Coach Candidate: Is BC legend Jared Dudley a realistic option?

Jared Dudley told Bill Simmons last year that his future plans include “going back to BC, gonna clean all that up. Need to have my donors, need to get those facilities.” He is often seen still repping BC sports in public and mentions BC basketball somewhat frequently on his Twitter. The former BC standout would certainly be an exciting pick to fill Boston College’s head coaching vacancy.

Currently, Dudley is still playing in the NBA for the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, but it is becoming increasingly obvious that Dudley does not have much time left in the league. He is getting less than 4 minutes per game if he gets into the game at all, and seems to be mostly serving a locker room leadership role for a Lakers team that he helped win a ring last year.

Why he’d be interested:

Dudley has expressed a lot of interest in continuing to work in basketball once his playing career is over. In an interview with the Inside the Green Room podcast, Dudley said:

Coaching college basketball sounds directly up the alley of what he wants to do. A college coach for a P6 program like BC would not only be a great coaching opportunity for a newcomer like Dudley, but he would also get a much greater control over the roster than he would in any professional league. He could skip much of that grind of working up the ladder that he mentions, and instead could jump immediately into a role with high notoriety and responsibility. It’s not a blue-blood or an NBA team, but it would be a no-brainer first job for him to take if that’s where he sees his career going.

Why it could work:

Dudley’s leadership intangibles cannot be questioned. He has a long track record of being called an extraordinary teammate and was signed by the Los Angeles Lakers for that very reason. Quinn Cook summed it up best when he said:

This is exactly the kind of leadership that could define BC Basketball’s program for the coming decade and beyond. Players largely just did not play hard for Jim Christian. Energy on the court and hustle on defense was always a struggle for his teams, so bringing in a leader like Dudley that college guys will want to play hard for could be a huge success.

He also has 14 years of NBA experience, something that could very easily be leveraged into recruiting success and would be very appealing to players who want to take their game professionally after college. Dudley has the fundamentals of what could make him an awesome head coach.

Why it could flop:

Jared Dudley has absolutely no coaching or recruiting experience. BC Basketball is floundering right now, finishing in the bottom quarter of the ACC in 6 of Jim Christian’s 7 years. What it needs right now is a steady, experienced hand that can help the program start rebuilding a solid foundation immediately. Dudley would be an extremely risky hire that, if it doesn’t pan out, could set the program back for years. If he were to be hired, the staff that accompanies him would have to be extremely experienced to compensate while he learns the ropes.

How likely is this hire?

Very unlikely. He would not be a surprising pick at all for an assistant coaching position or in some sort of role on the staff down the line, but new AD Pat Kraft will want his first major coaching hire to be a good one. It is very unlikely that Kraft stakes his young reputation on such a risky candidate, despite how much fans love him.