My very uninformed feeling with Turgeon was that he lost some fire / intensity himself after COVID pulled the plug on the year they were sorta starting to ramp up expectations again a little. Like he came back out of that a lot less driven / more apathetic than before, and never really flipped the switch back.
I think the apathy set in long before that season. But the 2020 team could have been special. We just don't know.
I mean, so many top recruits, so little return. Melo was supposed to be a one and done talent. Stayed three years. Always a preseason First team all Big Ten player, never at the end of the season. Wisconsin fans furious that MD wins the recruiting battle for Diamond Stone, I can't remember one thing he did. I think a 30 point game against Penn State, once, IIRC. Otherwise very forgettable. MD started a season ranked what, #2, #3, maybe they touched #1 at some point, I don't really remember, finished it unranked, or fringe #25. They were a 6 seed once in the tournament and a vegas underdog to an 11 seed, and of course, lost. The lone sweet 16 came from beating So.Dak.St and Hawaii in the process. Not exactly a challenge there. I can't even remember what the record against ranked teams was, but know it was really bad. I was actually shocked that besides the Duke game 10 years ago they had another top-5 win back in 2016 I think they said on the broadcast last night? Cause I don't remember it. Even with some double byes, never even made it to Saturday, much less Sunday in the BTT.
Under Turge there was zero home court advantage. They were hardly ever going to be a threat against the #3 team in the country and the fans knew it. Would not have been any energy in the building. The students would do their thing, but that's about it, and even they seemed subdued in few years before COVID.
Anyway. Onward and upwards. That's the last I'll dwell on the past. Raw number of wins aside, Willard has already eclipsed Turgeon in impact made on the program by scheduling tougher opponents, winning ranked games, defending the home court, all with a team put together pretty much from the portal and not much recruiting. I can't wait to see what's to come.