When I think about what type of program and team Stackhouse could have put together at VU over his 5 years I am really disappointed. When he was hired, I knew it was an outside the box move by ADMT, but I thought at the time that he could make this something special. He was one of my favorite players when he was a Maverick as he always played hard and was very tough, and I thought he would bring that kind of toughness and work ethic to his VU team. I thought he would look at other former NBA players that did not succeed as college head coaches and vow to not be one of those guys, and that he would work hard to make sure that did not happen. I hoped he would take advantage of his name and contacts and recruit hard, getting top talent (not necessarily 5 stars but high 3 stars and 4 stars that needed a couple years of college ball to reach their potential). We have to admit that Stack can coach basketball, run great sets that get his guys open shots, and teach tough defense, and if he had worked hard at recruiting, he could have teams that are at the top of the SEC and contend for top 10-15 rankings. If he had really embraced being at VU and in Nashville there would be great crowds at Memorial Gym and he would be very popular with the fans. I just think that, at the time, he did not understand what it would take to be successful at a place like VU and he let his ego get the best of him into thinking all he had to do was to show up. He evidently did not reach out to other basketball coaches to ask what it took to be successful, and he did not receive, or ask, for any guidance from any other VU coaches (primarily Corbin).
I do not know it he will be back next year and it is probably too late to expect him to make any changes in how he goes about his job if he does return, but it is just really frustrating to think about what this program could have been if he just gone about his job in a different way from the beginning.
I do not know it he will be back next year and it is probably too late to expect him to make any changes in how he goes about his job if he does return, but it is just really frustrating to think about what this program could have been if he just gone about his job in a different way from the beginning.
