Friday 6 April 2007

College Basketball Coaching Changes

As you probably know, lots of changes have been taking place in college basketball as far as coaching goes over the past few days... here are some of my thoughts.

- Billy Donovan is back, which did surprise me a little. I really thought he would leave for Kentucky. To be honest, I kinda wanted to see him go to Kentucky just to see what he could do (Kentucky is still one of the best jobs in America), but I'm not disappointed that he's staying in Florida. He's already established himself as one of the best coaches in America (maybe the best), and it'll be interesting to see how he builds on the momentum from the titles.

- Bob Huggins to West Virginia was a little befuddling to me... all that buzz and excitement at KSU. Bill Walker will be back after tearing his ACL, and he just brought in a top 3 class to KSU (including Michael Beasley). And he's gone, just like that? Look, Huggy's a great coach. But after all of the scrutiny and allegations at Cincy, and then bolting after one year from the school that brought you back, would you want this guy coaching your team? I'm not sure I would.

- The whole Dana Altman situation was just strange. Hey, I think it's fine that a guy makes the decision to stay where he's happiest... too bad though that he couldn't have made the decision before he decided to accept the Arkansas job.

- I really like the hiring of John Beilein for Michigan. The guy is just a good, good basketball coach. Even if he's not getting all of the top recruits, he knows how to recruit guys that fit into his system and then teach that system to them.

- It's hard for me to even make a guess as to who will be the Kentucky coach. Latest news is that they're going after Billy Gillepsie, but for some reason I just don't see it. I think Mark Few and Tom Crean are the most likely to get the job, but that's pure speculation.

What are your thoughts on the changes so far and who do you think will the Kentucky coach?