So this win made me reflect back on the last 4 years of Kennesaw State Basketball, and it's been quite a journey to get to this point.
I've quote-tweeted a 2019 Tweet I made about the AAR hire. That last box I listed about coaching experience was a huge concern for me after the hire was made 4 years ago. HUGE.
I've been publicly critical at times of AAR over the past couple of years, because I wanted to see this team win. I feel like we left Ws on the table.
I'm writing this long Tweet because my respect should be as loud as my disrespect was and I pride myself on trying to be fair, but at the same time calling things how I see them 'at the time'. And you know what, things do change over time.
Over time players develop their skillsets whatever they may be, e.g. strength, three point shooting, defense etc. It's easy to forget that a young head coach has to do their own personal development e.g. X's and O's, in-game management, roster management, team building, etc.
Good players can only get as far as the coaching will take them and good coaches can only maximize the talent level they have up to a certain point. I think we're really seeing that mesh point of coaching and talent right now. What I'm trying to say is that neither one is holding the other back right now.
This KSU team is mature now, and experienced teams are the ones that win big games in March. Remember nearly 10 years ago when Mercer of the Atlantic Sun Conference beat Duke in the tournament? That Mercer team wasn't the most athletic and perhaps didn't have a big time superstar, but they were all 4th and 5th year guys that played together for years and were coached well. This is the recipe for an upset in March.
Beating Ritchie McKay tonight (a coach we've never beaten) was a huge step forward and tonight's win SHOULD seal up an already likely ASUN Coach of the Year award as well as a #1 seed in the ASUN Tournament (barring anything crazy happening).
Go Owls! 🦉
