January 26, 2006
First Impressions:
Andy Kennedy
This
is part three in a six part series on the college basketball
coaches making the best impression with their new teams.
Every assistant dreams of being a head coach in a major conference one day.
But for Andy Kennedy, this is not how it was supposed to go.
Kennedy was elevated to the interim head coaching position when fan-favorite
Bob Huggins was forced to resign in August. Huggins, with 399 career
victories in 16 seasons with the Bearcats, lost a test of wills with
University of Cincinnati President Nancy
Zimpher, who simply had had enough of the off-court legal troubles of
Huggins and his recruits.
So
there’s interim coach Kennedy, suddenly elevated to a position he never
expected would open, now having to convince skeptical recruits to keep their
commitments, keep angry players from transferring, and somehow try to
appease a lot of very unhappy Bearcat faithful who remain loyal to Huggins.
That was in addition to trying to prepare for the regular season, which was
just a few months away, in a new conference boasting 16 schools and as many
as 10 NCAA Tournament teams. Welcome to coaching Andy!
So
how has he fared so far? He has kept most of his recruits committed to
playing next year, and no players have transferred. As of this writing his
Bearcat club is 13-5, with a .500 record in the Big East, including a key
win against Marquette. Cincinnati even flirted with the Top 25 after a 10
game winning streak. Getting to the NCAA Tournament will be difficult, with
road games against Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Louisville and Syracuse
looming, but not impossible. Should they reach 19 wins, given their
strength of schedule, the Bearcats should be celebrating on Selection
Sunday.
Given all the turmoil that has engulfed the program in the off-season, that
fact alone should merit removing the “interim” from Coach Kennedy’s title.
This
is #3 in a six part series on the college basketball
coaches making the best impression with their new team. Tomorrow
is Matt Doherty of Florida Atlantic.
