Commentary
BU's Pat Chambers Penn State's New Head Coach? Not Just Yet
After giving hint that its new head basketball coach would be named today, Penn State hasn't quite followed through - but the rumor mill has certainly heated up in a big way.
The first big news came when John Rothstein of MSG and CBSSports.com tossed out this tweet.
This isn't exactly a bombshell of a report as Chamber has been considered one of the leading candidates for this position almost since it became available - especially once that whole Larry Brown thing came to a close. With that said, Duquesne's Ron Everhart has presumably been the front runner - or at least he was until Jeff Goodman (on just his second day with CBS mind you), floated this nugget out to the interwebs.
So for those of you at home putting two and two together, this seems to be a pretty strong indication of Chambers being the new leader of the Nittany Lions.
Report: Steve Prohm Expected To Be Named Murray State Head Coach
Following the departure of Billy Kennedy to Texas A&M, Murray State was left trying to fill a pretty big void in their coaching staff - it looks like they've found they're man.
According to multiple reports, including CBSSports.com, assistant coach Steve Prohm will be announced at the Racers new head coach later on this afternoon at a press conference. Evan Daniels of Scout and Ricky Martin of the of the Murray Ledger and Times were among the first to report the news.
Prohm is a long-time assistant under Kennedy, having served with him for two seasons at Centenary, six seasons at Southeast Louisiana and most recently as his top assistant for five years at Murray State. Prohm also spent one year serving on Tulane's staff in 2005. This will be his first head coaching position and he'll be taking over a Racers team that has made some waves nationally in recent years, highlighted by a 2010 NCAA Tournament win over Vanderbilt in the first round.
His introductory press conference is expected to take place at 4 PM ET today.
Bryce Drew To Replace Father Homer Drew At Valparaiso
Several outlets are reporting that a major change will be taking place tomorrow afternoon at Valparaiso: long-time head coach Homer Drew will be stepping down. The other part of that equation - and somewhat less surprising - is that his son Bryce Drew (of buzzer beater fame) will take over the program.
Homer has served as the Crusaders head coach for the last 23 seasons, a tenure that has produced a 371-304 record, seven NCAA Tournament appearances and a magical run to the Sweet 16 in 1998 on the heels of his son's mythic shot.
Bryce of course has quite the basketball resume. Prior to attending Valpo, he was Indiana's Mr. Basketball in 1994 and following his graduation, moved on to a brief career in the NBA. He was the 16th overall selection of the Houston Rockets (a first-rounder out of the Horizon League before Butler - imagine that) where he played for two seasons, before spending time with the Bulls and Hornets. He has served as an assistant coach alongside his father at Vaparaiso since 2005.
Homer has amassed a total of 640 wins in his career, a mark that puts him in the top 10 for active head coaches in Division 1 and 41st overall amongst all college coaches historically.
Belmont Moving To Ohio Valley Conference
The Atlantic Sun is losing it's marquee program and the Ohio Valley Conference is significantly improving its basketball profile as the Belmont Bruins will be joining the OVC starting in the 2012-13 season.
Per Joe Biddle of the Tennessean:
At that time the OVC had a rule that every member school had to field a football team, leaving Belmont out. Even though former OVC Commissioner Dan Beebe played in a regular noon pickup game at Belmont with Bruins Coach Rick Byrd, friendship didn't outweigh rules. The OVC no longer has that stipulation, as two of its 11 member schools currently do not have a football team in the league. And, frankly, Belmont's men's basketball résumé has become enviable to the OVC. Thus, the decision for the Brentwood-based conference to welcome Belmont was a win-win.
This move favors everyone involved - save for the Atlantic Sun of course. For the OVC it's the addition of a 30-win program considered to be among the best programs outside of the power conferences. The Bruins have been to the NCAA Tournament four times in the past six seasons. For Belmont, it will mean easier travel and massive savings. The team will no longer have to fly for conference games, players will miss fewer classes and according to Athletics Director Mike Strickland the school will save upwards of $250,000 a year in travel expenses.
Overall this seems like the perfect situation for Belmont - what do you think?
Texas A&M To Hire Billy Kennedy
What looked like a sure thing late last night is now being reported as fact. According to the Houston Chronicle, Murray State's Billy Kennedy will be the new head coach at Texas A&M with a press conference expected for Monday afternoon to announce the move.
Athletic Director Bill Byrne met with Kennedy yesterday afternoon in addition to Northern Iowa head coach Ben Jacobson who was considered to be the other finalist for the position. In all, according to various reports, the Aggies contacted Marquette's Buzz Williams, Josh Pastner of Memphis, Colorado's Tad Boyle and former NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy to replace departed head coach Mark Turgeon who accepted the Maryland job.
Kennedy's contract is expected to pay him approximately $1 million per year, almost four times what he was set to make at Murray State. He had recently signed a contract extension with the Racers that would keep him with the program through the 2014-15 season. In his five seasons with the school, he led Murray State to a 70-24 record in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Ultimately, this may not be the flashiest hire, but it's a good one. Kennedy has proven to be a winner at each of his coaching stops and more importantly has some recruiting ties in Texas. The Aggies are expected to be a top 25 team next season and Kennedy can help ensure they stay there for a while. Murray State will have to fill a big void.
Report: Murray State's Billy Kennedy Expected To Be Named Texas A&M Coach
According to a report from Anthony Wireman of AllKyHoops.com, Murray State head coach Billy Kennedy has accepted the head coaching position at Texas A&M.
I have been told by a good source that Murray State's Billy Kennedy has accepted the head coaching position at Texas A&M.
This report comes just a few hours after Houston Chronicle reporter Dave Zwerneman made a similar, yet more conservative statement.
Texas A&M has contacted a candidate for the Aggies’ basketball gig and told him Murray State’s Billy Kennedy would be the next A&M coach, a person with direct knowledge of the situation said.
The insider said A&M intended to call a press conference for Monday to announce Kennedy’s hire.
With that said however, nothing official has been decided just yet according to Billy Byrne and John Thornton. Zwerneman met them at the airport following their return from Fargo, North Dakota where they had been interviewing Northern Iowa's Ben Jacobson. Zwerneman had this to say:
So what can we realistically say at this point? All signs point to Billy Kennedy being named as the new head coach at Texas A&M with a press conference being held on Monday. This isn't to call the early reports stating he has accepted the position false, rather, premature. The Aggies have yet to officially announce at this time, but expect word of Kennedy's hire to be released sometime in the next 24 hours.
Update: Billy Kennedy Now The Favorite For Texas A&M Job
As the hours continue to tick by this weekend we're starting to get a clearer picture of who will ultimately be the new head basketball coach at Texas A&M. We've known for the last 36 hours or so that Billy Kennedy and Ben Jacobson were at or near the top of the list for the Aggies, with both expected to meet with school officials today. It now appears as though Kennedy is the front runner, at least if you're willing to believe what sources are telling Billy Luicci of the Maroon & White Report - he hasn't been wrong yet.
*Note: these tweets were cut and pasted together and were not displayed in this order originally.
Many have said that Kennedy was the likely favorite to begin with and seemed like he could be the best fit as well - if the order of interviews is any indication, A&M feels the same way. Still there's a chance for Jacobson to put in his two cents as well now that Northern Iowa has granted the Aggies permission to speak with their head coach, which they are currently on their way to do.
Luicci also confirmed that North Texas's Johnny Jones and Wichita State's Gregg Marshall are no longer in the running. Marshall certainly makes sense as he recently signed a new deal with the Shockers that will keep him with the program for quite some time. If A&M was absolutely hellbent on getting Marshall, early estimates stated that their offer would have to be in the realm of $1.5 million per year, a very steep price for a coach who is unproven at the BCS level to be sure.
Furthermore, Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio News-Express had this to report earlier today according to a source close to the situation: he would be shocked if Kennedy was not announced as the new head coach on Monday.
It looks like this one is very close to be resolved - we think. But when the weekend ends, it appears that a quality coach from outside the power conferences will be moving up to the BCS ranks.
Texas A&M Narrowing Focus To Billy Kennedy And Ben Jacobson?
Update 10:05 AM CDT: According to Billy Liucci of the Maroon & White Report Texas A&M will meet with Ben Jacobson this weekend in addition to Billy Kennedy for the vacant head coaching position.
As the search for a new head coach at Texas A&M enters its fourth day, reports seem to indicate that the Aggies have narrowed their search for Mark Turgeon's replacement to a pair of non-BCS coaches: Billy Kennedy of Murray state and Northern Iowa's Ben Jacobson. The school made a push for former NBA head coach and current ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy, but ultimately JVG decided the college game wasn't for him.
Other potential candidates including Nebraska's Doc Sadler and North Texas' Johnny Jones allegedly haven't been contacted by A&M yet according to those school's athletic directors - leaving presumably Jacobson and Kennedy.
Jacobson has been considered a rising young coach since leading UNI to a Missouri Valley Conference championship during the 2008-09 season. In the last three years under his leadership the Panthers have won a pair of MVC regular season and conference tournament titles, earned three postseason berths and reached the Sweet 16 in 2010 following an upset of Kansas. Following that run in the NCAA Tournament, Jacobson received a 10-year contract extension. While his name has been rumored to be in the mix for Texas A&M from the outset, it picked up significant steam yesterday thanks to multiple reports that he was now being considered as a serious candidate for the job. Not long after the initial reports surfaced, Billy Liucci of the Maroon & White Report tweeted this:
The Racers Billy Kennedy according to reports either has or is expected to meet with the Aggies to discuss the head coaching vacancy. Kennedy has been labeled a coach capable of rebuilding programs with great success - not a task he will have to accomplish at Texas A&M - but a mark of success nonetheless. While Jacobson's name has gained steam, many still consider Kennedy the safe bet to ultimately be the new hire in College Station. Mike Jones of the Dallas Morning News penned this column late last night expressing his opinion that Kennedy will be the man for the job, but regardless, it seems as though we are moving closer to a hire being made in the not too distant future.
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