Princeton athletic director Gary Walters addressed an easy question at Monday's press conference, but didn't tackle a much harder one.
The simple question - who will be the Tigers' next men's basketball coach? - had already been answered last Thursday, when Princeton put out an early announcement.
The hard one - why Sydney Johnson? - may still have left some Princeton fans scratching their heads.
In some ways, a 32-year-old third assistant with only three years of collegiate coaching experience was a puzzling hire for a top Ivy League program - especially considering that the Tigers had hired Joe Scott, then one of the hottest commodities around, away from Air Force three years ago.
But on Monday, Walters and other optimists preferred to emphasize the positives. In Johnson, they have a heralded alumnus, a coach who's helped take Georgetown to the Final Four, and an adherent to the treasured Princeton system.
"I have watched what [Georgetown coach John] Thompson and [former Princeton coach Pete] Carril have done here. I've got my notebooks," Johnson said. "I hope everything I've seen can be mixed in."
And what Johnson lacks in college coaching experience, Tigers fans will hope he makes up for with what Walters called a "distinguished resume."
The 1997 graduate was an Ivy League Player of the Year and the only three-year captain in Princeton's history.
He captained the 1996 team that beat Penn in the Ivy League playoff before upsetting UCLA in the NCAA Tournament in Carril's last season with the Tigers.
He would later go on to play successfully for seven years in the Spanish and Italian professional leagues, winning a championship with Siena in Italy's Serie A.
So even though a slam-dunk candidate in the model of former Tigers and current Northwestern coach Bill Carmody wasn't available, Walters looked happy with his most recent hire. And it is perhaps the one that will perhaps define his legacy at Old Nassau.
"In my 13 years . we've conducted a lot of searches at the university," Walters said. "I can't remember one search where the quality and depth of candidates was as good as this."
That search was also rumored to include such names as current Brown coach Craig Robinson and Marist head man Matt Brady.
In front of Johnson now lies the challenge of revitalizing a team that sank to the bottom of the Ivies under Scott. The Tigers notched only two Ancient Eight victories last season and went 11-17 overall.
"I love our pieces, I love what we have in our locker room," he said. "At the end of the day, we are Princeton basketball, and they understand that."
Johnson, for his part, couldn't wait to get started; a few hours after the noon press conference, he said, he would have his first workout with his new team.
Last year, that squad stumbled to its most embarrassing year in program history.
Starting early certainly couldn't hurt.
