New Quotes Suggest Montrezl Harrell Would Have Stayed With Greenberg-Led Virginia Tech
By Ty Hodges
We all know the story by now – Montrezl Harrell is now a Louisville Cardinal. However, some interesting quotes have since been received from Harrell that paint quite the interesting narrative.
In an interview with Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy, Harrell revealed he felt so strongly about Greenberg that upon hearing about his firing he immediately began considering other schools.
"“I wanted to stick with coach Greenberg. He’s a great guy. I know how hard he loves to work. As soon as they showed he was fired, I started thinking about other schools.”–Montrezl Harrell, Louisville forward"
It’s so interesting to think about looking back on how everything transpired with Greenberg’s firing. Hate or love Greenberg, he took Virginia Tech basketball to unknown heights and popularity within the Virginia Tech community. Moreover, he proved himself a capable coach within the ACC with multiple wins over top-ranked opponents, despite the glaring lack of multiple NCAA Tournament appearances.
Virginia Tech saw their NCAA Tournament bubble get popped time after time under Greenberg; couple that with the fact that Greenberg wasn’t exactly liked among the athletic department and it’s clear to see why Seth was canned. Virginia Tech had one losing season and that was all the ammunition that Jim Weaver needed to terminate Greenberg’s contract.
Now with a new, inexperienced head coach that is pretty much wholly liked around the athletic department, Virginia Tech could be in for multiple losing seasons. A changing of the guard at head coach is usually a rough transition for most schools, not taking into account the fact that basketball at Virginia Tech will always have to fight an uphill battle.
With Seth Greenberg still at the helm, Virginia Tech would still probably be without Dorian Finney-Smith, would be without three assistant coaches, but would still have Montrezl Harrell to fall back on. Without Seth Greenberg, Virginia Tech now has a restructured coaching staff, no Dorian Finney-Smith, and now no Montrezl Harrell either.
I’m not suggesting one way or another that Virginia Tech should have kept Seth Greenberg, because clearly there were some strained relationships within the basketball program. However, it is interesting to think about when a former prized recruit says things like this:
"“I was still excited about going there, I just looked at it [coming off a losing season] as a challenge for us to get better, to make our upcoming season better than our last season was.”–Montrezl Harrell, Louisville forward"