College basketball coaching carousel thread

Scott Sutton. Not Sean Sutton.

 

Fixed. Same screwed-up Oral Roberts University, however.

 

This isn't really a coaching carousel story, more a "Tubby's suddenly on a boiling hot seat", but this is the active thread.

Is it fair to accuse Tubby Smith of "running the program into the ground" for not keeping the father of a couple of players on as an asst. coach when he replaced Pastner? I have a friend in Memphis who refers to the father as "a lowlife", but I have no insight into whether that is fair or not. Gary Parrish has obviously accepted the hiring of fathers, uncles, AAU coaches and the like as normal business. What's your take?

How Tubby Smith made a gigantic mess of Memphis' program in just one year

 

It is fair when the two sons averaged 31 points and 18 rebounds and are good enough to transfer to Kansas. Especially since Markel Crawford also bailed with only a year of with eligibility left so the three leading scorers have transferred. The father, Keelon Lawson, was a successful area high school coach and the program's local recruiter. As for being a "lowlife" doesn't that describe many very successful recruiters?

Josh Pastner took Memphis to at least the second round of the NCAA tournament four straight years then only won 37 games the next two years and was gone. The school did not give Smith a 16 million dollar contract to do a rebuild. Tubby is there to win now. He does not appear to have the bodies to do that.

I also don't see why having the father of two of your best players on the staff is more troubling than Tubby hiring his son as an assistant.

 

That story could have been better if it was a few hundred words shorter. Lots of repetition in there.

 

Deciding you want to recruit at Memphis without swimming in the pool of family and AAU connections is like opening a vegan restaurant on Beale Street. You can do it, but don't be surprised when no one shows up and you're out of business soon.

 

New Mexico hires Paul Weir of NMSU.

More on Scott Sutton's ouster at ORU.

Bill Haisten: Jolted by his divorce from ORU, Scott Sutton says he is 'at peace'

 

If Weir has any sense he will cancel that series, because he might need the National Guard to get back in and out of Las Cruces.

 

NMSU hires Chris Jans, formerly at Bowling Green. He brings lots of baggage to Las Cruces.
LIU hires Derek Kellog, formerly at UMass.

 

Not the situation I expected to turn ugly, but Dawkins is suing for more than $7 million including punitive damages.

Former coach Johnny Dawkins sues Stanford

Says he agreed to a flat $2.3 million buyout, but then Stanford later decided it could use his UCF salary as an offset.

 

The University of Minnesota is expected to announce a contract extension Wednesday for Gophers men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino, sources told the Star Tribune.

Details are scheduled to be released with the official announcement Wednesday afternoon.

More:

In August 2015, Pitino received a contract extension through the 2020-21 season, increasing his annual salary to more than $1.6 million (supplemental compensation went from $700,000 to $1.1 million). A buyout clause was agreed upon as well. The U would have been on the hook for $7.1 million if Pitino would have been fired after the worst season in program history last spring.

This season, Pitino made over $2 million, after incentives and bonuses were reached. He received $125,000 in performance bonuses with the Gophers making the NCAA tournament ($50,000 bonus), finishing with a winning Big Ten record ($50,000) and winning Big Ten Coach of the Year ($25,000).

Richard Pitino and U agree to new contract; announcement expected later Wednesday

 

They pretty much gotta do it; keep Richie happy or the big boys will come sniffing.

That may happen anyway (especially when Daddy hangs em up) but this will chase off the mid-level P5 schools.