Figured I’d start a thread with the latest stuff I’m hearing with regards to Willard’s replacement.
- As I’ve mentioned multiple times now, the two names I know were vetted immediately were Tony Skinn and Duane Simpkins. I think I can safely say that Simpkins won’t happen. Simply doesn’t have the resume at the moment. A lot of differing opinions of Skinn. Personally, I think he would be well worth the risk. Willard basically got the job here with the caveat he brought Skinn with him. Terps absolutely over performed in Year 1 and he was the lead in the recruitment of Queen. Skinn also just had one of the best seasons in GMU history in his 2nd year as a head coach and was A10 COY. That isn’t anything to sneeze at. Past A10 COY include Calipari, Sean Miller, Phil Martelli, John Chaney, Chris Mack and Danny Hurley. That’s some serious company. He has also shown he can work the portal, having an entire portal starting five this season, including an Auburn transfer. I think he’s viable, but likely not at the top of the list.
- As for Buzz Williams, he’s apparently been throwing his name out there for every prominent opening this offseason. That usually means one of two things. One, he’s likely looking for an extension and a raise. Two, he’s worn out his welcome at what was basically his dream job. Either way, I just have an extremely hard time believing he’s at the top of any list for Maryland. I think it’s more likely he isn’t really in the mix.
- UConn assistant Luke Murray. For anyone left who might not know, this is the son of famed actor Bill Murray and was basically the architect of UConn’s offensive sets during their back-to-back title run. They ran some of the most innovative sets I’ve ever seen. He’s also an elite recruiter, most recently helping the Huskies land Queen’s former Montverde teammate Liam McNeeley. Now the thing that I wasn’t aware of that I just recently learned here is that his time at Towson on Pat Skerry’s staff apparently overlapped with new interim AD Colleen Sorum’s time at Towson. So there is some familiarity there. Obviously, this would be a high risk, high reward type hire. He obviously has no track record as a head coach, he is also one of the nation’s highest paid assistants and is in a very comfortable spot in a state where he attended college at Fairfield. On the plus side, he’d probably come on the cheaper end of the salary scale and with the right staff and a solid war chest could probably rebuild the roster quickly. But again, you could make the argument he’s a bigger risk than Simpkins, although the potential reward is an elite offense with elite results.
- Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard. Have had a lot of folks tell me Maryland would have no chance with Beard, but I’m not buying it. Have also been told by multiple people in the know he’s close with Patsos from his time at Texas Tech, where he took the Red Raiders to the Final Four. They are an Under Armour school and their starting center was from Odenton, Md. Many believe Beard is currently the best coach in the game and if you watched them last night take Izzo’s squad to the wire, not hard to figure out why. Obviously the whole thing with his now wife would be a possible impediment. And we all know Barry Svlurga would be sent in from the WaPo to try and destroy his program as soon as he got started. But he possibly has the highest ceiling of all, being a proven winner at the JUCO, D2, MM and P4 level. He would also likely bring the most buzz. The one issue is that while I think he would normally be extremely open to a program like Maryland, the lack of an AD could be a deterrent. He has to be careful about any move he makes and I would guess feeling comfortable with his new boss would be extremely important. But from what I can gather, his name is being vetted. Oh, and did I mention he’s a Bob Knight disciple?
Those are the names right now. Thoughts? Preferences?
Honestly, I really like three of those names and think all three have a higher ceiling than Willard. But that’s just my opinion.
- As I’ve mentioned multiple times now, the two names I know were vetted immediately were Tony Skinn and Duane Simpkins. I think I can safely say that Simpkins won’t happen. Simply doesn’t have the resume at the moment. A lot of differing opinions of Skinn. Personally, I think he would be well worth the risk. Willard basically got the job here with the caveat he brought Skinn with him. Terps absolutely over performed in Year 1 and he was the lead in the recruitment of Queen. Skinn also just had one of the best seasons in GMU history in his 2nd year as a head coach and was A10 COY. That isn’t anything to sneeze at. Past A10 COY include Calipari, Sean Miller, Phil Martelli, John Chaney, Chris Mack and Danny Hurley. That’s some serious company. He has also shown he can work the portal, having an entire portal starting five this season, including an Auburn transfer. I think he’s viable, but likely not at the top of the list.
- As for Buzz Williams, he’s apparently been throwing his name out there for every prominent opening this offseason. That usually means one of two things. One, he’s likely looking for an extension and a raise. Two, he’s worn out his welcome at what was basically his dream job. Either way, I just have an extremely hard time believing he’s at the top of any list for Maryland. I think it’s more likely he isn’t really in the mix.
- UConn assistant Luke Murray. For anyone left who might not know, this is the son of famed actor Bill Murray and was basically the architect of UConn’s offensive sets during their back-to-back title run. They ran some of the most innovative sets I’ve ever seen. He’s also an elite recruiter, most recently helping the Huskies land Queen’s former Montverde teammate Liam McNeeley. Now the thing that I wasn’t aware of that I just recently learned here is that his time at Towson on Pat Skerry’s staff apparently overlapped with new interim AD Colleen Sorum’s time at Towson. So there is some familiarity there. Obviously, this would be a high risk, high reward type hire. He obviously has no track record as a head coach, he is also one of the nation’s highest paid assistants and is in a very comfortable spot in a state where he attended college at Fairfield. On the plus side, he’d probably come on the cheaper end of the salary scale and with the right staff and a solid war chest could probably rebuild the roster quickly. But again, you could make the argument he’s a bigger risk than Simpkins, although the potential reward is an elite offense with elite results.
- Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard. Have had a lot of folks tell me Maryland would have no chance with Beard, but I’m not buying it. Have also been told by multiple people in the know he’s close with Patsos from his time at Texas Tech, where he took the Red Raiders to the Final Four. They are an Under Armour school and their starting center was from Odenton, Md. Many believe Beard is currently the best coach in the game and if you watched them last night take Izzo’s squad to the wire, not hard to figure out why. Obviously the whole thing with his now wife would be a possible impediment. And we all know Barry Svlurga would be sent in from the WaPo to try and destroy his program as soon as he got started. But he possibly has the highest ceiling of all, being a proven winner at the JUCO, D2, MM and P4 level. He would also likely bring the most buzz. The one issue is that while I think he would normally be extremely open to a program like Maryland, the lack of an AD could be a deterrent. He has to be careful about any move he makes and I would guess feeling comfortable with his new boss would be extremely important. But from what I can gather, his name is being vetted. Oh, and did I mention he’s a Bob Knight disciple?
Those are the names right now. Thoughts? Preferences?
Honestly, I really like three of those names and think all three have a higher ceiling than Willard. But that’s just my opinion.
