2014 College basketball coaching carousel thread...

Huge arena that never gets filled. Still a place at which spring football, one of the great oxymorons of our time, counts more than hoops.

 

He made the Sweet 16 and they weren't too upset when he left.

They pine for a guy who lied, was fired and given a show cause. .

Martin took over a team that was gutted after Pearl left and did respectably his first year, just missed the tournament his second year and got them there the third year and they were ready to run him out of town. Did they really think he wasn't good enough? Was it a black thing? I don't know...

Tennessee, without question, has one of the best athletic departments in the country, but the guy who brought them the most success the school has experienced in men's hoops, did so in a manner that got him fired.

 

All of which makes the job Billy Donovan has done at Florida one of the best coaching jobs of the last 20+ years.

 

Since when is Thompson-Boling bigger than either the Carrier Dome or the Dean Dome?

 

Since it was built?

http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0105720.html

Might not be completely filled for each game (most places aren't!) but Vol fans generally put the program well within Top 10 in attendance -- especially when Pearl was coaching (and people wonder why fans wanted him back?)

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/Reports/attendanceYBYtop25.pdf

 

Dean Dome capacity: 21,750
http://www.goheels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205720085
Thompson-Boling capacity: 21,678.
http://www.utsports.com/facilities/thompson-boling_arena.html

How's that bigger again?

 

Take it up with Infoplease.com and several other websites, not me.

But, fine, you're right. UT's arena is 3rd biggest. Who on earth would want to coach in that?

 

Thompson-Boling used to be bigger but UT made one sideline upper-deck into all luxury suites a few years ago.

 

Hottest basketball cheerleaders I've ever seen. I've been there many times. It's a great arena.

My theory is that the success Summit had there has made it difficult for the men's coaches. In many ways, Pearl was perfect there because he embraced that.

I would stand and cheer if Tennessee made Pearl an offer to get him to tell Auburn to fuck off. I can't imagine that happening though.

 

In this case, the arena doesn't help. Unless you're a Top 10 or 15 team, I'd rather play in a 13,000-seat arena instead of Thompson-Boling. All of those empty seats are your barometer even more than wins and losses.

 

There's probably some truth to that. Tennessee has good fans, but I wonder if they were selling that place out regularly when Pearl was there. I would assume so, but I don't know.

 

Donnie Tyndall to leave Southern Miss to coach the Vols.

Ball's in your court now, Mr. Alden.