Is Virginia a Good Fit for Tony Bennett?

Last year Tony Bennett turned down jobs at LSU, Indiana and Marquette to stay at Washington State. At the time I thought that he was going to stay in Pullman long term, continue to try and keep that program staying afloat. I believe that TB realized finally how hard it was going to be to consistently win in the Palouse. It is much easier to leave after a 17-16 record than a 26-9 record.

The Bennetts got all that they could out of Washington State Basketball. The program was in the ground when Dick took it over, after he "retired" from Wisconsin, just so Brad Soderberg could have that job for a year before they got smart and hired Bo Ryan. Tony took the program to back-to-back 25 win seasons and a Sweet 16 appearance. That is probably all you can get out of Washington State, it is so incredibly tough to recruit up there. You have to win with a system and Tony's Badger Ball certainly worked there. The future of Cougar basketball is in doubt, unless the can hire someone to play the same type of ball.

But why Virginia and not Indiana, Marquette or LSU? Timing has a major factor. Like I said earlier, Bennett probably finally saw that the Sweet 16 every once and ahwile might be his peak if he stayed. Virginia is an ACC job, with a brand new arena and lots of money. I worry for Tony Bennett taking this job though, Virginia has already killed the coaching career of one former coaching star, Dave Leitao.

Leitao was an up and coming star for what he did with the DePaul program. The Jim Calhoun-disciple was the reason that the Blue Deamons are in the Big East. Without his success there, DePaul might be still in Conference USA, but that could have been a good thing for them, since they didn't win a regular season conference game this year.

But on to Bennett and Virginia. The pieces are there to win, they have a gorgeous arena that is only a few years old and they are just a few years removed from winning an ACC title and coming up a Sean Singeltary missed shot from being in the Sweet 16. Bennett will be in for an awakening...this isn't the Pac 10. But he has proved that he can win in a tough situation.

The Pac 10 is looked upon poorly in ACC country. The student paper at Virginia ran a story about the hiring and most of the students had no clue who Bennett was and the one that did said something like this.

"I looked him up, saw that he was a PAC-10 coach, which was an interesting choice," said Greg Schaffer, a second year. "Un-proven I guess."

Unproven? Are you kidding? Come on Greg...this man won 68 games in three years at a place that is a horrible basketball school. Your Cavaliers won 20 less games in those last three years. Unproven in the ACC...sure.

Tony Bennett is going to get Virginia to play hard, play defense and his Princeton style offense will be unique in the ACC. Bennett has everyone back, his only senior losses were Mamadi Diane and Tunji Soroye who combined for a whopping 7.3 PPG last year. Sylven Landesberg and Mike Scott return, as does super recruit Jeff Jones...who Bennett will have to get more out of than Leiato did this year.

Right now I think this is a lateral move for Bennett, but certainly there is much more potential for bigger things in Virginia. I'm assuming that he got a nice raise...because it is going to be a long process to get the Cavs to be winners in the ACC. The facilities are worlds better at Virginia, Wazzu's are so old and outdated and need major upgrades. Bennett is a fellow Wisconsinite, so I wish him luck and I'm glad I no longer have to root against him.

For Washington State...this hire is going to be huge. Unless they can attract a system coach, Cougar basketball could collapse. My favorite for their job is Portland St. head coach Ken Bone. Bone is already interviewing in Pullman and likely will be the Cougs man. If not, look for St. Mary's coach Randy Bennett, former Utah coach Ray Giacoletti and a darkhorse of UA interim coach Russ Pennell.

Tomorrow the Arizona State Women will try to slay Goliath when they take on the undefeated UConn Huskies in the Elite Eight. Also, #2 ASU Baseball takes on #1 Cal St. Fullerton in Tempe and John Calapari will become the highest paid coach in the NCAA. Stay tuned...

Final Four Preview

So two weeks and 60 games later we have finally reached the Final Four. Your reward for making the Final Four...a trip to the great city of Detroit! Seriously, can you pick a worse place to have a Final Four? If you are making the trip to follow your team to the motor city, don't spend much time out of being inside Ford Field in the actual city of Detroit. Anyways, this isn't about the city, its about the teams that get to enjoy Detroit.

If you correctly picked the Final Four, congratulations, but I don't believe you. While I knew that Villanova and Michigan St. had a chance to win their regional, I didn't think that chance would become a reality. Lets go regional to regional.

West Regional
We start with the region I got to sit courtside for. I have to mention that it was a blast getting to cover the Missouri Tigers for insidemizzou.com this weekend. The Tigers players, coaches and fans were all class acts and very easy to work with.

The UConn and Purdue game was a very good ballgame to kick off the action in Glendale. Robbie Hummel is a sensational player and kept the Boilermakers around with his shooting, but the Huskies adjusted at the half and shut Hummel down...that meant the end for Purdue. JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore didn't have the game they needed to, to pull the upset.

Memphis and Missouri was incredibly entertaining. Mizzou did to Memphis which nobody has done in Coach Calipari's tenure, they ran with them, they pressured them, scored on them and beat them at their own game. If Coach Cal takes the job at Kentucky, Missouri will have affectively ended an era in NCAA Basketball.

The UConn/Missouri game was really kept close because Hasheem Thabeet was out most the first half in foul trouble. Once Hash was in, it really wasn't a contest. How about Kemba Walker? We got to hear about what makes a Bronx guard for the hundreth time, but he was the key to UConn holding off the upset.

East Regional
Boston was the scene of some great basketball this past weekend, starting with Xavier and Pitt on Thursday. The Panthers survived the first two rounds and had to have Levance Fields bail them out again to save them from losing to Xavier and advance to their first Elite Eight in 35 years. Isn't that amazing? How good Pitt has been in the regular season the last few years, this was their first Elite Eight in 35 years?!? It was also their first win over a top five seed ever. That is amazing.

There may not team in America hotter than Villanova. I watched them lose to Marquette in Milwaukee and ever since that loss, they have been red hot. I knew the talent they had when I saw that game. They will win the national championship if they are shooting at their peak, which they weren't on Thursday against Duke. They won because Duke's shooting was god awful. Henderson, Scheyer and Singler were a combined 9-45. Typical Duke in the NCAA Tournament. Duke hasn't beat a top four seed since 2001.

What a game was it on Saturday between the two Big East rivals. Physical, full of defense, it was Big East Basketball. There was that horrible home run pass Nova tried to throw that was picked off by Pitt, then the horrible foul they committed to let Fields tie the game up from the line. You know those players that feel like they've been in college forever? Scottie Reynolds is one of them and he's only a junior. He forever cemented himself in NCAA history with that tough floater with 0.5 seconds left to send Nova to their first Final Four since '85. They are the first 3 seed since Florida in 2006 to make the Final Four...Florida went on to win the title....sign?

Midwest Regional
So, Arizona? Good showing. 39 point loss...that is just embarassing. They got the easiest road to the Sweet 16 and had a chance to sort of prove themselves by making a decent showing. It was pretty much a scrimmage for the Cardinals.

As bad as Arizona was, the collapse of Kansas was just as bad. Michigan St. looked done at halftime, but Izzo got his boys to crank up the defense and rode Goran Suton (another player that has been in college forever.) to the Elite Eight.

Just like the second half of the KU game, Michigan St. used Suton and a whole lot of defense to pull off maybe the biggest upset of the Elite Eight. This game featured two coaches that UA fans think they have a realistic chance at landing. Dream on. Izzo isn't going to leave East Lansing where he has now taken Sparty to five Final Fours. Pitino now has gone to two straight Elite Eights and already has a Final Four at Louisville. Neither are leaving. Suton was great, but Michigan St.'s defense was better. That is why Sparty is headed home, but to keep playing.

South Regional
Oklahoma shocked me twice this weekend. First, I didn't think that they would be able to crush Syracuse the way they did. I thought Boomer Sooner wouldn't be able to penetrate the tough zone of the Orange. Cuse really didn't show up. The shots that fell against ASU didn't fall and someone finally disrupted Johnny Flynn by knocking him over. Blake Griffin's foul on Flynn wasn't dirty but changed the game.

UNC is the best team in the country with a healthy Ty Lawson. Lawson scored 17 in the first half on Friday and Gonzaga, one of the most overrated teams in the country every year, never had a chance.

I was surprised by Oklahoma's performance on Sunday. I thought the Heels would win, but not as easy. UNC's game plan let Blake Griffin score, but nobody else. Willie Warren scored...but not it was all when the game was out of hand. There is no doubt that Carolina is the favorite heading into the Final Four

Final Four Preview
We have the three programs that have made the most Final Fours since 1999. MSU 5, UNC 4 and UConn 3. I personally am really excited for these matchups. UConn and Michigan St. will be good, but I think that the Huskies are too big and athletic for Sparty. Unless Suton and Lucas are on fire, Thabeet, Robinson, Adrien will go nuts inside and advance to the title game. Villanova and North Carolina will be interesting. The only way Jay Wright's boys will hang with Carolina is if they are hitting the three ball. If that is the case the game will be close and Nova could win and set up an All-Big East final, but I think Carolina will be too much. To me, UNC has what it takes to ease through this Final Four. I'm taking the Heels to win...easily.

Shame on You Kentucky

Billy Gillispie is fired already? Wasn't it just yesterday that he was the savior of Kentucky Basketball? Fans held signs outside of Rupp Arena saying just that fact, but just two years later the marriage from hell is over. To me there isn't one party to blame for this disaster of epic proportion. Billy Gillispie didn't fit in Lexington. Who's fault is that? Well that has to fall on the Kentucky Wildcats.

When AD Mitch Barnett started his search for the replacement to Tubby Smith, it didn't start off so hot. Barnett and Kentucky were turned down by the likes of Rick Barnes, Billy Donovon and
Jay Wright...who now all look like geniuses for staying at their schools, especially Wright who has Villanova in the Elite Eight. Kentucky didn't know where to turn when their legendary program was turned down by three different coaches...they needed a shoo-in. Enter Billy Gillispie. Maybe a little background check would have caught those DUI's?

Gillispie isn't the man that "fits" the Wildcat program. They need a guy like a Rick Pitnio, who is open and knowing that as the head man at Kentucky, your life is public and what people want to know. Gillispie went through a divorce right around the time he took the UK job and heard lots of questions about his personal life...which wasn't much of one. He didn't like that, he liked to keep to himself.

The marriage started out rocky, got better and then hit rock bottom. It was Billy's way or the highway, he would never adjust to his players. It all started with a loss to Gardner Webb in just his second game in Lexington, but Gillispie's Cats rebounded to go 12-4 in the SEC and earn Billy the SEC Coach of the Year. The Wildcats extended their NCAA Tournament streak, but were one in done, falling to Marquette in the first round. You don't go one and done at UK.

Or you don't miss the tournament? That is what the Wildcats did this season despite having an All-American in Jodie Meeks, despite starting 5-0 in the VERY weak SEC. They finished 3-8 after that hot start. Suddenly the top recruits that he pulled in no longer wanted to play for a guy that Patrick Patterson called a "jerk". Alex Legion bolted to Illinois the previous season already. Anybody know where that 8th grader he recruited is at?

The three most foreign letters in Lexington are N I T. It should tell you something about this program, that they still made the NIT with the second most losses in school history. Maybe winning the NIT would have saved Gillispie, but that ended with a ten point lost to Notre Dame in the quarterfinals after knocking off UNLV and Creighton to get there.

Can anyone name the last time Kentucky was in the NIT? That would be the 1949-50 season when the NIT was more prestigious than the NCAA Tournament. The last time Kentucky missed the big dance was Pitino's first two years when they were banned from being invited or his second team would have made it.

Some people just aren't suited to coach at the legendary programs like Kentucky and Billy Gillispie certanily is one of those coaches. Don't get me wrong...the coaching jobs he did at UTEP and Texas A&M was phenominal...but he only one 3 tournament games, not Kentucky material. Gillispie will get another job somewhere soon, somewhere where you don't have the incredible expectations like in Lexington.

But for now...the pressure is on Mitch Barnhart to correct his mistake or he will be looking for a job soon. Can anyone say Rick Pitino? John Calipari? It's going to be a fun off-season with legendary programs like Arizona and Kentucky looking for coaches....we'll see if anyone wants those jobs after seeing the Gillispie story.