The Princeton Packet talked to a pair of Tiger recruits about Coach Johnson's departure. Current players have been asked to not comment on the situation. The paper also attempts to work through why Johnson left.
Fairfield believes Johnson is part of their vision.
Bill Bradley spoke Thursday at the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort and Spa.
Egregious Foul!
This is really a case of piling on: when I went to one Princeton related website today, Google Ads popped in a recruitment ad inviting prospective students to consider Fairfield University.
Well, I ain't De-committing!
SJ must have concluded that Fairfield embraces the same goals, in terms of its basketball program, that Johnson has for his. Is it not fair to infer he believes that Princeton's institutional goals conflict with the demands of a competitive basketball program. The hew hire will reveal much about where we are, or are not, going. I am not all that optimistic.
So the Packet suggests Sydney didn't think he could compete with Harvard & Penn so it was a perfect time to bail. I thought he embraced the competition?
I don't begrudge anyone the chance to improve both his salary and his professional prospects, but the news came as such a shock because this is the same guy who literally wept out of love and dedication to Princeton, whose basketball legacy and tradition he compared, without a hint of irony, to Kentucky's. Something feels terribly wrong when you read that, just days later, he was already seeking out opportunities at other schools. So we're left with two equally unsavory conclusions: Johnson simply went for the money, making his expressed commitment to Princeton look less than sincere; or Walters refused Johnson's reasonable request for a salary increase, which makes Princeton look like an unattractive setting for any talented coach. Either way, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
Or perhaps the tears were because Coach Johnson knew or sensed that, no matter how much he loved, loved Princeton Basketball, the end of the ride was fast approaching.
I have slowly come to grips with Coach J's departure, and I bear him no ill will. As someone else mentioned, I do not hold him on quite so high a pedestal. When he comes to Baltimore next year to play Loyola, I will go to the game if I can, and wear orange. I will root for Loyola, I think.
I scrolled down this site, and I saw the picture of Douglas Davis--it made realize that it is the PLAYERS who are the team and the legacy; the coach is merely the man who recruits them, and teaches them. So we still have Davis, Saunders, Connolly, Hummer, Hazel, Clement, et al. If Clay Wilson chooses not to come, it is more his loss than ours, IMHO. If he chooses to re-commit, I will welcome him, and hope he does well and graduates.
So I wait for the announcement of the next coach, and I will support the team as I always have.
And if anyone has any ideas how we can lobby for better institutional support of the program, I am open to suggestions.
Basketball is clearly the best way we can get the Princeton name out into the national sports spotlight. All the other sports benefit. I grew up in Indiana, and I first heard of Princeton through the Cosmo Iaccavazi football team. We can't get back to that level in football, but we can and should continue to excel on a national level in basketball.
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