Calipari out at Memphis

[Crazyswordsman]

He's now at Kentucky.

So, who will take Calipari's place? -CSM

[Shine Dude]

Definatley not Mike Anderson.

[Crazyswordsman]

^I was thinking that to come out of Andre's mouth.

Personally I hope it's not McCaffrey (Siena's coach). The Syracuse fan in me wants to see Jay Wright leave Villanova, but the Big East fan in me wants him to stay so the Big East can stay as the example conference.

I could see Russ Pennell or Jeff Capel in that job (though I doubt the latter would leave OU). -CSM

[Eagle Eye]

I was happy it wasn't Mike Anderson.....

The good thing is we're probably now the front-runners to win C-USA next season...

[Shine Dude]

You know what the weird thing is about all this?

The last team Memphis lost to-Mizzou

The last team Memphis lost to in the regular season-Syracuse

The last team Memphis lost to in their conference-UAB

It's like LOST!

[Crazyswordsman]

I think we should make this forum the Memphis bashing forum. -CSM

[Lurch1982]

Why the **** would anyone leave a major conference school they're having even moderate success at for Memphis?

[Crazyswordsman]

Because Memphis is a name brand now (unfortunately). -CSM

[Lurch1982]

Originally Posted by Crazyswordsman

Because Memphis is a name brand now (unfortunately). -CSM

They're a brand name because CUSA is still in shock from losing the top half to the A10 and Big East. Memphis is the last "big" school standing in the conference right now. Going to Memphis from a large school is like, for a hypothetical, choosing Gonzaga over Washington.

[Crazyswordsman]

^Mark Few was offered the Arizona job, but he chose to stay at Gonzaga (for an example of a coach that was offered a job at a big school but chose to stay in the small school).

And when Louisville was still in CUSA, Rick Pitino left Kentucky for Louisville (I don't care how good CUSA was back then; Kentucky is still Kentucky). -CSM

[Lurch1982]

Originally Posted by Crazyswordsman

^Mark Few was offered the Arizona job, but he chose to stay at Gonzaga (for an example of a coach that was offered a job at a big school but chose to stay in the small school).

And when Louisville was still in CUSA, Rick Pitino left Kentucky for Louisville (I don't care how good CUSA was back then; Kentucky is still Kentucky). -CSM

On Pitino, you're factually incorrect. He left Kentucky for the Celtics, then came back to the NCAA and went to Louisville. In 01, CUSA was actually bordering on major conference anyway.

Mark Few rightfully didn't take the Arizona job. Few is a Pac-NW guy. He's from there, went to school there, and recruits HEAVILY from the Pac-NW. Why the hell would he take a job that's a total mess? Zona has to compete nationally and with the bulk of the rest of the Pac-10 for recruits. Gonzaga is an easier job, there's no pressure to win now, and there's a 0% chance he'll get ****canned after 3 years.

[Crazyswordsman]

Okay, I screwed up on Pitino. But there is a lot of pressure on Gonzaga to win. They've made every NCAA tournament since 99 and have always been seeded well but have never made the Final Four. They always schedule tough and Gonzaga is a household name in basketball. You could say similar things about Memphis, Butler, or Xavier (which has made the NCAAs as an at-large most of these past years).

By your logic, Georgia and Nebraska are bigger basketball names than Gonzaga or Xavier. -CSM

[Lurch1982]

Originally Posted by Crazyswordsman

Okay, I screwed up on Pitino. But there is a lot of pressure on Gonzaga to win. They've made every NCAA tournament since 99 and have always been seeded well but have never made the Final Four. They always schedule tough and Gonzaga is a household name in basketball. You could say similar things about Memphis, Butler, or Xavier (which has made the NCAAs as an at-large most of these past years).

By your logic, Georgia and Nebraska are bigger basketball names than Gonzaga or Xavier. -CSM

A-10 is a legit basketball conference in any given year because the recruiting grounds are fertile.

WCC has two, if not more legit teams. Extremely fertile recruiting grounds, especially due to Cal mailing in recruiting, Washington and Oregon being hotbeds, and the lure of instant playtime as opposed to buried on a Pac-10 team's bench until Jr or Sr year. Outside Gonzaga, there's St Mary's, Pepperdine, and Loyola Marymount that pick up decent teams consistently.

The difference between Gonzaga's "pressure to win" and Arizona's "pressure to win" is that Gonzaga is great if you own conference and win one or two games in the tourny. Zona requires a FF appearance or you're out, especially after replacing LUTE OLSON.

Nebraska is a basketball hell because there's no basketball culture there. Football (and lesser extent baseball) rule the roost so to say.

Georgia OTOH is prime recruiting grounds and no Georgia school taps it. If they actually commit to the program and get a solid coach, they could EASILY dominate the SEC just by recruiting in state. Georgia, specifically the ATL is considered one of the best basketball recruiting grounds in the nation, let alone the region. The best they have in state is, what, GA Tech, right? GA Tech has that whole academic standards issue that UGA is more likely to waive. If you took a coach that thinks outside the box (meaning not that slow, boring, ****ty SEC style that almost every team in conference runs), UGA could be a dominant power. If Mike Anderson wound up there, I'd give Georgia a 5 year window before a Final Four appearance (if not sooner). Anderson's system would essentially rape the SEC, much like he was able to do with UAB.

Granted, that's all moot since he inked a 7 year extension with Mizzou on the 31st.

[Eagle Eye]

With the potential next to us, I failed to understand how Davis could possibly fail to bring no one in from GA. We're right next door, just two hours from Atlanta, and we couldn't pull in ONE player?

[Crazyswordsman]

^Especially considering the indifference to basketball at most SEC schools, particularly UGA, Bama, Auburn, and Ole Miss (though they seem indifferent to anything).... -CSM

[Lurch1982]

That's the thing, the SEC isn't really pulling out of Georgia for the most part. Here's last year's list:

Rivals.com Prospect Rankings

You basically have people come in from all over the damn place because the state of GA doesn't have a normal recruiting situation.

NORMALLY: you have one mega-state school that's pulling the attention of the bulk of the in-state recruits. This chases off someone from the other end of the country, because unless the kid is a 5* recruit, they won't have the resources to compete with a backyard school (barring something like legacy or other indication that he doesn't want to stay there). It also chases out mid-level schools outside of the region, who won't be able to compete with the mid-level state schools who pull in recruits.

In Georgia, since UGA basically doesn't care/can't lure players for some dumb reason, you have the ACC running rampant taking players out. Sure, that's understandable (proximity), but then you see random PAC-10 school or random small Northeast school swipe a player. You also don't really see the 3* and below prospects winding up in state (more of them are going to lower tier ACC or something out of Georgia).

Basically, recruiters see the state of Georgia as a free and open state. You're not competing with the conference draw (SEC) and you're not really close enough to the ACC for them to be an equivalent. You can legitimately dump resources into Georgia and swipe an obscenely high prospect that in any other state would have wound up at the state's top school OR at a national power.

As per Ole Miss: yeah how would you like to recruit athletes to come to a place in Northern Mississippi where the Klan is still active AND the school runs a Confederate Flag around the field and court.

But really, the bulk of the SEC's attention is 95% football, 3% baseball, and 2% everything else. Florida (who really isn't an SEC team) and Tennessee (basketball country) are exceptions, but they haven't figured out that basketball is more than something you let the skilled players do in the offseason in high school. Even the Big 12 has figured out that being competitive in basketball as well as football is great for your overall image.

[Crazyswordsman]

^The word "Kentucky" doesn't appear at all in that last paragraph. Even though they've been sucking lately they're still the face of SEC basketball (always has the highest attendance in the nation). Tennessee is known for its women's program.

About Ole Miss: that's probably obvious, although the school seems to attract (to its general student body, not its athletics) members of the uptown Klan considering of all the lavish environments in the SEC, Ole Miss has the most lavish of all.

The Big XII usually is competative in basketball outside of Nebraska and Colorado (despite the indifference of Oklahomans to anything outside football), they've just been having some down years as of late with Oklahoma, Okie State, and Mizzou in a rebuilding mode that is over at last. OU actually has a unique honor that's shared only with Syracuse, Arizona, and Duke: No losing seasons since the modern tournament era began (64 team format). -CSM

[Lurch1982]

Originally Posted by Crazyswordsman

^The word "Kentucky" doesn't appear at all in that last paragraph. Even though they've been sucking lately they're still the face of SEC basketball (always has the highest attendance in the nation). Tennessee is known for its women's program.

About Ole Miss: that's probably obvious, although the school seems to attract (to its general student body, not its athletics) members of the uptown Klan considering of all the lavish environments in the SEC, Ole Miss has the most lavish of all.

The Big XII usually is competative in basketball outside of Nebraska and Colorado (despite the indifference of Oklahomans to anything outside football), they've just been having some down years as of late with Oklahoma, Okie State, and Mizzou in a rebuilding mode that is over at last. OU actually has a unique honor that's shared only with Syracuse, Arizona, and Duke: No losing seasons since the modern tournament era began (64 team format). -CSM

I didn't list UK because their coaching situation is in such disarray that you can't seriously consider them a realistic contender. Tennessee and Florida have legitimate coaches with systems and recruits, which automatically puts them above anyone else in the SEC.

Big XII again, has issues once you get in the northern half. Nebraska doesn't care about anything not football (and to a very lesser extent, baseball), and Colorado doesn't know what it likes since their athletics are all basically trashed. Mizzou wasn't in "rebuild" mode as much as they were coming out of probation. But the rest of it? You figure you can count on KU, Mizzou, OSU, KSU, OU, UT, and maybe A&M/TT/Baylor to try with Basketball. KU is a national power, and OSU, OU, UT, and Mizzou are in the second tier of basketball powers.