2019 College Basketball Coaching Carousel

People get tired - and take notice - when you've been chasing a ghost for 50 years.

 

Fair point.

 

UCLA didn't do itself any favors by firing a guy who reached three Final Fours in 10 years.

 

I believe Howland was their top choice when they hired him away from Pitt. But I think that was the exception over the past couple of decades. Your point stands.

 

Facilities are nothing special. The conference has been unimpressive in MBB for a decade. The fans still think the program is elite and have unrealistic expectations.

If you were a top tier coach looking at moving up, why would you take the job?

 

I'm pretty sure they redid the practice facility when they remodeled Pauley Pavilion a few years back, so that's not an issue. The crappy league and high expectations are, however.

I've always figured Dixon had UCLA coach written all over him with his ties to the area and to Howland.

 

They’re waiting on Dixon, I would guess. Frogs in the NIT. There could be several jobs in Texas open this silly season.

 

Alabama moved fast and grabbed Oats from Buffalo. One of the local sportswriters made this point, and I wish I remembered who so I could give him credit - If Buffalo had beaten Texas Tech, would Chris Beard be the coach at UA now?

 

Wonder if UCLA reaches out to Beard and got swatted away.

 

UCLA was also Howland’s dream job, having grown up in the area as a UCLA fan. His parents were also getting older and he wanted to move closer to them. It was a tailor made situation for them.

 

I'm not sure UCLA is making the financial commitment to have a winning program. They may be willing to pay the head coach, but are they paying assistants enough to offset living in Westwood? Are they willing to spend the money for the, ahem, incidentals involved in attracting top-level talent?