Good hunting!

(03-22-2014 10:41 PM)Heelworld Wrote:  Ben Howland reportedly interested in Marquette, does not want to compete with pupil Jamie Dixon

They are best friends. This has been an issue for them before, where they have been adamant about not wanting to directly compete against each other.

(03-22-2014 10:41 PM)Heelworld Wrote:  Ben Howland reportedly interested in Marquette, does not want to compete with pupil Jamie Dixon

If Marquette is paying 3 mil a year, I'm sure there are a lot of people interested.

(03-23-2014 12:50 AM)ChrisLords Wrote:  

(03-22-2014 10:41 PM)Heelworld Wrote:  Ben Howland reportedly interested in Marquette, does not want to compete with pupil Jamie Dixon

If Marquette is paying 3 mil a year, I'm sure there are a lot of people interested.

I wouldn't be surprise if Howland takes that job. The MU job is a good one, with a great recruiting base. MU might actually be upgrading its coach if it gets Howland.

Marquette does change the equation. Wake was thinking it could get Howland in the 1.8-2.0 million dollar range. If Marquette pushes his asking price up to $3 million then we likely take a pass.

BC seems locked in on Tommy Amaker as their top target and is offering to make a lot of facility upgrades to get him.

Our top target is Shaka Smart, so Amaker and Howland could be off the table by the time he us gives a firm no.

Rick Barnes has expressed some interest in our job. His seat is a little warm at Texas with the new AD there and he is originally from Hickory, NC about 50 miles or so from our campus.

(03-23-2014 01:56 AM)WakeForestRanger Wrote:  Marquette does change the equation. Wake was thinking it could get Howland in the 1.8-2.0 million dollar range. If Marquette pushes his asking price up to $3 million then we likely take a pass.

BC seems locked in on Tommy Amaker as their top target and is offering to make a lot of facility upgrades to get him.

Our top target is Shaka Smart, so Amaker and Howland could be off the table by the time he us gives a firm no.

Rick Barnes has expressed some interest in our job. His seat is a little warm at Texas with the new AD there and he is originally from Hickory, NC about 50 miles or so from our campus.

Amaker just bothers me because I remember his failure at Michigan. I wasn't crazy about his time at Seton Hall either.

Amaker isn't my favorite candidate either. I'm fine if he goes to BC or stays put at Harvard.

BC would seem to be a perfect fit for Amaker if he wants to go back to swimming in the deep end of the pool. He doesn't have to move, his wife gets to keep her great job, and expectations aren't as high as they would be for some ACC jobs.

Take the Big Swing to the Wall and grab Masiello. He's the real HR in that group.

(03-23-2014 01:56 AM)WakeForestRanger Wrote:  BC seems locked in on Tommy Amaker as their top target and is offering to make a lot of facility upgrades to get him.

If I'm BC, Steve Masiello would be one of my top targets. Lots of ties to the Northeast, knows the NYC recruiting scene, he's done great at a program with limited resources (Manhattan), etc.

Doubt that they hire Masiello..

Rumor is Pitino is steering Masiello towards the South Florida job at the moment.

(03-23-2014 10:29 AM)WakeForestRanger Wrote:  Rumor is Pitino is steering Masiello towards the South Florida job at the moment.

Here is the full article from the Tampa Bay Times for those interested. I included all the Pitino quotes.

Quote:"He said, 'What do you think (about USF)?' " Pitino told the Times on Saturday in Orlando, where his Louisville team defeated St. Louis in a third-round NCAA Tournament game. "I said, 'For you, it's a grand slam.' "

[...]

"I said, 'Steven, in the Big East, I thought (USF) was an average to marginal job at best,' " Pitino said. " 'At the conference they're in right now (American Athletic), I think it's a great job.'

"When you're going against Syracuse and Louisville and Pittsburgh and Villanova and all those schools that have better facilities and better tradition, then it's not necessarily a great job. But now, I think it's a great job. They're very, very committed."

"They built a practice facility, nice renovations (to the Sun Dome). It's a great school."

With that said, Pitino almost always goes out of his way to complement other programs and other coaches when speaking to the media. He's been known to describe our early season buy-game opponents as "great basketball programs with outstanding coaches and talent" (note: we're talking about programs like UMKC, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, etc). If you listen to Pitino long enough, you start to realize that what he says publicly often has a lot of embellishment and spin (UofL fans call it Pitino-speak).

Masseillo may end up at USF, but it wouldn't surprise me if Pitino was pimping the USF job solely because he was speaking publicly (i.e. to the media). It also wouldn't surprise me if what he actual told Steve was completely the opposite of what he told the Tampa Bay Times reporter.

If BC had interest, I don't know why Masseillo would take the USF job over the BC position, although at this point I don't think Rick would be excited to play Masseillo annually and possibly twice a year.

Massy isn't ready fir a job like that in the ACC with BC or Wake no matter what he did this year let alone against Louisville and Pitino. I like the guy, and I have seen guys hired at bigger programs after achieving less than what he has done, but honestly I don't think he is ready for that. A good stepping stone for him would be the Big East, A10, or the American in order to get his feet wet with a bigger program. I just think at this time he would fail even if he succeeded marginally for those programs are wanting to be up with the big boys of the conference not playing to see who comes in last or middle of the pack. Good luck to him for what ever direction he decides to take for his future is bright, and who's to say he doesn't land one of those jobs for this is only my 2 cents on the matter.

(03-23-2014 01:56 AM)WakeForestRanger Wrote:  Marquette does change the equation. Wake was thinking it could get Howland in the 1.8-2.0 million dollar range. If Marquette pushes his asking price up to $3 million then we likely take a pass.

BC seems locked in on Tommy Amaker as their top target and is offering to make a lot of facility upgrades to get him.

Our top target is Shaka Smart, so Amaker and Howland could be off the table by the time he us gives a firm no.

Rick Barnes has expressed some interest in our job. His seat is a little warm at Texas with the new AD there and he is originally from Hickory, NC about 50 miles or so from our campus.

That would make half the NC State fan base go crazy.

Maybe now that Shaka went out in the first round and Marshall went out in the second that they won't demand quite so much from a new job. Marshall being the premiere coach available and Wake being the best job seems like a good fit. Of course, Shaka would be a home run hire too.

I would guess marshall, smart and amaker would love for rick barnes to take the wake job so the texas job is open. I think kevin stallings would be the best hire for wake if smart or marshall pass.

The rumor going around is that the new Texas AD wants to force Barnes out a la Mack Brown and hire Gregg Marshall. Wake could get Barnes in that scenario but won't try to hire him away from Texas.

Ben Howland is about come off the board. Marquette is supposedly making the announcement tomorrow that he will replace Buzz Williams.