Rick Kimbrel and Craig Adkins
The rumors swirling around UCLA’s coaching change are plenty. Sources are disagreeing on the time table for hire. One group thinks that time is of the essence and believe that the committee should quickly hire a coach by next week to take advantage of the time left to recruit the top remaining players.
The other school of thought is if they don’t get the right guy from the college level they could wait for this thing out and go for Billy Donovan of Oklahoma City or Brad Stevens of Boston. More on this later.
There is persistent drumming that big money alumni want to offer a big money contract to John Calipari. Even with Calipari, there are differences in the story.
One story has Calipari reaching out to UCLA with interest in the vacancy. The other is that UCLA’s committee reached out to Calipari to gauge his interest and according to sources there was.
Someone leaked the story putting a temporary kibosh on the development. We will find out how much there is to the story once Kentucky is eliminated, or if they are eliminated from the tournament.
Now that some schools are finished with their season (with more coming soon), head coaching positions are opening up. The dominoes will be falling over the next two weeks, and it should be interesting to see if that pressures UCLA to make a decision earlier rather than later. Ideally, UCLA would probably love to wait until May so they can at least make a pitch to OKC's Billy Donovan and Boston Celtics' Brad Stevens after their season's end. That would probably only happen if they lose out on their top college candidates between now and then, which isn't likely to happen.
The good news is that UCLA is by far the most elite program of those currently in the market for a new coach. If the huge names like Bennett, Wright, Calipari, and others are open to moving to another college program, UCLA will be in the driver's seat. Their names are not being mentioned in connection to any other programs.
The word is Earl Watson, is a backup emergency plan if can’t get the coach they want because he would be popular with former players but would have to bring in a veteran coach with college experience to be on the bench with him.
Current significant openings that may involve UCLA candidates:
Arkansas - There are many that believe Arkansas is still a desirable basketball school and coaching job. They will pay big money. We shall see based on who they hire. Houston coach Kelvin Sampson is the lead name here because he and the Arkansas AD are old friends. However, the names of all the usual second tier suspects for UCLA are being thrown around in case Sampson falls through which includes Mick Cronin of Cincinnati and Chris Beard of Texas Tech.
Cal – recently fired Wyking Jones and it appears they have found their new coach in Mark Fox, who had previously had a successful stint at Nevada coaching the Wolf Pack to the NCAA tournament three times and had a nine-year stint with Georgia.
St. Mary’s coach Randy Bennett and UCI’s Russell Turner were thought to be on Cal’s short list and would be considered second or third tier choices for UCLA.
Bennett was interviewed the last time Cal’s job opened up so he may have a slight advantage.
As for Turner, in his recent tournament game against Oregon, he repeatedly referred to Oregon player Louis King as “Queen.” It has received some negative publicity and that may have ended any chance he had at a school like Cal in 2019.
There was some buzz about Jason Kidd but since he has been lobbying for the Lakers job (even after the Cal job opened up), the Bears decided to pass. Kidd is not a candidate for UCLA.
Nebraska - former Iowa State and Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg's name is being mentioned frequently and often in relation to this position. It may mean he is off UCLA's list altogether, or Hoiberg's agent is linking him to Nebraska to see if it pushes UCLA to make an offer. Cleveland Cavalier coach Tyronn Lue (not a candidate for UCLA) is expected to be the backup option should Hoiberg fall through.
Texas A&M - rumored to be going hard after Buzz Williams of Virginia Tech and that it will be a done deal as soon as Williams is out of the Tournament. The other names being mentioned is Kelvin Sampson of Houston and Chris Beard Texas Tech.
Vanderbilt - hired the Korn Ferry executive search firm to help with the search. They are currently rumored to be going after Steven Wojciechowski of Marquette and possibly Providence coach Ed Cooley.
Shaky Ground:
Arizona - lots of buzz surrounding Sean Miller and most of it is not good. The Arizona administration and their fans love the guy and are looking for any way they can to keep him. However, the FBI investigations and accusations of numerous recruiting violations are keeping him on a razor-thin edge. Miller will soon have to deal with a subpoena to testify. How he handles it, and what new information comes out of the investigation may put Arizona in a position with no choice but to let him go. If that happens, look for Eric Musselman of Nevada or Luke Walton to emerge as leading candidates for the job.
LSU - with the suspension of head coach Will Wade after recruiting violations emerged, a coaching change is expected to follow. Eric Musselman is supposed to be seriously considered since he was once the Associate Head Coach there. And as with almost every other opening, Mick Cronin's name is emerging as a candidate.
Texas - look for Texas to go hard after Texas Tech coach Chris Beard should Smart, and Texas go their separate ways. As for Beard and UCLA, the only way UCLA will hire him is if he is willing to sign a contract that will make it difficult for his alma mater Texas to lure him away. The word is the Longhorns aren’t the only competition for Beard that the Bruins are facing. Arkansas and Texas A&M are also wooing Beard.
Closed Coaching Changes:
Alabama – On 3/27 Alabama hired rising star Nate Oats of Buffalo. UCLA can now remove Oats from the backup list. It was initially believed that Alabama alum Steve Prohm of Iowa State would have been the front runner for the Alabama job. Perhaps Prohm prefers ISU over his alma mater, Alabama, OR perhaps Prohm believes he is a serious contender for the UCLA job and couldn't give Alabama an answer...yet. Alabama may not have wanted to wait or to be his second choice.
UNLV - On 3/27, in a somewhat surprising move, UNLV announced T.J. Otzelberger of South Dakota State as their new coach. This should not have any effect on the UCLA search. Early rumors were all about Thad Matta, but that tapered off and they pivoted to Buffalo’s Nate Oats and VCU’s Mike Rhoades.
Other Notes:
Steve Prohm, on Monday, 3/26, signed a three-year extension on his contract at Iowa State which will make it a little more difficult (but not impossible) for another school to poach him.
Mick Cronin has reportedly been told that the University of Cincinnati will not get into a bidding war for him. They are not giving him a pay increase or a contract extension.
Cronin must have one of the best agents in the business since he seems to be a candidate for every job opening out there. He hasn't taken another position and there are no confirmations of even an interview anywhere. He is a Cincinnati native, and his entire family still lives there, so maybe he has no intention of leaving for those reasons.
Or, just maybe, he is holding out for the right job. Could that be UCLA? After all, Cincinnati knows it cannot win a bidding war with UCLA. Being upfront that they will not be leveraged or even try to outbid a school like UCLA makes sense under those circumstances.
Billy Donovan may not be the huge long shot everyone has imagined. Currently flirting between 7th and 8th place in the NBA Western Conference, OKC may end up playing the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the NBA playoffs, likely leading to a quick exit.
Timing has always been the big issue for UCLA with NBA coaches since their playoff season is extended so long after the college season. UCLA can't wait forever. However, it is looking now like Donovan's season may be over in late April.
UCLA is still likely to swing for the fences with top current college coaches like Tony Bennett and Jay Wright, but should they miss; they may be open to waiting for Donovan with the thought that they can always swing back around to their second and third tier guys in May.
Recruiting may take a hit since the late signing period is from April 17 to May 15. Then again it may not since the roster is relatively full already and only Kris Wilkes is leaving as of now.
As for Donovan, there are rumors that he actually prefers college coaching. Unlike most coaches, he enjoys the competitive nature of recruiting. He has had great success in the college ranks and may prefer (or finds he is better at) coaching up young, eager players as opposed to managing the egos and head cases in the NBA.
As for UCLA, just as with Chip Kelly, they would likely pay Donovan a very competitive salary and turn the program over to him with a green light to run it as he wants. It could be very appealing to him. Timing is everything.
Kelvin Sampson may end up staying at Houston and not be part of the coaching carousel. Even though he is being mentioned for several openings (and might even be on the UCLA list, but far down it), one of the Houston regents stated that if Sampson leaves Houston, it won't be because of money. Sounds like they are willing to get into a bidding war to keep him and that in itself, may scare off other schools.
The rumors swirling around UCLA’s coaching change are plenty. Sources are disagreeing on the time table for hire. One group thinks that time is of the essence and believe that the committee should quickly hire a coach by next week to take advantage of the time left to recruit the top remaining players.
The other school of thought is if they don’t get the right guy from the college level they could wait for this thing out and go for Billy Donovan of Oklahoma City or Brad Stevens of Boston. More on this later.
There is persistent drumming that big money alumni want to offer a big money contract to John Calipari. Even with Calipari, there are differences in the story.
One story has Calipari reaching out to UCLA with interest in the vacancy. The other is that UCLA’s committee reached out to Calipari to gauge his interest and according to sources there was.
Someone leaked the story putting a temporary kibosh on the development. We will find out how much there is to the story once Kentucky is eliminated, or if they are eliminated from the tournament.
Now that some schools are finished with their season (with more coming soon), head coaching positions are opening up. The dominoes will be falling over the next two weeks, and it should be interesting to see if that pressures UCLA to make a decision earlier rather than later. Ideally, UCLA would probably love to wait until May so they can at least make a pitch to OKC's Billy Donovan and Boston Celtics' Brad Stevens after their season's end. That would probably only happen if they lose out on their top college candidates between now and then, which isn't likely to happen.
The good news is that UCLA is by far the most elite program of those currently in the market for a new coach. If the huge names like Bennett, Wright, Calipari, and others are open to moving to another college program, UCLA will be in the driver's seat. Their names are not being mentioned in connection to any other programs.
The word is Earl Watson, is a backup emergency plan if can’t get the coach they want because he would be popular with former players but would have to bring in a veteran coach with college experience to be on the bench with him.
Current significant openings that may involve UCLA candidates:
Arkansas - There are many that believe Arkansas is still a desirable basketball school and coaching job. They will pay big money. We shall see based on who they hire. Houston coach Kelvin Sampson is the lead name here because he and the Arkansas AD are old friends. However, the names of all the usual second tier suspects for UCLA are being thrown around in case Sampson falls through which includes Mick Cronin of Cincinnati and Chris Beard of Texas Tech.
Cal – recently fired Wyking Jones and it appears they have found their new coach in Mark Fox, who had previously had a successful stint at Nevada coaching the Wolf Pack to the NCAA tournament three times and had a nine-year stint with Georgia.
St. Mary’s coach Randy Bennett and UCI’s Russell Turner were thought to be on Cal’s short list and would be considered second or third tier choices for UCLA.
Bennett was interviewed the last time Cal’s job opened up so he may have a slight advantage.
As for Turner, in his recent tournament game against Oregon, he repeatedly referred to Oregon player Louis King as “Queen.” It has received some negative publicity and that may have ended any chance he had at a school like Cal in 2019.
There was some buzz about Jason Kidd but since he has been lobbying for the Lakers job (even after the Cal job opened up), the Bears decided to pass. Kidd is not a candidate for UCLA.
Nebraska - former Iowa State and Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg's name is being mentioned frequently and often in relation to this position. It may mean he is off UCLA's list altogether, or Hoiberg's agent is linking him to Nebraska to see if it pushes UCLA to make an offer. Cleveland Cavalier coach Tyronn Lue (not a candidate for UCLA) is expected to be the backup option should Hoiberg fall through.
Texas A&M - rumored to be going hard after Buzz Williams of Virginia Tech and that it will be a done deal as soon as Williams is out of the Tournament. The other names being mentioned is Kelvin Sampson of Houston and Chris Beard Texas Tech.
Vanderbilt - hired the Korn Ferry executive search firm to help with the search. They are currently rumored to be going after Steven Wojciechowski of Marquette and possibly Providence coach Ed Cooley.
Shaky Ground:
Arizona - lots of buzz surrounding Sean Miller and most of it is not good. The Arizona administration and their fans love the guy and are looking for any way they can to keep him. However, the FBI investigations and accusations of numerous recruiting violations are keeping him on a razor-thin edge. Miller will soon have to deal with a subpoena to testify. How he handles it, and what new information comes out of the investigation may put Arizona in a position with no choice but to let him go. If that happens, look for Eric Musselman of Nevada or Luke Walton to emerge as leading candidates for the job.
LSU - with the suspension of head coach Will Wade after recruiting violations emerged, a coaching change is expected to follow. Eric Musselman is supposed to be seriously considered since he was once the Associate Head Coach there. And as with almost every other opening, Mick Cronin's name is emerging as a candidate.
Texas - look for Texas to go hard after Texas Tech coach Chris Beard should Smart, and Texas go their separate ways. As for Beard and UCLA, the only way UCLA will hire him is if he is willing to sign a contract that will make it difficult for his alma mater Texas to lure him away. The word is the Longhorns aren’t the only competition for Beard that the Bruins are facing. Arkansas and Texas A&M are also wooing Beard.
Closed Coaching Changes:
Alabama – On 3/27 Alabama hired rising star Nate Oats of Buffalo. UCLA can now remove Oats from the backup list. It was initially believed that Alabama alum Steve Prohm of Iowa State would have been the front runner for the Alabama job. Perhaps Prohm prefers ISU over his alma mater, Alabama, OR perhaps Prohm believes he is a serious contender for the UCLA job and couldn't give Alabama an answer...yet. Alabama may not have wanted to wait or to be his second choice.
UNLV - On 3/27, in a somewhat surprising move, UNLV announced T.J. Otzelberger of South Dakota State as their new coach. This should not have any effect on the UCLA search. Early rumors were all about Thad Matta, but that tapered off and they pivoted to Buffalo’s Nate Oats and VCU’s Mike Rhoades.
Other Notes:
Steve Prohm, on Monday, 3/26, signed a three-year extension on his contract at Iowa State which will make it a little more difficult (but not impossible) for another school to poach him.
Mick Cronin has reportedly been told that the University of Cincinnati will not get into a bidding war for him. They are not giving him a pay increase or a contract extension.
Cronin must have one of the best agents in the business since he seems to be a candidate for every job opening out there. He hasn't taken another position and there are no confirmations of even an interview anywhere. He is a Cincinnati native, and his entire family still lives there, so maybe he has no intention of leaving for those reasons.
Or, just maybe, he is holding out for the right job. Could that be UCLA? After all, Cincinnati knows it cannot win a bidding war with UCLA. Being upfront that they will not be leveraged or even try to outbid a school like UCLA makes sense under those circumstances.
Billy Donovan may not be the huge long shot everyone has imagined. Currently flirting between 7th and 8th place in the NBA Western Conference, OKC may end up playing the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the NBA playoffs, likely leading to a quick exit.
Timing has always been the big issue for UCLA with NBA coaches since their playoff season is extended so long after the college season. UCLA can't wait forever. However, it is looking now like Donovan's season may be over in late April.
UCLA is still likely to swing for the fences with top current college coaches like Tony Bennett and Jay Wright, but should they miss; they may be open to waiting for Donovan with the thought that they can always swing back around to their second and third tier guys in May.
Recruiting may take a hit since the late signing period is from April 17 to May 15. Then again it may not since the roster is relatively full already and only Kris Wilkes is leaving as of now.
As for Donovan, there are rumors that he actually prefers college coaching. Unlike most coaches, he enjoys the competitive nature of recruiting. He has had great success in the college ranks and may prefer (or finds he is better at) coaching up young, eager players as opposed to managing the egos and head cases in the NBA.
As for UCLA, just as with Chip Kelly, they would likely pay Donovan a very competitive salary and turn the program over to him with a green light to run it as he wants. It could be very appealing to him. Timing is everything.
Kelvin Sampson may end up staying at Houston and not be part of the coaching carousel. Even though he is being mentioned for several openings (and might even be on the UCLA list, but far down it), one of the Houston regents stated that if Sampson leaves Houston, it won't be because of money. Sounds like they are willing to get into a bidding war to keep him and that in itself, may scare off other schools.
