The Swamp

So Collins to Northwestern. Guess that means Wojo sits in the clear heir apparent spot now. Add that to Hurley taking the job at Buffalo. Good week for former Dukies getting head jobs.

Twitter says Shaka Smart is staying at VCU after they guaranteed raises for his assistant. Good guy.

I wonder if Shaka Smart is concerned about his style working at the highest levels? It's works well now when he's getting second-tier recruits and coaching them up. They buy in and get good at what they do, so when they play the big boys who aren't used to that pressure, VCU is able to run them ragged.

That might not work so well at UCLA where the stars don't want to run their asses off for 25 minutes a game - they want to pick their spots for 35 minutes a game. Also, when you play games against Pac-12 coaches twice a year, they'll come up with counters to your constant pressure.

Still, it's very odd to think that a young coach from a non-power conference turned down a job at UCLA. That would have been inconceivable a few years ago.

Rumon on Mike and Mike is that VCU is the next in line to join the revised Big East. I think Shaka is waiting from an east coast job that is attractive.

Louisville presses a lot with better athletes than VCU has. The big east hasn't done a great job of figuring it out. It can be done, but it does take the right players to buy in. You need 2-3 stars and then 4-6 guys who are willing to do the dirsty work for a few years.

Shirley wrote:I wonder if Shaka Smart is concerned about his style working at the highest levels? It's works well now when he's getting second-tier recruits and coaching them up. They buy in and get good at what they do, so when they play the big boys who aren't used to that pressure, VCU is able to run them ragged.

That might not work so well at UCLA where the stars don't want to run their asses off for 25 minutes a game - they want to pick their spots for 35 minutes a game. Also, when you play games against Pac-12 coaches twice a year, they'll come up with counters to your constant pressure.

Still, it's very odd to think that a young coach from a non-power conference turned down a job at UCLA. That would have been inconceivable a few years ago.

It was kind of inconceivable that he turned down Illinois last year, especially since he's from that area(ish). You could field a national contender every year if you could convince a quarter of the top Chicago basketball players to go to Illinois. I will never understand why coaches are not more successful in that job.

That said, I thought for sure he was gone for UCLA. That's still a top five job in college basketball. If only because you can say you had the same job as John Wooden.

Brian - yeah Illinois would have seemed like a great job for Smart. It's the perfect kind of school to step up to - good program with good tradition, but not great. It's not overbearing, so you have a chance to learn how to succeed at that level before you have the bright spotlight on you. It worked out pretty damn well for Bill Self.

AB - Louisville is the one obvious counterpoint to my claim. Even there, I don't think Pitino presses nearly as much as he did in his Kentucky days. And some years (like this one) more than others - when he has the right horses. I think an uptempo, pressing style CAN be done, but it gets harder the better your regular opponents are.

Living out here for as long as I have, I don't think UCLA is the job it used to be. Obviously, there is the prestige and history, but the expectations that come along with it are crushingly high, similar to Kentucky. Howland got killed for just about everything that happened under his watch out here, even when they were making the Final Four three straight years because, to a lot of the fan base, that wasn't enough. No one cares about conference titles (as evidenced by Howland getting booted after winning one). Everyone just wants the big one and that hasn't happened in almost 20 years out here.

I also think that coaches like Shaka Smart and Brad Stevens are establishing a new premise for hot young (or younger) where they will make enough money and have enough fame, etc., but don't need to take the bigger, higher-profile job. Gregg Marshall at Wichita State is possibly on the same route.

Jimmy Patsos is leaving Loyola Baltimore to take the Sienna job. Patsos was a Gary Williams assistant at Maryland and of course is most remembered for having his Greyhound team hold Stephen Curry to 0 points for an entire game (By double teaming him all over the court...Greyhounds lost by 30 to Davidson).

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/coll ... 8790.story" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Minnesota has once again hired Rick Pitino's heir. Gotta respect their persistence.

Former UVA coach Jeff Jones is leaving American to take over Old Dominion.

wlu_lax6 wrote:Former UVA coach Jeff Jones is leaving American to take over Old Dominion.

That's big for Missouri, as Tim Fuller, Mizzou's top assistant and lead recruiter, was up for that job.

No Mike Rice chatter?

devilfluff wrote:No Mike Rice chatter?

See the NCAA meltdown thread.

[throws ball at devilfluff's head]

I hope this kid doesn't go to Kentucky next year. The other 6 McD's AAs Kentucky already has probably are thinking the same thing.

The kid is unreal.



Yes, it's mostly a collection of dunks, but his spin moves and crossovers are equally impressive. He's the best-looking high school player I've seen since LeBron.

Wiggins will probably pick Florida State over Kentucky (I believe both of his parents were FSU athletes). So you may get your wish, but it'll come at the cost of him taking Joe Harris behind the woodshed 2 or 3 times next season.

Joe K wrote:Wiggins will probably pick Florida State over Kentucky (I believe both of his parents were FSU athletes). So you may get your wish, but it'll come at the cost of him taking Joe Harris behind the woodshed 2 or 3 times next season.

Joey Hoops will eat that kid up!

(when he slides to help out Akil Mitchell or Justin Anderson who will probably be guarding him)

Never would have guessed that Wiggins' parents went to Florida State (is that really true?) given that Wiggins is from suburban Toronto. I'd imagine Steve Nash and the rest of the Basketball Canada program are already coveting the kid for the 2016 Olympics.

Anyway, the scuttlebutt up here all winter is that he's not planning to go to college at all.

Scottie wrote:
Anyway, the scuttlebutt up here all winter is that he's not planning to go to college at all.

FSU it is, then!

Solid. Well done.

Scottie wrote:Never would have guessed that Wiggins' parents went to Florida State (is that really true?) given that Wiggins is from suburban Toronto.

Yeah, it's definitely true. His father played 6 seasons in the NBA: career stats, and his mother still holds the Canadian record in the 400m: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marita_Payne. Those are some good athletic genes.

Interesting. Thanks, Joe. Funny thing, in all of the reports I've seen about Wiggins, his parents never get mentioned. I've heard of Mitchell Wiggins. Since his parents were born only a few months apart, I guess we can assume they met at FSU, eh. I didn't recognize his mom's name at all but since I went looking for more about her . . . rules:



Yep. Mitchell did well.

Shirley wrote:I hope this kid doesn't go to Kentucky next year. The other 6 McD's AAs Kentucky already has probably are thinking the same thing.

The kid is unreal.



Yes, it's mostly a collection of dunks, but his spin moves and crossovers are equally impressive. He's the best-looking high school player I've seen since LeBron.

Bobby Hurley said on Cowherd I think that he thought the next Lebron was playing in Canada right now. Not much wiggle room in that statement, though he couldn't mention him by name since he is a coach.

I hope he didn't inherit his dad's love of the booger sugar.

We're #24!

Hodor

Antonio Barton of Memphis graduates in 3 years, gets his release and becomes a college free agent. Terps, K-state and Cuse.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/terp ... 9789.story" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Eli Carter transferring from Rutgers to the Gators. Was down to Florida and Maryland but he cancelled his trip to College Park a few days ago.

Andrew Wiggins is announcing his decision tomorrow afternoon. The schools in contention are FSU, Kentucky, Kansas, and UNC. Most writers have predicted either FSU or Kentucky, although Jeff Goodman of CBS is predicting Kansas. I'll stick with FSU for my prediction, although Wiggins has said that if he goes to Kentucky, he's confident that they'll win the title next year.

It's gonna be FSU.

And Wiggins choose Kansas. I thought it would be FSU too

wlu_lax6 wrote:Antonio Barton of Memphis graduates in 3 years, gets his release and becomes a college free agent. Terps, K-state and Cuse.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/terp ... 9789.story" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Damn, one year rental decides on Tennessee

Cal's new floor:



What say you, Golden Bears? Grrr-RAH! or Grrr-UGH!?

Still 100 times better than Oregon's court.

The colors are blue and gold, not black and gold. They really should figure this out.

(UC Davis appropriated the extreme-dark navy blue in the 70s. When the baseball coach, a former Yankee farm hand, made the navy pinstripes so dark they were black. Since he was also the D-coordinator, they took it over to football. But Gold and Very Very Dark Navy Blue are Aggie colors, dammit!)

For anyone who questions why college football drives university athletic departments:

The Idaho Potato Bowl between Utah State and Toledo outdrew virtually every regular season CBB game last season.

Patrick Ewing nearly went to UNC instead of Georgetown.

The thought boggles the mind. That '83 team that beat the Hoyas in the Finals could have had Worthy, Perkins, Jordan AND Ewing? Holy shit. Hard to imagine Jordan being the fourth best player on his own team, but he would have been.

Have you voted yet, Bengal?

Memphis invites fans to help choose between four new court designs

Duke's Hood injured his achilles
http://www.the-review.com/ap%20sports/2 ... les-tendon" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Adam Morrison going back to the Zags as a student assistant coach.