Coaching Carousel Recap: Monday
Coaching Carousel Recap: Tuesday
Coaching Carousel Recap: Wednesday
Not as much excitement, but today we will begin at Boston College, where according to Mark Blaudschun, there is a favorite until the candidate pulls out:
BC coaching search odds and Tommy Amaker is still our favorite until he says he is out of the chase. http://t.co/qHo14RW50F
— mark blaudschun (@blauds) March 27, 2014
Meanwhile, Amaker is holding a press conference on Monday.....
Amaker holding a press conference--at Harvard--on Monday. http://t.co/qHo14RW50F
— mark blaudschun (@blauds) March 27, 2014
For some reason I think Mike Hopkins (Syracuse assistant) will likely wind up taking that job. No sources or anything, but it seems like he wants it more than Amaker and BC will eventually turn to him to fulfill the job.
As for a coaching search we have barely touched on, somebody withdrew his name from the Washington State opening:
Mark Fox on persistent Washington State rumors: "There's nothing to it -- and won't be. I love my team at Georgia."
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) March 27, 2014
Other names for WSU include: Marvin Menzies (New Mexico State), Ernie Kent (former Oregon coach) and Leon Rice (Boise State)
Since the news that Masiello did not in fact graduate from Kentucky as he stated on his resume, USF has withdrawn its contract to him, and now Manhattan has placed him on leave:
#Manhattan places coach Steve Masiello on leave http://t.co/yLTls0Ffpp
— ESPNU (@ESPNU) March 27, 2014
This whole situation is just crazy. Not sure how Masiello thought nobody would ever run a simple background check on his graduating from college. It's also amazing to me that it took this long for somebody to realize that he had not in fact graduated. Everybody loses in this situation and is awarded no points.
For Wake, a couple of other names have emerged as possibilities:
Danny Manning & Tubby Smith among names in the Wake Forest coach search http://t.co/UNmhBPU2cI
— Bobby Rosinski (@BobbyRosinski) March 27, 2014
There were rumors that Shaka Smart may have been in Winston-Salem:
Rumor mill churning, I'm hearing Shaka Smart might be in Winston-Salem for Wake Forest job. Nothing confirmed as of yet.
— Brian Formica (@BrianFormica) March 27, 2014
....but apparently he was not:
Just got in touch with Richmond folks, they say Shaka was in the office today at VCU. So there is that. No night trip in the plans.
— Brian Formica (@BrianFormica) March 27, 2014
At this point it has been maddeningly quiet....Dan Collins did write an article that quoted Ron Wellman and what he had to say about the search so far:
"It’s progressing well," Wellman said. "We’re very pleased with where we are right now. There isn’t anything (planned) in the very new future, and I’m talking days."
So there's that....the tone of that article seems to be Wellman hedging his bets. This throws people off who take his word at face value (as to why anybody would do that I do not know), covers him if the search takes longer than he anticipates, and if a coach is announced before then---who cares what RW said anyway about the timetable of the search.
I am getting antsy with the wait. My guess would be that an offer has been extended to the #1 coach on his list (hopefully Shaka Smart), and we are waiting to hear back from him as to whether or not he will take the job. I would take the silence as good, for at least another day, before starting to worry if we are striking out or not.
If there has been an acceptance by a coach there is a lot to work out in terms of buyouts, contracts, and all the other legal jargon that goes on with that.
At first I thought this would be a reasonably quick coaching search, but since Ron Wellman has other duties (right or wrong) to attend to as the head of the NCAA Tournament committee, the coaching search may not wrap up until next week.
Hopefully we will get something out tomorrow, but Mike Buddie and Ron Wellman have done a phenomenal job in this day of age of keeping things wrapped up. MAYBE TOMORROW WILL BE THE DAY!
***UPDATE***
VCU's Shaka Smart will not, despite recent speculation, be the next head coach of Marquette, a source has told @CBSSports. Story coming ...
— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) March 27, 2014
This eliminates one team---it will be interesting to read what all Parrish says in that article about Shaka staying put or possibly looking around still as well.