John Feinstein/Washington Post Column: Brian Dutcher waited 28 years to be a head coach. San Diego State was lucky he did.

[BleedGopher]

per legendary basketball columnist John Feinstein:

Brian Dutcher laughs when he talks about how long it took him to become a college basketball head coach. “They say patience is a virtue,” he said this week by phone. “I guess I’ve got a lot of virtue.”


The case can be made that the only college coach who can compete with Dutcher when it comes to virtue is Bill Guthridge, who was Dean Smith’s top assistant at North Carolina for 30 years before finally succeeding him in 1997. Dutcher worked for Steve Fisher at two schools — Michigan and San Diego State — for 28 years before finally getting his chance to be the boss in 2017 at age 57.

“If I wasn’t prepared when the chance came, that would have been my fault,” he said. “I had plenty of time to learn the craft, and I learned from one of the best.”

Based on his record, it’s pretty clear Dutcher was ready. In four seasons at San Diego State, he has a record of 92-30 going into Wednesday night’s regular season finale at UNLV. The Aztecs are 49-6 since the start of last season, including 30-2 a year ago when they almost certainly would have been a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament had it not been canceled.

“That team was national championship-caliber good,” Fisher said Tuesday. “They had experience and great guards, and they could have played with anyone.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/03/03/brian-dutcher-san-diego-state-aztecs/

Go Gophers!!

 

[BleedGopher]

Go Gophers!!

 

[Bad Gopher]

I know most of the chatter lately has been about Musselman, Smith and Gates, but let me be clear about this: if the U hired Brian Dutcher, I'd do a back flip. (I'm not sure I can still do a back flip, but I'd give it a try.)

 

[Otis]

I know most of the chatter lately has been about Musselman, Smith and Gates, but let me be clear about this: if the U hired Brian Dutcher, I'd do a back flip. (I'm not sure I can still do a back flip, but I'd give it a try.)

Go with a front flip. If you short it, you land on your back instead of your face.

 

[gopherdudepart2]

Brian Dutcher would be a home run hire for the Gophers, he is U of M Alumn and would turn this program back to having some pride again. Let's Get "R" done Coyle. Bring some energy back to this lifeless program.

 

[Bad Gopher]

Go with a front flip. If you short it, you land on your back instead of your face.

I'm experiencing pain just thinking about this.

 

[SPEGOPHER]

Seems like at a minimum he’d be a Jerry Kill type hire that stabilizes the program. Also probably relatively light on the purse strings.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Go with a front flip. If you short it, you land on your back instead of your face.

Think you are assuming way too much rotation for most of us. I know if I went for a front flip I am going face first into the ground, back flip would at least land me straight on my back....

 

[PMWinSTP]

11 straight wins. Said in the other thread, Dutcher has to be the odds on favorite for a variety of reasons...coaching success, excellent recruiter, buyout, salary, etc.

 

[TurfGopher]

I wouldn't call it a home run hire. He has a good resume and a familiar name to older fans ($$). It wouldn't excite many younger people. I would be ok with it but still prefer Muss or Smith.

 

[CentralGopher]

Would like to see what he does with his own recruits. Not saying he would be bad but his first couple years are primarily someone elses recruits.

 

[GoodasGold]

Go Gophers!!

How do those players make those really long shots from outside that arc thing go into the basket?. Incredible!

 

[MNVCGUY]

How do those players make those really long shots from outside that arc thing go into the basket?. Incredible!

That is a dang good question. Their 38% made from 3 would be top 4 in the Big Ten and 10% better than our 28% from 3. So clearly he is able to find shooters, which doesn't seem like it would be impossible but certainly has been a struggle around here.

 

[Tucker32]

Likely #2 seed last year. Lunardi has at a 7 seed this year. Doing that in the MWC, a good conference but not P5 or Big East. I’ll take that in the future, and believe he could do more with a step up in recruits in Big Ten. Been part of doing that pretty consistently over the years.

 

[howeda7]

Seems like at a minimum he’d be a Jerry Kill type hire that stabilizes the program. Also probably relatively light on the purse strings.

He makes like $1.6 at SDSU so he'll probably require at least as much as Pitino is making.

 

[PMWinSTP]

Would like to see what he does with his own recruits. Not saying he would be bad but his first couple years are primarily someone elses recruits.

They are his recruits. You do realize he has recruited pretty much most the players there for years, right?

 

[CentralGopher]

They are his recruits. You do realize he has recruited pretty much most the players there for years, right?

I'm no expert but don't think an assistant in a program does all the recruiting or takes all the credit for the players on the roster otherwise we'd have to give Pitino a pass.

 

[bizzle22]

He makes like $1.6 at SDSU so he'll probably require at least as much as Pitino is making.

Not quite $1.6. Average annual comp for the deal he just signed is $1.3. He’d take this job for something in the neighborhood of $2M per year.

 

[PMWinSTP]

I'm no expert but don't think an assistant in a program does all the recruiting or takes all the credit for the players on the roster otherwise we'd have to give Pitino a pass.

Said most not all. Apples and oranges comparison. Very different situation. He was Assoc HC for Fisher for years. He was Head Coach in Waiting for the six years before 2017. From his bio on SDSU page:

The Bloomington, Minn., native led UM's recruiting efforts in 1990-91 when the Wolverines inked Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson, Jimmy King, Jalen Rose and Chris Webber. The "Fab Five" is considered perhaps the best recruiting class in NCAA history. Dutcher helped lead that group to nearly 100 wins, two berths in the NCAA championship game and a regional final over a four-year period.

From his Wiki page:

Dutcher is credited for having a central role in recruiting the Fab Five to Michigan and for bringing Kawhi Leonard to San Diego State.[3] Dutcher was named San Diego State's "head coach in waiting" in 2011.[4] Following Fisher's decision to retire, Dutcher was formally named as his replacement on April 11, 2017.

Thanks to Dutcher bringing in transfers Malachi Flynn, Yanni Wetzell, K.J. Feagin, and Trey Pulliam, along with the development of returnees Matt Mitchell, Jordan Shackel, Nathan Mensah, and Adam Seiko, the Aztecs started the 2019-20 season 26-0...

 

[Bad Gopher]

Heck, this is his fourth season. Any question whether he can sustain success has been answered. They're a top 20 team. Anyone know who they have coming in next year in the way of players?