It's not just buy-in. They have to basically relearn and forget a bunch of bad habits. Sometimes that happens right away and sometimes it takes 1.5-2 years
This point is spot on. Frankly, this is why I was more cautious than many on this board when Dan Hurley was tabbed as our next HC. No doubt he has done a great job at each and every place he has been before here, but I questioned if all the fall out from Ollie's ugly (and unfortunately continuing) departure was going to hamper efforts for the program to move forward this year.
But I must say that since that day it feels as if Dan Hurley has made the right move at almost every turn... quite remarkably, in several cases. To wit:
1. Not only kept all the players on board with zero defections, but from what we can see from their summer workouts, he has gotten them to believe in what he is selling... including the most important of them all if we are too have the renaissance this year: Jalen Adams. If Jalen does anything close to what Kemba did going into the 2010-2011 season, then this could be a really interesting (and exhilarating) year, as well.
- If you want a leading indicator that I like to watch: see how the times in the annual "Husky run" stack up against the last several years. As several of the more astute members here pointed out over the last several years, the average times were down pretty significantly over the last several years from the Calhoun years - and didn't that seem to directly translate into our play on the court far too often? Our team has not been in the same shape under Ollie that it was under Calhoun.
2. The assistant coaches hired: Quite impressive staff, from top to bottom. Lots of experience and success, both as assistant coaches AND on the recruiting trail in key areas (New England, New York and the Mid-Atlantic regions) for us. The cherries on top were bringing in Taliek Brown as Director of Player Development and Sal Alosi for Strength and Conditioning. A significantly better and more well-rounded staff than any of us had thought he and AD David Benedict could assemble.
3. He has actively sought out help and advice from both Geno and JC... You can say that seems like a no-brainer, but we also know that KO (sadly, and much to his own detriment) stopped seeking out help from these two basketball geniuses.
4. The Coaches Roadshow - I was not at any of these, as I do live in Florida, but I have heard Hurley did a great job of endearing himself to the fans who did show up. With all of the attendance woes and our need to gin up a renewed fervor for the program, that was exactly what Hurley needed to do.
5. He has paid proper respect to our recent history of amazing success while also showing that it will take hard work and dedication by everyone involved to get back to where we all want to be.
6. He and the entire coaching staff are out there hustling on the recruiting trail, and fearlessly willing to go up against almost anyone outside of Duke and Kentucky on the recruiting trail (and I honestly do not think he minds going up against them, either, as the Kofi Cockburn continuing recruitment shows). We will see over the next several months if their extra effort pays off... but you have to be impressed with the list of high-level recruits that are seriously considering becoming Huskies next year.
Taken as an aggregate - I actually think we could well be THE surprise team in the AAC, and maybe throughout the country. And yes, challenging for a spot in March Madness. I will keep my unbridled enthusiasm in check until we see some actual results... but the laying of the groundwork with all of the aforementioned foundation material is far stronger than we could have hoped for 5 months ago.
I give credit to each and every one of you who pushed for us to hire Dan Hurley over the last year. I was skeptical, but each of you looks like you were right in your strong support of him.
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