By Phineas Lambert

I can’t say I would have done the same thing, but I was definitely very excited. That was my first thought three years ago, when I heard that Kevin O’Neill was no longer the coach of the NU basketball team and that Bill Carmody, the Princeton coaching genius, was taking his place. Carmody, who had been to more NCAA tournaments than the Wildcats had in my lifetime, was a coaching god in the Ivy League, the architect behind Pete Carril’s brilliant Princeton offense (you remember that backdoor cut to beat UCLA? Yeah, that was a Carmody).

How could we have lured him from New Jersey to Evanston anyway, considering that every year, in the Ivy League, he had a 50 percent chance of going to the Big Dance? All he had to do was beat Penn. His teams were so good, so fundamental, they played an athletically superior Mateen Cleaves-led Michigan State team down to the wire, the year before they started their amazing stretch of three consecutive Final Fours. And yet, Carmody made the lateral move to NU. The same NU that failed to score against Illinois until they were behind over 30 points. The same NU whose best appearance in recent memory was trip to the big, big…NIT.

So, why did Carmody make the switch? Was it for the opportunity to coach and recruit higher caliber players and show off his Princeton offense in the best conference in college sports? Was it because of a long-standing relationship with NU President Henry Bienen, a huge basketball fan and Princeton alum? Or was it a chance to have a program of his own that he could build from the ground up? Honestly, I don’t know what the reason was, but so far, it looks like he made the wrong decision.

Consider this, according to Blue Ribbon magazine: an uninjured Princeton squad is a virtual lock for the Big Dance. Even without seniors Spencer Gloger (academic) and Andre Logan (multiple ACL surgeries) the Tigers remain the league favorite. Last year, following one of the best seasons in recent memory and starting the season 8-3 prior to conference play, NU lost Vedran Vukusic to injury and Winston Blake to confidence, and the season went out the door with them as the Wildcats limped to a 3-13 conference record. They say there is renewed hope as Vukusic returns from a shoulder injury, but the team is thin up front. It’ll have to survive on the strength of its backcourt senior captain and all-leaguer Jitim Young, who is one of the most gifted pure athletes in the Big Ten, and point guard T.J. Parker, who with a good season may bolt the collegiate hardwood for a shot in the “L.”

How could it be possible that a team from the academically endowed Ivy league could beat a team from the Big Ten? Well, Princeton is just that good. If you don’t believe me, check out their schedule. The Tigers play three top 15 opponents – Duke, Missouri and Oklahoma – all on the road. When was the last time a top-caliber program invited NU to their house for an out-of-conference matchup? I couldn’t tell you. For Princeton, it is a yearly rite of passage. On top of that the Tigers have a top 50 recruiting class. How come Carmody was able to sign similar players at Princeton so easily and not at NU, where players would get a shot to play against premier competition and have a better shot at making the NBA? Signing those same players would have made the Wildcats a much stronger team, turning us into the Princeton of the Midwest. Instead NU has turned its attention overseas to players like Vukusic, Davor Duancic and Ivan Tolic. They’re good players, but like Ohio State coach Jim O’Brien says, we wouldn’t have any international players if we sign ones from the U.S.

Enough about Princeton, though. What about our chances for the season? Barring something unforeseen, it looks like it could be another winter of our discontent here in Evanston. I just don’t get it. Our coach is good, his track record speaks for itself. He is an honest guy, a good teacher (I know, I attended his Princeton basketball camp when I was in high school). So what is stopping him from getting better talent? It’s not a case similar to football where we need to lower the academic standards to sign players. Any student athlete at Princeton could be a student athlete here. So why don’t all the Princeton fellows who once played for Carmody flock to Evanston to have a second installment of the Princeton offense?

We don’t need more athletic players, we need shooters and students of the game, smart players. Carmody is a good enough coach to win with that set of players, and in fact they are essential to the success of his motion offense. Unfortunately, we will never be able to take full advantage of his coaching brilliance until he is comfortable with the cogs he is putting into his system. Until then, the system will look just as disjointed as it has the past three seasons and eventually and unfortunately someone will be calling for Carmody’s head, the best athletic mind we have at this school.

Ask Steve Spurrier out in Washington if he knows what I mean. I’m sure he can relate.

Phineas Lambert, who runs his own style of offense, can be contacted at p-lambert@northwestern.edu