Un answered ?

[Marquette65]

In all that has been written, said etc.  NO ONE has answered, addressed or even raised the ?  When , if at all, did IU ask for permission to talk to Crean?

Can some one PLEASE shed some light.

[79Warrior]

In all that has been written, said etc.  NO ONE has answered, addressed or even raised the ?  When , if at all, did IU ask for permission to talk to Crean?

Can some one PLEASE shed some light.

It appears they did not, which should not come as a suprise to a tarnished programn.

[Daniel]

Is persmission necessary to talk to another coach or is it just courtesy?
Good point though....

[ChicosBailBonds]

In the story today it said Cottingham was caught flat footed that he accepted the offer, but it doesn't say whether he or Wild knew conversations were going on for the last few days with permission.

It's a good question and it will be interesting to see what MU does about it....if anything.

[TallTitan34]

I was wondering about this too and how there was no mention of it.

[The Lens]

In the story today it said Cottingham was caught flat footed that he accepted the offer, but it doesn't say whether he or Wild knew conversations were going on for the last few days with permission.

It's a good question and it will be interesting to see what MU does about it....if anything.

Chicos, do you think MU's Jesuit influence would let this legal matter lie or will they "sweep the leg"?  If the Cuban thing is true, IU can be held for a decent ransom.

[Sir Lawrence]

Chicos, do you think MU's Jesuit influence would let this legal matter lie or will they "sweep the leg"?  If the Cuban thing is true, IU can be held for a decent ransom.

The Cuban thing was a joke. 

[Pardner]

In all that has been written, said etc.  NO ONE has answered, addressed or even raised the ?  When , if at all, did IU ask for permission to talk to Crean?

Can some one PLEASE shed some light.

It appears they did not, which should not come as a suprise to a tarnished program.

Hmmm....this from a program who has five head men's BB coaches still on their payroll?  I cannot imagine that they wouldn't ask permission...but then again, last night, I couldn't imagine TC not letting SC know he was jumping.

[Marquette65]

I don't know the answer if permission to talk to is necessary or just a courtesy, but here is why the answer is important--If you assume that Crean in under contract and IU contacts Crean or his reps w/o asking for permission, IU can be sued by MU for interfering w/ contract and inducing Crean to break a binding legal contract.  Depends on how hard line MU wants to be.  Can threaten a suit and get concessions such as, no contact w/ MU recruits, not taking any MU recruits w/ him, not taking any staff w/ him etc.

[Marquette65]

can some one please explain the " Cuban thing" I have not sen any reference to it.

[MUDPT]

I heard from a good source tonight, that the first info. the players got was a text message to be at the Al to go to Crean's house.

[LovinCrowder]

I think the Cuban thing has to do with Mark Cuban???????

[Jumping Jesuit]

The conspiracy thickens.  So . . . the Cubans were involved with this the entire time.  Raul--so much like his brother, Fidel.  Cubillan will transfer to IU at the behest of Chavez.  Now it all makes sense.

[Tugg Speedman]

I don't know the answer if permission to talk to is necessary or just a courtesy, but here is why the answer is important--If you assume that Crean in under contract and IU contacts Crean or his reps w/o asking for permission, IU can be sued by MU for interfering w/ contract and inducing Crean to break a binding legal contract.  Depends on how hard line MU wants to be.  Can threaten a suit and get concessions such as, no contact w/ MU recruits, not taking any MU recruits w/ him, not taking any staff w/ him etc.

Employment contracts are fairly open-ended.  Courts will not force you to honor it - that is called slavery in other circles.  So, an employee (Crean) that has a contract can walk from it whenever he sees fit, and for whatever reason he wants.  They usuallyhave "non-compete" clauses a certain period of time (i.e., cannot be a D1 head B-Ball coach for 1-year is fairly standard) .  These non-competes can be "bought out" as specificied in the contract.

The permission thing comes from the professional ranks.  Leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA) can agree to honor each others contracts and not speak to a coach under contract without seeking permission first.  The NCAA has no such provisions.  So, asking permission is just a courtesy and nothing more.

[bilsu]

My gut feeling is that Crean approached IU first.

[Tugg Speedman]

My gut feeling is that Crean approached IU first.

See the TV interview last night in Indy.  Crean essentially said he approached them.  Listen to what he said closely.  I interpret it as he said to somebody not affiliated with IU (maybe a Harbuagh with Indy ties maybe??) that "They might want to call him."  Then Crean went home and was minding his own business and, SURPRISE the phone rang!  IU then asked if he wanted to talk about the IU job.  Then Crean said "since you CALLED me, sure."  This way Crean can accurately say he did not contact IU.

On the flip side, see Crean's press conference today.  Rick Greenspan (IU AD) said no one else was offered the job.  He is correct.  Tony Bennett was asked through back channels if he was interested.  Maybe they discussed some specifics through the back channels, but ultimately he said no.  This way IU can accurately say they only offered the job to one person, Crean.

This is not new.  This is how it ALWAYS works.  ADs never call coaches out of the blue to gauge interest.  They ask someone who knows the coach to ask if they should call.  Or, a coach that knows of an opening, asks someone who knows the AD to tell them they might want to call him, if interested.

Added Later .....

Cottingham is getting, and has gotten a list of those back interested through the back channels now.  The list is definitely not zero.  Sounds like he is bouncing those names off Cords to see who he should call back.    Also, keep in mind that the MU job is only 24 hours old.  So, their are other coaches (Miller? Bennett?) that are talking to their wives and agents about the possibility that they let it be known they would be receptive to a call.  These decisions are not made in five minutes.  So, those names will trickle into Cottingham for the next several days.

[ChicosBailBonds]

In the story today it said Cottingham was caught flat footed that he accepted the offer, but it doesn't say whether he or Wild knew conversations were going on for the last few days with permission.

It's a good question and it will be interesting to see what MU does about it....if anything.

Chicos, do you think MU's Jesuit influence would let this legal matter lie or will they "sweep the leg"?  If the Cuban thing is true, IU can be held for a decent ransom.

If it has legs, no pun intended, I would hammer IU and Crean on it.  I actually wrote up a bit on that early this morning.  The problem is that it comes down to typical legal points on whether a contract was truly breached, etc.


Here's what I wrote

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2008/04/time-to-put-cottinghams-acumen-to.html

[Tugg Speedman]

Above I talked about the back channels that are used 100% of the time to find a job.  Well, their is an example in the paper today.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=735084

"It has a winning environment," said Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese, referring to Marquette's program. "They have restored the fan base. The facilities. They are in the Big East. Those are all important things in establishing what the program is in the eyes of potential candidates."

Tranghese said he had spoken with MU athletic director Steve Cottingham Wednesday morning and the two discussed potential candidates. Tranghese declined to mention names.

Tranghese said he gave Cottingham three possibilities and Cottingham already had those names on his

Tranghese said MU is fully capable of attracting an experienced coach with a track record of success or a top assistant.

Tranghese, as BE commish, has a vested interest in MU staying a top program.  He is not making up names to sound cool.  He gave Cottingham three names that told him they were interested in the job.  Tranghese also thinks they can keep MU near the top which is why he went out of way to tell Cottingham.

Same with this:

ESPN's Dick Vitale said he didn't want to speculate about coaches who have a job coming to Marquette.

"I'm going to tell you a guy who doesn't have a job who they should be looking at and that's Peter Gillen," Vitale said, referring to the former Xavier, Providence and Virginia coach. "To me, a guy like that becomes very attractive. I know that he has had opportunities, but he is not going to jump to any job. Marquette is not just any job."

Again Vitale is not pulling names out of his a$$.  Guillen probably told him he was interested and since Vitale probably does not know Cottingham, this is his way to get his name out their.

Not saying from these names will the next coach come.  But make no mistake, Cottingham is getting calls and indications of interest, lots of them.  Hopefully the person that they have identified has already contact them.  If so, the process will be very easy.

[BrewCity83]

It's just like how Tom first started dating Joani.  Tom didn't approach her...he asked one of her little friends "does Joani like me?  Does she just like me, or does she like me like me?"

[ChicosBailBonds]

Peter Gillen....wow.....this must be one of the many guys on the list of fantastic coaching candidates I read about last week. 


Incidentally, a reporter I emailed said there was a buyout in the 6 figure range.  If so, shame on MU for agreeing to such a low buyout.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Dick Vitale has no credibility if he's suggesting Pete Gillen. Holy cow. What a bad hire that would be.

[downtown85]

The conspiracy thickens.  So . . . the Cubans were involved with this the entire time.  Raul--so much like his brother, Fidel.  Cubillan will transfer to IU at the behest of Chavez.  Now it all makes sense.

I think Crean hired Cubans to wiretap Cottingham's and Wild's offices.  This is going to be called AlGate.