Monday, May 03, 2010

Still Waiting

Written for your enjoyment by: Raff

Day 17 of the interim period between Milan Brown's tenure as Mt. St. Mary's basketball coach and the naming of the Mount's next head basketball coach. Here at The Fan Blog we're still waiting, patiently we might add, to find out who the new coach will be.

Former Mount signee Donte Morales is no longer waiting. He committed to UNCW over the weekend. BG has the scoop over at Mount U. Very disappointing, I was really looking forward to seeing Morales in the Blue and White. And I wish he would have waited to commit until after the new coach was chosen and he had the opportunity to speak with the new staff. A commitment is non-binding -- so maybe there is some hope - but it doesn't sound like this is going to end well.

Some things we've heard that may or may not be new news....

  • The search is still ongoing. There is at least one interview scheduled for this week.
  • It sounds like some people involved in the process want a fresh approach
  • Someone from Duke has inquired, I'm guessing Wojo - and might very well be part of the equation.
  • Rob Moxley's name seemed to be one of the hotter ones I heard this weekend. Moxley was a former Maryland assistant who was the Associate Head Coach at Charlotte this past year.
  • There still seems to be a lot of buzz about the possibility of Kurt Kanaskie
  • The name Martin Ingelsby won't go away either. The Notre Dame assistant has a lot of backers.
  • I wouldn't expect any announcement until tomorrow (Tuesday) at the earliest
The other big news of the day is that it sounds like Rutgers and Mike Rice are getting very close to a deal that would make Rice the Knights Head Coach. That would leave another vacancy in the NEC. The folks at Colonials Corner are asking for assistant Tim Toole to be named the head coach if in fact Rice does leave. I've said all along this is the job Rice was waiting for.

19 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:20 PM

    I followed the link to "Mount U." but it didn't come up, just sent me to a search engine.

    Anyway, icepack reported the Morales UNCW signing yesterday right here on your blog.

    Thanks for your keeping up with the coach search at MSM. I am encouraged with the quality of the candidates. Something good will happen.

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  2. I would love to see WoJo as head coach. He was known for his defense at Duke and currently coaches the big men at Duke. If he has some success he would only be at the Mount for a few years but I think the name recognizion would help with recruiting. I dont know if the Mount could afford him either.

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  3. At this point I really don't think it's gonna be Dunlap. There's no way it would take this long if they had the confidence in him to do the job.

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  4. Richard5:06 PM

    I am awaiting Cliffy's arrival!

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  5. Anonymous5:19 PM

    Here's a vote for a whole new staff, headed by someone from a winning program. My reasoning is that Milan took MSM as far as it could go, and unless we garner a few 3 star recruits (only likely with a name) and a coach hungry for success, we will be doing our best just to win the NEC tourney.

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  6. icepack5:25 PM

    Today - and the gossip continues:

    http://www.nbebasketball.com/w3/2010-0502/rice-diet-at-rutgers/

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  7. icepack9:11 PM

    Raff, I just found the Mount U. site and an acerbic comment by an anonymous poster. I have to agree in part with the comment, there seems to be some sentiment for Dunlap - he must be a nice guy, but I do not agree that Lynne Phelan has been doing anything but sorting through a long list of qualified candidates.

    I spoke with her last week and she is intelligent and sanguine. Of course, we all, even when we try our best, may not make the best decision.

    But I feel assured she will make a good hire and the tradition of Mount basketball will continue to outperform any institution three times our size.

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  8. icepack10:21 PM

    HERE IT IS #1:

    The Rat goes crawling away!

    http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/bigeast/2010-05-03-rutgers-mike-rice_N.htm

    Wait till you see the HERE IT IS #2

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  9. Hello, I apologize for contacting you in this fashion, but I think you might be interested in submitting your site to my new sports directory…at thesportszone.org

    I'm assuming comments are moderated so when I click submit this post won't automatically appear on site, if it does, I again apologize.

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  10. Richard10:23 PM

    ******ALERT******* As of 5:57pm May 3. Mike Rice is gone to Rutgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woooo-Hoooooooo. It is time to par-----tay!!!! Break out the Big East Rodent Exterminators!!! Mike Rice will have plenty of his kind roaming the alleys of that dump New Brunswick.

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  11. Anonymous10:26 PM

    Now let's follow the currently committed RMU recruits and see if any leave.

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  12. icepack, I tried to clarify my comments on my post. I'm sure most of the finalists are great candidates, but I do in fact have a bias for my good friend Brion. I don't think we'll have to wait much longer for an announcement; I'll post my reasons for that belief tomorrow. In the meantime I wouldn't be surprised if Raff here's something concrete first. It would be really embarrassing if Robert Morris announced it's new coach in close proximity to us doing so. Not only would it overshadow our hiring sooner than it needed to, but it will also show how unnecessarily long the process took the Mount.

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  13. Richard11:40 PM

    Thank you icepack!!!!

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  14. icepack11:40 PM

    BG - we have all posted so many messages, I am not sure which posts or opinions you are referring to, but I understand devotion to a friend and I compliment you in that regard.

    I was very much in touch with Milan, spoke often with him and spent some time socializing. He was a good man and a good coach at my alma mater.

    Oddly, we never spoke about Brion, so I simply have no opinion, but I know the Phelans well and Lynne will make a reasoned decision. I also have a good deal of trust in Tom Powell and I know it is important for him to participate in the decision because he wants to try his best to get a coach with talent and class. However, choices are always limited by available candidates and the economics of the situation, so the best of intentions does not guarantee optimal results.

    I personally spoke with representatives of two of the coaching candidates, they of course extolled the virtues of each. I passed the recommendations upward but there is no way I would be in a position to know who would be good for the job. I am, after all, just a fan.

    But, aren't we all?

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  15. Richard11:42 PM

    I bet Rice takes a few of his recruits because Rutgers definitely needs help. It would be nice if Karon transferred too. my whole perspective just changed tonight. I should be singing that song- 'Everything's Gonna Be Alright'.

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  16. Anonymous1:00 PM

    BG -- unnecessarily long search? For all intents and purposes, two weeks in unnecessarily long? How long did the Holy Cross search take? How about Rutgers? They fired their coach the same day Milan was announced as the HC coach. Unless you have a person in mind, which MSM obviously did not, two weeks is hardly too long.

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  17. Richard6:06 PM

    Exactly anonymous, about this long search. I see hints of incompetency due to this.

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  18. Anonymous6:42 PM

    C'mon Richard, taking time is not a sign of incompetence. Deciding before you think it is right is incompetent.

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  19. Richard11:15 PM

    Anonymous, I think that both taking a longer time than reported as well as making a fast bad decision have their own unique downfalls.

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