You are judging Cal against Pitino. A coach at Louisville for 16 years and 0 titles. A coach Cal beat 8 out of 10 times and twice in the NCAA tournament when it really counts. A coach that cheated and got caught and got fired. A coach that under his watch provided prostitutes to 16 year old recruits for 4 years. A coach that under his watch was caught on tape paying recruits right after his school was put on probation by the NCAA. A coach that left Louisville on probation with games and a title vacated. Wonderful take.
The NCAA is a sht show. You’ve got Roy keeping his titles, K giving players houses, Wade back at LSU, Miller still at Arizona. Forgive me for not caring.
Pitino won a few titles even though one of them was taken from the program (I’m cool with that), but Pitino took 3 programs to the final four and won a few titles, just speaking of floor results. And he did it while being in and out of the NBA. Cal isn’t quite on his level yet.
I’m just saying, selective enforcement aside. It’s too hard to distinguish between these guys and I’m sick of having to add asterisks next to their names when I’m discussing these things because honestly, I don’t know who’s clean anymore. And if they’re all doing it then it’s all even in reality. Even though I’m glad Louisville got dismantled. Rick only has his time at UK now.
Cals name is closer to Izzo than the guys I named. Just for historical significance, it concerns me because Cals name is easily capable of being closer to Coach K or Roy Williams than Tom Izzo or Bill Self.
Kentucky fans, even from pumpers, will not decide the way he’s seen in history. We can try and force him to a goat status, but we will never set the record. That’s done by sports historians, sport writers, the media, and how your rivals view and respect you. And those people are ready to call Cals entire era a big underachievement.
So that concerns me. His name as far as a coach is at least as good as a Pitino or Williams, and I want to see him have it. A lot of coaches have won a title. The GOAT tier starts at two.