A Sea Of Red

A pretty shocking announcement from unca.... Eddie has resigned and is accepting a position as an assistant coach at uncw.

Some of us who know Eddie realize he has always kept a home in Wilmington, and has always privately admitted he'd be open to leaving Asheville to be an assistant at his alma mater nc state, or at a school near his other home Wilmington.... But to the casual fan still a shocking development. Asheville's promising alums a full coaching search, but many of us are pushing for Assistant Nick McDevitt to be hired, an alum and also a proven assistant that masterminded the gameplan vs. Syracuse a year ago.

Quite a shocking development for UNCA as well as the conference. No hard feelings though, good luck Eddie!

I have to admit I am a true fan of Eddie. I usually try to get a conversation with him before covering Asheville because it is so refreshing to talk to a coach that simply says whatever is on his mind, often unedited. He is a truely genuine good guy in my opinion and I am going to miss seeing him at UNCA. There are 3 jobs open in the conference now right? Longwood, Campbell and UNCA.

SCAR wrote:I have to admit I am a true fan of Eddie. I usually try to get a conversation with him before covering Asheville because it is so refreshing to talk to a coach that simply says whatever is on his mind, often unedited. He is a truely genuine good guy in my opinion and I am going to miss seeing him at UNCA. There are 3 jobs open in the conference now right? Longwood, Campbell and UNCA.

Which one are you applying for?

Apparently Longwood is hiring an assistant from Cleveland State....I'll see if I can find where I read that at.....

Also, FWIW, Max Landis announced today on Twitter that he is leaving GW. Our bench scoring just took a hit.

PH basketball is much less stressful from where I sit. If I were truly into coaching though, that Asheville job would be very intriguing.

Landis hit some big shots in the Big South Tourney vs Liberty. He is medium sized loss for Gardner Webb. Not irreplaceable but a pretty solid contributor. Do you know where he is going?

McDevitt would be a strong choice. Young guy with energy and coaching chops.

Chris Lang wrote:McDevitt would be a strong choice. Young guy with energy and coaching chops.

I miss you.

I thought we had something special.

I hope she's treating you right.

SCAR wrote:PH basketball is much less stressful from where I sit. If I were truly into coaching though, that Asheville job would be very intriguing.

Landis hit some big shots in the Big South Tourney vs Liberty. He is medium sized loss for Gardner Webb. Not irreplaceable but a pretty solid contributor. Do you know where he is going?

No idea SCAR, I would tend to think he might head home to Indiana. He's a good kid. I just hate that the college game has turned into a circus every offseason, where virtually every team has defections.

The NCAA needs to crack down on deflections.

ballcoach15 wrote:The NCAA needs to crack down on deflections.

In basketball you are not allowed to use your fist to deflect a pass.

Don't really understand this move at all unless he just HAD to be in Willmington.

LUconn wrote:Don't really understand this move at all unless he just HAD to be in Willmington.

Wilmington > Ashville

It makes perfect sense if you know Eddie.. He has always said privately if the opportunity arose at either NC State or Wilmington that he would strongly consider those programs to retire at.. He has had a home in Wrightsville Beach prior to coming to Asheville. It's not about money- it's about staying involved in basketball while moving towards retirement.. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Buzz takes flight anytime soon for Eddie to still have a HC interest for a couple more years.. Eddie has given the Asheville program unprecedented success, he has had McDevitt on staff for over 10 years grooming him & Carey for their further success.. Timing is surprising but the opportunity presented itself.. We wish him well & trust that our AD makes the right decision in moving our current staff up. They've earned the opportunity..

He´s 67 years old. Probably wants a job with somewhat less stress and prefers the beach to the mountains. After carrying the financial burden of the entire UNCA athletic program on his back all these years, he´s entitled.

olldflame wrote:He´s 67 years old. Probably wants a job with somewhat less stress and prefers the beach to the mountains. After carrying the financial burden of the entire UNCA athletic program on his back all these years, he´s entitled.

Perfect analysis... For the sake of unca just hoping out AD, who has proven that she likes to cover her own behind rather than make the right decisions, is smart enough to hire the guy Eddie has publicly recommended as the next head coach... The aforementioned Nick.

Bump.

Since Buzz was fired today and Coach Biedenbach is the current interim coach at UNCW as of this afternoon.. Will be interesting to see if he remains as an asst and/or shows interest in the head job since some folks questioned this move last summer.. He's very good friends with the current AD.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketb ... ur-seasons

kingaling42 wrote:Bump.

Since Buzz was fired today and Coach Biedenbach is the current interim coach at UNCW as of this afternoon.. Will be interesting to see if he remains as an asst and/or shows interest in the head job since some folks questioned this move last summer.. He's very good friends with the current AD.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketb ... ur-seasons

That's a great question. He had to work VERY hard at UNCA, so I would think working as an assistant gave him a chance to rest, relatively speaking. The question is: did he move to Wilmington area THEN take the job? Meaning was he planning on retiring on/near the beach. If so, I'm not sure being a HC is high on his list. Although this job would be relatively easier than UNCA

I imagine they will look at other candidates plus I don't think Eddie wants to be the top guy at this point in his life.. If the new guy doesn't retain him on staff I imagine the AD will take care of him and keep him some capacity in the Ath Dept..

Considering that UNCW a couple years ago was talking about cutting sports- I wonder where they found $910k to buy Buzz out for the remaining 2 years..

kingaling42 wrote:I imagine they will look at other candidates plus I don't think Eddie wants to be the top guy at this point in his life.. If the new guy doesn't retain him on staff I imagine the AD will take care of him and keep him some capacity in the Ath Dept..

Considering that UNCW a couple years ago was talking about cutting sports- I wonder where they found $910k to buy Buzz out for the remaining 2 years..

Which may be why Eddie is the guy. He can work for cheap. And with his experience at UNCA has proven he can compete in economically difficult situations.
Having said that. I like Eddie. Pure class.

I played for Eddie so I'm biased but he was awesome for the community as well as the program.. he was warmer than Coach Wiel for the community aspects who was our coach before Eddie arrived.. he'll do just fine one way or another as his wife makes good $$ in real estate so he can do whatever! Jimmy Bass will take care of him either way.. I think it will be a bad idea to make him the head guy, it'll appear to some like he submarined Buzz which obviously isn't what Eddie is about

kingaling42 wrote:I played for Eddie so I'm biased but he was awesome for the community as well as the program.. he was warmer than Coach Wiel for the community aspects who was our coach before Eddie arrived.. he'll do just fine one way or another as his wife makes good $$ in real estate so he can do whatever! Jimmy Bass will take care of him either way.. I think it will be a bad idea to make him the head guy, it'll appear to some like he submarined Buzz which obviously isn't what Eddie is about

I don't think people would think he submarines abuzz. He does that just fine by himself!
I think it wouldn't be the best idea because he would be seen as a 'care taker' until they could recover from Buzz's buyout