Update: Stanford has reportedly fired coach Johnny Dawkins after 8 seasons, per reports.
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As Stanford was obliterated against Washington in their first round matchup of the Pac-12 Tournament on Wednesday 91-68, it finally dawned on me and I'm sure it did to those who were lucky or should I say unlucky enough to watch the game, nothing has changed. Albert Einstein said that "insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." Watching Stanford basketball will drive you insane as you hope things change but they don't. You can insert any synonym of the word terrible and it would be fitting not only for this game, or the last two weeks, but for what feels like most of the Johnny Dawkins era.
Yes, people will still belittle me for Stanford winning 2 NIT championships and yes, one of those was actually supposed to be a starting point as the 2011-12 team was young but showed potential. They followed that up with a second round loss the following year... in that same NIT Tournament. Johnny D was just beginning his zombie phase as he finally cracked the real tournament, the NCAA Tournament in 2014. Dawkins did not just get his squad to the dance, Stanford put the college basketball world on notice when they upset New Mexico and college basketball powerhouse Kansas en route to the Sweet Sixteen.
It' was the 2015 season that created a line between Johnny Dawkins believers and those who couldn't resist getting back the Stanford hoops of old where you'd rather die young in the NCAA Tournament than live forever in the NIT. Stanford winning the NIT a second time around, especially a year after going to the NCAA Tournament was no longer a victory to most fans but showed that Stanford had the players but was lacking in coaching.
This season, Stanford went 15-15 counting the conference tourney loss. Now I understand that Stanford was playing arguably the TOUGHEST schedule in the country. Stanford had played 10 games against teams currently ranked in the top-25 and had played others who were ranked at one point or another this season. Stanford had a rash of injuries as well so the depth of the team didn't help itself when needed against the better teams. That still isn't good enough even with all of the outs and excuses, this wasn't the first or second or even third bad year Dawkins has had on the Farm. Half of his time has been spent in mediocrity.
This was the first year, however, where it felt like the players quit on him. Now I am always ready for the opinions of someone with opposing views and I am sure that I will hear more on the NIT(PLEASE DON'T, THAT ISN'T WORTH BRAGGING OVER), Trent Johnson was no better and was living off of Mike Montgomery's players and getting lucky with the Lopez twins, and how Montgomery was a great regular season coach but couldn't quite win the big one in March. Those are all points that I will genuinely listen to but Stanford had 3 seasons of .500 or worse basketball from 1985-2008. Stanford has done that 3 times in the last 8 seasons, all in the Johnny Dawkins era. Stanford had also attended the NCAA Tournament 15 times in that span with 4 Sweet Sixteen appearances, an Elite Eight appearance and a Final Four appearance.
Sometimes, you have to look in the mirror and admit to yourself that it is time for a change. Stanford AD Bernard Muir is a basketball guy and this happens to be the first big hire he will make for Stanford. Muir coincidentally should look at the last 30 years of Stanford basketball and then look back at the last 30 years of the football program. Sometimes the answers to your life problems are right in front of you. Stanford basketball over the last thirty years had a coach who was able to bring the program to heights that hadn't been seen in years. Not only was Stanford basketball relevant but it became a power. In Montgomery's last 10 years on the farm, he produced a constant contender winning the conference 4 times and coming in 2nd 4 times. And then, Montgomery thought he found greener pastures elsewhere and left.
Now this is where football plays a part. Tyrone Willingham had gone to a bowl game 4 times in his seven seasons as Stanford head coach including a conference championship and Rose Bowl appearance in 2000. It was the first appearance since 1972 for Stanford and Willingham could have stayed for life but also decided to leave Stanford in the middle of the night for Notre Dame. A few coaches later and some guy named Jim Harbaugh became coach and although he changed the culture, he brought along an assistant who would end up being THE MAN.
Basketball has not been the same for Stanford and it's time to find THE MAN. He might not be the name that everyone thinks or has the credentials that everyone is looking for but Stanford needs to find a coach that can recruit big-time talent, can coach against the better teams and beat those teams on a regular basis, and can make the fans return. Maples Pavilion is going to be a neutral site until Bernard Muir brings in the right coach.
Comments
Not much to add to this article.
All the arguments are there, and the conclusion is obvious. Still, I think Johnny Dawkins will get one more season; and if it is a repeat of this one, then Muir will have to act. I suspect Muir will argue that most of this year’s talent is coming back, so that give’s Dawkins good cards to make a run at the Pac-12 championship. This is, of course, wishful thinking; but I expect a scenario roughly along these lines. I hope I am wrong, but I just don’t see Muir acting just yet. I simply hope we don’t get an NIT bid again and hang our hat on a good showing in that tournament.
By Jeff Tarnungus on 03.11.16 3:49pm
*gives
By Jeff Tarnungus on 03.11.16 3:57pm
I can sympathize with that thinking
Next year’s team should be as deep and talented as the ‘13-’14 team that went to the Sweet 16. But the team the year before was significantly better than this year’s team, and had its own injury issues as well. Not very inspiring. If Muir doesn’t think Dawkins can do well next year, and there’s a decent chance he can’t, it might be better to find a coach who can maximize that talent for a run. It could actually be a good chip to lure potential coaches.
By JYTLM on 03.11.16 6:29pm
Who cares about the talent level?
If Dawkins has shown anything in the past 8 years, it is that he can’t mold talent into a cohesive unit. One of Monty’s greatest attributes was that the whole was greater than the sum of the parts. Has anyone ever felt that about any of the past 8 seasons?
By winflop on 03.12.16 7:23pm
If Dawkins isn't gone
then it’s time for Muir to go. There will no greater amount of evidence that he is a storeminder who is unwilling to rock the boat and is someone who accepts mediocrity.
Stanford should not accept mediocrity in ANYTHING…EVER. That includes MBB and the Athletic Director.
By winflop on 03.12.16 7:22pm
Right. So who is on the short list?
And what can we offer?
By ADPATERSON on 03.12.16 11:44am
It is absolutely time for a change!
You are quite right. I’ll throw a name out there, a young up an coming coach. Coach Greg Clink of the Chico State Wildcats.
Pretty random, huh? Keep in mind Harbaugh came from an FCS school in San Diego. The Chico State to Pac-12 connection is established. Football coach Mike Belotti got his first HC gig there (1984-188) before making the jump to Oregon’s OC and then HC. Chico State baseball manager Lindsey Meggs won two DII national championships in three years before moving north to manage the Washington Huskies in 2010. He recently got his contract extended.
Greg Clink started as an Assistant at UC Davis in charge of scouting, recruiting and player development during their transition from DII to DI. He was on the staff in 2005 when UC Davis upset Stanford 64-58.
At Chico State he took over a struggling program that had done essentially NOTHING for 15 years, replacing long-time coach Puck Smith (who he played and coached under). He’s been at Chico for six years and completely turned the program around. Chico State has gone to the NCAA tournament five straight seasons and has won back-to-back regular season conference titles. He has got the team consistently ranked in the DII top 25 for the first time since the mid 90s. He won the conference coach of the year this year, making it two in three seasons.
In DII the #1 seed in the region gets to host the regional NCAA tournament. In 2014 Chico State won the West Regional in somebody else’s gym, which rarely happens, and advanced to the school’s first ever Elite Eight appearance.
Coach Clink has infused the team with serious talent, being able to snag some notable DI transfers. He recently pried G Robert Duncan from the Air Force academy, and he was this years conference player of the year. The Wildcat’s starting PF transfered from Fresno State. Robert Duncan dunked over an Arizona player in an exhibition game this season at Arizona (the second time Chico has played an exhibition opener at Arizona. The game was broadcast on Pac-12 network. The team also played on Comcast Hometown Network this year at S.F. State, and played Cal Poly Pomona last month at home on ESPN3. Attendance is waaaaaay up since I was a student at Chico (yes I’m a homer, sue me!). They are in the Top 25 in DII for attendance and #1 in the conference.
Coach Clink runs a fast pace motion offense and his teams are known for tough defense. I think he’s the right man for the job and deserves a shot at the next level. Perhaps Stanford would be a bit of a stretch but I am really hoping a DI CA school gives him a shot. Being a Stanford and Chico St. fan I hope it’s Stanford!
Thanks for reading! The picture is from the Chico State exhibition game at Arizona last fall. Steve Lavin had a lot of nice things to say about Chico and Coach Clink during the broadcast.
By SneakToBetterSeats on 03.12.16 7:16pm
No NIT bid
It really is time to move on…fourth time in Dawkins’ eight years that Stanford has not received an NIT or NCAA bid.
By winflop on 03.13.16 6:03pm
It's official
No NIT for Stanford. I guess we’ll see if they want to try the CBI or Vegas 16.
By JYTLM on 03.13.16 6:03pm
Randy Bennett or Archie Miller..........
Either would be an excellent hire for head coach.
By Jpardell on 03.13.16 6:20pm
Question remains: What are we offering?
The big name schools put a lot more on the table than salary. The gym is fine. Stanford was a #1 seed back in 2000, so admissions is not the problem. Football shows we can get recruits. What are we offering?
By ADPATERSON on 03.13.16 10:15pm
Comparisons to Montgomery are yesterday's news
Think about the Dawkins decision differently.
1) Stanford BBall is losing about $2M a year says MercNews. Attendance is way down.
2) The team doesn’t play well. We can’t shoot 3s consistently, and get run out out of the gym against better talent. Some decent individual efforts (Randle last year; Humphrey and Allen this year), but lousy team chemistry. Few upsets.
3) What do they do in practice? There is not much evidence of coaching as you see in VIRG or MIST or KANS or OREG.
Start with a blank piece of paper. Is Dawkins the coach you would hire? No.
By ADPATERSON on 03.13.16 10:50pm
I like this way of thinking about it . . .
"Start with a blank piece of paper. Is Dawkins the coach you would hire? No."
I like this. I don’t like the idea of trying to find the next Montgomery, USC has been essentially doing the same thing with Pete Carroll and it has not been good for them.
By nickdempsey on 03.14.16 9:55am
He's gone.
ESPN is reporting that sources indicate he is out as head coach.
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/14971769/johnny-dawkins-stanford-cardinal-coach-7-seasons
By reportcard on 03.14.16 12:30pm