It's no secret I hoped DeMeo to be given the job in January 2022. It seemed like an obvious move when the rumors started that Dooley was going to be fired to kick the tires on the JUCO Hall of Fame coach and see how he could have finished. While I think there was zero chance Newton would have returned with UConn ready to outspend whatever ECU could raise, this would have given ECU at least some chance to retain him.
That's not why I wanted DeMeo for the job though, I wanted him because he's a proven coach who is now 212-36 at Northwest Florida State where he's recruiting future NBA draft picks, won a national title, and been to 3 Final 4's and 6 elite 8's at the level. He also had been a high-level D1 assistant at places like Providence, St. John's, UCF, and Hofstra and more importantly, was just sitting on ECU's bench as a highly qualified basketball coach who is now 506-141 (.785%) while coaching 3 head jobs in JUCO and D2.
DeMeo ended back up in JUCO's and recruited an entire team of players and was back in the national championship game in year one, and currently sits 3rd in the nation in year 2. What makes this exercise so pertinent is that the players that he recruited in JUCO last year were transfers and would have mostly been available to ECU.
He likely would have landed some of the same players or at least comparable talents. Watching the national title game the announcers said for most of the players it wasn't even about the grades that they ended up there. Most were looking to better their next stop.
Let's look at some of the talent that likely end up at ECU if he was the head coach and how they are performing in D1 this season.....
Chad Baker-Mazara
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/chad-baker-mazara-1.html
he's averaging 8.3ppg, 3.3rpg for Auburn this year and was at San Diego State prior to NWFS where he averaged 6.4ppg. These are both top 25 caliber programs at the time and he has a career 20 PER. He's a big time wing.
Taryn Todd
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/taryn-todd-1.html
He's averaging 13.2ppg at Arkansas State currently and was a rotation player at both TCU and New Mexico prior.
Kasen Pryor
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/kasean-pryor-1.html
Pryor was a reserve player for a top 25 Boise State and is now a productive player at USF averaging 6ppg 6rpg 1bpg in only 20 minutes. He's shot the ball poorly so far this season but was a 35% three point shooter on 1.2 makes a game and 80% from the line in JUCO as a 6-10 center. I expect he's going to shoot the ball better at some point and is a high level shot blocker and rebounder already.
Marcus Nickleback
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/marcus-niblack-2.html
Nickelback started his career at ETSU and is now at Jacksonville where he averages 11.2ppg 3.1apg.
Collin Warren
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/collin-warren-1.html
Warren averaged 9.1ppg at McNeese state prior to NWFS and hasn't resurfaced in D1.
He's landed some nice freshmen too, two were twins from NC that orginally signed with Illinois State until their coaching change. It doesn't seem like a qualifying issue as much as portal crunch both have stared for him.
TK Simpson
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/tk-simpkins-1.html
One of the freshmen twins is now at Elon and is leading them in scoring with 13.2ppg while the other is leading NWFS
Let's just assume his first class was something like Baker-Mazara, Pryor, Todd, Nickleback and the two NC freshmen.
You add that to Johnson, Felton, Small and one of his former players in Ludgy basically to the key players on the #2 JUCO team and that's a top 100 team IMO pretty easily. They would have fit perfectly as well with a big skilled 6-7 wing like Baker Mazara who could shoot and defend. The only players they would likely have lost last year are Ludgy and Small.
I could certainly see the same players or potentially even better ones at ECU had he been hired. He's a proven recruiter and great head coach. This is typical ECU though, pass on the coach with a national championship that would have taken the job for little pay or risk. If he had taken over in January of 2022 he would have had a head start as well. It was all set up so easily to succeed.
