Crank Up the Coaching Carousel

[burnspbesq]

Jim Baron is out at Rhode Island. He had a pretty decent run, but the wheels fell off this year.

By all accounts, he is one of the genuinely good people in the coaching profession. Hope he lands on his feet.

[Cameron]

Baron's son, Little Jimmy, put on a show to remember in Cameron in November 2008, hitting 8-of-10 threes and nearly single-handedly leading the Rams to a victory over Duke. I think he snuck into the gym before the game and stole J.J.'s jersey from the rafters because Baron was just killing shots in traffic from 30 feet. Either that or he was born on Moron Mountain.

[Bob Green]

I am surprised to read SIU has fired Chris Lowry:

http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/articles/?p=43730

[hurleyfor3]

8-1 odds Calhoun is at URI next year.

[WVDUKEFAN]

8-1 odds Calhoun is at URI next year.

I'd love to see it. Don't put me in the penalty box for this, but I would take Ol' Roy any day of the week over Calhoun - he's just beyond what I can describe with words.

[madscavenger]

8-1 odds Calhoun is at URI next year.

If Calhoun is dragged kicking and screaming, something i'd pay big bucks to watch, off to the retirement village, he will be replaced with an
equally likeable fellow, Mr. Billy Donovan. Nothing like cloning the master.

[COCO]

I can't help but think that a big selling point for Tommy at Harvard was the terrific job his wife got there. That also makes me think that it's going to be pretty hard to get Tommy out of Harvard.

[MartyClark]

If Calhoun is dragged kicking and screaming, something i'd pay big bucks to watch, off to the retirement village, he will be replaced with an
equally likeable fellow, Mr. Billy Donovan. Nothing like cloning the master.

Donovan has a pretty good gig with the Gators. Why would he leave there for UCONN?

[Devilsfan]

Here's hoping no ACC head coach is temporally unemployed. Shouldn't Capel be the first assistant coach to leave?

[SupaDave]

Here's hoping no ACC head coach is temporally unemployed. Shouldn't Capel be the first assistant coach to leave?

Why? He just got here...

[madscavenger]

Donovan has a pretty good gig with the Gators. Why would he leave there for UCONN?

Billy the kid doesn't have a dirty rep with lots of other coaches because he's so cute , he learned at the feet of Mr "Who, me?" Did a little successful tinkering around and under the edges, so the smoke signals say. Jim's Lucifer, Billy's the Beast. Why UCONN, you ask - conntinuity!

[dukedoc]

Well, Cal ain't going anywhere, unfortunately, but I couldn't find another appropriate place to link the Onion's "Strong Side / Weak Side" for Cal. Pretty funny, I think. LINK

[CrazyNotCrazie]

As others have mentioned above, I think Collins and/or Wojo would be a lot better off letting the initial coaching dominoes fall then backfill, i.e. let Shaka Smart take the Illinois job then go for the VCU job. They are better off starting a bit lower down as head coaches rather than going for the big time. They have gotten great assistant experiences, but better to learn how to run your own program without such a bright spotlight.

[gep]

As others have mentioned above, I think Collins and/or Wojo would be a lot better off letting the initial coaching dominoes fall then backfill, i.e. let Shaka Smart take the Illinois job then go for the VCU job. They are better off starting a bit lower down as head coaches rather than going for the big time. They have gotten great assistant experiences, but better to learn how to run your own program without such a bright spotlight.

This is interesting. VCU would be a good "starting" head coaching position. Or even Butler, if Brad Stevens leaves (but I doubt it). Let Shaka take the brunt of the "big time" problems... let our guys flourish, then move up.

[DUKIE V(A)]

I am obviously in the minority here, but I believe that Chris Collins should stay put at Duke if he wants to get the Duke job when Coach K retires. I believe going elsewhere would decrease not increase his odds at landing the position. Plus, previous Head Coaching experience is over-rated (i.e., if you are good, you are good). I have no doubt that Coach Collins will be ready to take over when Coach K calls it quits.

Also, I believe that Coach Amaker will jump at the chance to coach a BCS college program if given an offer. I know he likes Harvard but have heard some say he has got the itch to get back to coaching at a program with more upside.

[CameronBornAndBred]

This is interesting. VCU would be a good "starting" head coaching position. Or even Butler, if Brad Stevens leaves (but I doubt it). Let Shaka take the brunt of the "big time" problems... let our guys flourish, then move up.

It worked pretty well for Jeff Capel. And for Smart. I wonder if VCU might step up and match offers so they don't start to feel as being that gateway to bigger jobs.

[MCFinARL]

It worked pretty well for Jeff Capel. And for Smart. I wonder if VCU might step up and match offers so they don't start to feel as being that gateway to bigger jobs.

IIRC, Anthony Grant of Alabama was also the coach at VCU. It's been a pretty good gateway job, and now it's becoming a pretty high profile job in its own right.

[BlueDevilinNYC]

Baron's son, Little Jimmy, put on a show to remember in Cameron in November 2008, hitting 8-of-10 threes and nearly single-handedly leading the Rams to a victory over Duke. I think he snuck into the gym before the game and stole J.J.'s jersey from the rafters because Baron was just killing shots in traffic from 30 feet. Either that or he was born on Moron Mountain.

I'll never forget that game. Second row watching him drain three-after-three in the second half to keep URI in the game. Had all of us scared to death. One of the few times I remember the Crazies giving an opponent a standing ovation as he left the game.

[B-well]

I'll never forget that game. Second row watching him drain three-after-three in the second half to keep URI in the game. Had all of us scared to death. One of the few times I remember the Crazies giving an opponent a standing ovation as he left the game.

How can you tell when the Crazies give someone a standing ovation?

[BlueDevilinNYC]

How can you tell when the Crazies give someone a standing ovation?

Haha touche. What I meant to is that it was the only time I saw the Crazies "enthusiastically" clap for a player on the other team, much like we would for our own. And there's no doubt he deserved it