Well, the whole "change em up, mix em up" coaching carousel has begun. The University of Dayton lost their head coach to the ACC as he left for the Clemson vacancy. Michigan State's Associate Head Coach, Brian Gregory, is headed to Dayton to take over that job.

Pitt's coach has left for the storied UCLA program. I have not heard who will replace him yet.

Western Kentucky is in need of a new coach, as their head coach left to take the prestigious, but troubled, role at Georgia.

Roy is apparently staying put after his ultimatum was met by the Kansas administration, so UNC is still up for grabs.

Some big changes yet to come, but we are already off to an interesting beginning.

Skip Prosser is staying at Wake Forest. ESPN is reporting he's signed a 10 year deal. A wise move on his part. Why leave Wake Forest for Pitt? Howland did a fine job building the program, but Wake's got to be considered a better job, no?

A 10 yr deal with Wake means he'll stay 3-5 yrs, that is if he gets Wake back to the caliber it was when Tim Duncan was a player there.

No story to link to yet, but a breaking news headline from the Kansas City Star: Roy's Going to Carolina!

Press conference at 9:30 ET tonight in Chapel Hill. What could they possibly have to announce? :confused:

ESPN.com is reporting the same thing: Williams leaving Kansas to coach alma mater

Teary-eyed meeeting with his KU players this afternoon? Not consistent with him staying.

The ironic thing about all of this is that, Roy stated that he would seriously consider staying if the A.D. would resign or get fired. Well, that happened last week, and he still left for North Carolina!! He will truly be missed in the Big 12(being a Texas alum), and I wish him all of the best with the Tar Heels!! BTW, it was stated by one of the ESPN analysts, that this relocation by Roy Williams from Kansas to North Carolina, will create the biggest domino effect in coaching relocation in college basketball history!!

Changes expected to occur:
1) current Illinois coach Bill Self to Kansas
2) current Marquette coach Tom Crean to Illinois
3) current Milwaukee Bucks asst coach(unknown name) to Marquette

All of this, and the University of Pittsburgh is the only major college basketball team still searching for a coach!! Wow, this week started with a bang, and the fireworks have just begun!! I would have to say, on Roy's behalf, that the talent at North Carolina right now, and coming in, is far superior to Kansas', and Roy knew that!!

As Tony Kornheiser proposed on PTI today, how about Matt Doherty to Kansas? eek! wink

And last I read, Pitt was reinterviewing their assistant to replace Howland. This domino effect you suggest is a bit unsettling to me though. Williams leaves Kansas, so the kids at Illinois and Marquette (and possibly other schools) have to be impacted?

[ April 14, 2003, 06:57 PM: Message edited by: George_vikingfan ]

I think there are four jobs in college basketball that are, legitimately, head-and-shoulders above every other one: UCLA, North Carolina, Kansas and Kentucky.

Every other job -- even Duke (if Coach K ever were to leave) or Indiana -- is a step below. Three (and very nearly all four) came available in the last few weeks and I think it's natural that openings at those schools would cause a domino effect.

But I don't think many more dominos will fall. Pitt went in house. (Digression: I think Pitt is a better job than Wake, given the Big East's current dominance and the fact that Pitt has excellent, brand-spanking-new facilities that are a coach's wet dream.) And if Illinois loses Bill Self (who is part of the Kansas family, having been an assistant to Larry Brown there), I don't Illinois is a top tier enough program to line up a bunch more dominos to fall.

[ April 14, 2003, 09:22 PM: Message edited by: Charlie in the Trees ]

CIT-I gotta ask.What criteria are you basing your ranking of the top jobs in college ball on? UCLA has not been a major force since Wooden left,although Harrick did manage to win one title.Not really sure that Kansas belongs up there either-I think the last 15 yrs are more a reflection of Roy than any inherent strength in the program as a whole. One title since the Phog Allen days,and that was journeyman Larry Brown,and I'd never consider him as worthy of heading a COLLEGE program that is head and shoulders above everyone else. :confused:

Prestige. My perception of their prestige. These are college basketball's blue chip programs; they can generate lots of favorable publicity even in down years.

Duke and 'Zona, to name two examples, have great programs now, but they are the product of a single great coach. Take away Coach K or Lute Olsen and what would you have? UNLV without Tark the Shark.

Great points made, Charlie!! Great analysis as well!! I am a huge college basketball (men's and women's)fan. On my personal list, it ranks right behind pro and college football!!

[ April 15, 2003, 03:20 PM: Message edited by: SmoothRon ]

ESPN.com has a complete list of coaching changes and vacancies.

Still a couple of nice jobs available besides Kansas. Western Kentucky, Western Illinois, East Tennessee State, Drake among others.

Hey CIT-no quarrel regarding Duke and Zona.In fact if you had ranked those johnny come lately Arizona Wildcats among the elite- then I'd be upset.

If you're talking prestige,I'm still not sure Kansas and UCLA fit the bill.Wooden was the prestige at UCLA-they aren't a traditional power and I don't think they have a lot of fans,just spoiled,impatient ones.Roy was able to turn Kanasas into a perenial player on the national scene,because of his recruiting prowess.Outside of the Jayhawks,I don't consider Kansas a hotbed of basketball.Whoever they hire will face the challenge of maintaining the pipeline to national recruits,especially in California,that Roy was able to establish.

Kentucky is a given,and UNC because of not only Dean,but also Frank McGuire.For some reason you ranked IU at a lower level,and I guess that's what made me curious as to your criteria.We've won more titles than Kansas and UNC combined, and as many as Duke and Carolina put together.UK and IU are unparalleled in terms of fan support in basketball crazy states.The fan base encompasses the whole state and every kid in Kentucky and Indiana dreams of playing at UK or IU.That's definitely not the case at UCLA or Kansas.In both Indiana and Kentucky,football season is just the prelude to basketball season- it really is an all year thing.I've lived in quite a few other parts of the country and no one embraces basketball the way people in Indiana and Kentucky do.

OK I'm done,and you are entitled to your opinion-unenlightened as it may be. :cool: Hey,I've been an IU fan for close to 40 yrs, before I ever heard of Bob Knight.I remember even as a kid,all of IUs' games were broadcast thruout the entire state on the IU tv network. People in this state are brought up being IU fans,and it is passed down from generation to generation.Does anybody outside of Westwood REALLY care about UCLA? :confused:

Not ALL the people in the state of Indiana are IU fans....

Tim- Go to ncaa.com and you will find under College Basketball championships:

1) UCLA - 11
2) Kentucky - 7
3) Indiana - 5
4) North Carolina - 4

and further down the list, you will find Duke with 3, and Kansas with 2. I just wanted to let you know that Indiana hasn't won more championships than both North Carolina and Kansas combined, and they haven't won a championship since 1987. UCLA does have more than any other school, so that builds into the prestige of coaching there!!

Hey Purdue Fan-just the ones that count,lol just kidding.Hey Smoothron-I stand corrected.For some reason,I was thinking Deans' 2 were the only 2.Carolina actually having 4 (1 less than IU) means they are justified in being listed with UK,IU and the other traditional elite.If you want to include UCLA,go ahead.It's a high profile job,but I'm not sure that since Wooden left I'd call it a prestige job.They were never a traditional power prior to Wooden- a Hoosier btw and I'm not sure they've been much of a power since he left.My original complaint was in excluding the # 3 (in terms of titles) Hoosiers, in favor of teams that we are easily the equal of.As to a basketball junkie like myself not being aware of McGuires 2 previous titles-I wasn't born till '55.I knew the Hoosiers won twice before my birth,but I don't know ALL of the previous winners by heart,only the ones from about '70 on.

And what's scary is that Duke's titles all came within the last 12 yrs (1991, 1992, 2001).
Carolina's last title was during that time span as well (1993).
Havent seen IU in there

Indiana was my bubble team for including in the list of the prestige programs. I left IU off, I think, because of the unseemly way they canned Coach Knight and ended up with Mike Davis as coach. Maybe you can do that to your program's equivalent to Jim Harrick, but not your Wooden. And while Davis was no Roy Williams coming home out of loyalty, he definitely has been no worse than Steve Lavin.

Kansas -- despite winning fewer championships -- belongs in the blue chip group because it's been a consistent winner going back to the birth of basketball as a sport. Didn't John Naismith, who invented the game in Springfield, Mass., coach there?

So I can be convinced that Indiana should've been included and my list should've been five. But the gap to whoever is 6th is huge and I don't see it being closed for a long while.

That's OK, I am used to correcting IU fans. wink And by the way, do you know where Wooden played his college ball...HINT: it isn't IU!!

You boys should play "horse" sometime ... or maybe "house" hehe!

[ April 16, 2003, 02:33 PM: Message edited by: danimal ]

Hey CIT-under the rationale of the way the IU admin treated Knight-all is forgiven.It was shameful,and obviously Brand (an outsider) was intent on making a name for himself within the NCAA.Kind of like the same sort of outsiders that infiltrated the IHSAA and succeeded in reducing the majesty of the Indiana High School tournament to just another lame multi-class excercise in "equality". eek! But I digress...

Btw,on PTI today Kornheiser listed his top 5 programs and also included IU.You're right about Naismith and the Kansas connection. One of the teams that pre-Knight IU beat for the title was one of Naismiths' Kansas squads.The problem that a new coach at Kansas faces that is dfferent from IU and UK is the lack of homegrown talent. Thats why they need to get a master recruiter like Roy and if they can't get Self,they may experience a fall-off in talent level.I can see the same problem for Duke after Coach K leaves,because North Carolina when all is said and done is a UNC fan-heavy state.

Which brings me to my friend- Purdue Fan.Not sure what you "corrected" me on,of course I realize that not every single person in Indiana is an IU fan.Just the overwhelming majority of them. Thats the price of being the "secondary" university in a state. :cool: Sorry-just couldn't resist. I'm sure you realize that when I was talkng about pre-Wooden,I was refering to his days coaching at UCLA,not his career as an All-American guard at Purdue.Talk about irony,I was actually rooting for Mount and the boys in '68???- the only year they got to the title game and lost to UCLA by 30+.I didn't like them,but I hated UCLA, so it was the lesser of 2 evils.

Another opening becomes official. From ESPN.com:

Well, my butt still hurts from the spanking that Marquette put on UK in the tournament, but I am really glad that the university was willing to put up that much $$ to keep Tubby as head coach. $2.5m per year for 8 years, and I thought I heard some kind of bonus when/if they make it to the final four. I think Tubby is a great coach --he did wonders with this past team, even if the SEC was a smidge over-rated. It bugs me a little (OK, a lot) when I hear the relevance of the '98 title disregarded because "it was Pitino's team", almost like there should be an asterisk next to it or something. Pitino left Lexington, it was Tubby who coached then. And in spite of a few minor to medium-sized potholes along the road, he's hopefully right where he wants to be. Money well spent. Too bad Estill's leaving, they will miss him a TON.

Well, it looks as if the dominoes are beginning to fall!! Illinois head coach Bill Self, accepted the Kansas head coaching job today!! Now, Illinois apparently is putting Marquette coach Tom Crean at the top of their replacement list. I wonder who will then replace Tom Crean as head coach at Marquette.

The idea of Cream moving from Marquette(Milwaukee) to The Illini in booney-ville Champaign-(non)Urbana doesn't strike me as a sure thing. Why not?

Moving from a team that went to the Final 4 to a perennial underachiever in the Big 10 is not like going to a biggie program like UCLA or UNC. I mean .... at least UCLA has the city of LA and the soCal weather (a big plus if you love in Milwaukee) in addition to the history, tradition and exposure that can also be found in Tarheel country.

What does Illinois have? Getting beat up by IU every year and living in the middle of nowhere (and the weather still sucks!)

Just looking at the programs, I think it's almost a lateral move. Yeah I know you're going from Conference USA to the Big10. But Conf USA (with Pitino, Calapari, Rigatoni, Marquette and St.Louis as well as Cinci) is gonna bust out as a major B-Ball league very soon. The Big10, on the other hand, is really sucking.

There are other jobs out there more attractive for Crean than Illinois, we'll have to see what happens. But my guess? Champaign ain't where he's going.

I would hesitate to compare the prestige of coaching in C-USA with the Big 10. No matter what, the Big 10 will always get more television coverage and bigger name opponents. If we were talking Northwestern or Penn State, then maybe the comparison would be more equitable. However, Illinois is one of the more competitive programs in the Big 10. And they should continue to do well, as their recruiting stock are quite strong.

Marquette does not lose any top players who helped them get to the Final Four. However, they were a surprise to get there. They are also a program that has lost its prestige of the 70s. While building it back up may be a worthwhile challenge, Illinois is already in the same league as many of the top teams (not an elite program but on the brink).

Tom C is a Big 10 kind of guy. He was one of Tom Izzo's assistants at MSU. Getting a chance to play Izzo, Indiana, and the rest of the top Midwest schools would be very lucrative.

Overall, Tom C may win no matter what his decision is. However, the draw of coaching a prestigious program in a top conference may win him over to Illinois. Remember that Pitino and Calipari left successful programs to try their hands elsewhere. When they wanted to come back, there were no openings at schools like Illinois. So, they took over programs that were available. It certainly was not the incredible prestige of C-USA.

I beg to differ. when Pitino was leaving the celtics, he had his pick of the litter as to where he would coach. Much of the talk was and IS that had he chosen to take it, the Kentucky job would have been handed back to him. Many in Kentucky were openly lobbying for that.

Again, Illini are not an Indiana or OSU. and Louisville had all but 3 of its games this season Nationally televised, ESPN or one of the broadcast networks. as far as program visibility, Illinois has nothing on Louisville, and Cincy.

I really don't think that the Wildcats were courting Rick Pitino when he left the Celtics. My understanding from all the media is that there is not a great relationship there, because he left for the pros and what many considered the money and prestige of the NBA. And he certainly was not courted by a large number of big programs.

Also, while Louisville has had a bona fide national presence in the past, the program has fallen in the prestige factor the past decade or so.

I also think it is difficult to claim that a conference with only two teams that get any kind of real national coverage is a challenge to the Big Ten which has nationally televised games four days of the week. Between ESPN and CBS, you get plenty of games from the Big Ten.

Plus, the Big Ten has provided 6 Final Four teams in the past five years including a national champ and a runner-up. C-USA has placed one team in the final four, and that was Marquette. Neither Cincinnati nor Louisville have great tournament records as of late.

Regardless, it was announced today that Tom C is staying put and Illinois is looking for a coach still. I think he will win regardless, so he had a great situation.

However, I think 9 out of 10 coaches who aspire to coach at the top of their game would love to coach one of the top Big 10 programs any day.

Big sigh of relief in M'waukee today! Crean got a long term contract extension -- however, with an out -- should Tom Izzo's job at Michigan State become available. (all the buzz on the Marquette Ahoya board was the MSU is the only Big Ten job he wants -- Illinois means nothing.)

Now I hope Crean can persuade Dwyane Wade to stay one more year -- the NCAA championship will be within reach!

Dude! I live in Kentucky. (wow! never thought THAT would ever be an advantage eek! ) and I was dating someone in the UK athletics dept when the whole thing started rolling.

There were not only real, university made inquiries. But also many public outcries on talk radio and in the press for UK to get back Pitino.

In the end Pitino didn't tink it would be kosher to force a friend and his former assistant out of a dream job.