I ran into a couple stories that claim Kentucky is after Michigan States Izzo. Is that just local here or is it around the country?
Well, us at OSU are keeping an eye on it, seeing as how they may go after Travis Ford. I hear all sorts of names, though I haven’t yet seen Izzo, but Calipari has been mentioned.
They seem to be overreaching, especially with how they dealt with Gillespie.
Well, LAST time out, Kentucky hired Billy Gillispie in part BECAUSE the big names they wanted either turned them down flat or just used them to get more money out of their current employers.
Tom Izzo has won a national championship at MSU, and MAY win another this year. What’s his incentive to leave East Lansing?
No question, Kentucky is a fantastic program, and will be a plum job for the right guy. But I don’t see why a Tom Izzo or a Billy Donovan or ANY coach who has already proven that he can win national championships where he is would jump to Kentucky.
Kentucky would be a VERY appealing job for a guy who’s running an overachieving second-tier program, one that regularly makes the Sweet Sixteen but can’t attract the kind of athletes needed to make a run at the championship.
But basketball skills are only PART of what a Kentucky coach will need. At a school like Kentucky, the basketball coach has to be a charmer who can schmooze with the rich alumni. A pure hoops guy without those kinds of skills (and, apparently, Gillispie had no such skills) will fare poorly there.
Gillispie was an asshole, and…I present Sean Miller, Xavier coach.
If I’ve learned anything about Kentucky basketball over the years, it’s that you should never believe a word of the new coach rumors until you see the white smoke coming out of the chimney of Memorial Coliseum.
So how much money does UK have to throw at a Michigan guy with no ties to Kentucky who is a regular in the Final Four? I’m thinking: not enough.
I can see Kentucky trying but I don’t see Izzo leaving. He’s a major player at MSU now and his influence goes far beyond basketball. Why would a guy leave a job in his native state where he’s almost the AD already, where he’s a regular at the Final Four, leave? Sure, Kentucky is more of a “name” basketball program, but under Izzo, MSU has become one of the elite programs in its own right.
I don’t know enough about Miller’s schmoozing/PR skills to judge if he’d be a good fit, but he’s just the KIND of guy from the KIND of program I was talking about.
He’s built a very good program at Xavier, but Xavier is never likely to go any farther than he’s already taken them. If he wants to go all the way, he’ll probably HAVE to take a job at a traditional power.
Kentucky would be a huge step up for him, in pay, facilities AND talent. It probably would NOT seem like a huge step up for Izzo or Donovan.
Miller’s a likely pick, and currently only 1 hour away in Cincinnati.
That is freaking hilarious!
I think if you look at it from Kentucky’s perspective, why wouldn’t they try to talk with coach Izzo, or at least have him on their list. And other “name” coaches as well that they wouldn’t consider likely to be able to get. Doesn’t hurt to talk. I’d find it pretty surprising, though, if Izzo had actually had any contact with anyone yet, just because of how focused they have been on getting to Ford Field.
BTW, some local (to Michigan) reporter had mentioned to Izzo a few months back that he hadn’t heard an “Izzo is leaving” rumor for a while, and his response was that maybe they had finally figured out he was staying where he was. Oh well.
Just another crazy rumor, but I’d heard someone on the radio today bringing up the possibility of Izzo to Arizona. To me, that’s a great job, much better than Kentucky since there isn’t as much pressure. But still, I can’t see why it’s a better job than Michigan State.
The only one of the big names that makes any sense to me at Kentucky is Calipari.
Amazingly, I am hearing rumors of Pat Summit becoming the new KY MENS Basketball Coach. I don’t see any way that this will happen.
I can see a day when a women might become a head-coach of a Mens college Basketball team. But not Kentucky.
I wonder why they move from one college job to another. They get highly paid and if reasonably successful they can keep the job forever. Izzo is doing well and gets tons of respect here. Moving to Arizona or Kentucky would change a lot of things. He would have to establish recruitment channels and have to win over local supporters all over again.
There are often rumors about him going to the pros. Why anyone would want to do that ,i do not know.
That’s right, because we just allowed African American players on our team what, in 1988?
:rolleyes:
Adolph Rupp The Racist has been gone a long time now.
Far be it for me to speak for notfrommensa, but I think you completely read his post the wrong way. I think he was trying to say you might see a woman head coach in men’s B-ball someday, but it isn’t likely to happen at a traditional power like UNC or UK first.
Thank you, that is exactly what I meant.
There isn’t a lot of rebuiling recruitment channels at places like Kentucky when it comes to college hoops. As for winning over local supporters - huh? Fans at schools like Kentucky are willing to give new coaches complete carte blanche their first few years - because they know their school is capable of pulling in the top coaching talent in the country. Yes, they demand more and expect championships - but they hold everyone to that standard.
Calipari called Kentucky “the Notre Dame of college basketball” today. As an ND fan and graduate I’ll admit that the job has lost quite a bit of luster (a coach like Urban Meyer would never have turned it down if this was 10-15 years ago). But anyone that comes in gets a year or two of “no questions asked” by the fanbase. But after that, you need some decent excuses to hold onto your job if you’re not winning.
I hear through the grape vine that Izzo let it be known last year he could be lured away from Michigan State. Of course, that could just mean he wants to use another suitor to leverage Michigan State into giving him more money. Who knows? His name has also been mentioned in connection with the Georgia job, though Capel and Anderson get mentioned more often. (Probably all three are wishful thinking for Georgia fans.)
But Billy G was in the hot sear for not properly sucking up to boosters.