For followers of the Pac-12, there are few unknowns like a Johnny Dawkins coached team. During his time at Stanford, the Cardinal have been the ultimate wildcard on a nightly basis.
There was, of course, a Sweet 16 run led by Chasson Randle and Dwight Powell, a run that many thought could be the breakthrough performance for Dawkins at Stanford and possibly reinvigorate a program that hadn’t yet shown much competency beyond the NIT. It was, however, not to be so.
Stanford has returned to its ways of mediocrity mainly because Dawkins hasn’t found the right touch with the many talented recruits he’s brought to Palo Alto. Dawkins had signed 11 high school prospects rated as four-star talents, at at least one service, coming into the season. He’s got another on the way next season, a big man from Los Angeles. In all that time, with all of that talent, he’s won just two NCAA Tournament games and finished in the top four of the conference standings just once.
With their loss to Arizona State last night, highlighting a season where he’s found the proper combination of underachievement and making up for injuries, Stanford fell to just 15-13 overall, 8-9 in Pac-12 play.
While his institution may not have an extended reputation of running coaches out of town, one has to wonder how much longer the program can continue to float along aimlessly under the head coach. Of the players in his program currently, there isn’t a single electric guard that looks like someone who will give opposing defenses trouble for years to come. Other than Reid Travis and Dorian Pickens, it doesn’t look like there’s a single player on the roster that requires an extended game plan.
While it still might be premature, it’s getting to the point where Stanford’s administration can’t ignore the failure of the Johnny Dawkins era any longer.
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