After writing about why University of Washington’s men’s basketball program should fire head coach Lorenzo Romar after 15 seasons, Washington’s AD Jen Cohen actually followed suit and let Romar go last Wednesday, March 15. The move came as a shock to some, but makes sense logistically.
While Romar’s Washington tenure was tumultuous, bringing a severity of highs and lows, it was time for a change. Despite reeling in once-in-a-generation type recruits throughout his tenure, Romar’s slow deteriorated of the program over the past several years proved to be his undoing.
What will Romar do next? No one is quite sure. His wallet got a lot heavier as he received a $3.2 million buyout. He is still a good coach despite his little knowledge of X’s and O’s. However, with 351 teams in Div-I, there has to be a handful of school that would hire him. I
East Carolina Pirates: This seems to be the new slam dunk pick with the Missouri job being filled last week. Romar has a daughter in the Carolina area so going out east isn’t out of the question. Also, with South Carolina emerging onto the big stage following its historic win over Duke in the Round of 32, East Carolina is now the odd team out in a basketball-thriving Carolina area. ECU’s last winning season was in 2014 and their latest NCAA Tournament appearance came 24 years ago, so to say that Pirates basketball is in need of a winner is an understatement.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights: With Northwestern making the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever this year, Rutgers basketball has officially become the laughing-stock of the Big Ten. They haven’t made the Tourney since 1991 and I highly doubt that streak is coming to an end soon. From 2007-2013, Washington made five different trips to New York so there must be something about New York that Romar likes. His recruiting skills will come in handy as playing road games at Indiana or Michigan State seems to be easy to convince people. Also, Rutgers basketball could benefit from some Top 100 recruits to create buzz.
Boston College Eagles: Another team that is in complete disarray right now. Once upon a time Boston College contained a pretty good program that peaked in 2006 when they suffered a one-point loss to Villanova in the Sweet 16. Since then, it has been downhill for quite some, hitting rock bottom two years ago, finishing winless in the ACC. This year wasn’t much better as the Eagles finished 2-16 in ACC and 9-23 overall. Despite it being a tough conference, drastic measures should be taken to get the Eagles back to respectability.
DePaul Blue Demons: Another laughing-stock, another team that makes perfect sense in the Romar sweepstakes. DePaul has been bad for almost forever, with their last NCAA Tournament appearance coming in 2004. Somehow, they played in the brutal Big East back in the day. Since the conference carousel started up in 2011, DePaul has won a total of 17 conference games, winning two this past season.
Missouri State Grizzlies: Missouri is out of the question, but would Missouri State be an option? Sometimes I think the MVC needs a powerhouse team that can rival Wichita State. Before Washington, Romar coached at Saint Louis so he knows the area. Romar also has a history of winning conference tournaments and the MVC is one of the most competitive conference tournaments top-to-bottom in Division I and therefore, any MVC team that hires Romar would be a great hire.
Tennessee Volunteers: Rick Barnes is their coach right now but for how much longer? He currently has the program stuck in neutral. Similarly to Washington, Tennessee has lost some flare since 2011 for whatever reason. John Calipari and Romar have had great recruiting battles over the years, none more controversial then when Terrence Jones de-comitted from Washington to Kentucky. Some people say that may have costed Washington a chance at the National Title. Who knows what happens in Rocky Top, if Barnes’ situation doesn’t work out, Romar should be up for consideration.
San Diego Toreros: San Diego’s rival, San Diego State, is coming to the end of a great run of excellence across the town so we know basketball can succeed in San Diego. As everyone knows, the WCC is almost a one-team conference with Gonzaga controlling everything. Even St. Mary’s and BYU haven’t been able to dethrone Gonzaga. To make things more interesting, Mark Few and Romar extremely dislike each other and would make for a great rivalry if San Diego got good. It’s something that the WCC needs because the conference gets no respect, not even Gonzaga is respected on the East coast. San Diego’s last claim to fame was a one-point OT win in the first round 2008 NCAA Tournament. Since then, they haven’t even sniffed another appearance.
These are just some teams that should take full advantage of Lorenzo Romar being on the open market. If a team hires Romar, they will be hiring a coach who is a great person, leader, role model and most importantly an outstanding recruiter.
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