Rick,
We’re now in need of a coach – well, officially anyway; we’ve been in need of a coach the better part of a decade. But I digress. Anyway, Rick, I’d like to extend a personal invitation to you to come help us out up here in the heart of Tobacco Road. How about it, partner?
Look, you know Raleigh is just a short two-hour Friday evening stroll up I-40 from your hometown of Hickory. I even feel like we have a connection, because I myself lived in Hickory for a while as well and grew up not too far from there. C’mon, Rick, this is big-time college basketball, what else can you ask for? You know what I’m talking about.
I mean, sure, Texas has become a national powerhouse, but c’mon Cowboy, saddle up and come on home to where college basketball is King. In Texas, basketball is all hat and no cattle; think what you could be at State! I mean, look how State fans are: we’re intensely loyal, almost to a fault. You could own Raleigh, absolutely own it. Just beat Roy.
I like you, buddy, and regardless of what you might have heard, that carries quite a bit of merit around North Carolina. I mean, I want your attitude. Remember how you told you boys at Clemson to go out and be mother f-bombers against Duke? I want that; we need that. I want guys that drive and fight and scrap and push and shove and box out and push the ball in transition; I want six-ten guys that play like six-ten guys. I want someone to make Ced a beast. You never backed down to Dean or K and you won at Clemson. Good enough for me.
I want that swagger you brought to Clemson – a lowly football school. You built them into a force to be reckoned with. Imagine how big you could be at a basketball school. Plus, you’d have an immediate opportunity to defend your honor. Didn’t you hear what Roy said about you after the 2003 National Championship game? “I don’t give a shit about [Rick Barnes].†You’re not gonna take that from him are you, Cowboy?
Then there’s the Hickory Factor; the beautiful western North Carolina foothills. You were raised there; you went to Lenoir-Rhyne; coached at Davidson. You’re mom worked in a textile factory there – I myself worked in the furniture industry for a while, so we understand each other. Think about it: I bet you can’t find a Sundrop anywhere in Austin. I dare you to find a convenience store anywhere in NC that doesn’t carry an entire cooler-full. Think Eastern NC BBQ. Think Bojangle’s on every corner (just wait until you eat at the one on Western Boulevard; four-piece supreme dinner, trust me). Think sweet tea. Think grits that come anytime you say “eggs.â€
ACC basketball is in you. Come on and help us out. We want a winner – we need it. Don’t make me beg, Rick (because I will if I have to). Forget making The Dance; screw the “body of work.†I want banners – beautiful ACC and Final Four banners.
Do it for this great state. Do it for me. I’ve endured enough; I think we all have. C’mon home and toss away the axe and get us out of this dreaded day-tight compartment we’ve been stuck in for almost a decade. Make our decade-long wet dream a reality.
I look forward to hearing from you, Cowboy.
Dr. R.L. Bentley, III