I remember meeting BG at an event after his first year at A&M and getting about 30 minutes to chat with him (I was the only Aggie there and he wasn't nearly the celeb then). I left with a few impressions:
1. The guy's life is basketball. When I asked what he liked to do he said, "Coach Bball, play Bball, or watch Bball. I don't like golf or really much of anything else. I just love Bball." He also basically said that was why he and his first wife got divorced, she got tired of his complete obsession with Bball.
2. He was going to leave A&M at some point. He was happy but he clearly talked about the big programs out East or at Kansas with his friend Bill Self and how that was big time Bball. He never said it directly but he definitely felt there was a tier A&M would never reach.
3. He was a heck of a nice guy and very approachable. I enjoyed having a couple of drinks with him and he reminded me of my late 30's/early 40's single friends that were all about being bachelors (obsessed with sports and the things that interested them but not even a passing interest in settling down or having a family). Just a fun guy that didn't want anything from anybody just wanted to do what made him happy.
4. I walked away after everything thinking that if A&M could find a way to hold on to him for 10 years he would win a NC. He had that singular focus that would give him an edge over others because he really didn't care about anything but basketball. It's been my experience that if you can take a person with a talent and remove every distraction they are incredibly hard to stop from being successful at their talent. They may not be well rounded or even happy but they are very successful at what they do. I can't even fathom how much time he must have spent watching film and devising plays to outsmart an opponent.
5. I hope and pray that we never, ever have to have BCG coach against us in our conference. I do think he will get another shot and be extremely successful once again though. He is just too good at what he does not to be.
