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Mike Rhoades, associate coach at VCU has accepted the Rice job.

Shaka Smart is said to be going to Marquette.

Marquette and Wake Forest are both interested in Smart. We'll see.

I figure that both Duke and North Carolina are going to have their coaches retire in the next five years or so. That will be very interesting to watch when the time comes. Unless Smart poops the bed at another job in the meantime, I would think he'd be in the conversation. I hope Haase does so well here that UNC looks at him as well.

Smart turned down UCLA last year. Wake Forest would be a huge surprise. With Duke, NC, Syracuse and now Louisville, I can't see anyone succeeding at Wake Forest. He would be successful at Marquette.

I would guess that the successors at Duke & NC would be Duke & NC former players and/or coaches.

I would think of Johnny Dawkins keeps Stanford at a high level, he'll be the guy Duke hires.

(03-26-2014 08:38 AM)the_blazerman Wrote:  I would guess that the successors at Duke & NC would be Duke & NC former players and/or coaches.

Maybe. The thing is that whoever takes those jobs will be "the guy following the guy", especially at Duke. That's a tough gig.

Sure, there's that impulse to keep it in the family. Duke could hire Wojo. And they just might. Then again, the AD's would be very smart to carefully look at the options and hire the very best coach he can get, family ties be damned. It's the AD's butt (and job) on the line if the new coach fizzles.

Then you get around to how much influence Krzyzewski and Roy Williams have on the hire.

Thinking about it, I guess you'd have to throw Jim Boeheim's name in the hopper too, as another HoF coach who might decide to retire in the next three to five years. Those three jobs would be very very attractive and start a lot of dominoes falling. I also have to figure that when these guys do retire, they'll be leaving a team behind that's in pretty good shape, not a train wreck that has to be rebuilt from spare parts, so the jobs will be that much more desirable.

(03-26-2014 10:23 AM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  

(03-26-2014 08:38 AM)the_blazerman Wrote:  I would guess that the successors at Duke & NC would be Duke & NC former players and/or coaches.

Maybe. The thing is that whoever takes those jobs will be "the guy following the guy", especially at Duke. That's a tough gig.

Sure, there's that impulse to keep it in the family. Duke could hire Wojo. And they just might. Then again, the AD's would be very smart to carefully look at the options and hire the very best coach he can get, family ties be damned. It's the AD's butt (and job) on the line if the new coach fizzles.

Then you get around to how much influence Krzyzewski and Roy Williams have on the hire.

Thinking about it, I guess you'd have to throw Jim Boeheim's name in the hopper too, as another HoF coach who might decide to retire in the next three to five years. Those three jobs would be very very attractive and start a lot of dominoes falling. I also have to figure that when these guys do retire, they'll be leaving a team behind that's in pretty good shape, not a train wreck that has to be rebuilt from spare parts, so the jobs will be that much more desirable.

When Coach K, Boeheim and Williams retire, expect the mentions of Gene Bartow to skyrocket as he is the go to reference about following a legend.

(03-26-2014 08:55 AM)hooverblazer Wrote:  I would think of Johnny Dawkins keeps Stanford at a high level, he'll be the guy Duke hires.

I think Dawkins needs another win or two this year and a solid next year to really be in the conversation. Duke can afford to be picky.

If Brad Stephens had not taken the Celtics job I would have said he was pretty much perfect for the Duke job. The Celtics though, that's an absolutely elite job so far as the NBA goes. It's hard to see him leaving that unless he simply decides that he likes the college game better.

Who else... Pitino is 61 and with Louisville moving to the ACC he's another who might decide to hang it up within the next three to five years as well. Might relish the challenge and stay a while, who knows with these guys. It gets down to hunger, ego, and health when a coach is up into his sixty's.

Dawkins, I think was pretty close to the hot seat prior to this Sweet 16 run.

As for Stevens, if he is like most college coaches who tries their hand in the NBA' he will be back in the college ranks soon, and will have his choice of college jobs.

Calipari and Pitino (at the Celtics) both failed in the NBA and and came back to open arms in college basketball.

I get the impression that Stephens is doing pretty well, considering what he had to work with in terms of the roster and the injuries the team has had. The team seems to respect him, his knowledge of the game and his prep. For a young coach he seems to be very much in control of the team and well liked.

Add in that the Celtics have two first round picks in the next draft, so their record being poor this season helps them there.

I think that it will come down to how much Stephens enjoys the pro game, his success in the NBA, what the offer is and from whom, and the timing. I still think he's a coach that most AD's would lust after, if they could get him.

Dawkins - that was my perception too, and that what he has done this season gets him off the immediate hot seat but does not set him up for the Duke job unless he continues on an upward arc. I think Wojo has the inside track at Duke if there is any sense of letting someone sizzle in the hotseat following Coach K, reset to follow. I don't think he's a no-brainer pick as a first option. Again, a lot depends on how Coach K plays it.

I agree about Stevens. Going to the NBA was a brilliant move. I don't think he would have wanted to jump from Butler to another college job based on what he had said about His love for Butler and his loyalty to the school. Going to the NBA was the right move. Either he becomes successful and has almost lifetime job security (they recycle coaches) or if he fails, he becomes the hottest commodity on the college job market.

Add in that coaching the Celtics is starting at the top in the NBA. He got lots of money, and if he does go back to college, well, he was hugely successful at Butler and he coached the Celtics in the pros.

Leaving the NBA didn't seem to hurt Pitino or Calipari. It damn sure wouldn't hurt Stephens.

Is Marquette offering Smart a lot more money? If not, I don't know why Smart would leave VCU. I think the A-10 and Big East are going to be similar conferences going forward. I'm not sure what else Marquette would provide him.

I think Marquette can compete better in the new Big East than VCU can in the new Atlantic 10. Also, the TV contract is better in the Big East.

Marquette is the better program.

It would be perceived as a step up.

All these eldercare coaches may very well have notions of retiring earlier than later as they may want to have a retirement life to enjoy all that money they have made. How many want to chance "dying in the traces" like older coaches have (or live in senile dementia as a few are doing now). We may have seen the last of "lifelong coaching" that we saw with Paterno and Bryant. Most coaches have grandchildren to take time with too.

Of course, I imagine that making $7 million a year and more may become addictive.

Shake rumored to have turned down Marquette.

Since we're talking coaches, how about Billy Donovan? He's not yet 50, is he? With two NC's already, and a decent bet to take another this year. The only coaches I can think of with three NC's since Wooden are Krzyzewski and Jim Calhoun.

That pretty well takes him into the HOF, and he's still quite young for a HC.

Second to Rupp in all time SEC victories. That surprised me.