With the Friars in search of their 17th head coach in program history we at The Providence Crier will take a look at the candidates who have been linked to the job.
Herb Sendek is a name we’ve seen linked for the past few weeks to the Providence Friar open coaching job. The Pitttsburgh native and Santa Clara head coach, a former Providence assistant, is a college basketball lifer. He has amassed a 600-424 record as a head coach in college basketball, with his first head coaching gig coming in 1993 at Miami of Ohio. He has been the lead man at high level institutions before, namely NC State and Arizona State, before settling in at his current job at Santa Clara. In each of his stops, he’s led his programs to 20 win seasons and has been named coach of the year in his conference at every school he’s ever been to.
Below, we break down the pros and cons of hiring Mr. Sendek.
Experience a Massive Plus
Herb Sendek has been in coaching since 1984, longer than Kim English has been born. Herb has been a lead man, as we noted above, since 1993 and has had success wherever he has been. He has had 12 assistants in his coaching tree become head coaches at other jobs, which is a testament to his teaching ability.
We’ve talked about the in-game coaching deficit Providence has had when going up against Big East coaching foes like Hurley, Pitino, etc. While Sendek is not at their level, he has many more skins on the wall and has the head coaching experience that Providence wants from its lead man. Sendek has gone against Coach K, Dean Smith, Skip Prosser, Roy Williams, etc. and had his fair share of success. Sendek has been a head coach for approximately 850 more games than English. PC would go from having one of the most inexperienced lead men to the most experienced.
Sendek has been around basketball his entire life. His father was a JuCo basketball coach who would tow a young Herb around. Basketball has been in his blood since the moment he was born. A true lifer and gym rat.
Raising the Floor
Sendek would bring serious stability to a program that has lacked it over the last two years. In his time coaching, Sendek has gone 7-8 in the NCAA tournament. Ed Cooley, our beloved hero before he stabbed us in the back, has gone 3-7 in his career for reference.
I point this out because I think a Sendek hire would bring us back to performances that we came to know under Cooley. The Friars may not elevate to a Final Four contender under Sendek, but they’d be scrapping and clawing for an NCAA tournament bid almost every year. That’d be a welcome improvement from the sub .500 seasons under English where the season was essentially over by January.
Folks look at Sendek’s resume as PC “mailing in the coaching search”. I don’t see it that way. Kim English was Napolillo’s way of trying to hit a grand slam. Herb Sendek is the baseball equivalent of hitting a double, and you can make a fine career out of being that type of coach. Providence longs to get back to relevancy nationally, and Sendek would bring that back instantaneously.
Along with his tournament bids, he’s won coach of the year at every place he’s been: MAC Coach of the Year, ACC Coach of the Year, PAC 10 Coach of the Year, and WCC Coach of the Year. Providence under Sendek would be eerily similar to the Cooley years, in my opinion: a constant winner where 1 out of every 3-4 years there is a chance for a special type of season where a Big East Championship and second weekend run is in the cards. I wouldn’t be opposed to that. Would you?
Bringing Talent With Him
Sendek may opt to stay at Santa Clara because he has so much talent with multiple years of eligibility already there. The next 1-2 years may see Santa Clara take the top spot in the conference because of the sustained roster over the next few years.
Of the top 9 players in their rotation, 7 of them have eligibility for next year. Of the 83 points averaged/game, they would return 60 of those points. Allan Graves, in particular, may be one of the next mid-major WCC guys to become an NBA pro. He won Freshman of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year this year.
This roster is primed to make a legitimate run, and that I’m certain is a selling point by Sendek to prospective athletic directors.
In this NIL and free agency world, you can rebuild a roster extremely quickly, and Sendek has the talent on the roster to do that. He could bring 7 or so of his Santa Clara guys, work on retaining the Providence guys with eligibility remaining if he so chooses, and you essentially have your 13 man roster that would immediately contribute for Top 5 in the conference. Beyond Sendek’s experience, this may be a top selling point for instant success if Sendek becomes your program’s coach.
Sendek also has a recent history of putting guys in the league. See Jaylin Williams and Brandon Podziemski, two first rounders who played under Sendek at Santa Clara. For the older generation reading this, he also had Julius Hodge play under him at NC State. He was a first rounder too. James Harden at Arizona State played under Sendek and was a first rounder.
Sendek has this reputation of being an older veteran coach, but he’s putting players into the league at a very high clip, and I don’t foresee that changing with all the young talent he has on the roster.
Analyzing the Playstyle
This Santa Clara team likes to run. They are second in conference in 82.9 points a game, second only to Gonzaga’s 85.1. I know my co-founder will like this, as they lead the conference in three pointers attempted at 29.2 three’s a game. They led the conference last year in this stat as well, so it’s clearly a core principle offensively.
The thing that I like is that in looking back to some of his other teams, there are times when his teams are in the bottom 2 or 3 in the conference in three pointers attempted. This shows me that Sendek adapts his philosophy to his roster and not the other way around. That’s a sign of a good coach.
Defensively, this isn’t a team that lets up as many points as they do score, as we saw with Kim English’s most recent squad. They are league average at defense by almost all metrics, which you can live with when you are a Top 2 offensive team.
Herb’s Fit at Providence
Sendek would fit in well with the blue collar, lunch pail mentality of the Providence faithful. He’s your favorite coach’s favorite coach. He is all business and with that wry demeanor that all old school coaches possess. He comes from humble beginnings where his grandfathers were both coal miners.
He may never win a press conference like Ed Cooley, and his demeanor with media is probably more akin to Kim English than Ed, but what you’ll get is a guy who is solely focused on hoops and winning basketball games. You won’t have to worry about extracurriculars.
Summary
This hire may feel like a settle, and maybe there is some legitimacy to that, but I’d be very content with Sendek as the Friar next coach. He’s won everywhere he has been, seems to have a no-frills approach to coaching that I appreciate, and would bring a roster with him ready to compete in the Big East Day 1. It’s a sell that Providence can be a contender in the Big East immediately, and winning would cure any concerns about Sendek being a “safe choice”. This is your typical high floor/moderate ceiling hire that I’d say Cooley was known for at Providence. Let us not forget all the good times he brought us as Friar fans.
Sendek would do a really fine job at Providence and bring this program back to competing at the higher end of the Big East almost immediately. How poetic would it be for Sendek to end his coaching career at the same institution where he started it? Divine.
I don’t want a coach who will “hit a double”. I want one who will hit a home run! I’ve been a Friar Fan since 1966. I want to get back to the glory days of 1973 and 1987 but I don’t know if I will live long enough to see it! Go Friars!