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

So what does NC State do now? I thought it was pretty well assumed that they were going to take a run at Smart, then have Marshall as their fallback plan.

I don't know much about Haith, but this hiring at Missouri still puzzles me greatly. You can't convince me that Haith is the best coach that Missouri could land for the money they are paying. If he is that great of a coach, then why was he stuck at Miami for 7 very unspectatular seasons without other schools taking a run at him? Assuming the situation is as dire as some say at Miami, I'm sure he would have left for greener pastures.

It almost smacks of the AD being determined to show that he's the smartest guy in the room and pick a coach so off-the-radar that if it does work out, then the AD will get all the glory. If it doesn't work out, then Haith and perhaps the AD will be gone anyway.

 

I think VCU is understood to be down next year barring an unexpected windfall in recruiting. The four players they lose account for more than 62 percent of its scoring. George Mason lose their top scorer but bring back nearly everyone else. Drexel returns five of their top six scorers and their top two rebounders. Old Dominion loses a good bit but brings back Kent Bazemore, the national defensive player of the year, so they'll probably be competitive. James Madison loses its best player but brings back almost everybody else.

If VCU goes 15-16 and finishes seventh, it's going to take a bit of shine off of him. But a top 4 finish is certainly reasonable, particularly if they can recruit some size. How D.J. Haley and Toby Veal develop will be telling.

 

Will he make this announcement, with a pissed-off look on his face?

 

And will Marshall change his mind one day later and show up in Raleigh?

 

After making the ambitious run at Painter, Mizzou's ultimate choice seems rather uninspired to say the least.

I'm just curious, why not wait a couple days so you can at least make a post-tourney call to Brad Stevens to guage his interest? Even if you think such interest is unlikely, I see little harm in making a quick pitch just to make sure, I'm quite certain Frank Haith will still be available and waiting on line 2 a few days from now.

 

A lot of people are saying that Gary Williams is telling coaches they don't want to go to N.C. State and work for Debbie Yow.

 

I know it's fun to disparage Mizzou, but that job always struck as a bit of a sleeping giant. The only major conference program in a state with two major metro areas, no genuine in state competition for fan loyalty, seems like the potential's there to build a real powerhouse program if a coach could sink a solid foothold into the St. Louis and Kansas City recruiting markets. It hasn't happened yet, but with the right coach, it easily could.

I'd take that call before any of the other openings that have come up this year.

 

I think Missouri could be a great job. It's lost some stature, though.

 

People have been saying the same thing about their football program for years but none of those athletes in St. Louis & Kansas City want to spend their college years Columbia.

 

On the contrary, this is where Pinkel has succeded where Larry Smith and those before him have failed. Blaine Gabbert (St. Louis); Jeremy Maclin (St. Louis); Aldon Smith (St. Louis); Martin Rucker (St. Joe); Chase Coffman (Ray-Pec, just east of KC); Derrick Washington (Ray-Pec, before he went and put his fingers where they weren't welcome); Tony Temple (Rockhurst). All huge contributors since 2007. And before Pinkel arrived, there's no way they get even half of those guys.

As for Haith, I refuse to believe they can come close to prying Painter -- who coaches a great-program in a basketball-mad state -- away, and have no middle ground. Either Mike Alden is smarter then everybody (no fucking way), or he owes Haith some sort of favor.

If he were that good a coach in that bad of a situation, he'd have been on somebody's radar at some point. Reminds me when I was in school, Mizzou had a running back named Zain Gilmore, who, according to the media guide, was some sort of player of the year in Florida... that the Gators, Seminoles and Hurricanes all passed on.