As I mentioned in an earlier report, Coach Keady chatted with a number of the other coaches
at the Adidas ABCD recruiting camp and appears to be well liked. He was there for Wednesday
only.
Coach Keady watched one game with his copy of Prep Spotlight in his hand. On the back was
a list of 4 players he was watching. Keady sat with a MSU assistant during that game but
did not talk too much.
Not too much else to report on Coach Keady, but he was visible to our target recruits. He
did not leave after half a game to go play golf as some would like you to think.
During the last game I attended at the end of the day Wednesday, I saw Coach Price sitting
with Coach Weber watching a game. After Coach Weber got up and left, there was a spot free
on each side of Coach Price, so I went and sat down. He recognized me from my conversation
with Coach Weber from earlier in the day. I started by asking him how the Boilers would be
next season. He was optimistic, but did not make any big promises. He said the key to next
season was to "guard people". We discussed getting back that Purdue hustle and help
defense attitude.
I mentioned that I was with Mr. Hoops and we started a conversation about the message
boards (GBI and Mr. Hoops). He does read the boards, so watch what you say (VBG)! We even
talked about individual posters, but I will not mention their names to glorify them, as
they were mostly the negative types. You can draw your own conclusions as to how he would
feel about some of the things posted on the boards. While I agreed not to share anything
we discussed in confidence, he was able to clear up a few misconceptions that are floating
about, including one in particular.
I asked Coach Price about red-shirts for next year and he did not reveal anything. I
mentioned that the speculation on the boards was Buckley and possible a big man
(i.e. Keifer or one of the non-freshman). He would not take the bait, and I got the sense
that he wished that these types of things were not topics for the boards either. After
a few of these types of discussions, I got to thinking about what it would be like to
have all of your decisions projected in advance, second guessed, speculated upon and
whatever else in an open forum for everyone to see. I get the sense that being an
assistant coach is hard enough as it is, without having to manage the thoughts of
players, recruits, coaches and others that read this stuff. Coaching in the age of the
internet has got to be a harder thing with all of the transparency and instant spread of
rumors, half truths, speculation and even correct information that is interpreted one
way or another by various people. Note that this is purely my thoughts, not something
I discussed with Coach Price.
My overall impression is that Jay is a personable guy who is well liked by the other
assistants. He is a hard working road warrior that is not going to lose (in basketball
or recruiting) by being outworked or out hustled. That being said, he is not quite as
dynamic as some of the coaches, which may hurt his prospects of a head coaching job
and may make the recruiting sell a little harder. He is the opposite end of the spectrum
from some of the snake oil salesmen out there. He is an honest, hard working, likeable
guy who you tend to trust instantly. He reminds me a lot of the guys I work with at my
consulting company. They can sell what we have to offer, not because they are slick
and have a good rap, but they know their stuff and they are easy to trust. I think
Coach Price would make a good head coach at a smaller school. Lets hope he gets the
chance some day.
Coach Price called Garrity and Carroll (they must be roommates) while we were watching
the games. He checked in on Kevin’s foot and followed up on Matt’s academics, urging
him to be proactive about a particular item. He seemed to have a great relationship
with the guys. It thought it must constant hard work to have to act like a father to
so many young men (you might even call them boys) to make sure they are doing
everything they should.
When I asked about his future once Gene’s contract was up, you could see he felt the
pressure to perform next year. I can see how the success of the next one to two years
of Purdue basketball will have a major effect on Coach Price’s future coaching prospects.
Good luck to the Boilers and Coach Price. When I walked out later I chatted with a UCLA
assistant and told him I followed Purdue. He also made a comment about Purdue needing
to win next year (I guess he is familiar with the pressure to win at a "basketball
school" as well).
After a while, Coach Weber came back and sat down on the other side of Coach Price.
I am a management consultant and I travel a lot, so Coach Price, Coach Weber and I
traded road warrior stories. We talked about other things that I would love to share,
but those conversations were off the record.
It was great to spend the time shooting the bull with two people who have dedicated
a significant portion of their adult life to Purdue basketball.
Coach Weber left to make a few phone calls from the car. He and Coach Price were
planning to have a late bite to eat and a beer at the hotel, before getting a few
hours sleep and catching and early flight. I would have lived to join them for a
beer, but I was headed the other way and had an early flight to catch myself.
Instead of leaving early to get a few more minutes of sleep, Coach Price stayed
until the very end of the last game. My take was that he did not want to miss a
minute of watching and evaluating recruits and showing our interest just by being
there. I can picture him talking to a recruit (at a legal time in the recruiting
process I might add) mentioning a play the recruit made at the last minute of the
last game. I can imagine that would impress the recruit as to Purdue’s dedication
and interest in the player. Lets hope all of this hard work pays off in great
recruits down the road.
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