It's that time of year: College coach carousel!

I think Arkansas is like other programs that peaked in the early 1990's (Georgia Tech, UNLV, Michigan, Temple, LSU). HAS been a great job.

Arkansas presents a unique set of challenges:
- Isolation. No SEC opponents within 400 miles -- I always felt it would've been better in the Big XII. (Kansas, K-State, Mizzou, Oklahoma, Okie State are all closer to Fayetteville than Oxford, MS - the closest SEC rival).
- Not a lot of nearby talent. It's one thing to trudge 300 miles to West Memphis to find the next Todd Day. NW Arkansas has football players but not many Division I-caliber basketball players.
- A gigantic arena. Built right before the economic boom of the region, Bud Walton is hard to fill for every home game. They did it in 1993, when it opened, but that's a tough draw now.

Also, Arkansas fans are some of the most idiotic in the country. Very insecure but they demand 22 wins seasons every year. Dana Altman took one look at that and bugged out four years ago...after a day.

Being the HC there pays well but, until you get to a Final Four, it is hell on a man with a family.

 

Hejira Henry mentioned Andy Kennedy being in trouble at Ole Miss and Rick Stansbury's troubles have been well-documented, but it seems to me that all six of the basketball coaches at Mississippi's Big Three are in some degree of hot water.

There is a large element of the Southern Miss fan base that absolutely loathes Larry Eustachy, and all three of the women's coaches had very underwhelming seasons this year. In fact, Ole Miss and State were 11th and 12th in the SEC (no divisions for the women) and Southern was 10-20, which makes three consecutive losing seasons for them.

Eustachy's deal is a little weird. Yeah, they had an NCAA-caliber team this year, but when it came time to win big games, they spit the bit. Finished 22-10 and of their 10 losses, eight were by a combined margin of 30 points, including three on last-second buzzer-beaters. And after getting passed over by both the NCAA and NIT, they said no to the CBI and CIT, leading some to think that Larry's departure is imminent.

I have mixed feelings myself. USM a notoriously hard place to win in basketball, with a crappy arena and little real interest in basketball in the area, and Larry's managed to keep the program afloat. But in seven seasons, he really hasn't gotten much accomplished, and maybe it's time for some new blood. A lot of the USM message board gurus think they already have a viable replacement on staff in Greg Heir, who was a big winner at Chipola JC in Florida and has brought some solid talent with him. However, the AD likes Eustachy, and will probably keep him another season if Larry wants to stay. They certainly can't afford to buy him out, so if he doesn't quit, he'll be back.

 

Albert, I think USM would have to seriously look at the "can we do better?" test. Eustachy is a pretty good coach and a good catch for USM. For all the reasons you mentioned, they should be very hesitant to let him go without having a really good idea who they would want to replace him.

 

Not that there's much talk of replacing him yet, but I think Seth Greenberg falls into this category as well.

 

This is something most teams should think about before they pull the trigger on firing a coach.

Arkansas appears to know who it wants. Assuming they get him, it would have made sense to fire Pelphrey. I don't think Oklahoma has any idea who it wants.

 

Interesting that you mention Greenberg. I keep wondering when the question in Blacksburg is going to shift from "how did we get left out again?" to "why are we only on the bubble every year?"

The guy's done a great job recruiting to VT, but he signed the best recruiting class in school history, the stars stayed for four years and they never made the NCAA Tournament. I bet a lot of coaches around the country listen to Seth complain and think "give me Delaney and Allen for four years and I'll damn sure get in at least once."

 

I took a look at an N.C. State message board this morning, the consensus seems to be that a coaching search that fails to yield the hiring of Rick Barnes, Jay Wright, Jamie Dixon, Sean Miller, Billy Donovan, Mark Few or Brad Stevens would be a failure. Some people see Mike Brey as an acceptable plan B, but others are adamantly against him. :

 

Just change the name of the school, and every message board about this topic is the same.

 

I understand the rolling-eyes smiley given the fanbase being discussed, but in all seriousness, Mike Brey was an assistant to Mike Krzyzewski in Durham. That alone would make that idea difficult for the folks in red to digest.

The possibilities:

-Must contact Sean Miller in Tucson and Brad Stevens in Indianapolis, if only to kick the tires and make sure they are not interested.

-Mark Turgeon in College Station is a strong choice. Thing is, does he want to go somewhere that's aching for a basketball winner and put that pressure squarely on himself? No pressure like that at Texas A&M.

-Some say Gregg Marshall is on the list. The Raleigh News & Observer listed him. Funny part is that there was a rumor that he wanted the job when Herb Sendek left but didn't get a sniff. Dunno if it's because Lee Fowler and/or associates didn't think he could cut it in the ACC or because of his not-so-nice reputation. My question is, while Marshall impressed at Winthrop, what has he done at Wichita State to convince anyone his path is still reaching for the sky?

-Any chance - ANY? - that NCSU would consider keeping it in the family and giving Monty Towe a shot? Sure, he was Sidney Lowe's assistant, but he is family and did good work at the University of New Orleans pre-Katrina. He left UNO and bought his own contract out to assist Lowe in Raleigh. A serious long shot, but ...

 

Georgia picked up Mark Fox a few years past his mid-major stud ripe point. General feeling was "who?," compounded by the always well-educated Mark Bradley noting that Fox wouldn't recruit well and never sent anyone to the NBA. (Wrooooooooooong again, AJC fact-checkers!)

Took over a program that had bottomed out at 12 wins with no forward momentum, won 14 games the next year with better aesthetic results, and made the NCAAs this year. Not a great deal of player turnover other than switching out Ricky McPhee for Gerald Robinson. Picked up the best player in the state on the recruiting trail this year.

Fox wasn't a big-time name or even a big small-time one, but he's turned Athens into a winner. Outside of the occasional message board yahoo who pines for (derp) Bobby Knight, the fanbase has been patient with the process.

The Wolfpack would be smart to follow the above when the big names pass on Raleigh, which they will.

 

Not a lot of action in the Northeast, like there was last year, with four Big East schools hiring. This year, just Providence (and possibly Marquette if Buzz Williams does Arkansas). Good news for me - after BU's first big dance in nine years, Pat Chambers hasn't become hot yet. Just hope Ed Cooley doesn't turn down PC or Fairfield gets on an NIT run (quality road win at Colorado State last night) and Friartown just can't wait.
Sendek doesn't generate much excitement in Providence - along '87 Final Four Friar assistants, we have a better chance of getting Jeff Van Gundy (slim).

 

Dennis Felton was one of the "it" coaches when he took the UGA job. Then, other than the year they won the SEC tournament and made the NCAAs as a No. 14 seed, he did nothing. I agree that Fox was a very good hire.