What was he Thinking?
A couple of notes before we dive into this week.
>SMU head football coach Rhett Lashlee’s reaction to Andy Enfield being hired: “Along with the rest of the Mustang Family, I’m completely thrilled that Andy Enfield is our new men’s basketball coach. Rick Hart has assembled some incredible head coaches at SMU, and I’m so excited to team up with them and Andy as we enter the ACC this fall. The Mustang Family should be really excited because the future is so bright.’’
>Also, the pathology report to my solo polyp from my colonoscopy of a few weeks ago was benign. Blessed and fortunate.
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I read an interesting headline from our Kentucky On3 affiliate “KSR” regarding the hire of Mark Pope as UK’s new men’s basketball coach.
It stated, Mark Pope was made by Mitch Barnhart “on his own”. For those who don’t know, Barnhart is Kentucky’s Athletics Director. He’s been there since 2002.
If you’ve been running an athletics department for that long, you’re considered old school. But in the old days of running coaching searches, that’s how this worked.
ADs made their own hires maybe with the assistance of a search firm and perhaps consultation with a couple of trusted voices. When the news of Pope broke, disbelief and pushback highlighted some of the reactions.
Why? Well, as we’ve seen in this current basketball coaching hiring cycle, that’s not the way these coaches have been secured.
With SMU, David Miller played a primary if not the leading role in the hiring of USC’s Enfield. Obviously, SMU athletic director Rick Hart played a role. But the common thinking was without Miller, Enfield isn’t taking pictures with the 2025 NCAA Championship trophy in front of the Dedman College sign.
Move up to Northwest Arkansas with noted SMU alum John Tyson.
While an alum he is a devoted supporter of Arkansas athletics. His friendship with then-Kentucky head coach John Calipari was key for Calipari leaving the Commonwealth and moving to the foothills of the Ozarks. Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek also had his role in making sure protocols were followed and the contract was structured.
Then go back to 2019 with Houston’s Tillman Fertitta who convinced good friend Dana Holgorsen to leave West Virginia and come to Houston well before it was certain Houston was going to receive a Big 12 invite.
If you went up to 100 people in a room and asked them who UH’s AD was, maybe 15-20 would know. Well, it’s Chris Pezman.
Granted, these are anecdotal. However, we are seeing a shift where your influential big donors – there is a difference using both influential and big in the same sentence – are taking a major role in how an athletic department is being operated. Miller and Fertitta are chairs of each university’s board of trustees.
That doesn’t mean that it’s a bad thing. But with NIL, the constant movement of realignment and so much more money involved in today’s college athletic environment, any athletic department needs those benefactors to be major players. Of course, that also doesn’t mean that they will be involved on a day-to-day basis.
However, SMU, Arkansas and Houston leveraged those relationships. These individuals can make or break a university’s standing.
For SMU, Enfield doesn’t happen without Miller leading SMU into the ACC. Part of Enfield’s attraction was SMU’s NIL commitment. Arkansas did the same for Calipari.
At Kentucky, apparently, there was behind-the-scenes criticism for its lack of NIL. And in fact, Calipari reportedly whispered frustrations of not having much of an NIL program.
At face value, the Kentucky search was different. You didn’t hear of big money Kentucky boosters tied to Pope. That’s what made this search fascinating to follow. Baylor’s Scott Drew turned it down. UConn’s Dan Hurley passed.
Pope, a noted member of the 1996 national championship team and solid coach at BYU, was the third choice.
Ah, but the big money is now making its presence felt. KSR reported that two donors are combining to commit $4 million to the UK NIL.
With all that we have witnessed, there will be fan corners suggesting their respective university’s AD doesn’t really run their AD. The big benefactor does.
Of course, I followed SMU from afar before I started this column last August. Hart has his devout critics.
But I saw the same thing about Yurachek and the criticism he endured through the dust up with then-coach Eric Musselman. That relationship fizzled. Right or wrong, the blame was mostly pinned on Yurachek.
When that replacement search seemed to be flailing, Tyson comes in riding the white horse. Indeed, Tyson will get more credit for Calipari.
However, look at the AD-benefactor dynamic like this: All sides are working together. Everybody wants the same things for athletics to thrive.
The bottom line to all of this? Who cares who gets the credit!
*****
As for Drew spurning Kentucky and staying at Baylor, I posted when it happened, I wasn’t surprised. I’ve known Scott for the 13 years I covered Baylor.
I just never felt like his personality was going to be a fit in Lexington even though he knows Barnhart very well. I’m also not surprised he looked at Kentucky. He needed to. But he has a legacy at Baylor. He’s going to leave Baylor when he retires. And when he does, he will go into the Hall of Fame.
As far as present-day recruiting is concerned, it probably would’ve helped SMU had Drew left because that would’ve opened Texas.
However, as we’ve seen Enfield doesn’t have to take a backseat to anybody. Using On3’s national team rankings, I compared USC against Baylor between 2020-2024.
Here’s what it shows.
2020: USC 19; Baylor 18
2021: USC 50; Baylor 11
2022: USC 7, Baylor 21
2023: USC 4, Baylor 5
2024: USC 22, Baylor 2
The context is that really good players are everywhere. That Enfield competed very well against UCLA should get your attention.
In the 2021 class, Enfield still nailed down a four star, Malik Thompson, and two three stars. Enfield’s 2024 class dissolved after he left, and players were released from letters of intent.
Now, Enfield knows he must develop the Texas angle. But given his track record and ability to put players in the NBA he should be fine.
Keep in mind that there are systems coaches run. They will recruit a certain type of player. In that case, there will be some players SMU will pursue and Baylor won’t. And vice versa.
What will be sport is when SMU and Baylor cross swords. Baylor will have history on its side as well as the Big 12. When Drew landed 5-star Isaiah Austin in 2012, that changed the recruiting trajectory for his program.
SMU will have the ACC and its push to become a player. It will have to work to get there. It could get there a little faster should Enfield convince On3’s No. 150 Brody Kozlowski to rejoin him in Dallas. Kozlowski signed with USC in November.
The Mustangs are ranked No. 64 in the 2024 rankings. Adding Kozlowski will cause a spike. The late signing period is April 17-May 15. A lot can happen.
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I have enjoyed the national media falling over itself and gnashing its teeth over this part of the coaching cycle being touched off by SMU, a school that’s not even in the P4/5 world yet.
In a lot of cases the national media is set in its ways in how it’s reported the game over the years. Those are biases, obviously.
This man-bites-dog occurrence – and that’s what this is and as reporters we’re trained to look for that – has frustrated several.
If another school like Oklahoma State touched off the dominoes, the media probably would have shrugged shoulders.
SMU? How dare they, especially since it fired a coach after he won 20 games. Plus, I’m sure some of them would have preferred SMU to stay somewhere in the shadows.
Don’t be offended by their reaction. Don’t complain about it. Embrace it.
Like the university’s brilliantly created video ad is titled, “SMU is Coming!”
*****
Now, a look at other SMU sports. We’re getting toward the end of the spring sports calendar. It should be mostly quiet after April. There likely will be some golf in May depending on how SMU fares in earlier postseason play.
SMU is also competing in its final American Athletic Conference events.
>SMU men’s golf finished eighth in the 17-team field at the Thunderbird Invitational hosted by Arizona State over the weekend. The Mustangs were in 12th place after the opening round. They moved up four spots in the final round. SMU moves on the AAC tournament next Friday-Sunday in Belleair, Fl.
>SMU women’s golf finished fourth at the Texas Showdown this past Monday and Tuesday at the Dallas Athletic Club. The AAC tournament is Monday-Wednesday at Brooksville, Fl.
> SMU rowing wrapped up competition at the San Diego Crew Classic on Sunday with seventh and eighth place finishes in finals and a first-place finish in a “B” final.
SMU started the day competing in the first varsity eight Jessop-Whittier Cup. The Mustangs finished in seventh with a time of 7:00.811. The race was won by Texas with a time of 6:23.272.
In second varsity eight, SMU went up against the best in the Jackie Ann Stitt Hungness Trophy. The Mustangs crossed the line in 7:21.119 beating the likes of Cal-San Diego and San Diego. SMU finished in sixth in the heat.
In the “B” final 4+, the Mustangs took home a victory. They finished in front of boats from Cal-San Diego and San Diego. The Mustangs crossed the line in 8:14.330 beating the rest of the field by 18 seconds.
SMU rowing returns to action in two weeks at the Big Ten Invite. The event runs Thursday April 18 through Saturday April 20 from Sarasota, Florida.
>The No. 40 SMU men’s tennis fell 4-1 to No. 2 TCU at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex on Thursday.
The Mustangs move to 16-8 on the season and finish this year’s play at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex with 13-2 record. TCU marks SMU’s 10th ranked opponent of the season.
The Mustangs travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for back-to-back dual matches with Temple (Sunday – 12 p.m.) and Tulsa (Monday – 4 p.m.) at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
>In its last road match of the regular season, No. 45 SMU women’s tennis fell against No. 34, 4-2. Despite the loss, the Mustangs opened the match winning the first point of the match through doubles play.
The Mustangs return to the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex to host Memphis for Senior Day. First serve is set for 10 a.m. on Monday, April 15, with the senior day ceremony following the conclusion of the match.
The AAC tournament is this Wednesday-Sunday at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex.
Let’s make it a great week. Pony Up!
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