Hiring home runs and whiffs

I will leave alone the in-betweens. Just my personal opinions.

California: Wyking Jones out. Mark Fox in. Home run. Fox is a good pick to stabilize this program which had become the laughingstock of the power conferences. Whether or not he can take them to prominence, even in the anemic Pac-12, is another question; but he is a good pick to stop the bleeding.

Nebraska. Tim Miles out. Fred Hoiberg in. Home run. Hoiberg showed at Iowa State that  he was a master at quick-starting a program, even though he did not have college experience. This is another mid-western team, and now Hoiberg is coming in not being a rookie. Expect big things at Nebraska, even though it is a tough conference.

Texas A&M. Billy Kennedy out. Buzz Williams in. WAY out of the park. Billy Kennedy was a good coach, but it always appeared he was not emotionally engaged, which might have had something to do with his health: I don't know. In any case, Williams has Texas ties and has shown he can really coach in the toughest basketball environment. This will get the TAMU base fired up, and even if basketball is not big in Texas, Texas A&M is BIG in College Station. The cadets will turn out next season.

UNLV. Marvin Menzies out. T. J. Otzelberger in. Home run. Otzelberger is one of the hottest names in the mid-major ranks and had South Dakota State playing at a high level.

Vanderbilt. Bryce Drew out. Jerry Stackhouse in. Strikeout. Why do this? It makes no sense at all: in other words, about as much sense as the Darrell Walker hiring made. Drew had the bad luck to have a big-time recruit blow out his ACL, so they give him the axafter only three years  and bring in a pro player with no college coaching experience?

Virginia Tech. Buzz Williams out. Mike Young (Wofford) in. Home run. See UNLV above.

Georgia State. Rob Hunter out. Rob Lanier in. Home run. Lanier was a Tennessee assistant. Getting an assistant from a hot power conference program with an experienced coach is about as good a move as an SBC school can make.

Niagara. Chris Casey out. Pat Beilein in. Home run. Beilein's father, John, is one of the best coaching minds in the game today. Niagara went to the right tree to pick this apple.

St. Joseph. Phil Martelli out. Billy Lange in. Strikeout. Phil Martelli is a legend, and they replaced him with an NBA assistant? Hmmmmmm.

Troy. Phil Cunningham out. Scott Cross in. HOME RUN!  This might be the steal of the year. Anyone want to guess that Cross will make it to the Dance before his successor at Arlington does?