I think the GMs do the leg work all season and bring those guys options/possibilities, and then the HC makes the call.
100%. Pitino gives marching orders. For example, he says "We need a PG, SG and a Forward. We need guys who can shoot, are athletic without compromising defense."
Then his GM comes in. He has been leading efforts to scout (along with the assistants) college players all season and already has a list of the best returning players at each position. He's already spoken to agents of the players he likes to touch base and get an idea of price range. Rick looks at the player rankings they assembled and makes adjustments as he sees fits and then the GM goes to work lining up visits and talking to agents. Rick makes his recruiting pitch on the visit and gives feedback to GM on who he really likes so GM knows who to make bigger offers to.
The GM is 1,000% needed in this version of college athletics. Its needed even more than in "professional" sports because every player is a Free Agent every year. Putting this in the hands of Sha is a recipe for losing. NBA teams have huge staffs responsible for scouting players, examining analytics, negotiating with agents, fitting a team within budget/salary cap. It's comical that Sha is supposed to do all of this himself.
We are never early adopters of trends in the sport. Being innovative and taking action are how you win with less resources. Unfortunately we don't try anything innovative and wait far too long to make changes only after all of our peers have done it.
