College basketball coaching carousel

Great comment on UCLA by Kevin O'Neill, former USC coach and current Pac-12 Network analyst, relayed by Mark Whicker. The Bruins lost three times to the Trojans this season, including by 24 points in the Pac-12 Tournament opener. (The column was critical of Steve Alford and scolded UCLA for running off Ben Howland):
-- In the Pac-12 tournament loss they were so catatonic that former USC coach Kevin O’Neill, on the Pac-12 network, said they “did not participate in the game” and speculated that their girlfriends “are with the football players now.”

 

Johnny Dawkins out at Stanford.

Stanford fires Johnny Dawkins after eight years as coach

 

Brad Underwood will end up in Stillwater or Ft Worth.......guessing Stillwater.

 

A few years ago, he got into a fight with an Arizona fan in the hotel bar across the street from Staples Center.

 

Sorry I missed that.

 

Another branch of the Coach K tree withers.

Stanford may be the best job to turn over this off season.

 

I think TCU needs to make a serious run at Stephen F. Austin's Brad Underwood. 88-13 in three seasons at SFA

 

So he'll even out that 88-13 with three seasons in Ft Worth.

 

Rutgers is apparently trying to money-whip Danny Hurley for the second time in three years. Only 17-15 this year after being an A-10 co-favorite, but his star blew his ACL less than 10 minutes into the season, and he was down to seven scholarship players toward the end. With the core of that team back (and some health), URI should be back in the Big Dance for the first time since '99, and he'll have his pick of much better jobs than Rutgers.
If Hurley wants the big score, he'll go. If he wants to still be a head coach in 5-10 years, he'll wait.

 

My guess is that the demographic for people interested in the Rutgers job is a coach in his 50s who's on his first head coaching job. He can see retirement age creeping up on him, and he knows if he's going to strike it rich, this might be his only shot. You take the gig for the $$$ and nothing more. Any "hot young coach" who pays the slightest bit of attention will see that previous iterations of said profile have been suckered by the sleeping giant storyline and have taken the gig because they can't believe the state university in a populous, wealthy state can be downtrodden forever. They see promise and potential. They gloss over the fact that facilities at Rutgers are stuck in the 1970s. I think they've only recently kicked off a facilities campaign. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong on that one. If I'm right, they'll be finishing the new place just as the soon-to-be-hired coach is finishing his fifth consecutive losing season in the Big Ten and the time will be right to open a new venue with a new coach.

 

Yep
All things equal...he winds up wearing orange.