College basketball coaching changes

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by Arles

With the talent USC has and their recruiting class, I would expect them to be in the top 2 for the Pac 10 title next season. Arizona's cupboard is pretty bare.

I agree about USC's talent. Most of the reason I would be underwhelmed by Floyd was that I think they've had top 10 talent the past couple years, and have underachieved.

As for Arizona's cupboard being bare, have any of the juniors announced for the draft? Those guys are pretty good.

I can't see how anyone but Few will satisfy the fan base at this point. I am surprised there has not been more buzz about him and that job.

[duckman]

The Daily Oklahoman reported that Capel signed a contract extension to stay with the school. According to sources, no school officially asked for permission to speak with him and Capel stated that he never heard from any school about a position.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Samdari

I agree about USC's talent. Most of the reason I would be underwhelmed by Floyd was that I think they've had top 10 talent the past couple years, and have underachieved.

As for Arizona's cupboard being bare, have any of the juniors announced for the draft? Those guys are pretty good.

I can't see how anyone but Few will satisfy the fan base at this point. I am surprised there has not been more buzz about him and that job.

Few seems very content to stay in Spokane.

As for the Arizona job, I wonder how much of it is not wanting is concern for the influence of Lute Olson. Not only following him as a coach (Yes I know he has not really coached for a couple of years.), but just not willing to embrace the legacy of Olson.

[MrBug708]

Floyd seems like a a better fit for Memphis, not Arizona. Ah well, I figured Floyd would leave before the sanctions hit

[hoopsguy]

Saw a post on another board suggesting Sean Miller to Arizona is a done deal, including salary numbers (6 years, 13 million).

[MrBug708]

Lon Kruger to Memphis? That would be an incredibly "meh" hire if true

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by duckman

The Daily Oklahoman reported that Capel signed a contract extension to stay with the school. According to sources, no school officially asked for permission to speak with him and Capel stated that he never heard from any school about a position.

It's been an awfully good month for the Big 12. The teams all played well in the tournament after finishing as a top 3 conference. In addition, the two hot coaching commodities in the conference both chose to sign contract extensions for less money rather than money grab at another Big 6 conference job.

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

Saw a post on another board suggesting Sean Miller to Arizona is a done deal, including salary numbers (6 years, 13 million).

Woops, back to the drawing board for Arizona.

This is how Kentucky ended up with Billy Gillespie.

Wait a minute.....

[Arles]

Originally Posted by Samdari

Woops, back to the drawing board for Arizona.

This is how Kentucky ended up with Billy Gillespie.

Wait a minute.....

Or Pitt with Jamie Dixon (after Prosser turned them down for WF). Still, at this point, Arizona simply needs to fire Livengood, bring in a new AD and look for the best available coach - period. I don't care if he's the assistant at NW Montana State.

Livengood's problem was that he was so intent on "winning the press conference", he basically allowed himself to be used by Calipari, Floyd and Miller to get large raises. At this point, he has too much pride to do what's right and maybe sign the head coach at Utah (Izzo's old assistant) or another no-name who can coach because he's so intent on hiring a "name". If Arizona's not careful, the school will end up with Isiah Thomas as their head coach if Livengood stays in charge.

[sooner333]

Hiring a name is overrated anyway. OU has done great with "non-names" such as Stoops (Defensive Coordinator at a big school) and Capel (Young HC at a mid-major). Those are Castiglione's big hires as AD. Before him, they even hit a home run with a high school coach (Sherri Coale).

But, also, I think Arizona needs to realize that their program isn't as good as they think right now. It's a good program, for sure, but many issues. First, the NCAA investigation stuff. Second, you're following a legend who has the only true success with the program (or at least that's the perception). And third, you're going into a situation where the fans will have really high expectations for what looks to be a few rebuilding years. That doesn't really add up to an attractive job for someone in a pretty secure situation. Miller seemed like the best-bet so far because it would be a move up from Xavier and the A-10, but now that he's out, it seems best to move on to a mid-major type situation or maybe the best case would be a Reggie Theus.

[DeToxRox]

Sounds like Miller had a change of heart:

Change of heart?

Last night, Xavier head coach Sean Miller called UA athletic director Jim Livengood and told him he wasn't coming to Arizona.


GOAZCATS.com
Sean Miller with UA athletic director Jim Livengood on Sunday morning in Albuquerque.
Then he had a change of heart.

Sources say that Miller called some associates, including Kentucky head coach John Calipari, and told them he was once again undecided about what school he wanted to choose.

Calipari apparently told him what he was telling him all along: that he should come to Arizona.

Miller stayed up late re-thinking his decision and still hadn't made up his mind in the morning. Then he decided he was officially coming to Arizona, as was reported by Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com.

On Sunday morning, Miller met with UA athletic director Jim Livengood and president Robert Shelton in Santa Fe (N.M.).

At roughly 5:19am MST, Miller boarded a plane for Albuquerque (N.M.), where he landed at 6:31am MST. Livengood and Miller rented a car and drove to Santa Fe to meet Shelton.

After meeting for at least a few hours, Miller took a private plane back to Cincinnati at roughly 1:54pm MST. He met with some people in the Xavier program and told them he was seriously considering staying at Xavier.

Then he called Livengood to make it official, or so we thought.

Now, it appears that Sean Miller is headed to Tucson to be Arizona's next coach.

[MrBug708]

Solid hire for Arizona. Good long term get

[Arles]

Well, classify it as a "job-saving" effort for Livengood. I don't know a ton about Miller, but my Brother-in-law is a Xavier Alumn and he was very sad to see him go. Sounds like he's a pretty good coach and solid recruiter. Both will be needed in Tucson

[spleen1015]

Color me ignorant, but I don't know why Miller would leave Xavier. I think he stands a better shot at winning a National Championship there than Arizona. He's already able to recruit damn good players at Xavier.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Really excited as a Mizzou fan that Miller went to Arizona. Mizzou was in a heavy duty recruiting battle for Jarrid Famous, who is a big time JUCO post man. With Miller moving to Arizona, it would appear Mizzou is the clear leader to land Famous.

Here's another article on the Miller change of heart...........

Miller takes Arizona job - College Basketball - Rivals.com

[JonInMiddleGA]

Georgia got off fairly cheaply if Mark Fox turns out to be a good hire.
Fox faces hefty buyout if he resigns UGA post | ajc.com

Fox “will be obligated” to pay the UGA athletics association $2 million if he resigns his position while under contract to the school, according to a memorandum of understanding signed by Fox and Georgia athletics director Damon Evans.

The memorandum was obtained today by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution under open-records laws.

A formal six-year contract will be drafted and signed later, based on the terms contained in the three-page memo.

According to the memo:

• Fox will get an annual base salary of at least $250,000, plus annual payments of $500,000 for radio/TV shows and various other appearances, $150,000 for his operation of sports camps and $300,000 attributable to UGA’s shoe and apparel endorsement deal. That adds up to $1.2 million per year in guaranteed income.

• He also will receive a longevity bonus of $600,000 at the expiration of the contract on June 30, 2015. If the contract is terminated by UGA without cause prior to then, he will receive a pro-rata share of the longevity bonus. That bonus in effect adds $100,000 to the annual value of the contract, putting Fox’s yearly compensation at $1.3 million.

• He also will be eligible to receive up to $400,000 per year in “potential bonuses based on the basketball team’s performance and other objective criteria.” Some of the bonuses will be based on players’ academic performance.

• He will be provided two cars.

• If he is fired without cause, he will receive 75 percent of the total annual compensation (not including longevity bonus) for each year remaining on the contract.

The memorandum of understanding will become Fox’s contract “if a more definitive agreement is not signed within 60 calendar days,” the memo states.

[sooner333]

Miller stands a better shot at making double the money he was at Xavier at Arizona and still have a shot to win a national championship (something that has actually been done at Arizona).

Mizzou--don't be so sure that the Famous guy won't follow the coach to the desert.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Really excited as a Mizzou fan that Miller went to Arizona. Mizzou was in a heavy duty recruiting battle for Jarrid Famous, who is a big time JUCO post man. With Miller moving to Arizona, it would appear Mizzou is the clear leader to land Famous.

Here's another article on the Miller change of heart...........

Miller takes Arizona job - College Basketball - Rivals.com

That post player would start at Arizona

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

Color me ignorant, but I don't know why Miller would leave Xavier. I think he stands a better shot at winning a National Championship there than Arizona. He's already able to recruit damn good players at Xavier.

With the right coach, Arizona is the second best program in an area with a fertile recruiting base in SoCal. Not so much at Xavier.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

Color me ignorant, but I don't know why Miller would leave Xavier. I think he stands a better shot at winning a National Championship there than Arizona. He's already able to recruit damn good players at Xavier.

You really believe that?

[spleen1015]

That's my opinion, sure.

I don't think either program stands a chance at winning one in the next 20 years, though.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by sooner333

Mizzou--don't be so sure that the Famous guy won't follow the coach to the desert.

We'll have to see, but from what I've read, I'm not sure he's willing to live that far from home. Even Mizzou is somewhat of a stretch from a distance perspective according to family and friends. He would be a starter from day one at Mizzou, so playing time isn't an issue. Seton Hall and South Florida are still in consideration due to their proximity to family.

Famous already scheduled his announcement for April 15th before Miller reconsidered the move to Arizona. If he visits Arizona or moves back his announcement date, then Arizona becomes a possibility.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

Color me ignorant, but I don't know why Miller would leave Xavier. I think he stands a better shot at winning a National Championship there than Arizona. He's already able to recruit damn good players at Xavier.

Arizona has a much better tradition, they're in a power conference which matters to many while Xavier isn't, and they have far far less competition out west for top recruits, while still being a big, well known program that can recruit nationally. Seems like a great hire for Arizona and a great move for Miller both.

[Arles]

I don't think Arizona has any interest in Famous. Plus, one of the AZ rivals site guys said that he thought Famous had South Florida, Missouri and Seton Hall as his top choices (over Xavier).

That said, word is Book Richardson (Xavier's top recruiter) will be coming with Miller. This puts 6-6 SF Kevin Parrom (top 100 rivals) as a potential Arizona recruit. Word is Xavier will let him out of his commitment to join Miller in Arizona. Also, Arizona has a strong chance at 6-10 C Kyryl Natyazhko (top 100), Solomon Hill (committed before Lute retired), F Victor Rudd, F Glenn Bryant of Oak Hill and PF Tevin Baskin. If Arizona can a few of these guys, as well as keep Nick Wise, they could have an outside chance at being respectable in 2009. Something I thought was nearly impossible a few days back.

[Arles]

Another interesting development: Xavier's top recruit in 2010 (J.D. Weatherspoon) just de-committed this morning. Not sure if Miller will go after him at AZ (looks like an Ohio kid), but I expect a lot of upheaval the next few days.

If you are an undecided player for 2009 and Arizona comes calling with Miller, I would think you would want to listen. You have the chance to be a starter in a highly visible program as a freshman.

[Logan]

I didn't realize Xavier was kicking so much ass on the recruiting trail. Sucks for them.

[MrBug708]

Memphis hires Pastner?!?

[Arles]

I got to know Josh Pastner really well at Arizona (he's my age). He was a bench guy on the championship team I covered on the campus paper. He single-handily fixed Mike Bibby's shot in December and is one of the smarter sports people I've ever met. You won't find a more likable guy and he has done a nice job recruiting at Arizona and for Memphis.

Memphis will need to get a few experienced Assistants to help him out, but I think he will end up being a very good head coach. In fact, when it looked like Arizona wasn't getting Miller, my next choice would have been Boyner or Pastner.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Memphis hires Pastner?!?

Yikes.

If he loses more than two conference games next year, Tiger High faithful will be after his head in a heartbeat. Sad part to that is that, if the cupboard ends up bare, that wouldn't even be a referendum on his suitability as a head coach but that's how it'll turn out.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Rumors in Memphis say the job of "director of basketball operations" will be offered to Carl Henry, father of Xavier & C.J.

[MrBug708]

Nothing wrong with that

[Wolfpack]

Interesting with Sean Miller going to Arizona since his old boss is coach at Arizona State. Weirdly enough, this will mean yet another year at least of more-than-cursory interest in Pac-10 basketball by NC State fans as they continue to get into flame wars over Sendek's tenure in Raleigh.

*sigh*

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by Arles

Well, classify it as a "job-saving" effort for Livengood. I don't know a ton about Miller, but my Brother-in-law is a Xavier Alumn and he was very sad to see him go. Sounds like he's a pretty good coach and solid recruiter. Both will be needed in Tucson

Its a great hire. Of the guys who would consider leaving (apparently does not include Floyd or Few) they could not have done better.

Almost had to be a mid-major moving up guy. For all the talk about Arizona's history, it was solely Olson's. They had made a total of 3 NCAA tournaments prior to his arrival. Combine that with the relatively little talent coming back, and expectations raised to the roof by Olson, and I see little reason for someone to leave an established BCS school.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Rumors in Memphis say the job of "director of basketball operations" will be offered to Carl Henry, father of Xavier & C.J.

The same job is being offered at Kansas (following in the steps of Chalmers and Manning's dads).

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Arles

I don't think Arizona has any interest in Famous. Plus, one of the AZ rivals site guys said that he thought Famous had South Florida, Missouri and Seton Hall as his top choices (over Xavier).

Seton Hall isn't far from where his family lives. He has some aunts and uncles in the Tampa, FL area. Mizzou is the wild card with no family connections. He's mentioned that he'd love to play in an up-tempo style.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Memphis hires Pastner?!?

According to the Commercial Appeal, Leonard Hamilton was the top choice for the job (at least as of yesterday), but he signed a 5-year extension with Florida State, then Memphis announced Pastner. At least, that's the way the Tallahassee Democrat says it went down. I'm happy FSU is keeping Hamilton.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Here's a rundown of the Memphis hire saga. I think the guy's a bit too high on some of his sources and their reliability, but there's certain a lot of info in here.

The Memphis Edge » Tiger Basketball

IMO, had Pastner been hired right after Calipari left, it would have been seen as a good hire. Instead, they went through a week-long soap opera only to hire Pastner, which made it look more like they were settling on his when all other possibilities were exhausted. He's still a good hire for long-term stability, but they just did it the wrong way.

I'm sure I don't have to point out the similarities between Pastner and Quin Snyder when they were first hired. Thirty-something assistant under a proven coach. Known for great recruiting and one of the hotter young coaching prospects on the market. Hopefully, Pastner will learn to recruit on his own without taking shortcuts. Quin Snyder tried to take recruiting shortcuts like his mentor and got nailed for it. Snyder's main excuse behind closed doors was that he didn't do anything different than what he did at Duke. There's a big difference between Coach K and Coach Cal doing certain things and a young coach trying to do the same thing when other older coaches are jealous of your big contract and easy success at such an early age.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I'm happy FSU is keeping Hamilton.

And from what I've gathered, so are most of the Memphis fans

His was the one name I saw repeatedly with the phrase "at least it wasn't ..."

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

And from what I've gathered, so are most of the Memphis fans

His was the one name I saw repeatedly with the phrase "at least it wasn't ..."

Hamilton and the FSU basketball program is a disaster waiting to happen. Michael Snaer is a prime example. He was shopping for the biggest $$$ in his recruitment and Hamilton won that battle. I wouldn't be shocked to see FSU have their basketball program join their football program on probation in two years or less.

[watravaler]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Hamilton and the FSU basketball program is a disaster waiting to happen. Michael Snaer is a prime example. He was shopping for the biggest $$$ in his recruitment and Hamilton won that battle. I wouldn't be shocked to see FSU have their basketball program join their football program on probation in two years or less.

Well, then Leonard would have been a perfect fit at Memphis.

[Ksyrup]

Might be true about Hamilton, I have no clue, but I'm pretty confident no one at FSU cares about basketball enough to get involved with paying players.

[Warhammer]

From the talk radio circuit, a lot of the Memphis faithful are happy with Pastner. I am as well. My first choice was Anderson, can't remember who my #2 was, #3 was Pastner.

If Pastner keeps his nose clean, and hires the right assistants, this will be seen as a good hire down the road. We might not remain where Cal put us, but even if we're a top 15 program, I'll be happy.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Warhammer

We might not remain where Cal put us, but even if we're a top 15 program, I'll be happy.

These kinds of unrealistic expectations from Memphis fans are going to be the death of this coach.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

These kinds of unrealistic expectations from Memphis fans are going to be the death of this coach.

If the conference is as weak as you've said it is, I don't see how a team dominating it wouldn't be in the top 15.

[sterlingice]

Well, to be fair- there are a lot of weak conferences and their dominant team of the moment doesn't always crack the top 25. If it were that easy, why wasn't Tulsa dominating? Or UCF? Or Rice? Being that good is hard. Being that good in an "easy" conference is easy than being that good in a "hard" conference, tho.

SI

[GoldenEagle]

After watching Pastner's press conference, I am freaking stoked. That dude just does not stop. You can tell the players love him. He has a known reputation as a great recruiter. If he surrounds himself with a good staff , then he is going to do wonders I believe.

We may lose some games because of coaching mistakes, but a strong argument could be made that we lost the championship game last year because of coaching mistakes.

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle

We may lose some games because of coaching mistakes, but a strong argument could be made that we lost the championship game last year because of coaching mistakes.

Correction: We lost the championship game last year because of coaching mistakes.

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

These kinds of unrealistic expectations from Memphis fans are going to be the death of this coach.

I'm not expecting them to be a top 5 or 10 program. Given the state of C-USA, the facilities Memphis has, and Pastner's recruiting ability, we should be a top 15/20 program. We should go to the Sweet 16 every other year, and make a deep run once every five years or so.

This isn't all that different from where we were in 82-95.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Well, to be fair- there are a lot of weak conferences and their dominant team of the moment doesn't always crack the top 25. If it were that easy, why wasn't Tulsa dominating? Or UCF? Or Rice? Being that good is hard. Being that good in an "easy" conference is easy than being that good in a "hard" conference, tho.

SI

Pretty good summary. If I was a Memphis fan, I'd still expect them to compete with UAB every year for the conference title and win every other year at a minimum. But that doesn't mean they're going to be a top 15 team moving forward. There's absolutely no way that Pastner will bring the same level of talent that Cal brought in over the past few years.

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

There's absolutely no way that Pastner will bring the same level of talent that Cal brought in over the past few years.

That is the big question. Pastner was instrumental in getting a lot of the big name talent here the last few years. Will he be able to get the same talent with himself at the top of the ticket? I think so. Probably not the same level as Cal, but close.

Where I see the bigger issue is getting the big games at the start of the season. That is how Memphis got their RPI so high in recent years is the tough games early on. Cal got burned when they went 27-4, but played a weak schedule, ater that he made sure he had some big games early and it helped him out a ton. I don't see Pastner having the clout to put that same schedule together.