tournament, Smith became only the second coach in history to lead five different teams to the NCAA tournament.

His coaching awards are as follows:
AP College Coach of the Year (2003)
Naismith College Coach of the Year (2003)
NABC Coach of the Year (2003)
Henry Iba Award (2003)
Jim Phelan Award (2005)
2× MVC Coach of the Year (1994, 1995)
3× SEC Coach of the Year (1998, 2003, 2005)
Big 12 Coach of the Year (2016)
John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award (2016)
Sporting News National Coach of the Year (2016)

In my opinion, he’s the best option to replace Danny Manning.

Wes Miller, UNCG: Former Carolina Tar Heel Point Guard and current coach of the UNCG Spartans.

Championships
2 SoCon regular season (2017, 2018)
SoCon Tournament (2018)
SoCon North Division (2012)
Awards
2× SoCon Coach of the Year (2012, 2018)
Rick Pitino, Former Louisville Coach

While his coaching experience is limited, I think he has a big upside with very little risk. With an 18 million dollar buyout, his contract will likely be one Wake Forest could afford.

Randolph Childress, Assistant Coach, Wake Forest: Do I really need to go into why this would be a good hire?

Jason Capel, Assistant Coach, Pittsburgh: He was previously the 15th head coach of the Appalachian State Mountaineers men’s basketball team.[1][2] He is a former basketball player for the North Carolina Tar Heels, and is the brother of Jeff Capel, former Duke University basketball player and current University of Pittsburgh head coach. Like Wes Miller, he has a big upside and very little risk financially.

Who knows where Wake Forest will go next. In my honest opinion, Wake Forest will be CANNING THE MANNING in the coming days. While we are stocking up on Hand Sanitizer, Toilet paper, and other hygiene products I would also like to congratulate Wake Forest in advance for WASHING THEIR HANDS of Danny Manning.

This article was written by Jordan Stowe, resident of North Carolina. He can be reached at (336) 500-5638 or jordan.stowe@hotmail.com Have a safe and blessed weekend and as always… GO DEACS!