Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Welcome to the Big Ten
Dear Coaches Smith, Lickliter, and Beilein,
Welcome to the Big Ten Basketball Coaching Fraternity. You will find a dedicated fan base, heated rivalries and hostile arenas, much like you have seen in the Big East and SEC. (Todd, it's a bit different than the Horizon League, but given your 2006-07 schedule, you should be able to handle it.)
While your ADs and fans expect big-name recruits and NCAA tournament berths, the rest of the conference expects you to represent the heart of the Midwest with integrity. Please. Your programs have been under the shadow of sanctions (or an ugly bird) in recent years, and you are expected to banish them.
As an Illini fan, I hope you enjoy your first trip to Assembly Hall, and that you help us maintain our dominating home-court record. Oh, and if you change your mind about your new jobs, you won't be alone...
Sincerely,
Alma Mater
Illini fans: For those in Champaign who want just a bit more college basketball, check out the Ultimate Basketball Challenge, a fundraiser for the Illini wheelchair basketball teams and Coaches vs. Cancer, April 11, 7 p.m., at Huff Hall.
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Welcome to the Big Ten Basketball Coaching Fraternity. You will find a dedicated fan base, heated rivalries and hostile arenas, much like you have seen in the Big East and SEC. (Todd, it's a bit different than the Horizon League, but given your 2006-07 schedule, you should be able to handle it.)
While your ADs and fans expect big-name recruits and NCAA tournament berths, the rest of the conference expects you to represent the heart of the Midwest with integrity. Please. Your programs have been under the shadow of sanctions (or an ugly bird) in recent years, and you are expected to banish them.
As an Illini fan, I hope you enjoy your first trip to Assembly Hall, and that you help us maintain our dominating home-court record. Oh, and if you change your mind about your new jobs, you won't be alone...
Sincerely,
Alma Mater
Illini fans: For those in Champaign who want just a bit more college basketball, check out the Ultimate Basketball Challenge, a fundraiser for the Illini wheelchair basketball teams and Coaches vs. Cancer, April 11, 7 p.m., at Huff Hall.
Labels: John Beilein, Todd Lickliter, Tubby Smith
# posted by Alma Mater : 10:31 PM
Friday, March 23, 2007
Coaching Turnover
It's that time of year folks...it's time for coaching turnover. There are usually a number of firings and openings in any given year but whenever there is a vacancy at the top of a major high-level program, you can always expect the dominoes to really start falling.
That's the case now that Tubby Smith has left Kentucky to coach at Minnesota (By the way, Minny is paying Tubby $2.5M per year. Combine that with the fact that I think they had to buy out Monson's contract and I wonder where they got their loan from?)
I always find watching the coaching turnover fascinating but this year I will be a little bit more nervous than usual since so many of the Big Ten openings will directly impact Illinois.
To that end, Andy Katz was on Mike & Mike this morning and gave his take on the vacancies and who might fill them:
Kentucky: Says they will go after Billy Donovan (Florida) and Rick Barnes (Texas) but both will probably stay put. Thinks Tom Crean (Marquette), Jay Wright (Villanova) and Mark Few (Gonazaga) are the top candidates.
Michigan: Thinks they'll go after Kevin Stallings (Vanderbilt) or Lon Kruger (most recently of UNLV but also a former Illinois, Florida and Hawks coach). (A Kruger hire to Michigan scares me the most because we know he can recruit pretty well, which would put even more pressure on Weber.) Katz says Michigan will want someone with a very clean background. Gee, I wonder why?
Iowa: Had the least amount of info for this one but did mention Dana Altman of Creighton.
Stay tuned....
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That's the case now that Tubby Smith has left Kentucky to coach at Minnesota (By the way, Minny is paying Tubby $2.5M per year. Combine that with the fact that I think they had to buy out Monson's contract and I wonder where they got their loan from?)
I always find watching the coaching turnover fascinating but this year I will be a little bit more nervous than usual since so many of the Big Ten openings will directly impact Illinois.
To that end, Andy Katz was on Mike & Mike this morning and gave his take on the vacancies and who might fill them:
Kentucky: Says they will go after Billy Donovan (Florida) and Rick Barnes (Texas) but both will probably stay put. Thinks Tom Crean (Marquette), Jay Wright (Villanova) and Mark Few (Gonazaga) are the top candidates.
Michigan: Thinks they'll go after Kevin Stallings (Vanderbilt) or Lon Kruger (most recently of UNLV but also a former Illinois, Florida and Hawks coach). (A Kruger hire to Michigan scares me the most because we know he can recruit pretty well, which would put even more pressure on Weber.) Katz says Michigan will want someone with a very clean background. Gee, I wonder why?
Iowa: Had the least amount of info for this one but did mention Dana Altman of Creighton.
Stay tuned....
Labels: Billy Donovan, Dana Altman, Jay Wright, Kevin Stallings, Lon Kruger, Mark Few, Rick Barnes, Tom Crean, Tubby Smith
# posted by Chief : 8:23 AM
