CubanMustGo
06-17-2009, 10:32 AM
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=4265563
USC's search to replace Tim Floyd has moved on beyond Pitt's Jamie Dixon and is now, for the time being, focused on coaches who have professional ties, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN.com.
Multiple sources confirmed that the Trojans made an attempt to woo Dixon, a native of Los Angeles, but the discussion was only on the surface in nature because Dixon wasn't going to move from Pitt. The Trojans were willing to make Dixon a strong offer to come West, but Dixon's comfort at Pitt made it a moot point.
Dixon has been at Pitt since 1999, the last six as a head coach, winning 163 games with the Panthers during that stretch and taking the Panthers to six NCAAs, one Elite Eight, three Sweet 16s and one Big East regular-season title and one Big East tournament championship.
Dixon is currently in Colorado Springs coaching the U.S. Under-19 team heading to the FIBA World Championships in New Zealand July 2-12
Sources have confirmed that many college searches no longer are done directly from athletic director to coach with formal permission being asked. Intermediaries like search firms and a coach's representative have allowed discussions to go on to allow the athletic director and coach plausible deniability about any contact.
Multiple sources told ESPN.com that USC athletic director Mike Garrett is now looking at coaches who have an NBA affiliation in their background, much like when he hired Henry Bibby, Rick Majerus and Tim Floyd, or more recently with women's coach Michael Cooper.
Multiple sources said that through an intermediary USC made an inquiry about current ESPN/ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy but were rebuffed. According to sources, the Trojans are doing background checks on former Sacramento Kings and one-time New Mexico State coach Reggie Theus, former Sonics head coach, San Antonio assistant and one-time Seton Hall coach P.J. Carlesimo and current Utah head coach, former Michigan State assistant and former Houston, Golden State and Milwaukee assistant in the NBA Jim Boylen.
Boylen was apart of Rudy Tomjanovich's championship staffs with the Rockets. Boylen led the Utes to a share of the Mountain West conference title this past season, getting Utah to a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament in only his second season in Salt Lake City. Utah signed Boylen to a new five-year contract last month. Prior to Boylen signing a new deal with the Utes, he was considered, according to sources, the next coach in line had Xavier's Sean Miller turned down Arizona after the Wildcats interviewed Floyd.
Los Angeles Lakers assistant Brian Shaw also remains in the mix, according to sources. Multiple sources said the list was considered only four or five names after Dixon. Current UNLV coach Lon Kruger fits the criteria of a coach with pro ties since he was the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks, but Kruger has maintained he is quite happy with his current situation in Las Vegas despite attempts from other schools in the West to lure him away from UNLV.
Multiple sources said the Trojans are looking to act within the next two weeks to fill the position. Cal State-Northridge coach Bobby Braswell remains a possible fallback candidate, despite his lack of pro ties, if the Trojans decide or can't get a coach with NBA-level experience. Braswell coached USC assistant athletic director Brandon Martin at Cleveland High (Calif.) but more importantly has turned around one of the more maligned programs in California the past 13 seasons in taking the Matadors from irrelevance out of the Big Sky to Big West tournament champ last March and a near miss against Memphis in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Oregon State's Craig Robinson and Virginia Tech's Seth Greenberg, who fit the criteria of coaches with squeaky clean NCAA resumes, and with ties to Los Angeles, haven't been contacted yet.
But sources said if the Trojans want to land Theus they can get him. Theus is out of coaching, well-connected within the Los Angeles AAU and high school circuit and offers USC the sizzle it may covet from its head coaching position. According to multiple sources, the ongoing NCAA investigation isn't a factor in discouraging Theus, Boylen, Shaw or Braswell from taking the job if the offer is hard to refuse. It's unclear where Carlesimo stands on the matter.
Sources confirmed that the current staff at USC -- assistants Phil Johnson, Gib Arnold and Bob Cantu -- were told to continue working and handling the day-to-day operations of the program, dealing mostly with the parents of the current players as recruits continue to get their conditional releases from national letters of intent.
Their contracts end over the summer but no plans have been made yet to cancel any July recruiting trips. Coincidentally, Utah was a finalist for USC committed 2010 player Gary Franklin Jr. (Mater Dei High, Calif.), a player that if Boylen were to get the job he could likely keep with the Trojans. Floyd, according to sources, hasn't been back at his office since he resigned, a departure that continues to befuddle the current staff since he had been adamant to them that he was going to fight the allegation by former O.J. Mayo insider Louis Johnson that Floyd paid $1,000 to Mayo's advisor, Rodney Guillory, on a street corner in Beverly Hills in February of 2007.
USC's search to replace Tim Floyd has moved on beyond Pitt's Jamie Dixon and is now, for the time being, focused on coaches who have professional ties, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN.com.
Multiple sources confirmed that the Trojans made an attempt to woo Dixon, a native of Los Angeles, but the discussion was only on the surface in nature because Dixon wasn't going to move from Pitt. The Trojans were willing to make Dixon a strong offer to come West, but Dixon's comfort at Pitt made it a moot point.
Dixon has been at Pitt since 1999, the last six as a head coach, winning 163 games with the Panthers during that stretch and taking the Panthers to six NCAAs, one Elite Eight, three Sweet 16s and one Big East regular-season title and one Big East tournament championship.
Dixon is currently in Colorado Springs coaching the U.S. Under-19 team heading to the FIBA World Championships in New Zealand July 2-12
Sources have confirmed that many college searches no longer are done directly from athletic director to coach with formal permission being asked. Intermediaries like search firms and a coach's representative have allowed discussions to go on to allow the athletic director and coach plausible deniability about any contact.
Multiple sources told ESPN.com that USC athletic director Mike Garrett is now looking at coaches who have an NBA affiliation in their background, much like when he hired Henry Bibby, Rick Majerus and Tim Floyd, or more recently with women's coach Michael Cooper.
Multiple sources said that through an intermediary USC made an inquiry about current ESPN/ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy but were rebuffed. According to sources, the Trojans are doing background checks on former Sacramento Kings and one-time New Mexico State coach Reggie Theus, former Sonics head coach, San Antonio assistant and one-time Seton Hall coach P.J. Carlesimo and current Utah head coach, former Michigan State assistant and former Houston, Golden State and Milwaukee assistant in the NBA Jim Boylen.
Boylen was apart of Rudy Tomjanovich's championship staffs with the Rockets. Boylen led the Utes to a share of the Mountain West conference title this past season, getting Utah to a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament in only his second season in Salt Lake City. Utah signed Boylen to a new five-year contract last month. Prior to Boylen signing a new deal with the Utes, he was considered, according to sources, the next coach in line had Xavier's Sean Miller turned down Arizona after the Wildcats interviewed Floyd.
Los Angeles Lakers assistant Brian Shaw also remains in the mix, according to sources. Multiple sources said the list was considered only four or five names after Dixon. Current UNLV coach Lon Kruger fits the criteria of a coach with pro ties since he was the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks, but Kruger has maintained he is quite happy with his current situation in Las Vegas despite attempts from other schools in the West to lure him away from UNLV.
Multiple sources said the Trojans are looking to act within the next two weeks to fill the position. Cal State-Northridge coach Bobby Braswell remains a possible fallback candidate, despite his lack of pro ties, if the Trojans decide or can't get a coach with NBA-level experience. Braswell coached USC assistant athletic director Brandon Martin at Cleveland High (Calif.) but more importantly has turned around one of the more maligned programs in California the past 13 seasons in taking the Matadors from irrelevance out of the Big Sky to Big West tournament champ last March and a near miss against Memphis in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Oregon State's Craig Robinson and Virginia Tech's Seth Greenberg, who fit the criteria of coaches with squeaky clean NCAA resumes, and with ties to Los Angeles, haven't been contacted yet.
But sources said if the Trojans want to land Theus they can get him. Theus is out of coaching, well-connected within the Los Angeles AAU and high school circuit and offers USC the sizzle it may covet from its head coaching position. According to multiple sources, the ongoing NCAA investigation isn't a factor in discouraging Theus, Boylen, Shaw or Braswell from taking the job if the offer is hard to refuse. It's unclear where Carlesimo stands on the matter.
Sources confirmed that the current staff at USC -- assistants Phil Johnson, Gib Arnold and Bob Cantu -- were told to continue working and handling the day-to-day operations of the program, dealing mostly with the parents of the current players as recruits continue to get their conditional releases from national letters of intent.
Their contracts end over the summer but no plans have been made yet to cancel any July recruiting trips. Coincidentally, Utah was a finalist for USC committed 2010 player Gary Franklin Jr. (Mater Dei High, Calif.), a player that if Boylen were to get the job he could likely keep with the Trojans. Floyd, according to sources, hasn't been back at his office since he resigned, a departure that continues to befuddle the current staff since he had been adamant to them that he was going to fight the allegation by former O.J. Mayo insider Louis Johnson that Floyd paid $1,000 to Mayo's advisor, Rodney Guillory, on a street corner in Beverly Hills in February of 2007.