Sonny Smith

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rammad90

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Mike Polio is generally regarded as the worst HC in VCU history. I dont agree. However, I recently reviewed VCU's history of wins and losses.

My review found that Smith had losing records in his first 3 seasons. Polio only lasted 4 but he had two winning seasons and an NiT quarterfinal appearance. Further Smith had 2 more seasons where he was jut 1 game above .500, 1 season where he was 2 games above .500 with his last season going 9-19. Yet we let this guy retire.

9 years 4 losing season 3 seasons just above .500, 1 NCAA appearance (when we dropped to the CAA from the Sun Belt) and 1 NIT with no wins in post season. zin fact in his 22 years of HCing. He had 9 losing seasons and 6 seasons where his teams were barely over .500.

Yet though all the above not only was he allowed to stay here stinking it up most of the time his last season he was 9-19 and he still got to choose his successor. WTF?

I am not a fan of Polio due in large part to the things he (particularly Eddie Webb) and his staff did to players off the court. However, while not a great DI HC, Smith not Polio has to seen as the worst and the one who did most damage to our once on the CUSP of P6 greatness program.

Also Mack, the guy Sonny was allowed to choose as his successor wasnt so hot either. 15-16, 14-14,16-14, and 21-11.

So in short Polio wasnt so hot, and he certainly ran a circus of a program but hey he cant be considered the worst although its close.

Finally, Sonny's career especially epitomizes the "Good Ol' Boy " system. He wasnt that good but yet he got and kept highly desirable jobs regardless. It pays to be in.
 
Before arriving at VCU, in 1983, he had Chuck Person, Charles Barkley and a 2nd round NBA pick center, Darrell Lockhart...and went 15-13...
 
Some thoughts on Sonny .... While at Auburn, his record vs. SEC foes was 84-114, including 2-16 his final season .... to his credit, VCU didn't play nearly as many "buy" games while he was the boss, and the home-court "advantage" at the Coliseum was nothing to resemble The Stu. As time went on, support was eroding .... Rams lost Smith's final six regular season games, including a Coliseum loss to W&M to end it, before a tiny crowd. Then VCU had to defeat East Carolina in CAA play-in game at Coliseum before losing to UNC-W as the eighth seed the next day. It was long past time to go.
 
rammad90 said:
Mike Polio is generally regarded as the worst HC in VCU history. I dont agree. However, I recently reviewed VCU's history of wins and losses.

My review found that Smith had losing records in his first 3 seasons. Polio only lasted 4 but he had two winning seasons and an NiT quarterfinal appearance. Further Smith had 2 more seasons where he was jut 1 game above .500, 1 season where he was 2 games above .500 with his last season going 9-19. Yet we let this guy retire.

9 years 4 losing season 3 seasons just above .500, 1 NCAA appearance (when we dropped to the CAA from the Sun Belt) and 1 NIT with no wins in post season. zin fact in his 22 years of HCing. He had 9 losing seasons and 6 seasons where his teams were barely over .500.

Yet though all the above not only was he allowed to stay here stinking it up most of the time his last season he was 9-19 and he still got to choose his successor. WTF?

I am not a fan of Polio due in large part to the things he (particularly Eddie Webb) and his staff did to players off the court. However, while not a great DI HC, Smith not Polio has to seen as the worst and the one who did most damage to our once on the CUSP of P6 greatness program.

Also Mack, the guy Sonny was allowed to choose as his successor wasnt so hot either. 15-16, 14-14,16-14, and 21-11.

So in short Polio wasnt so hot, and he certainly ran a circus of a program but hey he cant be considered the worst although its close.

Finally, Sonny's career especially epitomizes the "Good Ol' Boy " system. He wasnt that good but yet he got and kept highly desirable jobs regardless. It pays to be in.
Click to expand...
Sort of like Chris Mooney.
 
urmite said:
Before arriving at VCU, in 1983, he had Chuck Person, Charles Barkley and a 2nd round NBA pick center, Darrell Lockhart...and went 15-13...
Click to expand...
Certainly not going to overly defend Sonny Smith because I was puzzled when VCU hired him (and even more puzzled with the following McCarthy hire). However after that underperforming season he did string together 5 straight NCAA tourney seasons including a sweet 16 and an elite 8 (all firsts for Auburn).
 
Sonny is a heck of a nice guy and very entertaining speaker. My main memory of him as our coach was a game at the Coliseum when we were beating Va. Tech so bad I swear he had the team running practice drills during the second half. Wins are wonderful but not everything.
 
DNB said:
Unfortunately I did meet and speak with Will Wade at the Diamond and he was every bit of a dick as some have stated.
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Did he critique the seat you were sitting in?
 
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Good to see that we’ve run down the current staff and now turn our attention to beating up a coach from 20 years ago.
I was there in the Sonny era and you cannot equate his record with what he did for the program. He was a nationally known personality. He helped put VCU on the map. So whatever. Have at it.
 
His results weren’t great and I hated the reliance on JUCO’s for quick fixes. But boy did he bring in some talent that was fun to watch. Beyond the obvious ones, there are players we never talk about who would have been stars on some of our recent teams IMHO.
 
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Major Ram 2.0 said:
Good to see that we’ve run down the current staff and now turn our attention to beating up a coach from 20 years ago.
I was there in the Sonny era and you cannot equate his record with what he did for the program. He was a nationally known personality. He helped put VCU on the map. So whatever. Have at it.
Click to expand...

How did coach Smith "help put VCU on the map?" He started slowly, puttering along, quickly shifted down a gear or two and wound up running on fumes." Only his CAA intro year saved the Rams from the demolition derby. VCU hoops was "on the map" long before his arrival. Something I recall: the Rams lost TWO exhibition games at the Ashe Center before his first season began. I found that less than encouraging.
 
Always thought he was a retread. But he used to hold weekday luncheons that were always informative. Ramdog, I believe also attended those.
 
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