Basketball Coaching Search Update

I was asked on Friday if Georgia could seriously land a coach like Sean Miller (Xavier), Jeff Capel (Oklahoma) or some of the other big names that have rattled around the edges of the process. My answer was "Yes. In a coaching search vacuum, Georgia could land a guy like Miller." (Image: Miller)

As I've said before, the problem is the other jobs that might open up. Here's an update on some of those situations:

• Arizona - The Wildcats are now riding a 7 game winning streak, and they are only two losses out of first place. Can Coach Pennell win enough to get the "interim" label off his door? I doubt it, but it's getting progressively more interesting to watch.
  
  
• Maryland - The Terps have won 3 of their last 4 games. If Williams wins the games his team should win, he'll stick around. As I said last week, that helps us in the Capel sweepstakes.
  
  
• NC State - Sidney Lowe is very much on the hot seat; however, his victory over GT on Saturday gives NCSU a winning streak of 3 of their last 4. The Wolfpack has enough winnable games on the back end of the schedule to get to 8-8 in the ACC. That would probably be enough to keep him in place.
  
  
• Pitt - Jamie Dixon is a hot commodity to fill a job like the Arizona gig if it should open. Sean Miller of Xavier would be their top candidate to replace Dixon.
  
  
  
• Missouri - If Coach Mike Anderson were to move to Alabama, that would open a slot here. Anderson is a Birmingham native, a former UAB Coach and former ARK assistant. He's the hottest name in Tuscaloosa right now. UNLV Coach Lon Kruger is a former KSU player and coach, and he coached at Illinois. He might be a great fit here due to ties to the region to replace Anderson. Kruger is one of the rumored candidates in Athens. (image: Anderson)
  
  
• Notre Dame - The Irish lost seven games in a row until thrashing #7 Louisville earlier in the week. In Coach Mike Brey's defense his team's losing streak consisted of games against teams currently ranked #7, 22, 1, 12, 4 and 6. He should win enough to keep his job given the strong results the prior two years. However, would Mike Brey start to look around now that the natives are restless? You would think Sean Miller at Xavier would be a top candidate in South Bend given that he currently coaches at a private, catholic school one state over. Brey was almost hired in Athens instead of Harrick. He would be a great candidate for our job.
  
  
• St. Johns - It's very likely that the St. Johns job will open up. They lack the financial clout to compete with UGA for a coach.
  
  
• DePaul - Looks to be on the express ramp to firing Coach Jerry Wainwright. He's currently 51-65 overall and 20-42 in the Big East. Another school that UGA can outspend.
  
  
• Texas Tech - Pat Knight has lost 6 of his last 7 games, and his overall record is 12-13. It looks like they'll struggle to do better than 14-18. How long will the Red Raiders put up with a guy that was essentially dumped on them by his daddy?
  
  
• Alabama - Obviously. Still rumored to be very interested in Mike Anderson at Missouri. He's currently 21-4 in Missouri.

So....can we get a guy like Miller? Yeah. But he's one of the prettiest girls in school right now. He can take any job he wants. That's probably one of the reasons why Damon Evans was rumored to have told boosters before the LSU game that the search looked promising, but we need to bear with him because it's not going to be easy. He was upbeat but realistic.

Did I miss any other openings? I could list Tech, but they are either too broke or too pig headed to fire Hewitt and eat his $7.1 million buyout.

See Also:
-- Secrecy key to search - ABH
-- Firms simplify search - ABH

PWD