2021 MBB coaching carousel thread

Steve Prohm, who turned down Alabama two years ago, gets the gate in Ames.

 

"I'll take Bad Professional Decisions for a value considerably less than several million dollars a year."

 

Gophers officially ‘part ways’ with basketball coach Richard Pitino – Twin Cities

 

That's at least the second one that the school has announced tonight rather than, say, this afternoon or tomorrow morning.

 

There is some discussion that Pitino and what's his name at Nebraska are the two finalists for the job at New Mexico, and that a decision from Albuquerque was imminent. If Pitino were to jump into the Pit, Minnesota would be relieved of his buyout and everybody conceivably wins.

On the continuum of possible outcomes, this was maybe slightly below average. Missing out on Jalen Suggs et al is not his fault. This program will almost certainly never recruit at that level. And it's not Williams, either. There was a big article in the Strib this weekend in which their beat guy gave a handful of Big 10 insiders anonymity, and in true Minnesota fashion, the biggest takeaway for many readers was that they insulted their beloved Barn. The simple fact is that Gopher men's basketball will never be more than the fifth biggest concern in the Cities at any one time, sixth if the men's hockey team is good. I don't blame them for going after Pitino. Like the A's of the Big 10, they have to go for market inefficiencies, so they went for Pitino probably before he was ready. And he wasn't a disaster, just somewhat below average. So they'll have to swing for the fences again and they may strike out. They'd probably be well-served to hire a minority candidate, especially since last week, the Strib noticed that none of their head coaches or athletic administrators are minorities. Then again, this paragraph also probably underlines a second reason Minnesota is an also-ran in the Big 10, which is that its location in the heart of the city's largest metro area means that local media gives them a metro media treatment that the likes of Fran McCaffrey and Matt Painter probably aren't getting.

 

I loved the Archie Miller hire. Man, he did not even get close to getting it done.

Gotta recruit a few outside shooters.

 

The Railsplitters!

D-II school in Harrogate, Tenn., just a few miles south of Cumberland Gap.

 

The Barn was a dump for a few years, but they did a good job on the renovations (like Michigan did on Crisler Arena), so that complaint doesn't really fly any more.

I've seen Eric Musselman high up on the prospect list both at Minnesota and Indiana.

 

Hit the nail on the head. Loved the Archie hire and stunned how sideways it all went.

They were painful to watch from Day 1 under Miller.

It’s never one player, but I can’t help but wonder had Romeo Langford been the transcendent player a lot of people thought he would be if everything doesn’t go a little different. Langford was very good, but if he was Melo-type that leads IU to an Elite Eight or Final Four that year, things maybe start rolling.

 

I don't think I'd be looking for a "hot coach" at this point. I'd rather hire someone who might have been a "hot coach" from last year before everything went to hell.

 

This is not a knock on Indiana That is still one of the top 10 jobs in college basketball

 

New Mexico to hire Richard Pitino as next coach less than 24 hours after Minnesota firing