With a prestigious job opening up at Arizona due to Lute Olson's retirement, who do you think will end up the next head coach? I will post profiles of some possible candidates in the coming days. Feel free to share your opinion on any of the listed candidates as well as any you think should or should not be considered for the job.
I am going to voice my opinion for John Calipari. He runs one of the most successful programs in the country, despite not competing in a power conference. He runs an up tempo offense (dribble drive), much like Lute ran at Arizona (motion). He is a great recruiter who lands talented player at Memphis due to his ability to coach a desired offense, produce NBA players, and most importantly win games. One huge link that I think is no coincidence was the hiring of ex Arizona assistant and walk-on, Josh Pastner. Pastner joined Calipari's staff this spring and is widely regarded as one of the best recruiters in the nation. However, I have a strong suspicion that Pastner took the job with Cal for more reasons than a pay raise and a step up the assistant coaching ladder at a currently better program. Pastner practically bleeds cardinal and navy and it is well known that he wants to end up back at Arizona in the future. While I do not think that Pastner knew Lute would retire this year, I think he had more than a tidbit of information suggesting that when Lute retires Calipari would be one Arizona's candidates to replace him. Pastner is not ready to take over Arizona currently, but by leaving to work for Calipari, he can learn under another historic coach, expand his knowledge of another fast paced offense, and quite possibly would have a short road back to Tucson. I could go on for pages about why I think Calipari is the right guy for the job, but I will begin to close with this. In 2006, Calipari all but left for NC State. In this article by ESPN's Andy Katz, Calipari discusses how close he was to accepting the NC St. job: Now, NC St. is not exactly the highest profile job in the NCAA, but Calipari would have been their coach last year if NC St.'s athletic director agreed to Calipari's terms for his assistant coaches. While this does not guarantee Calipari leaves Memphis for anywhere, it sure points towards a possible Calipari exit in the next coming years. Forming my opinion based upon Cal's success, Josh Pastner, Calipari seriously considering NC St., and Arizona's top boosters (Atre Moreno Angels owner for example) I think that John Calipari is a very realistic candidate for the Arizona job from both parties involved. If Arizona decides that they want Calipari it is going to cost them much more than the discount Lute gave the athletic department. A base package totaling $1.5 mil to $2 mil from Arizona would be a great start. Obviously, Calipari would receive additional incentives through camps, appearances, and a fat Nike deal which would bump the total near $3 mil. I know that Calipari makes around $3.35 mil per year from Memphis, including a $2.5 mil bonus should he stay through the '09-'10 season. However, I am fairly confident that Calipari will not ask that much from Arizona for a few reasons: 1. Memphis pays him that much, because they cannot afford to lose him (see the $2.5 mil bonus for '09-'10). 2. Memphis is an Adidas school, while Arizona is a Nike elite school. Cal gets good money from Adidas, but Nike would obviously love to have him on board and would pay him accordingly. 3. Arizona is not going to pay him $3.5 mil per year and neither is another high profile basketball university. 4. Cal's near hire at NC St. suggests he is ready to leave I firmly believe the ball is in Arizona's court. Calipari is not even going to mention anything about Arizona besides denying rumors about him leaving Memphis. While Arizona will not be able to make direct contact with Calipari, or any other coach for that matter until the team is eliminated from the postseason, Calipari's agent and others close to him are free to discuss the position with Arizona. In the end, if Arizona offers a legit contract to Calipari, past history suggests he will at the very least seriously consider. He is my number one candidate and is clearly the best option as a realistic coach for the job (Coach K, Self, Roy Williams, ect. are not options). He would restore Arizona to elite status in the shortest period of any coach available and also would help Arizona's recruiting turn a 180 from where it is currently.
Miller is a good choice, but im not sure he is in the top 3 or 4. Arizona needs a big time hire to keep the program as a revenue producer. Not saying that Miller cant do that, but a coach like Few, Cal, or Dixon would do wonders. At the same time im not sure Few would take the job. Granted I think Arizona is one of the few (no pun intended) jobs that he would consider. Im also no completely sold on Few, he isnt the best recruiter (but he lands good talent at Gonzaga) and I view him as a guy who isnt sure he really wants to leave Gonzaga. Dixon is a great coach, but my problem is that he and Howland are buddy buddy and run the same system (Dixon is a protege of Howland). Arizona isnt going to out recuit UCLA by paring the same offense and style as that Howland runs at Arizona's biggest rival. Arizona under Lute has been seen as the up tempo university that offers a yang to most school's ying (UCLA). While Dixon is a great hire, I am uneasy about recruiting agaisnt UCLA with the same coaching style, same offense, same defense.
Do you post @ PGU Tuscon? You sound like you've been drinking some of their juice. I personally don't want any of the guys on the list, yet you didn't put the other option It's all about Anthony Grant and what he would bring. Guy is the next big thing, so why not get him? He has been great @ VCU in a tough mid-major conference, and he's also a players coach. Grant is a big part of that Florida recruiting class that brought in Noah, Brewer, Horford, and Taureen Green. I would definitely want to take a look at him instead of someone that has past NCAA rule violations like Calipari or Pearl, who are in great program and unlikely to leave for a program that need big time work.
No, I try to stay as far away from PGU as possible. I like Anthony Grant, but I really can’t push for Arizona to hire any coach that hasn’t done anything in the NCAA tournament. There are plenty of young up and coming coaches, but given the situation <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com<ST1Arizona </st1:State>is in right now, we need a proven coach who can at the very least stabilize the program.<O <O As far as Calipari and violations, he has none of any significance if any at all. At UMass Camby took money, <st1:State w:st="on"><ST1Calipari</st1:State> didn’t have anything to do with that one. While many think <ST1Memphis is dirty and it’s because of Calipari, it is pretty clear the boosters are the ones throwing around the money. Now I am not here defending Calipari as a completely clean coach, but he doesn’t have any violations against himself and I seriously doubt that <st1:State w:st="on">Cal</st1:State> would even need <ST1Arizona boosters to toss money around to land the big names. <O In the end, Calipari is the best possible candidate for the job. Sure many think he is a bit sleazy and dirty, but if he was that dirty he would have already had at least one level 2 violation against him.
