I just want to watch good ball, I don't doubt that he could be a plus recruiter or an improvement over Groce (neither are difficult to achieve at ILL), but I want consistency in the regular season and to be competing for top 5 B10 finishes every year. I don't have a body of work from him that suggests that is something I can reasonably expect, which is why I'm hesitant. He's improved every stop, but he has also left as soon as he gets a good year in, just to explain my "don't have a body of work" comment.
The benefit with Cuonzo is we seem to know what he can achieve at lesser P5 gigs, whereas with Archie, Keatts, etc. we are working with mid-major resumes. That said, when I look at candidates, I want to see high level success at whatever stops they've been at, and Cuonzo doesn't really check that box for me.
What Keatts has done at UNCW is special. What Archie has achieved at Dayton is special. As such, I am a bigger believer in their upside than I am with Cuonzo.
By no means am I anti-Cuonzo, he just isn't my first choice. Part of what plays into that is that he has yet to have a stint at any of 3 jobs go longer than 3 years, which also hampers my ability to really see what he can do over a longer period. I am not at all worried about him leaving after a short period, just for the record, and I excuse Keatts on this point (1) because of his stay at Hargrave, and (2) because of the extent to which and the speed that he turned that UNCW program around -- that's his doing.
So to me, Cuonzo projects as likely having a higher floor, but a lower ceiling (competitive in the conference, less likely to win the conf, essentially). I'm not a big buyer on the NCAAT results deciding if we had a successful season -- seeding does that for me alongside conference finish. We're not at a stage as a program right now where I slave over or stay awake at night thinking about whether we won 0 or 2 games in a row in the tournament, so whether Keatts wins a NCAAT game this year or 3 or none doesn't do anything, his regular seasons have sold me. On the flip side, Cuonzo's sweet 16 run doesn't really do anything for me either.
All that said, I won't be upset if the hire is Cuonzo. The only scenario I'd really be upset with is if we don't make a change.
