Question on K Smesko

[militarydog]

A couple of people on the Mississippi State boards have mentioned K Smesko as a candidate they would like considered. Does anyone have an opinion on him and how he might do in the SEC?

 

[JellyBean]

Mississippi State should consider Karl Smesko if they are looking for new coach next season. Coach Smesko is an excellent coach. Great at developing the players that he gets. Case in point his short stint at IPFW (Indiana University-Purdue Fort Wayne). Now Purdue Fort Wayne. He was only there for two years but the impact he had on that program during that two year run was epic! They were a struggling program and he gave that program a spark.

I am a huge fan of coaches who get the 2 or 3 star players and turn them into 4 & 5 star players that have media heads talking about "How did this player slip through that top program's fingers" Karl does that with the players that he gets. Given how tough that SEC is and how some fan bases have crazy expectations, he would do well. I think that he would have Mississippi State highly competitive, but they would be in the middle of the pack, which is good but like I said, some fans bases have crazy expectations.

There are a host of talented coaches out there and coach Smesko should be on that list.

 

[Vowelguy]

Very good coach but seems like he’s had a bunch of interest the last few years and has stayed at fgcu. Not sure I see Starkville being the place to lure him.

 

[GoChips20]

Very good coach but seems like he’s had a bunch of interest the last few years and has stayed at fgcu. Not sure I see Starkville being the place to lure him.

Love Smesko as a coach but have to question the fit. Mississippi State under Vic was a gritty, grind-it-out, guard-everyone-and-everything type of program. FGCU seems to play at a much faster pace and loves raining threes. I would say they’re one of the very best in the country among teams that take that perimeter-oriented offensive approach, too.

Certainly a new coach could change the style of a program, and ultimately it’s the overall performance that matters, but I think Smesko seems happy at FGCU.

 

[militarydog]

Love Smesko as a coach but have to question the fit. Mississippi State under Vic was a gritty, grind-it-out, guard-everyone-and-everything type of program. FGCU seems to play at a much faster pace and loves raining threes. I would say they’re one of the very best in the country among teams that take that perimeter-oriented offensive approach, too.

Certainly a new coach could change the style of a program, and ultimately it’s the overall performance that matters, but I think Smesko seems happy at FGCU.

His teams seems similar to Arkansas where they live and die by the three.

 

[mbr33ct]

I hear there's a "coach" waiting and willing lurking on VolNation, already a SEC fan...and he can be in Starkville tomorrow.

 

[SECbbfan24]

I hear Nikki Fargas is eager to return to the college ranks @militarydog

 

[militarydog]

I hear Nikki Fargas is eager to return to the college ranks @militarydog

That’s a negative ghost rider.

 

[donalddoowop]

I hear Nikki Fargas is eager to return to the college ranks @militarydog

You should be on cloud nine now the way LSU has been playing this season. You have something to look forward to again.

 

[SECbbfan24]

That’s a negative ghost rider.

I had to throw in that joke. Boneyard was teasing me after every game Nikki won last year about how she deserved an extension

 

[militarydog]

I had to throw in that joke. Boneyard was teasing me after every game Nikki won last year about how she deserved an extension

Oh I know. That aside, Coach Smesko is the favorite name thrown out by some of our fans right now. Based on what I’ve seen to date his style seems a little too feast or famine from the three point line.

 

[Dillon77]

I'm with @Vowelguy -- Smesko pops up on many a list for vacancies. And then stays at FGCU. Maybe it's gig and he gets to do what he wants to. Or he likes the lifestyle. But I'm no loivnger surprised that he stays put.

He brings in some under-the-radar players via recruiting and/or transfers (save for Ms. Bell) and then they kind of go flying around the court, a la the old Loyola Marymount teams of Paul Westhead.

I thought he'd be a natural for Florida earlier in the season, but Kelly Rae Finley has done a bravura job with that squad, even after losing Lavender Briggs. At this point, the only natural fit would be Miami, but Katie Meier does not seem to be going anywhere for awhile.

Here's another idea: Brooke Wyckoff, Sue Semrau's #2 at Florida State who ran the Seminoles when Semrau took a year off to care for her mother. She's been at FSU for quite some time but still has solid connections in Ohio, where FSU has successfully recruited for years.