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Beilein, Lavin say no
Phil Ford enters N.C. State search
N.C. State is still seeking a basketball coach after two top candidates -- West Virginia's John Beilein and former UCLA coach Steve Lavin, now an ESPN analyst -- said Wednesday they were staying in their current jobs.
With Beilein and Lavin out as candidates, the latest name to emerge is that of Phil Ford, the former North Carolina All-America guard who now is an assistant on Larry Brown's staff with the NBA's New York Knicks.
The chances of Fordham coach Dereck Whittenburg, 45, have improved, too. One of the heroes on the Pack's 1983 national championship team, Whittenburg has rebuilt programs at Wagner and Fordham.
Sources with knowledge of the search said Ford, 50, has had discussions this week with NCSU athletics officials. Ford, a Rocky Mount native, served as an assistant at UNC under former coaches Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge but never has been a head coach. He previously served on Brown's staff with the NBA's Detroit Pistons.
Asked Wednesday if he had been contacted by N.C. State, Ford said, "I don't feel like that's for me to say. That's for people at N.C. State to talk about."
"But I would be very flattered to be considered by N.C. State," Ford said. "and I would do everything in my power to make N.C. State the best program in the country."
Ford's name will surprise and shock some State fans considering his ties and history with the Wolfpack's biggest rival. But others with Tar Heels ties have been a part of NCSU's past -- former athletics directors Willis Casey and Todd Turner and former assistant basketball coach Buzz Peterson are UNC graduates.
As a college freshman, Ford led the Heels to the 1975 ACC title. UNC topped State 70-66 in the title game, and Ford was chosen tournament MVP. The loss ended the career of the Pack's David Thompson, the national player of the year and the star of State's 1974 NCAA title team.
Contacted Wednesday, Thompson was surprised to learn Ford's name had surfaced for the Wolfpack's head coaching job.
"Phil Ford? For the N.C. State job?" Thompson said. "Wow. That's hard to believe.
"Phil would do a good job, but with that State-Carolina thing, I don't know. As much as Phil loves Carolina, that'd be a hard situation to put himself in.
"But Phil does a good job. He's a good recruiter, good with young people. He knows basketball."
Thompson said he would not speculate on whether State fans would accept Ford as their coach but said it would not bother him to have Ford coaching the Pack.
"I know Phil. I can't say anything bad about Phil Ford," Thompson said.
Whittenburg and NCSU athletics director Lee Fowler could not be reached for comment.
Beilein was considered the leading candidate to replace former Pack coach Herb Sendek, who left to take the open job at Arizona State. But Beilein's buyout of almost $3 million with West Virginia -- a provision he agreed to last year when he was given an extension and a raise -- was the big stumbling block Wednesday.
Beilein, in a statement released early Wednesday night, said he was staying at West Virginia.
"I am flattered by the interest and recognition that the basketball program has received," he said. "West Virginia University and the people of West Virginia have been great to me and my family. I will be the basketball coach at West Virginia next season, and I look forward to continued success."
Earlier in the day, ESPN announced Lavin would remain a college basketball analyst for the cable network and ABC Sports. An ESPN announcement said Lavin discussed the job with Fowler for "more than a week."
Ford had long been considered a potential UNC head coach. Those chances were tarnished in 1999, when he pleaded guilty to a drunken driving charge. That followed an arrest and guilty plea to a similar charge in Michigan in 1997. He went on medical leave and spent a month in an alcohol treatment facility. He eventually returned as Guthridge's assistant.
Guthridge retired in 2000, and Carolina hired Matt Doherty, who did not retain any of Guthridge's assistants. Ford, who graduated from UNC in 1978 with a bachelor of science degree in business administration, spent four years as vice president of the Educational Foundation, also known as the Rams Club, which raises funds for UNC athletics.
Ford also spent two years as an analyst for the Tar Heel Sports Network before Brown hired him in 2004 for his Pistons staff.
Mac Campbell, president of the Wolfpack Club board of directors, said Wednesday's news about Beilein and Lavin probably would add to the anxiety among the booster club members, although he added he believed Fowler still "has a good game plan."
"It's not the end of the world," Campbell said. "There's always a sense of urgency to get it done, but getting the right person is more important than the timing."
(Staff writers Robbi Pickeral, Luciana Chavez and Dane Huffman contributed to this report.)
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- By jmclaughlin
- By rtb72
