Sadly you have learned not one thing about me from my posts on these threads and that I am an objective thinker that does not allow the love for my school affect my thinking on a matter. I've hammered our school and I've also defended us, all to the thoughts of common decency. Alabama was in a pinch and had to look motivated when they made their initial offer to go after a guy that Wichita State was obviously trying to keep. I'm not saying he's a bad coach, but your bar of dollars to dollars doesn't mean anything when it comes to ability. True, basketball is not my scene and is a bit of a joke in my eyes, but my knowledge of the sport and what I do keep up with entitles me to be in this conversation very easily, as basketball is like football and rarely changes hands of power. I also know enough to be competitive in a conversation.
Brad Stevens was simply an example of a guy that brought a smaller school to relevance and made a move to a bigger pasture. See, he did well, got noticed, and moved up, which technically can't be said yet for the guy you're covering for. Avery went from player to NBA coach, succeeded (got hosed if you ask many), and is now building a lot of buzz for a program that is not necessarily known as a contender. So you see, Alabama got what is called a deal on Johnson. Just because you have the money doesn't mean you have to spend the money, that's how the wealthy stay wealthy. Find that diamond in the rough and go. Not to mention, how many times have we seen in common America where a better employee may not make as much as a crappy employee? So that argument has no legs where you attempt to hold offer sheets side by side, two different deals, two different stories, but yet I'd say the results are most likely consistent at this juncture. Just like getting different trade in values at different dealerships you visit.