Plenty of career assistants have been associated with AAU ball and coached at multiple bluebloods. What's your point? The difference is that Lucas showed me that he's significantly better tactically than most young "Recruiters", and that's is what I considered the limiting factor.
We knew that the Miami budget was going to get raised(L was the victim of his own success(plus inevitable aging), and we saw what happened when budgets started moving against us, how the program changed), so Lucas was going to be able to recruit. The question was "Can he get the most out of the talent he has available" and he did that. While I think that he will continue to evolve in regards to how he views basketball(Shooting matters and building a roster that can stretch and tilt the floor should be a priority), I have no doubt that he will put a compelling product on the floor, provided he gets the needed support. He's already proven that he is a significantly better coach than Frank Haith, which was my concern, because if you were to put their resumes side by side prior to the Miami job, they would be **** near identical.
It's almost like you are personally invested in the guy, which removes any level of objectivity. Most of us had legit concerns about the hire, because we've 1)seen this happen before and 2) anyone that watches college basketball knows that hiring is a probability game and that the programs that hit on hires tend to avoid first time HCs, unless A) They have a program so well managed and funded they can take a calculated risk(UNC, Arizona) or B)They don't really have a choice(Most midmajors/lower tier P5s). Miami has money and a recent record of success, people believed that the process should have been better managed, especially considering that there were a ton of experienced, successful coaches out there for Miami to consider.
Does that mean that Miami would have had success with one of them? No, because nothing is guaranteed in coaching, or hiring, because we are talking about human beings(Tricia Cullop is a perfect example of that). That said, the probability tends to be a bit higher when you have a coach that comes in with proof of concept.
I noticed you mentioned Richard Pitino, but ignored Will Wade and Ben McCollum, experienced coaches that had solid seasons at their new schools. Wade remains a scumbag, but anyone with a familiarity with his history would have been able to predict that. Miami hit on a hire, a hire that honestly, had more of a chance of ending poorly. Sometimes, things work out, doesn't make anyone involved a genius, because we've also seen this same school make similar hires that are mediocre at best(JD Arteaga). Enjoy the ride, because it's going to be a fun one.
