🏈 Basketball post that deserves a little attention. National papers talking about coaching job...

[TerryP]

Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com reported Tuesday that Alabama is poised to make a big run at Wichita State Coach Gregg Marshall when the Shockers’ season is over. Parrish says the school has no other candidates on its wish list and will offer Marshall “in excess of $3 million per year.”

Here’s more from Parrish:

The sources said Alabama’s administration is determined, one way or another, to make a big hire to replace Anthony Grant in response to Auburn employing Bruce Pearl last March, and Marshall is essentially alone atop the wish-list. Alabama cannot offer Marshall great basketball tradition, school officials understand. But one source said they plan to pitch “piles of money, an athletic department with a culture of winning and every resource he needs to compete with anybody on a national level.” It’s possible football coach Nick Saban could eventually be involved in what would amount to a high-profile recruitment.

“Alabama is gonna go big,” one source said.

Here’s the thing: Unless Marshall really needs the money — and he’s already making plenty of it in Wichita — he should politely decline, just as he’s done after UCLA, North Carolina State, Missouri, California and Tennessee came calling in the past.

There are numerous reasons why.

Wichita State is a better program

Marshall took the Shockers to the Final Four in 2013 and had an undefeated regular season in 2013-14. Now he has Wichita State back in the Sweet 16 after it beat in-state bully Kansas in this year’s round of 32. There is no better time to be a Wichita State fan. Compare that with Alabama, which was a regular NCAA tournament qualifier in the 1980s under Wimp Sanderson but has since been more or less a non-entity. In the 23 seasons since Sanderson resigned in 1992, the Crimson Tide has made the NCAA tournament just eight times and advanced past the tournament’s first weekend just once, and Alabama has just one NCAA tournament appearance in its last nine seasons. That’s a sad, unacceptable success rate for a power-conference program.

Saban casts a huge shadow

Yes, it’s probably pretty nice that Alabama can trot out football coach Nick Saban during the wooing process. But then you take the job and realize, “No one here is paying any attention at all to me.” At Alabama, basketball is a pleasant diversion between the bowl game and spring practice. Wichita State hasn’t fielded a football team since 1986. Basketball is king.

Marshall makes plenty of money at Wichita State

He’s going to make a base salary of $1.8 million this season, plus bonuses for on-court and academic achievement. He lives on a golf course. “We live well in Wichita. We love Wichita. Everything is in place for us to be there for a long time,” he said in 2013, per the Wichita Eagle.

Better jobs will be out there soon

Mike Krzyzewski is 68 and isn’t going to coach forever at Duke. We already know that Jim Boeheim has, at most, three years left at Syracuse and may not get a chance to appoint Mike Hopkins as his coach-in-waiting. Roy Williams, Tom Izzo, John Beilein, Rick Pitino: All in their 60s

________________

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...t-wichita-state-and-not-take-the-alabama-job/

_______________

By no means am I suggesting that Marshall is our next basketball coach. I am suggesting look at the national perspective on what the coaching position means/ranks.

We've seen this before: 2006

 

[TerryP]

If I may add one thought.

It doesn't matter what Parrish, Brando (he's been on a rant about this,) or anyone else thinks except one person: Gregg Marshall.

IF I may add one suggestion:

Don't fall into the trap laid in 2006...it's baited.

 

[BamaFan334]

Coaches with a desire to win also look for tough challenges to face. They want to resurrect a program and be the guy that brought it back from the dead. That can be done at Alabama. True Alabama fans want every sport to succeed and show their loyalty by donations and showing up to games. Two years ago Coleman was packed for all the games I went to. Football is king at almost every school, but that does not mean no one cares about other sports. Making $3 million a year, living in a sports obsessed town, great academics, loyal alumni and fans. That's a bigger draw than some of those points hit on in that article.

 

[planomateo]

 

[UAgrad93]

Parrish is looking through Shocker colored glasses or what? Better program? Now or traditionally? Right now, Wichita is the better job because of what Marshall has done there. Traditionally, Wichita State can't hold a candle to BAMA! If Marshall were to come to BAMA, he could make BAMA a annual player in the NCAAs. No one will pay attention to him in Tuscaloosa? Win and BAMA will build WHATEVER you want! Living in Wichita is better because he lives on a golf course? You want your home on a golf course, lake, or river? Take your pick! Better jobs are out there and will be opening soon? NO SHIT!! Boheim, Coach K, and others are getting a little long in the tooth but only Boheim has set a time table for his retirement. The other guys don't look to be getting burned out or bored with their jobs.
Marshall is a coach. He is a good one. Coaches like challenges! His challenge at Wichita is to win a Natty. Same for any other bball program that has never won one. Stay there and constantly have to live in the shadow of Kansas bball, even though you did beat them in the tourney. It doesn't mean it will happen again. Or come to BAMA and rebuild the once proud program back and be the "big dog" in bball here in the state.

 

[Rolltide24]

We need to go big. Our basketball program has been on the verge of embarrassing. We are definitely not turning our players for the Association. Our expectations have lowered and our results don't even exceed them. It would be great to have a solid program with some studs that bring excitement.

Don't know if y'all have seen him, but Lacey is having a great year for NC State. He made a good move for himself.

 

[TerryP]

Bob Lutz, columnist from the Wichita Eagle:

Where is Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall headed? To Cleveland, silly

This is such a thrilling time for the Wichita State basketball team and its fans. The Shockers just knocked off Kansas to reach the Sweet 16 this week in Cleveland. Who knows how far this team can go? Not even Kentucky seems like a stone wall.

This is the good life.

But, as seems to happen every March, there is some noise outside the walls of the party. The buzz has to do with the possibility of WSU coach Gregg Marshall leaving.

He’s going here, he’s going there. The grass – and the money – are greener.

The latest rumor centers on that great basketball power in the South – Alabama.

Finished laughing?

Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com reported Monday that Alabama is ready to throw lots of loot at Marshall and that the Tide is ready to get serious about basketball.

To which Alabama fans replied: “Basketball? What is basketball?”

Parrish’s sources told him Alabama officials are ready to spend $3 million to attract a coach who might be able to go toe to toe with Kentucky’s John Calipari and the other powers in the SEC. OK, there are no other powers outside of perhaps Florida.

But that’s beside the point. Apparently, Alabama is serious about improving its basketball program and it’s going to start with a high-profile coach. According to Parrish, Alabama football coach Nick Saban is willing to step in and do what it takes to get a big name to come to Tuscaloosa.

To which Saban commented: “Basketball? What is basketball?”

I’m not saying Marshall is going to stay at Wichita State for the remainder of his coaching life, although such a notion doesn’t seem as far-fetched as it did a couple of years ago.

And if Marshall does decide to leave, I’d be shocked if it was for a place like Alabama.

The Crimson Tide has appeared in 20 NCAA Tournaments, but has only one win since coming within a game of reaching the Final. Four in 2004.

Marshall has always made it clear that the thing he looks for first and foremost in a coaching job is a realistic opportunity to get to the NCAA Tournament and to win games. He’s doing that regularly now at Wichita State and at a place like Alabama it would be a crapshoot.

Yes, the SEC is a better basketball conference than the Missouri Valley. But the Tide has had trouble competing.

In 2009, Alabama made what looked like a slam-dunk hire by luring Anthony Grant away from VCU, where he was 76-25 in three seasons. But Grant led the Tide to only one NCAA appearance in six seasons before he was fired this month.

Now, it appears, Alabama is going to throw a lot of money – perhaps as much as $3 million per year – at this problem.

Marshall makes a base salary of around $1.8 million at Wichita State with a lot of nifty incentives. He’s not hurting and has always said he’s comfortable in Wichita and, even more importantly, his family loves it here.

Why would he leave?

Last week in Omaha, where the Shockers defeated Indiana and Kansas to reach the Sweet 16, somebody referred to Marshall as the “Bill Snyder of college basketball.”

Snyder arrived at Kansas State, built a dynamic program where there had never been one, and stayed. He’s 75 now, loves Manhattan and is as purple as they come.

Marshall is in his eighth season at Wichita State and there’s definitely a lot of yellow and black in him. He’s got it made, really, with chartered flights for road trips, private jets for recruiting and no football program to overshadow him. Not that what the Shockers are doing in basketball these days could be overshadowed.

Marshall has never come out and said that he’s never leaving Wichita State. No coach says such things. If Duke decided someday it wanted Marshall, he’d be crazy not to listen.

Um, Alabama ain’t Duke, the way Duke ain’t Alabama in football.

Wichita State has reached the NCAAs four years in a row. The Shockers made a run to the Final Four two years ago and they’re one of 16 teams who still have a chance to do it this season.

Marshall is the toast of a city. Wichita State has never won like this, which means Shocker basketball fans have never won like this. They like the feeling almost as much as Marshall and his players.

And, of course, they fret every year when these “Marshall could leave” stories start appearing.

We might just be getting started. What if Rick Barnes doesn’t survive at Texas? What if Indiana decides to go with someone other than Tom Crean?

What if, what if, what if?

The “what ifs” are a distraction, an irritant, a nuisance.

Marshall is going somewhere, though. He’s headed to Cleveland to try and get the Shockers to another Final Four. Enjoy the party and tune out the static.

______

A glance at his timeline tells a lot, IMO.

https://twitter.com/boblutz

 

[TerryP]

From the other side...Rodney Orr and Gary Harris discuss the program, its potential, and the ongoing coaching search.

It's the first eight minutes or so in this weeks broadcast of TI TV.

 

[planomateo]

From the other side...Rodney Orr and Gary Harris discuss the program, its potential, and the ongoing coaching search.

It's the first eight minutes or so in this weeks broadcast of TI TV.

Gary Harris certainly puts things into perspective, Forbes ranking, wins, SEC championships, etc. Alabama has a better basketball history than most want to give it credit.

 

[UAgrad93]

Good points by Gary and Rodney. Glad that we have people like this that bother to do their homework on the history and tradition. Too bad that douche bags like Brando, Parrish, and Forde won't bother to look at this.

 

[TerryP]

Too bad that douche bags like Brando, Parrish, and Forde won't bother to look at this.

I did a quick google search on what Forde has said but didn't see any results on the first page. I missed his comments. Synopsis?

He's made some opinions known, some loudly, about Bama in the past. Last August, even before the season kicked off, he was stating the Tide was going to have it's worse season in years. Football, mind you.

A part of me gives him a break on some comments/opinions considering where his kid is attending school which also happens to be his alma mater.

 

[TerryP]

A glance at his timeline tells a lot, IMO.

https://twitter.com/boblutz

Suttles caught Lutz tweet about Bama having a total of 12 basketball fans...a laugh or two in his timeline as well. (Click on the date/time embedded in the tweet.)

 

[Max]

Marshall interview from this week on the Jim Rome show. Audio is at the bottom of the article.

--Coming off one of the biggest wins of his career against in-state rivalry Kansas, Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall said he’s heard the rumors about the University of Alabama offering him a contract in excess of $3 million per year to coach their basketball program. Marshall says he hasn’t spoken with anyone from Alabama yet, but is focused on finishing this season strong with Wichita State.

“I was a little shocked that came out, I have no idea where that came from,” Marshall told The Jim Rome Show. “But it’s something I really don’t have to deal with, because right now it’s just rumor and conjecture. I have not spoken with Alabama, I’m coaching my team, and that’s what I’m going to do hopefully for another couple weeks.”

If Alabama does want to talk with Marshall when Wichita State’s season is over, the 2014 Naismith Coach of the Year said he would listen, but it would take a lot for him to leave his current job.

“If Alabama is still interested in talking to us with some type of crazy offer at that time, then we will certainly entertain that,” said Marshall. “But it’s going to take some type of crazy offer for us to leave Wichita State. We’ve got a wonderful team coming back. I think we will be better next year.”

Despite not being in a “power conference,” Marshall believes he can accomplish everything he needs to right where he’s at.

“We can do whatever we need to do in the college basketball world at Wichita State,” said Marshall. “I think we can win a National Championship here, we can be a number 1 seed, we can go undefeated, all those things we’ve accomplished other than the National Championship. So, now it’s a matter of just continuing to stay the course, continuing to get a little better player, a little bigger guy walking in the door, and if they have that same mindset, where they want to be coached and they want to be a part of something bigger than themselves and they love the culture of improving every single day, then the sky’s the limit here.”

After years of trying to schedule Kansas to no avail, Marshall says the Shockers’ 78-65 win over the Jayhawks was a big win for the fan base.

“It’s the game folks around here have been clamoring for since I got the job,” said Marshall. “I think it had been 22, 23 years since the Jayhawks played us, and at that time I think the Shockers lost by about 50 points in Phog Allen Fieldhouse.”

Marshall has for some time believed, because of the program’s recent success, Wichita State earned the right to play against the state’s bigger programs, but doesn’t blame the rival schools for not wanting to play the Shockers.

“We just couldn’t get the game with KU or K-State for that matter,” said Marshall. “But you know what, I don’t disparage them for not playing us, it takes two to tango in scheduling, it would be great for the state, but if it doesn’t help them and they’re the ones that got to make that call, if it doesn’t help them and their schedule, they don’t have to play it, there’s no written rules.”

As for coach Marshall maintaining his same stance on a regular season game against Kansas, the coach hesitated.

“I’m okay with the series being the way it is right now. I’m 1-0 against the Jayhawks, and it was a big game,” Marshall joked. “We would probably play the game no doubt, and we’d love to start a series with them – I’m speaking for myself – but I have a lot of influence with the schedule here, and I know my administration would probably absolutely say, ‘yes we would do that.’”

Marshall says it’s up to Bill Self and KU if they want a Kansas-Wichita State series now.

“I don’t think it’s a phone call deal,” said Marshall. “I think it’s something when we run into each other we can discuss. I’m not going to bring it up. I’m not going to try to do that, it’s up to him now if he wants to play, he knows we would probably take him up on it.”

 

[planomateo]

He's a tool who can't apparently spell. What's an Alabaman? Its more fascinating that he has 4,887 twitter followers...



I'd also say it's silly to compare the two coaches.

 

[UAgrad93]

I lumped Forde into that category because of his football comments. I saw the twitter feed of Bob Lutz. I know his comments were meant as sarcasm about 12 fans, but anyone should know you don't take jabs at a program that just fired their coach because he simply wasn't winning.

 

[UAgrad93]

Lutz should have done some homework about Alabama basketball BEFORE going to press or pressing the enter button on his keyboard.

 

[TerryP]

Personally, I find Brando's comments quite entertaining. To me, they come across as someone trying to be relevant.

IF he'd have stuck to factual content on his radio show and left his opinions about different SEC teams off the air he wouldn't be seeing his career circle the drain as it has been the last year.

Parrish likely still carries the same hard on he had for Bama back in the Albert Means drama. His reporting on that did elevate his career: one that's stagnant at best today.

 

[rick4bama]

Coach Marshall has he chance his mind about Bama now?

 

[TerryP]

Parrish changing his tune/tone:

 

[planomateo]

The Roll Tide in me says, You're damn right Parrish, we're f'ing Alabama