Dear Gary: Character doesn't get coaches extensions

Updated April 20

Character is overrated in college basketball.

Hawaii fans love me.

I might start calling myself The Sexican.

By the end of this mailbag, you'll understand each of those sentences. So without further ado, here's the latest Dear Gary:

From: Albert

Yo Gary! As Christopher Walken would say, I've got a fever and my only prescription is more mailbag.

I'm like Anna Nicole's doctor when it comes to filling prescriptions. Here you go.

From: Michael

I am not a Tubby Smith hater, but why does it seem all the media that was saying how great of a job he was doing at Kentucky are now writing things like you did talking about how Billy Gillispie is trying to restore Kentucky basketball?

I can't speak for the rest of the media, but I've always been pretty consistent on Smith. Great coach. Poor communicator. Delusional recruiter. If college basketball was strictly about coaching the same way high school basketball is strictly about coaching, Smith might be the guy I'd hire to coach my team. But college basketball is different and so much more. It's about rallying boosters, exciting masses, getting along with media and luring players. Some coaches understand this. But Smith hasn't seemed to in some time, and that's why he was essentially run out of Kentucky.

From: Myron

Bob Huggins is no bargain for West Virginia. I would gladly pay another half million a year for a guy with class, character and ethics like Tubby Smith at Minnesota. But you apparently don't value those traits. Most sports writers don't.

I've got a friend who is the classiest guy in the world with tons of character and impeccable ethics. If my wife and I ever suffered an untimely death, I'd want him to raise my son. But you know what I wouldn't want him doing? Coaching my college basketball team. Get over yourself, Myron. Bad guys get hired every year in this sport while good guys get fired, and I'm not even sure you have Huggins and Smith pegged correctly. Like anything else, college basketball is a bottom-line business. If you win, people love you. If you don't, they won't. And if Minnesota is losing in four years while West Virginia is ranked in the top 10, you'll see exactly what I'm talking about, as will Smith, because class, character and ethics aren't what gets college basketball coaches contract extensions, sad as that seems.

From: Matt

Frank Martin is the worst hire? Why, because he is an unproven assistant coach? A wise man (AKA, Gary Parrish) once wrote: "Billy Donovan was an assistant before Marshall. He has done OK. Reggie Theus was an assistant before New Mexico State. He has done OK. John Calipari was an assistant before UMass. He has done OK. Tom Crean was an assistant before Marquette. He has done OK." Can't have it BOTH ways in the SAME article. Wow.

Got a lot of notes like this, which means either I didn't explain my point well enough or a lot of you guys are dumb (I'm sure it's the latter). At any rate, allow me to explain further. There is a HUGE difference between hiring an assistant deemed ready to take over a program on his own merits (like Marshall did with Billy Donovan) and hiring an assistant for no other reason than to keep players and recruits happy (like Kansas State did with Frank Martin). Donovan, as a Kentucky assistant, got the Marshall job because the people at Marshall believed he was the best possible candidate, period. But make no mistake, the only reason Martin got the Kansas State job was because Bill Walker and Michael Beasley wanted him to get the Kansas State job. He would not have even been considered for this level of job under any other circumstances, proof being how he couldn't get involved in South Florida's coaching search a few weeks earlier. That said, it's important to remember I started my paragraph about Martin's hire with the words "I'm not certain Kansas State made a mistake in promoting Frank Martin, but history suggests hiring an unproven commodity just to keep a team together doesn't typically work." I still believe both parts of that sentence -- that I'm not certain KSU made a mistake and that history suggests a hire made for these reasons doesn't typically work. Ultimately, we'll have to wait and see how this goes. But if it doesn't go well there will be no shortage of people lining up to say "I told you so."

From: Daniel

Since I know you're interested in these things, you might consider investigating the fact that DeAndre Jordan's AAU coach was just hired by Texas A&M a day after he reaffirmed his commitment. Word was that plan was in motion already under Billy Gillispie.

Nothing to investigate, really. It's not official, but it will happen. And yes, this is a deal sources have told me Billy Gillispie cut a long time ago to get Jordan, a deal Mark Turgeon is merely making good on. Turgeon could've told the AAU coach -- his name is Byron Smith, by the way -- that he wasn't interested, but then he would've watched Jordan ask for his release. In that position, Turgeon did what most any coach would've done, which is to say he made the correct decision given the circumstances he inherited.

From: Jesse

You got my vote for best hair in Memphis. Yours is natural whereas Andre Allen's (Memphis Tigers logo) is a creation from his barber.

Hells yeah! By the way, keep voting. My goal isn't to just win the award for best hair in Memphis. I want to win by no less than 5,000 votes.

From: Mike

Parrish, you are a Philistine at heart and there is no cure for you, so I won't try. Kevin Durant is a great athlete, but he himself knows in his heart that he is not really mentally and emotionally ready to be a pro playing 84 games a year and on the road all the time. The crop of these children that are playing in the NBA now makes me yawn when I accidentally tune in. If you love money, then fill a pillow case with it and give it a hug, but that is not happiness. Since nobody is going to offer you that $20 million that Durant is going to get, just buy a bunch of Monopoly games and fill your favorite sweater with funny money and pretend you are a guy that can have it all. If you don't know you have it all, then you will never know it, so just keep huggin' and keep dreamin' because you don't want to wake up and write something that could encourage this young man to go after anything but a shoe contract and a lottery pick baseball cap.

I've been called a lot of things, but never a Philistine. So you get points for originality, Mike. Beyond that, you make no sense, just like everybody else who tries to find fault with a teenager taking $20 million. I can't honestly say I know one person who wouldn't leave college for a $20 million job. Not one. But when a basketball player does it, some can't help but view it as a bad decision. Let's say another kid gets out of college and really scores a nice job making $100,000 a year. That would be great for the average kid, right? Well, it would take that kid 200 years to make what Kevin Durant will at the very least pocket when he signs a contract with Nike. Rest assured, I'll advise every person on the planet to take that deal whenever they can get it. To suggest it's a mistake is not only wrong, but irresponsible. And pros play 82 games a year, not 84. Stupid.

From: Darren

As a Hawaii fan, I LOVED the fact you basically called the men's basketball search conducted by HERMAN FRASIER ridiculous. Well let me tell you this, many HAWAII fans are very appreciative of you calling the AD out on this.

I didn't basically call it ridiculous. I totally called it ridiculous. But if anybody can explain why the school went four months without a coach before eventually hiring an assistant already on campus, I'd be willing to reconsider my position. Until then, it's still a totally ridiculous way to conduct business at the Division I level.

From: Kerith

Loved the texting column. The Bobby Knight part was the best illustrator possible for your argument. So good writing on your part, I think, or at least, way to borrow Knight's example and make it your own. I tried to make this the least convoluted compliment possible. Also, after reading your bio, I will now refer to you as "Honey mustard flip-flip guy." You join the ranks of "Eat poo helicopter guy" (Eat and Poo are on a respective butt cheek, and homeboy flies 'copters) and "The Sexican", my Mexican virgin friend. Nice smile.

Just so we're clear, I'd rather be nicknamed "The Sexican."

From: Adam

You obviously have never, ever talked to a college recruit or his parents on this topic. To say that text messaging is anything less than out of control is ignorant, plain and simple. You are dealing with kids who rack up hundreds of dollars in text messaging charges. Not every kid can afford to go to a major provider who can give them unlimited texting for 20 bucks. Many programs are limited to a specific network, for example. When parents are being saddled with $300 cell phone bills per phone and kids are receiving hundreds of messages a day, can you honestly tell me that nothing needs to be done? I realize there are far more serious problems in the NCAA, and I agree that the rulebook borders on the ridiculous at times, but to say that nothing needs to do be done about text messaging shows a thought process straight out of the 1950s. I was very disappointed by the lack of foresight in your column. I expect better from CBS.

Adam, Adam, Adam. So sure of yourself, yet so full of ... something else. Listen, I'll break this down in simple terms. Not only have I talked with college recruits about this topic, I've talked with college coaches and all sorts of people about this topic. That's my job, Adam. You'll rarely see me write about anything I haven't thoroughly researched, and though you might believe my conclusions are wrong, I'll be able to debate you on it pretty strongly. This is no different. So please, stop with your "hundreds of dollars in text messaging charges" routine. If a kid has hundreds of dollars in text messaging charges, that kid doesn't have a recruiting problem, he has a thinking problem, because it can easily be avoided. As I pointed, unlimited text messaging can be purchased for as little as $20 a month. As I also pointed out, I understand not every kid can afford an extra $20 a month or premium cell phone plan. But if that's the case, then that kid shouldn't have a cell phone to begin with. If it's the volume of text messages that's bothersome, then the kid could just delete them or tell the coach to stop texting or his school will be eliminated from a list of possible college destinations. Again, I talk to coaches all the time and know they are some of the most paranoid humans alive. If they suddenly believed texting was hurting them with a particular recruit, they'd stop texting immediately. Anything else, Adam? And just a bit of advice for your career in journalism (yes, Adam is a writer for one of the fanboy websites that shall remain unnamed): You really should think before forming opinions instead of merely repeating what somebody told you to be the case. Like you, I've had people tell me texting is a problem, and they've used the exact examples you cited. Obviously, it wasn't hard to show how those aren't serious problems relative to other issues plaguing college basketball or recruiting in general. So tone down the anger, young man, and don't be so naive.

From: David

I loved your article on text messaging. And I would add it is more elementary than that. If a coach calls too much or text messages an athlete too much, wouldn't that recruit just tell the coach "Take a hike. I am not interested in your school?" Why does the NCAA have to make a rule?

Oh, David. You're so much wiser than my pal Adam. It's Biblical, almost.