I can't imagine that Pittsburgh's Jamie Dixon - who had no
interest in going to Arizona - would have any in taking a USC job that could
come with NCAA sanctions.
Remember, Arizona has tradition. The Wildcats won a national title. USC has
none of that and also the program will be short on talent with whoever takes
over.
You've got Dwight Lewis for a year, defensive-minded Marcus Simmons and
volatile forward Leonard Washington. All three hail from Louisiana - and all
three went to Los Angeles because of Floyd and his southern roots.
This is a major rebuilding job - one made for a young guy willing to put in the
work. It's certainly not the right fit for Bob Knight. It's also a spot in
which USC athletic director Mike Garrett needs to find someone squeaky clean.
Here are 10 realistic possibilities I'd
look at if I were Garrett (in no particular order):
Seth Greenberg - The 53-year-old New York native spent nearly a decade at Long
Beach State as an assistant and head coach. He's done a terrific job in
Blacksburg with Virginia Tech.
Dan Monson - He's a west coast guy who took over a tough situation at Minnesota
and is now back at Long Beach State. Monson is 47 and has orchestrated an
impressive turnaround in just two seasons at the helm with the 49ers.
Bill Grier - Grier worked with Monson at Gonzaga and the 45-year-old left the 'Zags
to become the head coach at San Diego two years ago. The Toreros went to the
NCAA tournament and upset UConn in his first season before going .500 this past
year.
Kerry Keating - He's got a .500 or so record in two years at Santa Clara, but
he was key - in his tenure as a UCLA assistant - in the recruitment of Russell
Westbrook and Darren Collison.
Jim Boylen - The Utah head man was slated to be the next in line if Sean Miller
didn't accept the Arizona gig. He's a former NBA assistant and also a guy who
worked for Tom Izzo at Michigan State. The 44-year-old is 42-25 in two seasons
with the Utes - including an NCAA tournament appearance this past year.
Randy Bennett - The St. Mary's coach has won more than 150 games in eight
seasons with the Gaels. He's 47 and has developed a strong pipeline to
Australia - which could come in handy for trying to rebuild a USC program that
needs players.
Mike Dunlap - The 50-year-old former NBA assistant and Division II head man
spent last year with Arizona and is now the associate head coach at Oregon. He
can flat-out coach and would just need to hire a big-time recruiter.
Mike Hopkins - I've got to credit Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy for this one. Hopkins
is next in line at Syracuse, but he's a big-time recruiter, California native and
former player for the Orange who has an extremely bright future. It would take
some foresight by Garrett - which likely means it won't happen.
Craig Robinson - The President-brother-in-law has done a great job at Oregon
State in his year at the helm and also has experience as a head coach at Brown.
He's certainly clean - and has proven he can coach.
Eric Reveno - Former Stanford assistant who has done an impressive job in his
brief tenure at Portland.
ILLINOIS FORWARD BREAKS ANKLE
Overlooked in all the Tim Floyd hoopla last night was the fact that
Illinois forward Mike Davis broke his left ankle in a voluntary morning
practice session in Champaign.
Davis, who averaged 11.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game last season, was
slated to tryout for the USA World University Team. Now he'll likely be on the
mend for the next 6-8 weeks.
RANDOM NOTES: Austin Carroll, who
spent last season at Worcester Academy, will head to Brewster Academy for a post-grad year. ... Auburn has
hired former South Carolina assistant Ken Potosnak. ... BYU coach Dave Rose had
emergency surgery to remove his spleen after experiencing internal bleeding
over the weekend while at a family reunion in Las Vegas. Rose will take the
next couple weeks to recover.