So you might not have heard it here first, but regrettably, the firing of Dave Leitao on a Monday afternoon couldn’t have come at a worse time in our production cycle.
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Dave Leitao’s sideline demeanor raised questions, though more baffling were his wildly varied rotations and his quick hook if players made mistakes. |
All around, in fact, the timing of Leitao’s “resignation” was a little odd. In his fourth season, the 2007 ACC Coach of the Year managed to win three games in the second half of conference play, including victories against NCAA tournament teams Clemson and Maryland, and many thought the current financial woes and the difficulty of a $2.1 million buyout would be enough to ward off win-starved UVA fans. Moreover, the team finished 11th in the ACC, beating media pundits’ preseason prediction of dead last, and included the ACC rookie of the year, Sylvan Landesberg.
But after the Cavs finished the year 10-18, the lowest winning percentage in 42 years, donors and administrators apparently had enough, and will buy out Leitao after the shortest tenure of a UVA men’s basketball coach since Roy Randall only got one season in 1929-30.
As NCAA madness marches on, the Cavaliers are looking for their fourth head coach since Terry Holland retired in 1990. Once again, Wahoos are salivating over the prospect of luring Tubby Smith, currently at Minnesota. We’ll see if, once again, they are deluding themselves.
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