European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 24, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 36 stars and stripes saturday March 24 2007 bitter Sweet Days exc Oach Esherick Happy for Success of his recruits but Hes still troubled Over his firing at Georgetown by Joseph White the associated press Washington the coach who persuaded Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert to come to George town can Only watch from a Dis Tance and wonder what might have been while the two juniors have led the hoyas Back to the National stage and become arguably the most popular students on Cam pus the Man who recruited them was chased away three years ago this month As students and alumni were on the verge of revolt Craig Esherick was fired on March 16 2004 the Day before a protest rally was scheduled to take place in front of the University presidents office organizers upset Over the hoyas worst sea son in 31 years had collected some 3700 signatures on a Peti Tion calling for the coach Dis Missal they got their wish even though president Jack Degioia had recently Given Esherick a Public vote of Confidence my time at Georgetown but for a very Small period of time was a wonderful period of time in my life Esherick said some of my Best friends in my life i met while i was there it was a tremendous time but when you Are fired from a Job its time to move on what he left behind was a legacy that even the most diehard fire Esherick campaigner could appreciate after years of falling behind in the recruiting Battles for the top names from the do area Esherick was Able to sign Green from Northwestern High and Hibbert from George town prep Green is now the big East player of the year and Hibbert has evolved from awkward athlete to imposing 7foot2 Center they Are the two leading scorers for the hoyas who will face East regional 1 pig 766 703 it 730 i 709 Apo 33tj358 3pt 377 338 gtd Jopp 686 568 f 382 719 703 336 j278 365 304 a Vanderbilt 2211 on Friday at the Meadowlands in the Mcaa tournaments round of 16 the Junior class also includes Reserve Tyler Crawford an Esher ick recruit whom current coach John Thompson Iii Calls the Leader of the team no question about it i definitely have a sense of Pride that there doing so Well and that Treyve had such Good careers Esherick said in certainly very Happy for All three of them after Esherick left the three some had to be recruited All Over again by Thompson it want a straightforward sell the new coach was going to run the Prince ton offence a system vastly differ ent from what Esherick had run As it turned out Thompson  have found a better group if he had handpicked them himself All three players have personalities that fit Well into the concept of team glory Over individual accomplishment Esherick int surprised he said the credit goes to the players themselves and to Thompson they were decent kids with great backgrounds Esherick said they All had distinguished themselves the three of them had character All three of them Are receptive to coaching and Treyve obviously received Good coaching whether they would have received Good coaching under Esh Erick was a source of debate three years ago Esherick went 10374 Over seasons but reached the Mcaa tournament Only once in his final season the hoyas lost their last nine games to finish 1315 and failed to get into the quarterfinals of the big East tournament for the first time since the school joined the Confer ence Esherick suffered from the inevitable comparisons to his predecessor Hall of Fame coach John Thompson who took the hoyas to 20 Mcaa tournaments Over 27 years and won a National title in 1984 Esherick was the elder Thompsons longtime assistant and was promoted when Thompson abruptly resigned during the 199899 season after the decades of Success students Felt Georgetown Basket Ball had become an afterthought in the nations capital under Esh Erick but Green and Hibbert were on the Way and even during recruit ing Esherick thought that Green could be a big East player of the year that going to sound crazy but in going to answer the ques Tion honestly yes i did Esher ick said when i first saw him play i thought this kid could be a Star Esherick considered pursuing another coaching position after he was fired but instead took a Job As vice president of athletic re lations for a St he said he has made a conscious decision to Sepa rate himself from the George town team and Hast stayed in Contact with the players he recruited asked if Hes come to terms with the Way he was fired he said the Best Way to answer that is Ive moved on that Doest Stop him from wishing he Coul Dve had the Chance to coach what turned out to be his Best recruiting class of course certainly he said but that not going to happen Jeff Craig Esherick signals to his Georgetown team during the 2002 big East tournament in new York Esherick was fired As coach of the hoyas after the 2004 season and can Only watch As players he recruited notably twin big men Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert carry Georgetown into the third round of the Mcaa tournament against Vanderbilt Wright confident hell Bounce Back from off game by Aaron Beard the associated press Chapel Hill no bran Dan Wright spent an entire sea son defying the notion that fresh men Are destined to be victims of ups and Downs that Why his North Carolina teammates Arent worried stymied by foul trouble and a physical Michigan state defense Wright finished with a season Low three Points in a Tough 8167 Victory Over the spartans in the second round of the Mcaa tournament while Tyler Hansbrough and to Lawson carried the tar heels into the round of 16 North Carolina needs its 6foot9 freshman to quickly regain his form i told him in the locker room youll be Fine and i really be Lieve that coach Roy Williams East regional seed unc i Opp pig 861 680 Fqy 507 4f1 it 706 664 Reg 408 319 3pt 367 335 5 2511 us 1 Opp 720 j 650 4771390 714 704 344 j 342 400 i 313 a said tuesday you find very few freshmen that Are As consistent As Brandan Wright its human nature that youre not always As Good you would like to be i Hope Hes the biggest worry i have the Lon armed and lean Wright has been the perfect Low Post complement to the Rug ged Hansbrough for the top seed de tar heels who face fifth seeded Southern California in the East regional on Friday night he ranks second on the team at 146 Points per game and has reached double figures in 31 of 35 games this season he has a remarkably soft touch around the Basket helping him shoot 65 percent on the year Hes also averaging 61 rebounds part of a steady season that made him Rookie of the year in the Atlantic coast conference when Hes going everything is kind of flowing said Hans Brough who had 33 Points against the spartans but after scoring 13 in the Mcaa opener against Eastern Kentucky Wright went just lfor5 from the floor with three turnovers in 23 minutes against the spartans that left the Burden largely on Hansbrough and Law son the freshman Point guard who had 20 Points eight assists and five rebounds its hard to imagine the tar heels making a serious run at the National championship if Wright keeps playing that Way but he Doest sound deterred by one bad performance the shots i had they were Good shots Wright said some times Guys might get frustrated and Start forcing shots or whatever in not going to do that its just go out there and let the game come to me and play in the flow of the game his performances could be come even More critical consider ing the Uncertain status of senior re Shawn Terry who missed practice tuesday and was being checked for Strep Throat Terry missed the shoo around before the Michigan state game because of a headache and fever but still came through with 12 of his 14 Points in the second half Wrights performance against Michigan state was All the More surprising considering he was off to a great Start in his first postseason he had 20 Points on 10for12 shooting against Boston College in the acc tournament semifinals and 16 Points against North Carolina state in the Champion ship game becoming the fifth freshman in league history to win tournament map honors the Way the tar heels figure it Why expect anything different now we think every time he catches the Ball on the Block Hes going to score senior Wes Miller said and were going to keep going to him