College BB's Silly Season has begun!

[asutrnr81]

Looks like there are quite a few landing spots available!

[asu66]

Looks like there are quite a few landing spots available!

I've only posted a small sample of the contract expirations and outright firings--maybe only a third of the current vacancies in D-I. There will be many more in the next three weeks as the annual game of musical chairs begins in earnest and folks start job-hopping.

[asu66]

Surprise, surprise...Anthony Grant gets to stay at 'Bama...

Alabama AD Bill Battle released the following statement in support of head coach Anthony Grant:

Over the last year I have spent a fair amount of time with Coach Anthony Grant. I have watched our team practice. I have watched them play. We have had several philosophical discussions. In every meeting we have had, I came away impressed with his character, with his knowledge and belief in his approach to the game, with his commitment to win championships at Alabama, and with his ability to recruit and develop players, both on and off the court.

At this level of collegiate athletics there is a very fine line that separates winning and losing. The 2013-14 men's basketball season has been a disappointing one. Many factors shape a season. We made some strategic decisions going into the year, both with scheduling and with players, that didn't work out like we planned.

Our mission is to recruit and develop student athletes to compete at the highest levels in their sport; to educate and prepare those student athletes to compete at the highest levels in life after graduation; and to do both with honor and integrity. Our men's basketball program is doing all of those things, but this season that did not translate into the level of success we all desire on the court.

According to the latest ESPN.com RPI rankings (as of March 11), Alabama's 2013-14 schedule ranks second on the list of the nation's difficult overall schedules. Sometimes a tough non-conference schedule toughens you up and prepares you for conference play; other times it shakes your confidence. Some years it seems you win most of the close games. Other years you can't find a way to get over the hump. After three 20+ win seasons, this year we found ourselves in the latter category.

College basketball is in an interesting place in 2014. The power of the NCAA Tournament appears to have diminished interest in the regular season. The "one and done" rule has had a greater impact on the game than just those players that come and go after one year. The mindset of many players (and their parents and friends) is, "I'll go pro after a year!" When that doesn't happen, the mindset is often, "It can't be my fault. It must be the system." As a result there were some 500 players that transferred last year. These factors make recruiting and coaching college basketball players even more challenging, as it is difficult to build the senior-laden teams that were more prevalent in times past.

Without solid leadership, this year's team could have folded at several points in the season. Coach Grant and his staff stayed the course and did not panic when things were going bad. The team continued to play with effort and competed hard, even after many of the preseason goals were out of reach. I am very proud of our strong finish, with our younger players stepping up their game. I am impressed with the development of our freshmen, Jimmie Taylor and Shannon Hale, encouraged about the leadership potential of our returning veterans, and looking forward to seeing a highly-rated group of signees join our team.

Off the court, Coach Grant's teams have been very successful in the classroom, consistently averaging high NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores. Alabama leads all SEC men's basketball programs in APR percentage and its APR ranks in the top 10 percent of all Division I men's programs. We led all SEC men's basketball programs in 2013 with six players named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll. In addition, every senior that has played for Coach Grant at Alabama has earned his degree.

When considering the overall health and direction of a program, all of the aforementioned factors need to be considered. Simply put, this is a program that is not adrift, and is not devoid of leadership and talent. I believe this is a program that has better days ahead.

The expectations of competing for championships and a high postseason finish remain. There is much that is right about our men's basketball program at this time. Coach Grant has earned the chance to continue building this program into the winner that we all know it should be. He's done it before. He can do it again.

We need your support in making that happen. I encourage you to rally around our team next season, to become a part of our success, and to help our team reach its potential.

Read Full Story Here:
http://www.rolltide.com/genrel/031414aaa.html

[huskie3]

College basketball is in an interesting place in 2014. The power of the NCAA Tournament appears to have diminished interest in the regular season. The "one and done" rule has had a greater impact on the game than just those players that come and go after one year. The mindset of many players (and their parents and friends) is, "I'll go pro after a year!" When that doesn't happen, the mindset is often, "It can't be my fault. It must be the system." As a result there were some 500 players that transferred last year. These factors make recruiting and coaching college basketball players even more challenging, as it is difficult to build the senior-laden teams that were more prevalent in times past.

Good find Chuck. I agree that players wanting to transfer is a big problem, it causes resentment and jealously among the players and that affects coordination of effort during games and problems in the locker room. I think it is a problem of evaluation on the part of both coaches and players; coaches don't spend enough time looking at character of recruit and players don't look at coach's methods and disposition. It would help if coaches would not take transfers so quickly and easily. If they have problems at one place, it is likely they will at another.

[wataugan03]

I would like to know how many transfers decided to leave despite their coach wanting them to stay; how many wanted to stay, but were pushed out by their coach; and how many wanted to go and their coach also wanted them to go.

[huskie3]

I would like to know how many transfers decided to leave despite their coach wanting them to stay; how many wanted to stay, but were pushed out by their coach; and how many wanted to go and their coach also wanted them to go.

Unfortunately coaches and schools are restricted as to what information they can give out about the transfers. There are some tags those in the business are able to read into as why the player is transferring. Players are freer to give out info, most wisely are advised not to.

[WVAPPeer]

Many times the transfer works out very well for the kid and the new team --- more teams are losing players other than seniors and there are a lot of slots to fill - some kids do it to better themselves not because there was trouble where they were ---

[asu66]

If JJohnson is out at VaTech, JBzdelik at Wake can't be far behind.

VaTech Relieves Johnson of duties

Virginia Tech Director of Athletics Whit Babcock announced today that James Johnson has been relieved of his duties as head men’s basketball coach. In making the announcement, Babcock said a national search for Johnson’s replacement will begin immediately.

“I want to thank Coach Johnson for his dedication and hard work for our university and our basketball program over the past seven years,” Babcock said. “A change of this significance affects many people and is never taken lightly, but I felt a change and a new direction was necessary for the long term, best interest of our department.”

[eggers76]

A couple of rumors from Twitter fwiw

Travis Hancock ‏@TBoneWFNZ 19m
Per John Feinstein's sources, Wake will not be firing Jeff Bzdelik

Travis Hancock ‏@TBoneWFNZ 16m
@KennyKeller_CSN They will, according to the source, fire 2 assistant coaches instead of JB

[asu66]

Ron Wellman strikes again. He found scapegoats to save his buddy's job. Meanwhile, ASU waited too long and let Pearl get away. Off to Auburn he went...what a huge surprise. Not.

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- New Auburn coach Bruce Pearl wasted no time making an impression- and some bold promises.

Pearl hired as Auburn coach, The SportsXchange
Auburn hires Bruce Pearl as head coach, SB Nation
Bruce Pearl is hired by Auburn, NBC Sports

Bruce Pearl is back and he'll make Auburn relevant Yahoo Sports
The former Tennessee coach sprung for pizza for several hundred students Tuesday a few hours after arriving in town, some of whom took selfies posing next to him. Then he told a couple thousand fans at Auburn Arena: ''We will play for championships.''

''We're fixing to get Auburn into that position where we'll be going to the NCAA tournament,'' he said, adding that he wanted to be the winningest coach in program history.

Before stepping away from the podium, he proclaimed: ''I'm baack.'' Then Auburn fans sang Happy Birthday to Pearl, who turned 54 on Tuesday and suggested they celebrate at the NCAA tournament next year.

The Tigers turned to Pearl to revive a struggling basketball program that hasn't made that field since 2003, causing quite a splash in a football-mad state. Athletic director Jay Jacobs landed his top target with a 6-year deal starting at $2.2 million annually, less than a week after firing Tony Barbee. They first spoke at the ESPN studio where Pearl had been working last Friday night.

Pearl will receive $100,000 raise each year and will owe Auburn $5 million if he leaves in the next two years, Jacobs said. It made the $2,100 tab for pizza easy to swallow.

Pearl's NCAA penalty has yet to expire. Auburn officials indicated they didn't know how they'd handle that situation. "We had to move before he signed with one of our conference mates."

[hapapp]

Man, I bet we could have landed him if we only upped the ante. I think he could have been lured to Boone if we could have offered him $2.5 m a year.

[ASUMountaineer]

If I was a wealthy WF fan/donor, I would be so angry right now. Unbelievable.

[asu66]

The scapegoat plan (trial balloon) that Ron Wellman ran up late last week apparently got jammed back in his face. Even as I pound my keyboard at 5 PM on Thursday, Wellman is meeting with the press to announce that Jeff Bzdelik is out at Wake.

The job openings are popping out all over...

Add Washington State, Montana State and Boston College to the growing list. Locally, Chip Baker is out at D-II Catawba.

[HeffnerIV]

The scapegoat plan (trial balloon) that Ron Wellman ran up late last week apparently got jammed back in his face. Even as I pound my keyboard at 5 PM on Thursday, Wellman is meeting with the press to announce that Jeff Bzdelik is out at Wake.

The job openings are popping out all over...

Add Washington State, Montana State and Boston College to the growing list. Locally, Chip Baker is out at D-II Catawba.

Not to get this started again, but WRAL in Raleigh phrased their headline as "Wake Forest Parts Ways With Jeff Bzdelik"

[asu66]

This would tend to raise the hair on the back of Mike Rhoades' neck if he thought he was the "new-coach-in-waiting" at FAU.

Multiple sources are reporting that Florida Atlantic may be targeting Ohio State associate head coach Dave Dickerson as a possible replacement for Mike Jarvis. The relationship between Dickerson and FAU AD Patrick Chun seems to be a strong one. Chun spent 15 years in the athletic department at Ohio State before becoming the AD at FAU in 2012. Before joining Thad Matta's staff at OSU, Dickerson was the head coach at Tulane (68-84 5 seasons). He also spent nine years as an assistant to Gary Williams at Maryland.

[asu66]

Now that so many schools missed the dance completely; or had a first-round-one-and-done, the coaching rumors are starting to fly, for example, try these two...

Wake Forest expected to court Texas HC Rick Barnes

Duke assistant Steve Wojeiechowski's name has come up in conversation concerning the vacancy at USF. Manhattan's Steve Masiello is considered the frontrunner.

[Kgfish]

Speaking of WF, I wonder if anyone in Boone has thought of contacting Gino Gaudio?

[BurlingtonApp]

While I doubt we have, I would love to get Dino Gaudio in Boone. He was an excellent recruiter and solid x's and o's guy at Wake, but there was apparently a lot of trouble with him not fitting in with the Wake Forest "southern gentleman" profile. He rubbed some folks the wrong way. I don't see that being a problem at App, so I'd be thrilled to get him.

[Goapps15]

While I doubt we have, I would love to get Dino Gaudio in Boone. He was excellent recruiter and solid x's and o's guy at Wake, but there was apparently a lot of trouble with him not fitting in with the Wake Forest "southern gentleman" profile. He rubbed some folks the wrong way. I don't see that being a problem at App, so I'd be thrilled to get him.

Let's just say he was not fired for his team's on court performance. He had some issues at Wake off the court. If he's gotten those aspects cleared up then I'd be willing to give him a call.

[ASUMountaineer]

While I doubt we have, I would love to get Dino Gaudio in Boone. He was an excellent recruiter and solid x's and o's guy at Wake, but there was apparently a lot of trouble with him not fitting in with the Wake Forest "southern gentleman" profile. He rubbed some folks the wrong way. I don't see that being a problem at App, so I'd be thrilled to get him.

I have suggested him before, but most people seem to think that it is out of the realm of possibility. I don't know the issues that people speak about at WF, but App is certainly a very different situation.