Best of luck, Herb

While the coaching search continues in Raleigh, let’s take a few minutes to wish the best to Herb Sendek. As much as some NC State fans don’t believe this, it’s doubtful the next coach will be as successful with the Wolfpack as the previous one was.

Five-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and an average of 19 wins a season isn’t something to sneeze at, yet the fans never accepted Sendek. The administration did, and the major boosters did, but that apparently wasn’t enough for the coach.

And who could blame him? When you hear your name dragged through the mud in print, on radio and on the Internet as often as Sendek did it’s bound to weigh on you.

It’s interesting that just a few weeks ago on ACC Nation, Chris and I had Sendek among the coaches in the running for conference coach of the year. Now he’s gone.

But will he be successful in Tempe? According to Friend of the Nation, Dan Bonner, yes.

“It’s a chance for him to get a new start,” Bonner said of Sendek. “It’s a chance to go to a place where, when he builds the program, and he will build the program, they will be very appreciative of it.”

And that, I think, is the bottom line. Sendek is like all of us. Occasionally it’s nice to hear that you’re doing a good job. If he has even close to the success at Arizona State that he did at North Carolina State, the fans may build a statue in his honor.

Or put another way …

“They won’t be complaining if he merely goes to five-straight NCAA Tournaments,” Bonner said. “They’ll probably be pretty happy with that.”

Some wonder if he can have that kind of success at a school surrounded by so many other distractions, including several major pro sports teams. Bonner thinks Sendek can win in the desert.

“There’s an awful lot of players in California and out on the West Coast, and that will be your primary recruiting ground,” Bonner said. “And I think Herb Sendek is like the perfect guy to do it. The Pac-10 is one of the top conferences, but it’s not generally balanced up and down the league, although they’re much better than they use to be. So I think it presents a real opportunity for Herb. I think he can really establish himself out there.”

Here’s hoping that he can.

- Patrick Hite