Will TN be looking for their fourth basketball coach since firing Pearl? (Pearl, Martin, Tyndall). If they keep Tyndall will he be able to recruit? If they don't will the new coach be any good?

I'm not trolling TN, I am a TN fan, and these are honest questions. I look around the league and Auburn has Pearl, Miss St has Howland, and Alabama making a run at Marshall (I don't think he leaves WSU except for like Duke level bball schools). The NCAA will be paying attention to the Vols pretty closely (Tyndall coached well but was a dumb post-Pearl hire unless the plan was for a one year interim).

What happens to TN basketball as the SEC seems to be boosting its bball power?

Well, Tyndall is out. Leading candidates?

I'm hearing there is a good chance Rick Barnes may trade on shade of UT orange for another shade of UT orange....

(03-29-2015 12:14 AM)Blue Dynasty Wrote:  I'm hearing there is a good chance Rick Barnes may trade on shade of UT orange for another shade of UT orange....

Smart is expressing interest in big jobs. Tennessee isn't even out of his present recruiting range. IMO there's your fit. He's young and has an upside. Barnes is looking for a paycheck to see him into retirement.

(03-29-2015 10:29 AM)JRsec Wrote:  

(03-29-2015 12:14 AM)Blue Dynasty Wrote:  I'm hearing there is a good chance Rick Barnes may trade on shade of UT orange for another shade of UT orange....

Smart is expressing interest in big jobs. Tennessee isn't even out of his present recruiting range. IMO there's your fit. He's young and has an upside. Barnes is looking for a paycheck to see him into retirement.

I agree with you on both counts, JR, Smart being a great candidate, and what Barnes would likely be doing - is Smart ready to get out of VCU? This would be a good year with some of the jobs open, though, to my knowledge, he has already turned down what I would consider two superior jobs in UCLA and Illinois.

How many power conference jobs do we know of that are open right now? Texas, Alabama, Tennessee and St. John's? If we agree Texas is the best job, which would be next? SJU for being in NYC? Or the big state schools in the SEC with great resources and potential, in a league ready for someone else to step up to the plate and be a perennial contender with UK and (usually) Florida? If you consider it this way, only one of Marshall and Smart will get the Texas job and if both are ready to move, well one of these other schools stands a great shot of getting one of those names. Chris Mack at Xavier would be a nice candidate for one of these jobs too, and the gentleman at Butler whose name escapes me at the moment.

I find this year's carousel especially interesting. With several big schools (Texas, Alabama) looking at the top tier of coaches, in many ways that is a boost to the next tier as schools that in a normal year would be looking at tier 1 now have to look at tier 2, and so on.

As to TN, I think Barnes is the kind of coach TN needs right now, steady and consistent (16 NCAAs out of 17 years). Slow down the pain and then when Barnes retires in 8-10 years you are a more stable and possibly better program. Might not be the flashy hire, but TN fans (myself included) expect too much. TN is more Buzz Peterson level than Bruce Pearl, but the Pearl era made us thing we deserve Sweet 16 every year.

That being said, if we can grab a "name" mid/low major like Underwood or even take a run at Smart, that would keep some excitement for the program/butts in the seat that we have to have.

I wonder who Texas is going after. I've seen internet rumors saying UT wants to spend roughly $3M/yr on a new head coach. I'd assume they'd need to spend more than that to grab a few of the top coaches.

(03-30-2015 05:32 PM)murrdcu Wrote:  I wonder who Texas is going after. I've seen internet rumors saying UT wants to spend roughly $3M/yr on a new head coach. I'd assume they'd need to spend more than that to grab a few of the top coaches.

They should take Tyndall or Grant.

Going after Shaka Smart though I hear?

(03-29-2015 04:15 PM)Soobahk40050 Wrote:  I find this year's carousel especially interesting. With several big schools (Texas, Alabama) looking at the top tier of coaches, in many ways that is a boost to the next tier as schools that in a normal year would be looking at tier 1 now have to look at tier 2, and so on.

As to TN, I think Barnes is the kind of coach TN needs right now, steady and consistent (16 NCAAs out of 17 years). Slow down the pain and then when Barnes retires in 8-10 years you are a more stable and possibly better program. Might not be the flashy hire, but TN fans (myself included) expect too much. TN is more Buzz Peterson level than Bruce Pearl, but the Pearl era made us thing we deserve Sweet 16 every year.

That being said, if we can grab a "name" mid/low major like Underwood or even take a run at Smart, that would keep some excitement for the program/butts in the seat that we have to have.

As long as Barnes can recruit Atlanta, Memphis, and UT should be fine.

If Smart is really happy at VCU, then good for him. But if he wants to move up to a higher profile spot, then I think he should do so sooner rather than later, simply because before too long he may find that he's no longer be the hot young commodity. He's still doing a good job, but it's now twice in a row that he's bowed out (albeit in OT) in the first round of the tournament. Particularly if another young African-American coach makes a splash, he could find his options more limited.

Having said that, I also think that he's smart (no pun intended) to not simply take any P5 job that comes along - there are a number of places that are ultimately "trap" jobs where it'd be tough to succeed. I do think that despite their football-first focus, Texas would be a good spot for him. They have a ton of resources, and Austin is a great town that would be an asset in recruiting. The Big 12 has a prime Big Monday slot on ESPN, and while there are a lot of good teams there's only Kansas to contend with at the highest level.

As for UT, I agree that Barnes is not the worst hire they could have made. After all the turmoil there he could steady things for a while, and while at 60 he's still got some good years left he's also not someone you'd necessarily be committed to for the long haul.

Texas lands Shaka Smart.

Alabama is still hunting.