NC State has fired coach Mark Gottfried in the midst of an extremely disappointing season—a move that was undoubtedly going to happen sooner or later.
Gottfried was in the midst of his sixth season as the Wolfpack’s head coach, and while he made the NCAA Tournament in his first four seasons, his team finished under .500 last year and is unlikely to make the Big Dance again this season, despite having an ultra-talented roster.
As pointed out by Yahoo!’s Henry Bushnell, the players in Gottfried’s rotation this year have an average of 4.29 recruiting stars each, making it one of the most talented rosters in the country. Yet the Wolfpack have just 14 wins this year. They have lost six straight, including the last three all by at least 24 points. They also lost to Boston College and Illinois, and lost to North Carolina by 51.
So yes, Gottfried was always going to be fired this year, but the way NC State is doing it is very strange. Gottfried reportedly asked to finish the season, and NC State allowed it, according to ESPN:
“It has been a privilege to serve as head coach of NC State, and I’m proud of what we have accomplished during my time here,” Gottfried said in a release. “NC State is a special place and I appreciate the opportunity to finish the remainder of the season.”
Well that sure is interesting! But NC State isn’t going to make the NCAA Tournament, so this doesn’t really matter.
Anyway, tl;dr …
https://twitter.com/Adam_Jacobi/status/832313244371017728
