NCAA Basketball Offseason Thread: We must protect this house from transfers.

[Young Drachma]

ESPN NCAAM Cuonzo Martin accepts Cal job

California has hired Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin to replace Mike Montgomery, sources told ESPN.

Martin has spent the past three seasons in Knoxville and led the Vols to the NCAA tournament this season. He was previously the coach at Missouri State.
Montgomery retired last month after six season in Berkeley. California was 21-14 this season and will lose seniors Justin Cobbs and Richard Solomon.
Martin went 63-41 in three seasons at Tennessee, including a 24-13 mark and NCAA regional semifinal appearance this season.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

[Young Drachma]

I wasn't sure if there was an omnibus offseason thread anywhere, but...figure this is easier since those are daunting.

Anyway, there were lots of murmurs that he'd parlay this good season into a job elsewhere as the fan base was divided about him. Surely Cal must be paying him more? And Pac-12 is nice.

Who does Tennessee get to replace him?

[Ronnie Dobbs3]

Originally Posted by Young Drachma

Who does Tennessee get to replace him?

NOT ACCURATE

Milwaukee TV stations are reporting Shaka Smart has accepted the Tennessee job

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) April 15, 2014

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs3

Milwaukee TV stations are reporting Shaka Smart has accepted the Tennessee job

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) April 15, 2014

No way. He's just joking.

[Ronnie Dobbs3]

Ah I see that now. Damn twitter.

[JonInMiddleGA]

govols247.com @govols247

That was quick Kingsley Okoroh, who committed to the #Vols this morning, just tweeted his commitment to Cal

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

govols247.com @govols247

That was quick Kingsley Okoroh, who committed to the #Vols this morning, just tweeted his commitment to Cal

I thought student athletes chose the school, not the coach. Have I been misled?

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I thought student athletes chose the school, not the coach. Have I been misled?

Of course they're going to play for a coach.

[ColtCrazy]

So two wins in the tourney trumps a subpar career at the school? Interesting. Shame the Shaka Smart thing isn't true for UT, it would be a major upgrade. That said, I think if Smart did want to move he would probably end up somewhere a bit more prestigious. IU perhaps… (/wishful thinking)

[Young Drachma]

63-41 is subpar? Ok he's not Bruce Pearl, but Pearl's not walking through that door in any case.

[INDalltheway]

Cuonzo is a Purdue guy, ColtCrazy is an IU guy. It's that simple.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Young Drachma

63-41 is subpar? Ok he's not Bruce Pearl, but Pearl's not walking through that door in any case.

And for many, that's really the problem. Even AFTER the run in this year's tourney (and really, a nice run down the stretch), you'd have been hard pressed to find more than half the biggest fans who wouldn't have rather had BP on the bench, warts & all.

Prior to that stretch run, Martin was all but out the door IMO (and in that of plenty of other people, I'm not exactly out on a limb here). That saved him ... for now, but it was still going to be a seat that warmed up quickly at the slightest sign of trouble.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Cuonzo Martin’s departure highlights Tennessee's immense level of dysfunction - Yahoo Sports

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Cuonzo Martin’s departure highlights Tennessee's immense level of dysfunction - Yahoo Sports

What that article fails to get, seemingly anyhow, is the real difference between Pearl's tenure & Martin's tenure: under Pearl, UT basketball was interesting, it seemed to matter, people cared. Under Martin, save for what felt like an unbelievable run from players who should have produced more during their own stay, hardly anyone gave a flying fuck.

Maybe that's personalities, maybe that's play style, whatever the case, that's the difference the article doesn't seem to grasp.

edit to add: And, just for those who may not remember, I had my own issues with Pearl's teams as well, seemingly some of the lowest basketball I.Q. squads ever assembled.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Young Drachma

Of course they're going to play for a coach.

the internet really needs a sarcasm font.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

What that article fails to get, seemingly anyhow, is the real difference between Pearl's tenure & Martin's tenure: under Pearl, UT basketball was interesting, it seemed to matter, people cared. Under Martin, save for what felt like an unbelievable run from players who should have produced more during their own stay, hardly anyone gave a flying fuck.

Maybe that's personalities, maybe that's play style, whatever the case, that's the difference the article doesn't seem to grasp.

edit to add: And, just for those who may not remember, I had my own issues with Pearl's teams as well, seemingly some of the lowest basketball I.Q. squads ever assembled.

I thought he reflected the lack of interest pretty accurately as you're describing.

Attendance during Pearl’s final three seasons averaged 18,252. Attendance in Martin’s three seasons averaged 16,218, bottoming out at 15,475 fans per home game this year. (A number admittedly skewed downward by the fact that Tennessee did not host Kentucky for the first time in decades – thank you, conference expansion.)

Then there was this plot twist: Before Martin could launch the Volunteers on a surprising run to within an iffy charge call of the Elite Eight, Pearl returned from NCAA exile to get the job at Auburn. Not only was he back, he was back in Martin’s backyard. That only added to the audible fan angst in Knoxville.

So it should not have come as a complete shock that when Tennessee’s NCAA tourney surge ended, Martin’s eyes started to wander.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

I thought he reflected the lack of interest pretty accurately as you're describing.

That's the numbers, but it went beyond that somehow. That could be attributed to the rather pedestrian record (remember, this last team was on the bubble right down to the wire), this was ... something more.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

That's the numbers, but it went beyond that somehow. That could be attributed to the rather pedestrian record (remember, this last team was on the bubble right down to the wire), this was ... something more.

I think that was pace of play more than anything. They went from a coach with a hyper aggressive tendency to a guy who plays ball control and looks to keep the scoring low. It's hard for any fan base to adjust to that.

[nol]

Cal is definitely a sleeping giant of a program when you consider how much talent comes out of the Bay Area each year. If someone there can keep those guys from going to Arizona, watch out.

[Logan]

Should we turn this into a general offseason thread?

ATTENTION: WE MAY BE HOURS FROM A MIZZOU COACHING SEARCH!!!!!! Prepare yourself, Internet.

As I reported earlier, Missouri’s Frank Haith is a serious candidate at Tulsa. Here’s a quick story explaining why: http://t.co/vpnPVaLj9n

— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) April 17, 2014

Tulsa is in final negotiations to hire Missouri's Frank Haith, barring a last-minute collapse in talks, a source told ESPN.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) April 17, 2014

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Logan

Should we turn this into a general offseason thread?

ATTENTION: WE MAY BE HOURS FROM A MIZZOU COACHING SEARCH!!!!!! Prepare yourself, Internet.

As I reported earlier, Missouri’s Frank Haith is a serious candidate at Tulsa. Here’s a quick story explaining why: Mizzou's Frank Haith is negotiating to become Tulsa's next head coach - CBSSports.com
— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) April 17, 2014

Tulsa is in final negotiations to hire Missouri's Frank Haith, barring a last-minute collapse in talks, a source told ESPN.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) April 17, 2014

Is the bigger question "why does Tulsa want Frank Haith?" Or "why does Frank Haith have to settle for Tulsa?"

SI

[Marmel]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

"why does Frank Haith have to settle for Tulsa?"

SI

Settle? This is a step up!

[MrBug708]

Will Coach Cal, Sean Miller, or Shaka Smart be the top guy?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Will Coach Cal, Sean Miller, or Shaka Smart be the top guy?

It will be interesting. Mizzou's problem has never been drawing interest from good coaches. The problem since Alden removed Norm has always been getting the donors to back Alden with enough money to make it happen. The money is there, but not all of the donors back Alden's philosophy.

Not surprised that Haith is taking this opportunity. He's already been told that expectations in order for him to remain coach after next year are very high. For Haith, I think this achieves two things. He can go to Tulsa and get some job security and rebuild his resume. Second, he'd be much better positioned to stay in a job that would allow him the ability to go back to Texas whenever Barnes does decide to retire. It's a good move for him because he was in big trouble here. Facebook is lit up with posts thanking Tulsa for hiring him. My personal opinion is that you have to be careful what you wish for when a guy who had a W-L record like Haith did leaves a job. I certainly understand why he's leaving, but hopefully those reasons don't scare away good coaching candidates.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

dola

Local TV reporter here in KC just said that Rick Barnes was 'instrumental' in getting Haith the opportunity to go to Tulsa. Given my previous post, that shouldn't shock anyone.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Will Coach Cal, Sean Miller, or Shaka Smart be the top guy?

Perfect opportunity for then to bring back Quin Snyder.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by mckerney

Perfect opportunity for then to bring back Quin Snyder.

***shudder***

[panerd]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

It will be interesting. Mizzou's problem has never been drawing interest from good coaches. The problem since Alden removed Norm has always been getting the donors to back Alden with enough money to make it happen. The money is there, but not all of the donors back Alden's philosophy.

Not surprised that Haith is taking this opportunity. He's already been told that expectations in order for him to remain coach after next year are very high. For Haith, I think this achieves two things. He can go to Tulsa and get some job security and rebuild his resume. Second, he'd be much better positioned to stay in a job that would allow him the ability to go back to Texas whenever Barnes does decide to retire. It's a good move for him because he was in big trouble here. Facebook is lit up with posts thanking Tulsa for hiring him. My personal opinion is that you have to be careful what you wish for when a guy who had a W-L record like Haith did leaves a job. I certainly understand why he's leaving, but hopefully those reasons don't scare away good coaching candidates.

Come on man. I dont understand why I ever try and argue with the board about you. I still don't think they understand that I just get irritated about bagging on Mizzou but this post is beyond ridiculous. Great coaches want to come here but Alden is the problem? Texas conspiracy? It would be hilarious if he went to Texas but no program is as stupid as Mizzou was in hiring this guy. (Well I guess besides Tulsa)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by panerd

Come on man. I dont understand why I ever try and argue with the board about you. I still don't think they understand that I just get irritated about bagging on Mizzou but this post is beyond ridiculous. Great coaches want to come here but Alden is the problem? Texas conspiracy? It would be hilarious if he went to Texas but no program is as stupid as Mizzou was in hiring this guy. (Well I guess besides Tulsa)

1. The tension between donors and Alden is well known. It's not even remotely a secret. It's the reason he didn't have the money needed to get a better coach last time.

2. There's no Texas conspiracy. There's little question that Barnes and Haith are extremely good friends and that he'd love to bring in Haith to replace him. I would think that most Mizzou fans are thanking Barnes for getting Haith off their bench. It's obvious he was on a very short leash at Mizzou.

I think it's extremely fortuitous that Mizzou was able to exit this situation in this manner. With that said, we need to land a good option this time because we've got a great class coming in that could all leave if we don't get the right guy.

[cartman]

What an amazing turnaround. Rick Barnes went from clearly being replaced by Buzz Williams to getting to handpick his successor.

[cartman]

The tension between MBBF and Mike Alden is real well known. Check out this gem from over 8 years ago.

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

You'll hear it in the coming days........

Mike Alden out as AD at the University of Missouri.

Leading candidate for the AD opening? Jon Sundvold (and if he is asked to take the job, he has confirmed privately that he will take that job).

Thought this might create a hint of brightness for my fellow Mizzou fans during an otherwise rough season.

[kcchief19]

It actually would make sense if Barnes were involved in helping Haith out of Missouri. Barnes has been very influential in Haith's career.

The fan base at Missouri never took to Haith, and I think he was tired of the fight. Columbia has been nothing but misery for him. The fans didn't like him, the team kept getting worse and he fought the NCAA over the Miami mess the entire time he was here. Then he has the weed smokers get suspended for the NIT and Zach Price go insane. He jumped out of Miami a year before they were going to fire him, and he's doing the same thing here.

I'm not sold that Alden can't get the donor support because he has the donor support for football. The biggest problem is the biggest basketball boosters were the Walton/Laurie/Kroenke families, and they have been very low-key since the Paige Arena disaster. There are reports that the boosters are all in on football but not on basketball.

Missouri also isn't going to pay Pinkel money to a basketball coach, so the ceiling for the job is probably $2 million or so. That rules out stealing another power conference coach and probably most top level mid-major coaches.

But this is why Missouri fans have heartburn over Mike Alden hiring a basketball coach. In 1999 Alden interviewed four people to replace Norm Stewart: Quin Snyder, Bill Self, John Calipari and Kim Anderson (longtime Norm assistant who just won the NCAA D-II national title at Central Missouri). The final decision was made at an airport hotel in Kansas City, with Snyder and Self at the hotel. Jon Sunvold, who headed the search committee, has publicly said he told Alden to hire Self.

The rest is history.

[Izulde]

Am I the only one who keeps reading the thread title as UT-Martin and think an away game at Cal has been scheduled?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

I'm not sold that Alden can't get the donor support because he has the donor support for football. The biggest problem is the biggest basketball boosters were the Walton/Laurie/Kroenke families, and they have been very low-key since the Paige Arena disaster. There are reports that the boosters are all in on football but not on basketball.

Missouri also isn't going to pay Pinkel money to a basketball coach, so the ceiling for the job is probably $2 million or so. That rules out stealing another power conference coach and probably most top level mid-major coaches.

It's no surprise who the top candidates are: Marshall, Cronin, Mack, and A. Miller. They'll likely go through those candidates in order and see who they can land.

Mizzou has already been told Marshall's salary expectations via his agent and it's very similar to what he asked of Wake Forest when they approached him: 7 years/$24M. So Alden at least has a target if he wants to land Marshall. That would make him one of the top paid coaches in the country (top 6 I believe).

Mizzou would be a good fit for Cronin and Mack. I'm not personally sold on Miller. Howland could be a possible option as well.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

dola

Looks like Coach Fuller is the only one of Haith's staff that will remain at Mizzou. That's HUGE news for the program, as Fuller is the guy who was the primary recruiter of most of the 2014 recruiting class. Should help keep the players at the program.

[ColtCrazy]

Originally Posted by INDalltheway

Cuonzo is a Purdue guy, ColtCrazy is an IU guy. It's that simple.

Guilty as charged.

[INDalltheway]

Originally Posted by ColtCrazy

Guilty as charged.

At least you can admit it!

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

dola

Looks like Coach Fuller is the only one of Haith's staff that will remain at Mizzou. That's HUGE news for the program, as Fuller is the guy who was the primary recruiter of most of the 2014 recruiting class. Should help keep the players at the program.

Yeah, that could be an interesting dynamic. I haven't listened to the presser, but reports are Haith said the assistants were coming with him but Alden said he did not believe all the assistants would. There was clearly friction between Haith and Fuller when Haith said some players on the team were inexperienced because Fuller didn't play them enough during Haith's suspension. Just more of the class that comes with Frank Haith. Fuller has accepted the role of interim head coach, so that certainly suggests he's not going to Tulsa and lends validity to the idea that Missouri wants him to stay with the next coach. That would definitely help the recruiting.

I'd love Cronin, and it seems like there's smoke there. Reports out of Cincy in February was they were offering him a new contract that bumped him up to $2.2 million but it doesn't appear he's signed it.

Several reports have said that Marshall won't leave Wichita State for anything other than a "blue blood" program unless he gets at least $3 million per year. I can't see Missouri going that high.

Richard Pitino is apparently only at $1.2 million. I love the Pitino coaching tree. I'd throw some money at him. Marvin Menzies is a hot name from the Pitino tree too, but I'm not sold. Archie Miller is a boom/bust guy but I like him. Good pedigree and pretty good results for a guy his age. I'd be willing to take a flyer on him. Ha!

[kcchief19]

All that said, we will probably end up a disappointing choice. Please, someone send Matt Painter on vacation for a month!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Sounds like Mizzou put out feelers to their top few candidates. All were interested except Shaka Smart. Marshall, Cronin, Mack, and A. Miller all expressed interest. Mizzou has already communicated a starting offer of $2.5M for Marshall. That shows me that the boosters are on-board this time around because I know Alden never had that much to offer in the last coaching search.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Wow. White says no to the Tennessee job.

WHITE HAS TOLD TENNESSEE NO

Edit: And now they say they may have smoothed over their differences.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Am I the only one who keeps reading the thread title as UT-Martin and think an away game at Cal has been scheduled?

Cheers to you, friend.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Looks like Marshall is Mizzou's primary target with Howland as the second option if they can't reach a deal with Marshall. Just hope that Howland doesn't get hired up by Tennessee while he's waiting for Mizzou to finish discussions with Marshall. Then Missou would have to convince a guy like Mack to leave his alma mater, which would likely not be easy.

Funny poll over on Buzzfeed. You just can't make this stuff up.

What Was The Weirdest Thing Frank Haith Did This Week

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Lots of chatter that Tyndall is the next Vols head coach.

Looks like Mizzou may be looking at Kim Anderson if Marshall or Howland don't pan out per ESPN. For those that don't know, he's the former assistant coach for Norm Stewart. His team just won the Division II national championship.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

kcchief19, looks like our opinions on donors at Mizzou are about to be put to the test. The top donors all received phone calls from Alden requesting a higher commitment per year to cover the cost to hire Marshall. Alden is looking to secure enough money to meet Marshall's request of $3.2M/year. Has told the donors that if he can't secure the amount needed, the hire will be Kim Anderson (or at least that's what he's telling them).

Two things. Really excited that it has reached this level. On the other hand, if true, it somewhat saddens me that Kim Anderson is being used as a possible pawn. He's a very good coach and a great guy. Deserves better than to be used as a leaked pawn.

[jbergey22]

Do you have a link to this "leak"?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

Do you have a link to this "leak"?

I do, but you can't access it. Premium board.

Edit: Just posted on non-premium board, so I'll post.

http://www.secrant.com/rant/p/494756...to-Mizzou.aspx

[MrBug708]

Tim Floyd?

[Logan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Tim Floyd?

A source tells ESPN...

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Tim Floyd?

Sounds like Mizzou has cooled on Howland as a second option and moved towards Floyd. I'd love Tim Floyd. Very good coach and a great consolation prize if Marshall doesn't work out.