ESPN college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg had a respectable coaching career at the collegiate level for 22 years prior to diving into a career in media. But during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday, Greenberg relived two major mistakes over the course of his coaching career that very well could have made it a legendary one.
Winning 383 games over the course of his career is certainly nothing to sneeze at. But who knows what that number could’ve been had he signed two future Hall of Fame-caliber players he passed on while recruiting.
Most notably, Greenberg passed up on recruiting current Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry while he was the coach at Virginia Tech, a fact that has haunted him for years.
Curry wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, Dell Curry, a Virginia Tech alum. But instead of recruiting Curry and offering him a scholarship to play for the Hokies, Greenberg offered him a preferred walk-on spot, which prompted Curry to instead decide to play for Bob McKillop at Davidson.
This is the commonly known mistake from Greenberg that fans have poked fun at him for over the years. But on Thursday, Greenberg revealed how he also missed out on another legendary point guard over a decade earlier, opting not to pursue Steve Nash, who Greenberg said wanted to play for Long Beach State while he was at the helm.
“People think Steph Curry is the biggest recruiting mistake,” said Greenberg. “I took my team at Long Beach State to play the Canadian Junior National team. Steve (Nash) was on that team. We kicked the crap out of them. He would shoot with our team. He was like 17 years old. We destroyed those dudes. And at the end of that series against the Junior National team, the dude wanted to come to Long Beach State. I was like, I don’t know… I had my backcourt coming back. We just beat the crap out of them. Major mistake. That was bigger than Pretty Woman mistake. I mean, just a really big mistake.”
This got a good laugh out of Pat McAfee, who predicted that this was likely something that Nash remembered.
Greenberg confirmed this, remembering how Nash, who ended up going to Santa Clara instead of Long Beach State, once called out Greenberg in a press conference during the 1993 NCAA Tournament when Santa Clara and Long Beach State found themselves in the same region.
“He did (remember),” said Greenberg. “We were in the same region with him in the NCAA Tournament. When he got to the podium, he goes, ‘Those guys in the other half of the draw, I wanted to go to Long Beach State.’ I said, ‘Thanks, Steve, I appreciate you messing up my reputation.'”
Who knows how Greenberg’s coaching career could have played out if he had opted to recruit either Nash or Curry, or if their playing careers potentially would have played out any differently.
Luckily, things have worked out for everyone involved, as Nash and Curry are, of course, two of the greatest point guards in the history of the sport, while Greenberg now finds himself as one of the premier voices in college basketball media.