Cuonzo to Tennessee

[Nacho]

Per Gary Perrish of CBS twitter feed. On cell so can't link.

[bigjimmy]

Just saw ESPN report it

[patrick_o'brian]

The Valley is falling apart. I bet Marshall goes too after Wichita wins the NIT!.

[amckillip]

All the better for BU to get Remy, keep DSE, and win the Valley next year!

[tornado]

I just saw that -- and Gregg Marshall is talking with Georgia Tech

smart move by Cuonzo -- next year he'll win a lot less than this year and he won't get those calls..

Here's an ESPN link

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=6264533&campaign=rss&source=twitter&ex_cid=Twitter_espn_6264533

wow -- busy Sunday!!

[pfunk880]

I'm surprised. All the talk seemed to indicate that they would go after a bigger name.

[tornado]

upper level meddling scared most of the bigger names away

[BUBraves06]

I'm surprised they didn't at least wait to interview Shaka after VCU is done.

[theBUer]

I'm surprised they didn't at least wait to interview Shaka after VCU is done.

I don't see him leaving for a long time. Even cross-town rival Richmond signed a 10 year extension with their coach. Wouldn't surprise me if that it matches that, or just as long.

http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/story/2011-03-27/richmond-coach-to-sign-10-year-extension

[tornado]

The release from Missouri State

http://www.missouristatebears.com//ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13800&ATCLID=205124381

"According to Missouri State Director of Athletics Kyle Moats, a search for
Martin's replacement will begin immediately with an unspecified timeline to
name the program's 17th head basketball coach. The internal search
committee will be comprised of Moats, Associate Athletics Director Casey
Comoroski, University counsel Clif Smart, community representative Tom
Strong, and a faculty representative."

they're saving $75K -- probably just starting with the list of candidates that turned down BU

[tornado]

funny reading the posts on the Tennessee boards...

-some have never heard of Cuonzo and are astounded they'd hire someone so obscure
-some wonder why they are settling for a guy who has NEVER made the NCAA Tourney
-some say he simply doesn't have enough experience or enough to draw from to say if he's up to the task at Tennessee...
-some don't think he's going to be able to keep all the players there
- some are a little racists....hey, it's Tennessee!

[Bravesfan]

I'm surprised they didn't at least wait to interview Shaka after VCU is done.

Shaka will not leave VCU just as Stevens won't leave Butler, both for a very simple reason.

Coaches who lead mid-majors to the NIT and/or NCAA Tournament every couple of years, win a tournament game once in awhile, and generally post winning records in most seasons are usually the type of coaches BCS teams look for. The reason is that this represents the ceiling of success for most mid-majors, and these coaches believe that moving to a BCS program with a history of winning and more resources would translate into more deep NCAA Tournament runs and more money.

The thing with Smart and Stevens is that they both proved they could take their respective programs and bust through that ceiling by making the Final Four. So why would they want to risk this ultimate success they have had at the mid-major level by taking BCS jobs that don't necessarily guarantee the same level of sucess that they have had at VCU and Butler respectively. I mean look at Tubby Smith for example. He has done moderately well at Minnesota, but is still looking for an NCAA Tournament bid there. He had better success at Tulsa. Kevin Stallings has done very well at Vanderbilt, but has yet to break through past the Sweet Sixteen there. But Smart and Stevens already have done it at their schools, so why not stay there and see how far they can ride this momentum.

The only issue would be the money, and while they probably both don't get paid quite up at the level of the John Calipari's and Coach K's of the world, I'm sure they both still get paid quite handsomely, thank you! And as Gonzaga's Mark Few has proven, there is great potential that VCU and Butler can turn into long term mid-major powers, if they haven't already.

[Bravesfan]

All the better for BU to get Remy, keep DSE, and win the Valley next year!

Sounds like a plan! Let's make sure we get the right coach to do this as well.

[Da Coach]

Tennessee announces hiring of Cuonzo Martin-

http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2011/mar/27/tennessee-names-cuonzo-martin-basketball-coach/

I must say, he is getting out at the right time, and he will bring a much higher ethical standard to UT.

Missouri State reacts to Cuonzo leaving-

http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext?nxd_id=429276

Here is one person who thinks Tennessee's hiring of Cuonzo Martin is funny-
Steve Pearl, son of Bruce Pearl and a former Volunteer player, and staunch defender of Bruce Pearl tweeted-
All I can do is laugh and say good luck sir
http://larrybrownsports.com/college-...n-hiring/60594#

[tornado]

this guy thinks they should have hired Pat Summitt to coach the men's team....

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/jeff_pearlman/03/23/pat.summitt/

BTW Cuonzo getting trashed on the Tennessee boards..
this guy says it's one of the worst hires in all of history!

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=7&f=1398&t=7369741