Who takes over at Kentucky?

[willie warrior]

I do not see Wright leaving Villanova for Ky. It would be a step down from a conference standpoint--the BEAST is #!. he is building a powerhouse at Villanova.

I do not know how well he is paid. I could see him nibbling with Ky., just to get more coin out of Nova.

Calipari is already making huge bucks, as is Donovan. I think Calipari has the program really rolling at Memphis, and will stay, unless Ky. throws in Fort Knox. Then he may bite.

I would not be surprised that Ky. cannot get one of the"names", so will settle for Ford or Pelphrey--both Ky. alumni.

Just out of curiousity---would they make a play for Bob Knight?

[punchystones]

No way Anderson leaves what he has built just in three years at Mizzou to go Georgia.  Alabama would be considered because it is home but in the end he will stay at Mizzou as they are going to give a bump in salary to at least $1.3M plus incentives and five years added to his current contract that has two years left.

[Blackhat]

No way Anderson leaves what he has built just in three years at Mizzou to go Georgia.  Alabama would be considered because it is home but in the end he will stay at Mizzou as they are going to give a bump in salary to at least $1.3M plus incentives and five years added to his current contract that has two years left.

1)Has not built a whole lot at Mizzou especially once they get blown out by UCONN
2) No one wants to stay in Mizzou country if they don't have to and if Georgia has to they are offering 2 mil. 

[punchystones]

Yeah Stone Cold do not know what I was thinking....31-6, Big 12 Conference Tournament Championship and a run to the Elite 8 in just his third year taking over a program that was on probation is building a lot.  My bad, clearly you just have diarrhea of the mouth and have no clue or knowledge of anything you talk about.

[Blackhat]

Yeah Stone Cold do not know what I was thinking....31-6, Big 12 Conference Tournament Championship and a run to the Elite 8 in just his third year taking over a program that was on probation is building a lot.  My bad, clearly you just have diarrhea of the mouth and have no clue or knowledge of anything you talk about.

Clearly you're a Mizzou fan who needs to run along now.  Great program you guys got, we're all envious.

[punchystones]

Actually I am a Marquette fan....I just get sick of reading posts like yours that pretend to have a clue of what you are talking about when it is painfully obvious you have zero knowledge of the subject.  Then, once called out you resort to name calling or hiding behind the facade that you are the best Marquette fan on the planet.  Have some knowledge of the subject before you go running off your mouth.

[Blackhat]

Actually I am a Marquette fan....I just get sick of reading posts like yours that pretend to have a clue of what you are talking about when it is painfully obvious you have zero knowledge of the subject.  Then, once called out you resort to name calling or hiding behind the facade that you are the best Marquette fan on the planet.  Have some knowledge of the subject before you go running off your mouth.

I know all about your beloved Missouri and I happen to not hold them in as high esteem as you, sorry you can't handle it....as for a Marquette fan well puncystones you've got 4 posts now and not one of em about marquette, I guess we'll see. 

[Eye]

Bob Knight could clearly handle the pressure of the job there, but UK also needs a guy who can recruit right now (which is a big part of the reason the fan base became dissatisfied with Smith). Knight is more interested in fishing and hunting than recruiting. Now if you could get a guy that would be willilng to do all of that while being compensated well with little to no recognition, and let Knight do all the game coaching from October to March ...

[VegasWarrior77]

I found this interesting:

The quote below is from Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy dated 3-27-09:
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=532151

"Last time, AD Mitch Barnhart ignored the ideal choice, Tom Crean, and allowed his search firm to guide him toward Billy Gillispie. Not even two years later, Barnhart was forcing out Gillispie claiming, "The chemistry is just not right."

A capable administrator would have anticipated that possibility and pursued Crean, who is showing at Indiana he has all the qualities required to be a smash at UK: coaching aptitude, recruiting ability, a great politician's flair for distributing his message."

[Eye]

Crean wouldn't fly at UK IMHO. They'd see right through his "fakeness" for lack of a better term just like a decent percentage of the fan base did at MU.

[bma725]

Crean wouldn't fly at UK IMHO. They'd see right through his "fakeness" for lack of a better term just like a decent percentage of the fan base did at MU.

I don't know about that, in fact I think UK fans want the kind of "fakeness" that Crean brings.  They don't care if the feelings are genuine as long as you show up to the places they think you should show up, and act the way they think you should act.  Rupp and Hall and Sutton were cantankerous SOBs that hated doing the things UK fans thought they should, but they faked their way through it because they understood the fan base.  To be the coach at UK, you have to be part coach part politician, which is right up Crean's alley.

In fact, I'd argue that Crean is a much better fit for UK than he is for IU. 

[VegasWarrior77]

I think Crean has proven he can build a top 25 program.  What remains to be seen is if can he build an elite program.  Anything less at IU (or UK for that matter) is unacceptable!

[avid1010]

I found this interesting:

The quote below is from Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy dated 3-27-09:
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=532151

"Last time, AD Mitch Barnhart ignored the ideal choice, Tom Crean, and allowed his search firm to guide him toward Billy Gillispie. Not even two years later, Barnhart was forcing out Gillispie claiming, "The chemistry is just not right."

A capable administrator would have anticipated that possibility and pursued Crean, who is showing at Indiana he has all the qualities required to be a smash at UK: coaching aptitude, recruiting ability, a great politician's flair for distributing his message."

As I understand it the same search team that hired BG is responsible for hiring Sampson at IU...seems like they look for coaches with good character. 

[NavinRJohnson]

Crean and Gillespie are kinda the same guy - builders. Crean would not have fared any better in his first two years, and I suspect the same level of disconnent may be there. The area he may have been better was in lowering expectations as he has done at IU. He has done a great job of selling the message that it is gonna take a loooong time, which BG failed to do. Whether that is his fault, or teh fault of an unrealistic fan base, I don't know.