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Canzano blog: The latest twist on Oregon's quest to replace Ernie Kent
By John Canzano, The Oregonian
March 10, 2010, 8:50AM

The University of Oregon's pursuit of a Pac-10 Tournament championship new head men's basketball coach continued on Wednesday with the addition of a couple of interesting twists.

Kent confirmed to his players that he's not returning. This closes the circle that was opened with the KVAL-TV report during Saturday's game, indicating that Kent was out as coach. Again, athletic director Mike Bellotti and Kent have both refused comment, but also, have not refuted anything that's been reported.

I don't think Oregon needs to be perfect with this hire. The arena is fantastic. The Swoosh Factor is going to help with recruiting, and so I think this becomes a case of making a solid choice. The Ducks are a sleeeping giant when you consider the factors.

Twists...

--- Source inside the Oregon athletic department tells me that Kent's deal with outgoing AD Pat Killkenny included a provision that he must finish above .500 in regular-season conference play in 2009-2010 to keep his job. There were additional criteria to the agreement, but this would explain the curious timing of the Feb. 22 meeting in which Kent was reportedly informed he wasn't coming back. After losing to Stanford and Cal in the preceeding days, Kent arrived at the meeting to discuss his future with Oregon's conference record at 4-10 with only four conference games remaining. Kent needed a sweep of the Bay Area schools to keep his job. It also probably explains why Kent began to go public on Feb. 19 with his campaign to keep the job in the days before getting swept and having his apparent meeting with new AD Mike Bellotti.

Jamie Dixon, Pitt coach, might be on the short list at Oregon as well.--- I'm told that University of Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon is interested in the job, and that there's some mutual interest coming from Camp Swoosh. Remember, this decision will be run through the Beaverton sneaker company. Dixon's contract runs through 2012-2013 at Pitt and he's taken the Panthers (24-7, 13-5 Big East) to an Elite 8 already so I'm not sure if he's posturing here to get some leverage (Read: extension) or if he believes he's done all he can do at Pitt.

--- PJ Carlesimo told a source that he's interested in the job, and I'm told by a UO insider that he's on the short list of candidates. They like PJ, and I like him... he'd be a winner there... but I also like that the Ducks are interested in talking with some others.

--- Gonzaga's Mark Few has an out in his contract for Oregon. We all know that. But what we don't know is if the guy who turned down Indiana, Arizona and others would be interested in jumping to Oregon. I suspect not. But I'd love to see Oregon throw a blank check his way, if only for peace of mind as the search moves forward.

Tubby Smith said he doesn't address rumors.--- People at Minnesota (18-12, 9-9 Big Ten) are worried that Tubby Smith would be among those on Oregon's short list. I'm not convinced that Tubby would leave Minnesota and while I'm hearing some talk of Smith among fans and message boards, insiders say he's not yet expressed interest in the job. He told reporters in Minnesota: "I don't address rumors." And might be reluctant to talk about the job until after the season out of respect for Kent, who hasn't yet been officially dismissed. Either that, or he's genuinely not interested.

--- Hearing there's some momentum among boosters for Texas A&M's Mark Turgeon. Texas A&M is 22-8 overall (11-5 Big 12). He's a former Jerry Green assistant and knows the landscape at Oregon, but he's making $1.2 million a year and I'm thinking the Aggies would resist.

--- I still think there are coaches with NBA experience out there who Nike/Oregon are going to want to talk with about this job. It's curious that UO made the move to inform Kent that he's gone so early, and that it leaked the way it did. It tells me that the decision makers very much know who they want to chase, and that they've got a very short list, which includes PJ and probably 2-3 others.

--- Baylor's Scott Drew has come up, too. But remember, he was chased by Memphis a year ago and wouldn't budge. Also New Mexico's Steve Alford makes $1 million a year and feels about ready to make a move. New Mexico is 28-3 overall. Would Oregon bring in Alford? Yup. Would he work in Eugene? Yup. Keep an eye on that.

Now, back to the tournament...

Jamie would have to be an idiot to go to to the Pac-10 for b-ball. Cowherd was mentioning on the Monday or Tuesday show on ESPN Radio how no one in the west coast cares about NCAA b-ball.

I agree, but Nike is backing up the Brinks truck I fear. Hopefully Mark Few or Steve Alford will be tabbed. My fear is that given Jamie's resistance to Pitt joining the Big 10, he might jump for a ton of money.

(03-16-2010 10:53 PM)Shannon Panther Wrote:  I agree, but Nike is backing up the Brinks truck I fear. Hopefully Mark Few or Steve Alford will be tabbed. My fear is that given Jamie's resistance to Pitt joining the Big 10, he might jump for a ton of money.

Relax Shannon. If Jamie turned down AZ, USC, or Indiana--he surely isn't going to Oregon. There is more to a job than $$, even Nike $$. Sure he was born in Hollywood, but his parents live in NY and he's been in Pittsburgh for 11 years and his kids were born in Pittsburgh.

Get used to it, we will have to hear this every year when there is an opening: "Dixon to XXX". I wouldn't worry too much, Jamie has it made at Pitt and even if he does feign interest, I'm sure it is just to get a few more bucks out of Stevie P. Jamie works very well with AD Peterson and Chancellor Nordenberg and has stated this many times about how great is to work with the support he has from the AD and Chancellor--people you trust, admire and respect.

I agree that if Pitt were to ever join the Big 10+1, then maybe Jamie might more seriously look to bail out. Until then, get used to seeing his face at the Pete.

(03-17-2010 12:15 AM)Yosemite Panther Wrote:  I agree that if Pitt were to ever join the Big 10+1, then maybe Jamie might more seriously look to bail out. Until then, get used to seeing his face at the Pete.

With all due respect, way too many people make it sound like going to the Big Ten is the equivalent of the MAC for basketball and it's some type of massive sacrifice for any BE basketball program that would drive coaches to leave. Are there some teams that slow the game down and perceived to be boring (i.e. Wisconsin)? Yes. However, it's not as if though it's a mid-major conference when you've got Michigan State and Ohio State consistently putting out quality teams, Indiana is a historic program that will come up again and we haven't seen the Big Ten lose basketball coaches to the Big East. If the Big Ten is so horrible for basketball, why did Tom Crean and John Beilein leave Big East jobs for Indiana and Michigan, respectively? If anything, the money from the Big Ten will ensure that people like Jamie Dixon can continue to get paid market rates. Maybe Jim Boeheim would use a conference move as an opportunity to retire since he has a real emotional connection to the formation of the Big East, but Jamie Dixon would be foolish to leave based upon a conference move when Pitt would be able to afford to pay him more than ever before.

(03-17-2010 11:55 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(03-17-2010 12:15 AM)Yosemite Panther Wrote:  I agree that if Pitt were to ever join the Big 10+1, then maybe Jamie might more seriously look to bail out. Until then, get used to seeing his face at the Pete.

With all due respect, way too many people make it sound like going to the Big Ten is the equivalent of the MAC for basketball and it's some type of massive sacrifice for any BE basketball program that would drive coaches to leave.

I did not mean to infer that the level of play in the Big 10 is "MAC-type basketball". The big 10 is a fine basketball conference (except for UPS of course), is it below the Big East for hoops--yes, but virtually all conferences in the country are.

I was just referring to Jamie's comments about why would anyone want to leave the best conference in basketball. Who knows, maybe he didn't mean he might leave Pitt if they left the Big East. He never said as such, people are just reading into what he commented about when the first Pitt to the Big 10 rumor broke a few weeks ago. If he is as good a coach as most people think he is, I'm sure he'd stay on and adapt to the new challenge of Big 10 basketball and be just as successful.

(03-16-2010 10:53 PM)Shannon Panther Wrote:  I agree, but Nike is backing up the Brinks truck I fear. Hopefully Mark Few or Steve Alford will be tabbed. My fear is that given Jamie's resistance to Pitt joining the Big 10, he might jump for a ton of money.

How much better is the pac10 than the B10 right now? Definatley no financial problems in B10. They have 6 teams on the top 20 bb forbes list.
I don't beleive there's anything to it right now, but the possible uncertainty of the BE could play a role. Especially if other stable bcs jobs are offering big contracts. It could have an effect on some coaches' thinking. Who knows.

I have my doubts with this one. He past up many opportunities in the past that was far better jobs than Oregon. This is a big time step down if he actually takes the job.