A Couple Of Names Being Bantered About
by dishingoutdimes on Mar 28, 2011 10:25 PM CDT
in Basketball
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PrintAs the search for the new OU men's basketball coach carries on (some may say "drags on"), there are a couple of names that have been making the rounds on the internet and in the papers.
Lon Kruger was mentioned in the Oklahoman:
But don't rule it out. At least one prominent OU administrator is pushing for Kruger, the Nevada-Las Vegas coach who has a long and fairly distinguished record.
I had previously mentioned Lon Kruger as an under-the-radar type candidate and I think that he would be a fairly safe, but solid selection. As I said, he's been to a Final Four, he has quite a bit of coaching experience, and has ties to the middle of the country (he's a Kansas native).
Then there's Memphis coach Josh Pastner. He was always being mentioned, but according to this Bleacher Report article, he might have been next on the list when Buzz got crossed off:
According to coachingnewsonline.com, Pastner has become the leading candidate for the Oklahoma job.
That claim was similarly quoted on the ESPN website, although coachingnewsonline is a subscriber website, so I really have no way of confirming that.
Thoughts on Pastner or Kruger?
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Kruger is not
the sexy hire that many of us wanted, but we might not be in a position with where our program is to get that. Pastner is somebody i would probably want more. But at this point I’ll take anyone who can turn the program around. Safer pick my be Kruger though
I said Kruger the week Capel got fired on the podcast (we were throwing out wishlists but I added a realistic candidate IMO)
not that my opinion carries much weight on what Joe C will do or who he is interested in. OU is not exactly in a state to be picky when it comes to coaching candidates. I will say that I am not and probably will not ever be a fan of “the bleacher report” and when it comes down to it…why would Buzz leave his situation along with Pastner or Stevens for the OU opening. IMO we are going to have to give a good, long, hard look at coaches like Kruger considering the fact that the pool of coaches is shallow with Arky, Tenn, etc looking for coaches as well. I would be willing to pull Tad Boyle more into the convo along with Dave Rose and possibly Shaka Smart or Gregg Marshall even though they don’t have the appeal of Brad Stevens, Josh Pastner, or Buzz Williams.
Shocker fan here
Gregg Marshall has done some nice things in Wichita, but his end of game scenarios and clock management are non-existent at best. I would say they are infuriating and border on God-awful. He will drive Sooner Nation completely crazy, but has had success everywhere. I am fairly disappointed in his recruiting abilities as well. During his tenure, WSU has NOT developed a single big man that is a true threat in the paint.
I will say that I am not and probably will not ever be a fan of "the bleacher report"
Me either, but the rumor was sourced to a different website, and crossposted several other places, including ESPN.
Not sure who initiated the rumor. Like I said, the coachingnewsonline site is password protected and you need to be a subscriber, and I don’t think it’s that important of information to pay for :-p
"Coach Gundy, why was Oklahoma able to march right down the field against you?" --Erin Andrews
by dishingoutdimes on Mar 29, 2011 1:45 AM CDT reply actions
Chirp chirp chirp
All i seem to hear out of Norman right now is crickets. It makes me think that It will probably not be any of the names that keep getting mentioned. Does the silence mean that maybe it will be a big name coach and they are trying to keep it quiet until the season is officially over? or does it mean that Joe C. is having a hard time coming up with any coach at all?
What scares me
is that it’s the latter of the two options. Capel destroyed this job. It is in shambles. Granted, it is a good job, but the rebuilding process will be arduous at best.
we may end up with a Bob Knight type
That is exactly what I am thinking. I am afraid OU will have to hire a “place holder” type of coach just to get us through all these violations. People might say “why do that? Why not just keep Capel and let him clean up the mess he made?” I think firing Capel not only soothed a lot of fans but may help when and if the NCAA does penalize us. We may end up with a coach that has a somewhat big name but knows he only has a few years left coaching and just wants to give it one last Hurrah
I’ve got a couple of contacts at OU, and my best is a friend that is in the 2nd circle on stuff like this, and after talking to him yesterday, he is shocked that he has heard NOTHING. Not one name lately.
He still stands by Geno Auriemma as a candidate though. The take away is Joe C liked the guy 5 years ago, and couldn’t pull the trigger. Joe still likes him. As other candidates fall off, he thinks Joe C goes back to Geno. Also part of the thinking is Auriemma needs OU as bad as OU needs Auriemma.
As far as salary he was pretty sure on this: It will be real hard for OU to go past $1.5MM range salary a year for a coach, and didn’t think OU could go $2MM. Pastner is making $880,000 at Memphis and is the highest paid coach in Conf. USA. He also has an automatic renegotiation window now, after 2 years in on his current contract. From the Memphis End last week
And Emig of the Tulsa World tweets that Missouri is paying Painter from Purdue $2MM a year.
When I write: Rockies Reporter (www.rockiesreporter.wordpress.com)
"Suck it monkeys, the Rockies will win this year"
Butts in seats
When I first heard Geno Auriemma’s name mentioned I kind of felt like maybe that would be Kind of embarrassing but, the more I think about it It doesn’t bother me as much. It would at the very least get on sportscenter every game night for one season at least. The only way OU basketball has been in the media spotlight lately is bad stuff bad record,rules violations,firing coaches (both Sampson and Capel left a mess) So maybe what we need is someone who puts OU in the limelight so, we don’t completely fall off of kids radar. I am afraid another season or two like we have had in the past will drop us all the way off the map.
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