"My rule was I wouldn't recruit a kid if he had grass in front of his house.
That's not my world. My world was a cracked sidewalk." —Al McGuire

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Anyone order Domino's Pizza? Dominos...anyone?

Well maybe not pizza, but the dominos are about to fall. Tubby Smith to Minnesota. Michigan has an opening, Iowa has an opening after Steve Alford's departure. Hey, that actually sounds like the Big Ten will be a legit conference top to bottom again.

Of course with all of this movement comes the mandatory Andy Katz line: "Tom Crean to ________ (fill in the blank of latest job opening)".

It could happen, in fact it might happen but I won't lose sleep over it. What will be interesting to watch is who takes what and how many dominos fall as a result. For example, if Donovan from Florida were to take the Kentucky job...look out. Now we're talking serious dominos. However, if Billy Gillespie from Texas A&M took the job, not many dominos fall because A&M just isn't a job that people will fall over to get.

Crean to Michigan? Crean to Kentucky? Crean to Iowa? Crean to...Marquette? Crean is paid very well, about $1.7 million per year according to the USA Today article today. That puts him in the top 20 coaches roughly in salary(some make less on a per year basis but have large one-time bonuses that were provided as part of the compensation package).

Whatever happens, the rumors are flying in the blogosphere. A Louisville reporter has already said Crean is at the top of the list for Kentucky. Andy Katz has said he is on the list along with others. Kentucky fans on their message boards have just about attacked every coach thrown out as a possibility that isn't named Billy as a first name.

My favorite is Tom Izzo to Kentucky and another guy named Tom to Michigan State....Andy Katz's rumor machine in full swing.

Sit back and enjoy the show. This is always a crazy time of year to watch the coaching carousel go round and round.

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