Coaches
Everything involving NCAA coaches.
If there’s a spot on those ubiquitous Coors Light commercials for college basketball coaches, Charlie Coles just earned himself a spot.
Miami of Ohio’s coach was answering questions after his team’s 72-70 loss to No. 4 Kentucky Tuesday night – in which his RedHawks player marvelously – when someone asked him how the game got away from Miami.
Context: The RedHawks led UK by 18 at one point, but that was in the first half. They played the Wildcats – flush with one of the best recruiting classes of all time – even throughout until John Wall hit the game-winner.
Coles’ reaction? Classic mix of indignation, restraint and humor, worthy of Lefty Driesell. See for yourself after the jump.
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Roy Williams likes to say his name doesn’t belong in the same sentence as Dean Smith. When North Carolina won its fifth NCAA tournament last spring – its second under Williams, matching Smith’s total – he continually deflected attention from himself to his school and his players.
“Roy Williams is not that good,” he said last April. “But Ole Roy has got some big-time players and that’s what it takes.”
Well, chalk up another big-time player. Another title may follow.
Harrison Barnes – perhaps the nation’s No. 1 recruit – committed to North Carolina on Friday. "He's the most complete offensive player in the country,” says Paul Biancardi, Scouts Inc.'s national recruiting director.
That gives the Tar Heels two of the Top 10 prospects and three of the top 32 in the class of 2010, according to Rivals.com.
It’s generally acknowledged that places like UNC don’t rebuild after winning a championship, they reload. But this is getting ridiculous.
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Ever wonder how trickle-down economics works? Don’t bother. Pay attention to trickle-down coaching effects instead.
When guys like John Calipari leaves Memphis for Kentucky, it affects more than just Calipari and his staff. It covers assistant coaches at both schools, the school that hires Calipari’s replacement, and so and so on.
Given all the offseason head coaching changes, you can imagine just how much trickle-down occurs. And sometimes, there doesn’t even need to be a head coaching change.
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The list of men’s Division One coaches who’ve reached 800 career victories is a short one.
But the list of coaches who’ve done it faster than Jim Boeheim is even shorter.
Syracuse’s coach reached his “great milestone” Monday with a 75-48 win against Albany. It was the 1,088th game of his career. In 33 seasons, he’s won at least 20 games 31 times.
Few coaches are more consistent winners.
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Just last spring Cameron Dollar was touted as one of the country’s top assistants.
So what’s he doing as the head coach of Seattle University? The Redhawks aren’t eligible for the NCAA tournament until 2013 and don’t belong to any conference. They’re still making the transition back to D-I status. Sounds like a thankless, under-the-radar job.
After all, it’s been a long time since Elgin Baylor tore it up at Seattle U. The guy averaged 30 and 20 in two seasons and took Seattle U to the 1958 NCAA tournament title game.
Dollar doesn’t see it that way. He spent the last seven years at Washington recruiting the area’s massive talent base.
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Some videos need no explanation. Well, very little explanation.
Tim Floyd resigned as USC’s men’s basketball coach last June. Since then, he’s mostly been off the radar, perhaps occasionally speaking to teams when friends asked him.
He’s also breaking up fights at a casino. Yes, breaking up fights at a casino.
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Bob Knight refused a $75,000 check from an anonymous Indiana booster, which would’ve settled a long-standing suit between the legendary Hoosiers coach and his ex-school.
Is there a better way to say “I’m not coming to the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and I’m not even bothering to decline the RSVP” than by shrugging off 75 grand?
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For those who think college coaches’ salaries are excessive, change is coming. Slowly. Maybe.
A Knight Commission poll released Monday found that 85 percent of the 119 university presidents at D-I football schools think coaches’ salaries are too high, but 56 percent of them are pessimistic about controlling those salaries. Most would love to see a reduction in the sheer number of assistant coaches and support personnel for revenue-producing sports.
Translation: We’re not sure we want to anger the big guy by paying him less, but we’d like to take away part of his staff that helps him do his job.
No wonder university presidents are feeling pessimistic.
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Without even coaching a game, John Calipari’s given Kentucky basketball fans everything they could want.
National attention. A recruiting class for the ages. Making himself accessible to fans and generally being an exceptional ambassador for the program.
And somehow, Calipari keeps topping himself. The response to his speech at Kentucky’s Big Blue Madness has already reached mythical proportions among the Big Blue Nation.
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Tom Izzo is trying to downplay his Michigan State squad that’s pretty much a consensus Top 5 team entering the 2009-10 season.
“I enjoy the expectations, but I’ve got to remind myself and you (media) what we lost,” Izzo said Wednesday. “I am concerned about living up to them, but I like the challenge of living up to them.
“I speak with guarded optimism.”
Wow. When did Lou Holtz start coaching the Michigan State basketball team.
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