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Dave Sittler: Coaching rumors abuzz in Houston
by: DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist
Friday, April 01, 2011
4/1/2011 7:42:19 AM
HOUSTON - Thousands of college basketball coaches, athletic directors, university officials and fans started flooding into this city Thursday as March Madness melded into April Angst.
It's not just the Final Four teams and their fans who are feeling the anxiety build in anticipation of Saturday's national semifinal games at Reliant Stadium.
Tomorrow's two contests and the NCAA Tournament's national championship game Monday night are only part of a myriad of activities during a four-day, nonstop celebration of hoops.
One of the biggest events is also the most unorganized. It's the chaotic rumor mill that rolls on 24/7 through the lobby of the coaches' hotel concerning those job openings.
That's why it's also a weekend of clandestine meetings and wheeling and dealing involving coaches, ADs and search firm headhunters.
Who knows? Perhaps Oklahoma's next coach will be identified, interviewed and hired by the time the last team of the 2010-11 season is still standing late Monday night to cut down the nets.
It's unknown if OU athletic director Joe Castiglione will be in town. If he is, you might overhear him whispering that famous line, "Houston, we have a problem," which the Sooners certainly do in their effort to replace Jeff Capel.
How much trouble has Castiglione encountered in the search? Five words can answer that question: Bruce Weber and Steve Robinson.
That's apparently not an April Fool's joke, because both names have surfaced as potential candidates. Or maybe it is, because Weber and Robinson make absolutely no sense.
Robinson is an assistant at North Carolina after he failed in many ways in two attempts to be a head coach at Tulsa and Florida State. He was a public relations nightmare at TU, and he lost enough with the Seminoles that he returned to the security of Roy Williams' bench.
Other reports had Weber, the embattled Illinois coach, making a move up Castiglione's ever-changing short list.
It didn't take long for the reaction to follow after Weber's name was linked with OU.
"Bruce Weber? Really? Wow!" one coach wrote in a text. "(OU) must be getting desperate."
Another coach texted that the Illini Nation would probably pick up the moving costs if OU makes that hire because "Weber is not a favorite of Illini fans."
A sportswriter who covers the national college sports scene asked in an e-mail: "Bruce Freaking Weber? Oh, Lord."
While waiting for my luggage at Houston's Hobby Airport, a head coach who shall remain nameless walked over and went all John McEnroe on me when he said: "Bruce Weber? You cannot be serious!"
If you read the Tulsa World's wall-to-wall Big Dance coverage of second- and third-round games two weeks ago at the BOK Center, you know all about the quirky, goofy Weber, whose team beat Nevada-Las Vegas and was eliminated by Kansas.
So there is no need to waste time rehashing why Weber would be a horrible fit at OU.
The fact Weber's name is even in the conversation shows you just how shallow the pool for viable candidates became once Buzz Williams opted to stay at Marquette.
OU obviously can't attract three of the Final Four coaches - Connecticut's Jim Calhoun, Kentucky's John Calipari and Butler's Brad Stevens. While Stevens would be in the same home-run category as when Castiglione hired Bob Stoops to coach football, he has no interest.
That leaves Virginia Commonwealth coach Shaka Smart. The initial reaction to Smart's candidacy was predictable. Castiglione got burned last time by hiring VCU's coach (Capel), so why take a chance at déjà vu all over again?
The Final Four coaches are too busy for interviews this weekend. But Castiglione could talk to people like Wichita State's Gregg Marshall if the Sooner AD decides to visit Houston.
Smart's work during this tournament has been remarkable. It's attracted the interest of other ADs who need a coach, including North Carolina State and Missouri. Marshall's name is also in play at those schools.
While he's the unquestioned "media darling," at the moment, Smart is winning games with players recruited by Anthony Grant, who replaced Capel at VCU and eventually moved on to Alabama.
The No. 1 requirement to land the OU job is the ability to recruit. Either the applicant needs to possess that ability, or can hire a couple fireball assistants who will be relentless in their efforts to bring in players good enough to win in the Big 12.
Under each program's present condition, the jobs at N.C. State and Mizzou both rank ahead of OU. The person Castiglione eventually hires will inherit a mess on the scale of what Stoops walked into back in December 1998.
Pardon the pun, but one has to believe Smart is smart enough to comprehend the staggering challenge awaiting OU's next coach. Toss an ongoing NCAA investigation into the mix and it's understandable why Castiglione's list apparently includes some weird names.
Another potential candidate was added within 15 minutes of my arrival at the media hotel. A Big 12 Conference official slyly suggested it might be wise to check the status of Terry Stotts, the former OU player who has been the head coach of two NBA franchises.
Hey, when compared to Weber and Robinson, Stotts looks like the second coming of John Wooden.
So, let the Final Four games begin and the rumors rip.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsext...ctid=92&articleid=20110401_202_B1_HOUSTO54679
by: DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist
Friday, April 01, 2011
4/1/2011 7:42:19 AM
HOUSTON - Thousands of college basketball coaches, athletic directors, university officials and fans started flooding into this city Thursday as March Madness melded into April Angst.
It's not just the Final Four teams and their fans who are feeling the anxiety build in anticipation of Saturday's national semifinal games at Reliant Stadium.
Tomorrow's two contests and the NCAA Tournament's national championship game Monday night are only part of a myriad of activities during a four-day, nonstop celebration of hoops.
One of the biggest events is also the most unorganized. It's the chaotic rumor mill that rolls on 24/7 through the lobby of the coaches' hotel concerning those job openings.
That's why it's also a weekend of clandestine meetings and wheeling and dealing involving coaches, ADs and search firm headhunters.
Who knows? Perhaps Oklahoma's next coach will be identified, interviewed and hired by the time the last team of the 2010-11 season is still standing late Monday night to cut down the nets.
It's unknown if OU athletic director Joe Castiglione will be in town. If he is, you might overhear him whispering that famous line, "Houston, we have a problem," which the Sooners certainly do in their effort to replace Jeff Capel.
How much trouble has Castiglione encountered in the search? Five words can answer that question: Bruce Weber and Steve Robinson.
That's apparently not an April Fool's joke, because both names have surfaced as potential candidates. Or maybe it is, because Weber and Robinson make absolutely no sense.
Robinson is an assistant at North Carolina after he failed in many ways in two attempts to be a head coach at Tulsa and Florida State. He was a public relations nightmare at TU, and he lost enough with the Seminoles that he returned to the security of Roy Williams' bench.
Other reports had Weber, the embattled Illinois coach, making a move up Castiglione's ever-changing short list.
It didn't take long for the reaction to follow after Weber's name was linked with OU.
"Bruce Weber? Really? Wow!" one coach wrote in a text. "(OU) must be getting desperate."
Another coach texted that the Illini Nation would probably pick up the moving costs if OU makes that hire because "Weber is not a favorite of Illini fans."
A sportswriter who covers the national college sports scene asked in an e-mail: "Bruce Freaking Weber? Oh, Lord."
While waiting for my luggage at Houston's Hobby Airport, a head coach who shall remain nameless walked over and went all John McEnroe on me when he said: "Bruce Weber? You cannot be serious!"
If you read the Tulsa World's wall-to-wall Big Dance coverage of second- and third-round games two weeks ago at the BOK Center, you know all about the quirky, goofy Weber, whose team beat Nevada-Las Vegas and was eliminated by Kansas.
So there is no need to waste time rehashing why Weber would be a horrible fit at OU.
The fact Weber's name is even in the conversation shows you just how shallow the pool for viable candidates became once Buzz Williams opted to stay at Marquette.
OU obviously can't attract three of the Final Four coaches - Connecticut's Jim Calhoun, Kentucky's John Calipari and Butler's Brad Stevens. While Stevens would be in the same home-run category as when Castiglione hired Bob Stoops to coach football, he has no interest.
That leaves Virginia Commonwealth coach Shaka Smart. The initial reaction to Smart's candidacy was predictable. Castiglione got burned last time by hiring VCU's coach (Capel), so why take a chance at déjà vu all over again?
The Final Four coaches are too busy for interviews this weekend. But Castiglione could talk to people like Wichita State's Gregg Marshall if the Sooner AD decides to visit Houston.
Smart's work during this tournament has been remarkable. It's attracted the interest of other ADs who need a coach, including North Carolina State and Missouri. Marshall's name is also in play at those schools.
While he's the unquestioned "media darling," at the moment, Smart is winning games with players recruited by Anthony Grant, who replaced Capel at VCU and eventually moved on to Alabama.
The No. 1 requirement to land the OU job is the ability to recruit. Either the applicant needs to possess that ability, or can hire a couple fireball assistants who will be relentless in their efforts to bring in players good enough to win in the Big 12.
Under each program's present condition, the jobs at N.C. State and Mizzou both rank ahead of OU. The person Castiglione eventually hires will inherit a mess on the scale of what Stoops walked into back in December 1998.
Pardon the pun, but one has to believe Smart is smart enough to comprehend the staggering challenge awaiting OU's next coach. Toss an ongoing NCAA investigation into the mix and it's understandable why Castiglione's list apparently includes some weird names.
Another potential candidate was added within 15 minutes of my arrival at the media hotel. A Big 12 Conference official slyly suggested it might be wise to check the status of Terry Stotts, the former OU player who has been the head coach of two NBA franchises.
Hey, when compared to Weber and Robinson, Stotts looks like the second coming of John Wooden.
So, let the Final Four games begin and the rumors rip.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsext...ctid=92&articleid=20110401_202_B1_HOUSTO54679
