I reported last week, ahead of the NBA Finals Game 7, that the sense on Rick Carlisle from the UVA Basketball community was that he was planning to retire from his job with the Indiana Pacers, win or lose.
You might have noticed that Carlisle was in Charlottesville on Wednesday, attending a summer workout session for the new UVA Basketball team, as seen in a video posted online by the UVA Athletics folks.
Video: Rick Carlisle addresses the UVA Basketball team
That means, logically, that Carlisle wasn’t prepping with the Pacers brain trust for the NBA Draft Wednesday night.
Now, yes, the Pacers didn’t go into the Night 1 of the draft with a pick in the first round, so, if the front office wasn’t going to try to trade its way in, he wouldn’t have been needed in the war room until Thursday, for Round 2.
But it could also be that where Carlisle’s feet were on Wednesday could signal where Carlisle’s head is going forward.
“What I want to say to you guys is, this place changed my life. It changed my life, and 40 years later, I’ve been so blessed,” Carlisle told the new UVA team, which is in town for summer school and summer workouts, on Wednesday.
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It’s pretty much a brand-new program – the new coach, Ryan Odom, hired in March, has brought in three freshmen and seven transfers to flesh out the roster, along with a brand-new coaching staff.
There is one opening still outstanding – Odom has expressed his interest in working alongside a general manager who would be responsible for overseeing scouting the prep and transfer ranks and managing the NIL and House settlement budget.
My contacts within the program are floating to me the idea that Carlisle could be that guy, assuming his NBA run is indeed up.
There’s been a good bit of buzz about his top assistant with the Pacers, Jenny Boucek, also a UVA alum, being ready to take over as the head coach, which of course would make her the first female head coach in NBA history.
Boucek worked with Carlisle for the final three years of his tenure in Dallas, then followed him to Indiana when Carlisle took the Pacers job in 2021.
It’s not hard to imagine Carlisle handing over the reins to his handpicked successor, then settling in Charlottesville, where he recently just finished overseeing construction on a new home.
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Carlisle would make a perfect GM, with his 24 years as an NBA head coach, 12 years prior to that as an NBA assistant, 40 years in the Association overall, including his playing career.
Carlisle’s resume would also seem to make him a top candidate for an NBA front-office opening, if he would want to go that way.
Noteworthy here: Carlisle served on the ad hoc advisory committee that identified and vetted candidates for the UVA Basketball head coach opening in the fall and winter.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he was in Charlottesville on Wednesday, and that the video posted by UVA Athletics featured his remarks to the new group of players at the top.
“This place is special. Treat it that way,” Carlisle told the group. “Lean into the educational aspect of this. This is one of the greatest educational institutions in the entire world. You’re wearing this uniform now. Stand for something. Stand for playing hard, playing hard, doing your schoolwork, alright, and winning, OK? We expect that from you guys.
“Our predecessors, it was always important to us to carry the torch that they handed to us, and in today’s world of fleeting stuff, year to year, stuff like that, you should try to lean into this and be here for the duration. I promise you, it will change your life the way it changed mine,” Carlisle said.
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Chris Graham
