Mark Gottfried Ready To Lead The NC State Wolfpack

Our friends at WRAL-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina interviewed new NC State head basketball coach Mark Gottfried Wednesday in depth. If you are a Wolfpack fan you will be very encouraged after watching this.

Gottfried even addresses Debbie Yow's comments on Maryland head coach Gary Williams on sabotaging the process.

(Thanks WRAL-TV)

Yow: Williams "Sabotaged" Search, Gottfried Official Anyway...

Debbie Yow, the former Maryland athletic director and now NCState AD, is not happy at her old school and her old hoops coach...

At the presser where Mark Gottfried was introduced as the new court boss for the Wolfpack program, a reporter asked Gottfried about whether Yow had a reputation as being difficult to work with.

Yow said she had a "reputation of not getting along with Gary Williams, who has tried to sabotage the search. Come on, we all know that."

Oops...

Williams released a statement to the Baltimore Sun saying he hasn't talked to anyone connected to the N.C. State search and that anyone who says he did "isn't being truthful."

When is that first game with NCState and Maryland again...???

WRAL's Jeff Gravely got his one-on-one with Gottfried after the fireworks...
Self-created or otherwise...


Here's the presser in all of its uneditedness...
If you want to sift through 43 minutes of Q-and-A to find the bite...

NC State settles for Mark Gottfried

Mark Gottfried/Courtesy: al.com

Congratulations. Wow, that's an inspired choice. Oh, wait, there weren't any "Big Name" coaches left? Really, did someone tell Debbie Yow that?

Well, the day after the NCAA Championship game, North Carolina State has found their man....at least for now. And that man is former Alabama coach Mark Gottfried. To his credit, Gottfried did get 'Bama to the NCAA Tourney 5-times in 11-years. Not stellar, but what can you do?

NBC-17 in Raleigh confirms the story RIGHT HERE

Apparently there is a 5pm presser scheduled in Raleigh for the announcement.

Sorry about the facetiousness of the beginning of this story, but we find this somewhat funny. The Wolfpack alumni just assumed that after letting go Sidney Lowe that great coaches would just flock to them. They didn't. And they never were going to.

While we understand they had success back in the 70's and 80's and few odd moments since, this isn't a "Top Level" ACC job. Can Gottfried get them to the North Carolina/Duke level? We doubt it. He couldn't get Alabama over the top, does anyone think that is going to change?

Basketball fans and in particular college fans need to understand, unlike football, the playing field is pretty even in hoops. There is no "BCS" keeping the mid-majors from competing for a title. And that's why NCAA Hoops is fun. Neither Butler....nor VCU would ever have been in the Tournament, much less the Final Four if Basketball worked like football does.

In the meantime, Wolfpack fans, enjoy your Mark Gottfried. We wish you luck. Maybe he will stumble across that miracle recruit than will bring you back to your past glory. But don't hold your breath...

Most of you...and us are probably too old to remember David "Skywalker" Thompson and when NC State was huge. Here's a reminder:

Does Anyone Want The NC State Job? UPDATE: Mark Gottfried Does...

[HT: packinsider.com, ]

The search to find a new head coach at NC State continues. It's been a month since Sidney Lowe stepped down. Credit athletic director Debbie Yow for keeping it private and not playing this out in the media. What NC State might be finding out is even though it's in the tradition rich ACC it's not a very desirable job. Shaka Smart, the hottest young coach in college basketball, turned NC State down. Gregg Marshall and Mack Cronin received extensions from Wichita State and Cincinnati.

So who does NC State turn to next? Who knows and exactly what is left. Yow sent this e-mail to Wolfpack fans recently asking of patience.

Dear Wolfpack Family,

I am writing to share with you the status of the search for our new head coach for men's basketball. There have been telephone conversations with successful coaches that did not develop into meetings -- sometimes because we did not wish to pursue those coaches further and sometimes because the coach involved is happy where he is.

The conversations have been candid. We have not tried to sugarcoat the challenge of rebuilding our basketball program. Our absence for 5 consecutive years from the NCAA Tournament was noted by each coach as evidence that the program is in poor shape and will require a special effort to rebuild. Finding a coach with the fight and fire to do this job has been a challenge.

That said, we will find an excellent college coach who shares the vision of what State Basketball can become and is up for the challenge. I realize there are multiple rumors surfacing about the nature of the search on websites and in newspapers.

Once our new coach is hired, I will be in a position to bring perspective to a number of those rumors. But, right now, we need to remain focused on finding a talented collegiate coach who is a fighter, full of confidence and appreciation for the opportunity to lead our basketball program back to national prominence. That will happen in spite of those who believe this cannot occur.

Wolfpack Basketball is destined for a revival. We will accept no less. Please keep the faith while we continue the search. Your emails and text messages of support have meant everything to me.

I am blessed to be your AD.

In the Spirit of the Pack,

Debbie


http://packinsider.com/2011/04/45-update-where-are-we-now/

Stay tuned.

1530 UPDATE: Mark Gottfried, the former coach at Alabama, will get the gig...

An update from the school is scheduled at 5PM eastern time...
Here's early returns from our friends at WRAL-TV
((HT: WRALSportsfan.com))

Tide Turns For The Worse For Mark Gottfried

Mark Gottfried quit Monday as the head basketball coach at the University of Alabama. Here's the statement released by the University:

University of Alabama head men's basketball coach Mark Gottfried has resigned effective immediately, UA Director of Athletics Mal Moore announced today. Crimson Tide assistant coach Philip Pearson will assume the role of interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

"My number one priority is to do what is best for the University of Alabama, this basketball program, and these young men," Gottfried said. "Mal and I sat down today and we talked. At that point, I notified him of my intention to resign as head coach of the men's basketball program. I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity and the privilege to lead our men's basketball program at Alabama for the past 10 and a half seasons. It has been a wonderful decade for me and my family, and I love the University of Alabama, but I feel that it is in the best interests of everyone involved. I want to thank our players, their families, our coaching staff and their families, and our great fans for all of their support over these last 11 seasons."

"I accepted Coach Gottfried's resignation," Alabama athletic director Mal Moore said. "I respect Mark's decision and will begin immediately working on a permanent replacement. I agreed with him that it is in the best interests of the men's basketball program for us to move in a different direction."

Assistant coach Phillip Pearson will take over immediately as interim head coach.

Gottfried has been criticized over the recent departure of star guard Ronald Steele, who skipped the end of his senior season. The school cited an injury, but Steele said there was more to his decision than that.

This move is probably a couple of years to late. Alabama hasn't done anything on the hardwood for quite some time. Judging from Ronald Steele leaving the team, the players were fed up and tuning Gottfried out.

Lately Alabama has been at best mediocre to the point the Crimson Tide were irrelevant to their fans who have drunk the Nick Saban cool aid. Gottfried's early success at Alabama was old news.

Photo Courtesy: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images