After their improbable tournament run to the NCAA Tournament Round of Sixteen, Florida Gulf Coast University’s fear is now it’s reality.
Per sources, head coach Andy Enfield is leaving to take the same position with the University of Southern California. The coach who led a high-flying offense nicknamed “Dunk City” will take his free-flowing offense westward, all the way to sunny California.
Andy Enfield led the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles from the Atlantic Sun Conference to a conference tournament championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. After locking down a 15-seed, he led his team to a stunning upset of 2-seeded Georgetown in the Round of 64 and and another upset of 7-seeded San Diego State in the Round of 32, becoming the first 15-seed to ever reach the Sweet Sixteen. All of this has come in only the second season of eligibility for the NCAA Tournament for Florida Gulf Coast. The school was hopeful that they had their coach of the future.
But it was not to be for Enfield at Florida Gulf Coast University.
Enfield’s leaving has to be a major disappointment to Florida Gulf Coast. They had a team that was built around athleticism and a pass-first point guard who could run a solid offense and give them a chance to vie for a tournament spot every year. Now they are left searching for someone to take over Enfield’s position and hopefully emulate his success.
It would’ve been nice to see him build little-known Florida Gulf Coast into a perennial powerhouse team –or at least a few more tournament berths– but we’ll just have to wait and see if he can do that at USC.
