Basketball Coaching Carousel
April 1st, 2008 | by The Prowler |Every year Jamie Dixon’s name is floated around as the lead candidate for just about every opening in college basketball. So far no one has been lucky enough to lure him away from Pitt, and it seems unlikely that it will happen this year either. The jobs that he was being rumored for this season weren’t steps up so there didn’t seem to be any real threat of Dixon leaving. But until the jobs are filled, some of us still bite our nails because anything can happen.
The last of the jobs (at least so far) that Dixon has been “linked” to this off season, Indiana, was filled this evening by Marquette’s Tom Crean. I couldn’t see Dixon going to Indiana, and am surprised Crean did, because the situation there is a mess. In all likelihood, between NBA defections and players dismissed from the team, all five starters from this year will be gone next year. In addition, the school has a major black eye thanks to Kelvin Sampson and will likely be placed on probation, keeping them from competing in the post-season next year and maybe longer. This isn’t to say that Indiana isn’t a good job in itself. It is a very storied and successful program. The issue is that Sampson left such a mess that it makes the job less desirable at this point.
Beyond all that, there was no good reason for Dixon to go to Indiana. His recruiting relationships seem to be primarily east coast and his roots are west coast. The Midwest is the one place that he doesn’t have great deep connections. Even though I didn’t see any of the various openings as a threat this year, the fact that the positions have been filled allows me to breathe a sigh of relief… for now. There is still a lot that can happen in coming weeks that could bring open a good job. But in reality, how many jobs that are legitimate steps up from Pitt are out there that are likely to come open? I can’t think of any at the moment. Kentucky was a step up type job last year, and I never heard Dixon’s name floated for it. All the top notch programs have coaches. So unless Dixon finds himself unhappy in Pittsburgh, it will take a Roy Williams or Coach K retiring AND that job being offered to him for us to really have concerns.
Anything could happen, though. I am not saying that Dixon won’t leave for a lateral move or even a step down move; but the conditions would have to be just right or he would have to be very unhappy where he is. All the reports I hear are that he is very happy in Pittsburgh.
As far as Tom Crean is concerned, I am surprised he left Marquette for Indiana for two reasons. First, he has done a great job at Marquette and they are a very solid program. Second, as I said earlier, Indiana’s program is a mess at the moment. On the other side of the argument, Marquette doesn’t “fit” the Big East and I suspect Crean knows that. The Big East is a physical conference often dominated by big men. Marquette has been dominated by quick guard play and finesse. In the end, while Marquette had moderate success in the Big East, I wonder how much this style clash convinced him that he could never lead Marquette to dominating the Big East.
I don’t know why exactly Crean left Marquette. In all honesty, I don’t care. I never liked him and will be glad to not have to watch him drinking Diet Pepsi in the coaches box anymore.
4 Responses to “Basketball Coaching Carousel”
By J.D. on Apr 1, 2008 | Reply
What happens to Marquette from here? I think that’s the interesting question for the Big East. Are they going to delve into obscurity (which I could see happening quite easily) or send shockwaves through the conference with a big hire? I just don’t see anyone who they could bring in that has the right style that would take Marquette to the next level, right away. But then again you never know in the coaching carousel.
By The Prowler on Apr 1, 2008 | Reply
It is an interesting question I never thought about. You are right that, at least in perception, Marquette isn’t a glamorous job. Crean did a good job there, but Marquette doesn’t scream respect the way some other jobs do. I can’t see another Big East coach taking the job. I guess there is always the mid-major pool where you can get a good and proven coach. For example, Mark Turgeon left Wichita St. for Texas A&M and that seems to be working ok for A&M after the first year. Who knows, maybe Davidson’s coach or something like that.
As you say, it is hard to see someone bringing in the right style to make Marquette a great team right away. To have long term success in the Big East, I think they need a coach who will play Big East basketball, which will set the program back a few years while they recruit.
Who knows.
By buccoboy on Apr 5, 2008 | Reply
I agree with your last paragraph 100%. I have no idea why Crean would take the Indiana job. I know his reasoning was “it’s Indiana”, but they are facing multiple sanctions, possible tourney suspensions, possible loss of schollies, etc.
After graduation, early departures and the expulsions, Indiana will FIVE schollies for next year. They’ve already lost one key recruit, and are going to be in some serious trouble to even find capable bodies deserving of a schollie.
I can not understand some that say he’ll get plenty of time to rebuild. While Indiana hasn’t been elite in bball for a long time, their fanbase believes they are. They won’t put up with losing for more than two years.
I also believe Crean had the perfect opportunity at Marquette. First they don’t have a D1 fball team, so bball is king. Crean’s father-in-law is the Athletic Director, so he has some job security there. Finally, he was in the BEast, a far superior conference to the B10.
On a side note, I love the site! I’ve been reading for a while, but finally had time to post!
By The Prowler on Apr 5, 2008 | Reply
Buccoboy,
Thanks for the kind words about the site. I am always happy to hear about readers enjoying what we do. I only lament that we are in an inbetween time where updates are hard to come by because news isn’t really happening.
I guess one way to look at Crean going to Indiana, and the perception that Indiana is still a good job even though it is a mess, would be to consider Ben Howland. UCLA was far from its heyday when he got there. The same goes for pre-Roy Williams UNC. Both schools were in the midst of down periods when these coaches came in and completely transformed the programs back into the ones that tradition remembers. Indiana, with the right coach, could do exactly the same thing. Whether Crean is that coach or not, I don’t know. But he is certainly a proven and successful coach with a clean track record. The only real difference between Crean’s situation and Howland/Williams’ situation is the mess that Kelvin Sampson left. UCLA and UNC weren’t in trouble with the NCAA when their programs were fixed. I don’t think that the sanctions that Indiana is likely to face will impact the long term success they can have as long as they give Crean the benefit of the doubt for a few years while things get straightened out. For a program that has multiple national championships, patience can be hard to have. But changing coaches every 3 years will keep them from ever being a national power again.