College basketball coaching carousel

That guy's not very good. He just got cut by his team and picked up off the scrap heap by some other team. I think I saw a story on that today somewhere.

 

We're reporting this morning that Ole Miss and Kennedy are talking about a contract extension.

That little run bought him some good will at the end of the season and there may be some strategic advantage in holding firm while Mississippi State brings in a new coach. But he still hasn't been to an NCAA tourney and it just feels like they'll have to pitch him in advance of moving into a new facility.

If UAB (his alma mater) could offer Kennedy similar money, maybe you make that move but Kennedy is making $1.3M and about all the Alabama Trustees would sign off was the $650K for Davis - and he was an Alabama guy. What a mess.

 

Tom Osborne's first stops on his search for a men's basketball coach are Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Oral Roberts? So much for money-whipping a high-profile candidate until they say yes.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20120319/BIGRED/120319682/1001
http://huskerextra.com/sports/huskers/mens-basketball/article_8673a85f-e331-51a0-b5b2-9b23f3751a5e.html

 

http://www.silive.com/colleges/index.ssf/2012/03/dan_hurley_accepts_rhode_islan.html

Danny Hurley accepts job at Rhode Island. The SILive.com writer has done a great job with this story. He's been first on pretty much everything it seems.

 

How dare you people leave Missouri out of the mix when discussing SEC E hoops powerhouses.

 

You joke, but Missouri will come in as probably the No. 3 program in the league behind Kentucky and probably Florida.

There is a "signature program" position available at the top of SEC basketball. Nobody seems to want it. Arkansas once held it. Florida had it for a while (and heck, they're a win away from being right back there). Mississippi State got tired of trying to cut corners to get there. The NCAA got tired of Bruce Pearl trying to cut corners to get there. Vandy can't quite seem to reach it.

In the SEC, there's a North Carolina with no Duke, a Georgetown with no Syracuse (well, that's about to happen anyway).

 

Auburn and South Carolina both were 2 seeds in the late 90s. Heh.

 

If you are talking about quality of team next season, Alabama and Florida should be better than Missouri. If you are talking about quality of program, you're stuck in the past. Florida's won two titles and made a third trip to the title game since the last time Kentucky reached it.

I'm not saying Florida is better than Kentucky — it's not — but I am saying that Florida is clearly an elite-level program.

 

URI finally confirms the hire of Hurley:
http://gorhody.com/sports/m-baskbl/2011-12/releases/20120320hklz3x

SI Live gets his first comments:
http://www.silive.com/colleges/index.ssf/2012/03/dan_hurley_says_leaving_wagner.html

 

That is really interesting. I hope he takes it. Nice to be able to take the shot at the big-time, experience some success there, but still go home again.

Also: Judging from the career paths of long-time Illini coaches, I guess this means that, should Shaka Smart take the job, VCU can count on getting him back down the line.

 

The only thing about Florida is after their run of national title games, they went on a bit of a dry spell for a few years. Maybe they are that No. 2 team, but they need to sustain it a bit longer, IMO.

They had a lot of bad-to-mediocre years before their run. Then they faded back and they seem to be back on the upswing.

Right now, to me, they are still a long-time mediocre program that hit a dominant stretch and is trying to get back to that level. Remember, how they faded down the stretch this year in the SEC.

 

Prior to the 2006 title season, Billy Donovan's Gators had finished first or second in the SEC East six consecutive years (three first, three second). Since Donovan found his footing beginning in his third season, the Gators have averaged more than 10 wins a season. He's stumbled mostly because a few players have made questionable decisions to go pro (Donnell Harvey, Christian Drejer, Matt Walsh, Anthony Roberson, Taurean Green, Nick Calathes) while others have transferred (James White, Jonathan Mitchell, Jai Lucas). Maybe those decisions are Donovan's fault to some degree, but I think any fan would rather have Florida's past 13 seasons than Kentucky's.