Herb Sendek made the only decision that he could make. He went out and found another major college coaching job. I don't think he really wanted to leave N.C. State for Arizona State, but it was time for the rocky 10-year marriage to end. He knew it and State knew it.
He will leave a program in much better shape than when he took over back in the spring of 1996. But for a school that has won two National Championships and 10 ACC titles and wants to win more, 10 years and no championships was long enough for many.
As Coach Sendek walked off the floor in Dallas after the lopsided loss to Texas in the NCAA Tournament's second round, I think he knew he needed a change, a new school, and that N.C. State needed the same thing, a new coach. What had looked just weeks earlier like the Wolfpack's best season in years, had collapsed with a frustrating five losses in the last six games.
Yes, five straight NCAA appearances are impressive, but four losses before the Sweet 16 was not, and what really rankled Wolfpack fans was that State was third in the neighborhood and seemed destined to stay there. Sendek had built the Pack into a top four ACC program, but they couldn't beat Carolina and Duke.
No, the coach couldn't stand another year of constant criticism and second-guessing, coping with a divided fan base that treated every loss like the end of the world. N.C. State fans remember championships, and they know that big-time basketball in this area began with Everett Case, and a very vocal many felt that Coach Sendek had taken the program as far as he could.
N.C. State couldn't fire Herb Sendek. That would have made the university look bad. But Sendek could find another job and he did -- one which reportedly will pay him more money. So, it will be a fresh start for both a coach who did a good job and a school that wants more. It's the right medicine at the right time, and whoever becomes the new coach won't find the cupboard quite as bare as Herb Sendek did way back in 1996.
