Author: Coach Z (Page 6 of 38)

College basketball lost one of it’s good guys today when Bucknell coach Pat Flannery retired. After 14 years at his alma mater he will move into fundraising for the university.

Flannery, a fiery sideline coach and great teacher, will be most remembered for his back to back first round (NCAA tourney) victories over Kansas and Arkansas. He also had Bucknell ranked in the top 25. Can you tell me any other coach who had the type of run he had at that level. There is none. Sure some made the tournament, but none won a game when they got there.

He will be greatly missed by a profession that needs more men like him!

The million dollar man has arrived in Stillwater and it’s not Bill Self or a big name. Travis Ford took UMass to the NIT this year and coached Eastern Kentucky to one NCAA tourney appearance. He still finished 20 games under .500 at E. Kentucky. It is unbelievable to me that $1.3 million a year will be paid to a coach who has been to 1 NCAA in his first 7 years as a Division I head coach. That’s nuts. Then again the AD at OSU if a former golf coach. Must be suffering from too much sun on the golf course.

I am not saying Ford is a bad coach, but with so much money at your disposal you can’t tell me you are not capable of hiring someone with a bigger name and more of a track record. Ford’s best performance may have come in the movie Sixth Man. However, if he is smart he will hire former Missouri State coach Barry Hinson. Hinson is well known and very popular in the area. The downside is he has a better record than Ford. Good luck in turning it around in a hurry!!!

Stanford Update:

Former asst and current ODU head coach, Laine Taylor, appears to be a front runner, but don’t count out Fran McCaffrey from Siena.

UMASS Update:

Look for Derek Kellogg (Former player and current Memphis asst.) to be at the top of the pack. That is if the AD has any sense.

After dalliances with LSU and Providence, Travis Ford (UMass) pulled the trigger today by accepting the Oklahoma State head coaching position. His run at UMass combined with the rebuffs by Bill Self and Billy Gillespie led Mike Holder (Cowboy AD) to hire Ford.

On the surface it is a strange hire. Ford’s run at UMass only got his team into the NIT which is something that the fired Sean Sutton did. Also, his ties are to the East Coast and a more sensible hire would have been Chris Lowery from S. Illinois or even Tim Jankovich (Illinois State), who know the Big 12 and led the Redbirds to the NCAA tournament this year. Just another bizarre hire this year. Not quite as much of a reach as Craig Robinson at Oregon State or Rex Walters at San Francisco.

Providence nabs Keno Davis. One and done is not only for players. Drake head coach Keno Davis took the Providence job after a once and a lifetime year this past season. Time will tell if he is a “one hit wonder.”

This new round of hirings means there are only three sizable jobs still open. Drake could bump up the other Davis assistant (Chris). Stanford is looking for the right fit and UMass could go after Fran McCaffrey, who led Siena to the NCAA tournament this year. McCaffrey would be a great choice seeing he is the only coach to take three different non-bcs schools to the big dance.

The suspense is over (lol). Michael Beasley of Kansas State announced today at a press conference that he is entering his name into the NBA Draft. This news could have been delivered with a press release, but you have to give Kansas State credit for holding a press conference to announce the obvious. I am surprised The Schwab wasn’t in attendance after his last podcast on the upcoming NBA draft.

The marketing department at Kansas State should be given big kudos for setting this announcement up. If it was Kansas it would not be more than a blip on the screen, but since it is the Wildcats it is huge news. Now the question is, can Frank Martin reel in another player as good as Beasley. My bet is no, but I do believe that Martin has the ability to stockpile more talent than any coach in recent memory at Kansas State.

The challenge now begins for the Wildcats to stay at the top of the league without the built in advantages that Texas and Kansas have at their disposal.

As far as Beasley, if there is anyone who questions his decision they need to have their head examined. I believe that a college education is a valuable thing, but if he wants, he can come back for his just as Jordan and Shaq did (just to name a few). As I have said before, college is about preparation for the rest of your life. If you are guaranteed millions then you need to go ahead and take it.

This announcement means Kevin Love and Derrick Rose will drop in the draft.

Moves from East Coast to West Coast continue with the hiring of Rex Walters (Florida Atlantic) at San Francisco. On the surface this hire looks as bizarre as the hiring of Craig Robinson at Oregon State. Walters, who is coming off a losing season at Florida Atlantic, is 31-33 as a head coach. That means that this AD forced out Jessie Evans for a guy with a losing record. Let me say that again. The AD at San Francisco fired a coach with an overall winning record to replace him with a guy with a losing record. Oh, and by the way, this same AD spent money on hiring a search firm to find this gem. When will she lose her job?

Marist Update: There are two left standing at Marist. Memphis assistant Chuckie Martin and Tom Herrion (Pitt) are the final two candidates. My money is on Martin.

Getting back to Florida Atlantic. This job is a sleeping giant. Not only have they boosted budgets, but they have spent millions on renovating the arena and locker rooms. More importantly, they have a power forward by the name of Carlos Monroe who has NBA potential.

Look for a slew of former coaches to be all over this job. Mike Jarvis (St. John’s), Eddie Sutton (OSU) and Jim O’Brien (Ohio State) will all be involved. Odds are the AD will try to make a splash like when he hired Matt Doherty a couple of years ago. Hiring Eddie Sutton would be a perfect match with football coach Howard Schnellenberger. Then they would have two of the oldest coahes in college sports today.