[Rosiak's Blog] All's quiet on the coaching front

[ToddRosiakSays]

All's quiet on the coaching front

Written by: Todd Rosiak


Despite my best efforts over the weekend, it was tough to get a handle on what was going on with regard to the coaching search at MU.

That's not necessarily indicative of anything, though.

There's a good chance the administration has used the past couple days to meet more closely with Buzz Williams, who still appears to be the front-runner for the job. Considering his overall lack of head-coaching experience, and the fact he's been at four schools in the past five years, it's important the decision-makers feel comfortable with what he's all about and what his plan is to move the basketball program forward.

What Williams has working for him at this point would appear to be the school's desire for continuity and stability within the program, his familiarity with the remaining players and signed recruits and his ability to recruit.

If an announcement isn't made by mid-week, though, that likely would signal there's a movement afoot to try to talk to a few other candidates. At this point it doesn't appear MU has formally interviewed anyone other than Williams, although Xavier's Sean Miller, Washington State's Tony Bennett and Virginia Commonwealth's Anthony Grant are all known to have not reciprocated interest expressed by MU late last week.

MU did not send anyone to the Final Four in San Antonio to meet with prospective candidates, but considering how most deals get done in coaching searches, that's not that big a deal. Third parties are used more often than not, both on the coaches' end to get his name out, and also on the university's end, to measure a prospective target's interest in a job. Face-to-face meetings usually don't occur until a deal is fairly close to being done.

Should there be no decision by mid-week, one prospective candidate that might be getting a closer look could be Southern Illinois' Chris Lowery. Lowery is 96-41 in four seasons in Carbondale, taking the Salukis to the NCAA tournament three times (including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2006-'07), and has Midwestern roots (he's an Evansville, Ind. native).

Lowery signed a seven-year contract extension with Southern Illinois last off-season that pays him $750,000 a year. Reportedly, the deal also includes a $400,000 buyout.

Two new names I heard over the weekend were Kentucky assistant Tracy Webster and Baylor coach Scott Drew. It's unclear whether either had been or is on MU's radar screen at this point.



http://blogs.jsonline.com/muhoops/archive/2008/04/06/all-s-quiet-on-the-coaching-front.aspx