bierce

Hawkins. Was a dynamite PG for them this year.

Oldest coach in today's games is Nate Oats, who is 50. Average age of coaches today is 44. Youngest coach in tomorrow's games is Bruce Pearl, who turned 65 this month. Average age of tomorrow's coaches is 70. Another unique thing about this Elite Eight is that the eight teams remaining were the top 8 in Pomeroy rankings on selection day. This final 8 has the lowest amalgam of seeds ever since the tournament went to 64 teams. Oh, and thanks to a three landing on the bridge and crawling in at the buzzer, Pomeroy bull's-eyed his prediction in the Michigan State-Ole Miss Ole Iss Ole Ipp Ole I game.

Willard meeting with Villanova today and expected to make decision tonight (if it hasn't already been made).

Willard was booed by MD fans while entering the arena tonight. MD is said to already be hunting for a new coach. Last time MD was in the S16 was in 2016. Nice way to celebrate the return.

Willard missed a team dinner earlier this week. Does he fly back with the team or head straight to Philly by himself?

Seems like McCaffery was not ready to quit. He was just hired to take over at Penn, which is now 20 years removed from the Dunphy Ivy League dynasty. Martelli was hired by VCU.

Let us all have a good laugh at the articles today touting the "massive" NIL prize at stake in the CBC starting next week. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/new-postseason-college-basketball-tournament-ups-the-stakes-with-huge-nil-news/ar-AA1BMHQh Ooh, 300K to the winner. That might be enough for a single 10-15 mpg bench player from the prices we are hearing. Massive, I tell you.

Colorado State promoted assistant Ali Farokhmanesh. Time to see what New Mexico will do. Nice arena in which to play, but the conference will be severely diminished. Report is that Baby Pitino took his entire staff with him to Xavier, so no promoting assistants for them. I wonder if UNM will forego the up and coming young coach route and go with a P5 guy no longer employed like Keatts, Craig Smith, or Terry. Smith and Terry have coached in the conference before.

It wasn't just the players attacking the year in residency rule. A coalition of state attorneys general took on the NCAA over the rule. And made the NCAA capitulate. Sitting out a year ain't coming back. The NCAA is a creation of the member institutions, not something that was foisted on them by nefarious outside forces. The members can always dissolve the NCAA and create a new model.

It is hitting the fan in College Park. Willard is reported to have skipped the team dinner. Maryland plays Florida tonight in the early game out west.

And unleash a flood of litigation. The NCAA can't stop players from going from one school to another anymore. Those days are over and not coming back unless the NCAA members agree to certification of a union and collectively bargain with the players' union, and I doubt member schools want that.

Ok, Baby, I gave you Bennett as a guy who .maybe quit because of the portal, but he quit in September, so it wasn't about the timing. Which football coaches do you claim quit or went to the NFL because of the portal? Satan? While he alluded to NIL changing player attitude, he also said he couldn't keep promising assistant coaches he would be around for 3-4 years, and he told the AD in 2022 he was thinking it was near time for him to retire. Not to mention he was 72. Nebraska women's volleyball coach John Cook retired this year, and he bitterly complained about teams building with transfers, but he didn't cite transfers and NIL as a reason for retiring. He cited doing it for 25 years, wanting to spend time with family, and pursue other activities like his roping shows, as well as it being time to hand the program over to his protege. And he's 68.

The portal exists because it has to. The NCAA does not have the power to prevent players from moving around. And you know it. The courts will eviscerate any governing body that tries to restrict player movement, and you know it. So the portal exists. Your only complaint about basketball is connected to the timing. Dumb complaint because the portal is only about when players can declare entry to the portal. It doesn't determine when players have to announce they are staying or going somewhere else. The day will come when every player in every single sport will announce he/she is entering the portal on day one of the portal opening to try to maximize earning potential. How you going to stop that? You can't. Smart coaches will recognize this is the new reality and not panic. They will tell their guys, "Let's go win this year, so you can maximize your potential earnings, and I'd love to have you come back here, but right now, let's get ready for our next opponent, and you agent and my GM will negotiate." Now admit it. Not a single NCAA basketball head coach has left for the NBA since the portal has become a thing. Admit it. Does the portal add to the headaches facing NCAA coaches? Of course it does. But only Bennett made a point about it being a reason he walked away. Wright just said he was only giving 70% of himself.

I don't know, and I don't care, because our discussion is about whether having the portal open during the NCAA men's basketball tournament is some kind of bugaboo. There isn't a single NCAA basketball head coach who has left college coaching ranks to take an NBA job since the portal became a thing. Wright and Bennett retired. Maybe that was due to the portal being a thing, but they never said anything about the timing of the portal.

How many head coaches have left college ranks to take NBA head coaching jobs in the last 5 years?

So what if the tournament is still going on? Our staff can go chase down prospects, so why should we care? Portal opening and closing only determines when players who are neither grad transfers nor players who saw their coaches run away can enter the portal. It says nothing about when they have to agree to play for their old schooll or a new one. As long as they entered the portal, they can sign with anyone at any point, or even skip signing altogether and just show up in September somewhere and collect the jack. So the fuss about the portal opening while the tournament is still going on is silly. Boo hoo if GMS of the teams still playing have to deal with free agents instead of sitting in the huddle during a game.

WVU hired Hodge today. Nova rumored to be looking at 71 year old Bob Huggins while Maryland is still sweating out the Willard situation.

Move is more risky for Pitino than Xavier. He takes over a completely gutted roster at a school that has less $ than many conference opponents.

WVU Wren Baker is in kind of a tough spot. His last hire ran off to greener pastures after a single year. That probably has him reluctant to hire someone like Richard Pitino. He hoped for McCollum, but he stayed home in Iowa. He wanted Calhoun, but Calhoun is now staying put at Utah State, and those were the two guys he was courting the most. Mack is going back to Xavier from all indications, so forget that idea. So Baker is down to WVU assistant Chester Frazier, and mid-major coaches not named Pitino--High Point coach Alan Huss and North Texas coach Ron Hodge. Baker was the AD at North Texas for 6 years wile Hodge was an assistant to McCasland. He was also interested in Schertz last year, so maybe he'd be an option. But with the portal open, it's probably time to get a guy.

UNLV hired Pastner. Calhoun staying put at Utah State.

Might not mean a thing, but Ogden was sitting next to Miller.

UNLV focused on Bryan Hodgson of Arkansas State. He was an assistant to Oats for years.

Josh Eilert received 2 interim head coaching jobs in the last 2 years--WVU when it fired Huggins, and Utah when it fired Craig Smith. So which coach do you think should least want to have Josh Eilert as an assistant in the upcoming year? Fred Hoiberg--Nebraska hasn't had a coach last more than 7 years since Danny Nee (1986-2000). Hoiberg had four terrible years before having a winning conference record and an NCAA appearance, but he went right back to 7-13, finishing the year on a 5 game losing streak. Of course he received an extension last year to keep him in Lincoln through 2028-29. Porter Moser--finally managed a tournament bid in his fourth season at OU. Career conference record while at OU of 26-46. Contract expires at end of 2027-28 season. Aidan Autry--only 2 years in with Syracuse and feeling heat after 14-19, 7-13 year in a down year for the ACC. Has Kiyan Anthony and Sadiq White coming in, but another year like this will probably end his tenure. Johnny Dawkins--going into his 10th season at UCF. Six years removed from his only team at UCF to make the tournament or finish in Pomeroy top 50. Received a two year extension last summer after doing a little better than expected in UCF's first year in the Big 12, so his contract runs until 2026-27 ends. Steve Pikiell--ouch. Second straight season with losing conference and overall record, and he did it this year with not one but two top 5 picks in the upcoming draft. He received an extension through 2029-30 after the NCAA appearance in 2022.

Anderson played professionally in Europe for a few years.

Any idea about David Miller also coming?