LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – It was a tough week for the coaches on last week's WDRB Hot Board of University of Louisville men's basketball coaching candidates.
While the coaching search story hasn't advanced a great deal in the past week, there have been some shifts of position, according to sources who have spoken to WDRB's Rick Bozich and Eric Crawford.
As the Cardinals prepare to spend a second consecutive Selection Sunday without hearing their name called, interim athletics director Josh Heird says that good news is on the way, though as you might expect, he's not letting any cats (or, in this case, Cards) out of the bag.
Heird, as you might imagine, says the search is "going well," and says he wants to complete it as quickly as it can be properly done, but gave no timetable on when that might be. He says the job is drawing plenty of interest. If you're looking for specifics, you're asking the wrong guy. But I did ask him for a general comment, and this was his response, for the record.
"I think, for me, we have to get out of personal agendas and do what's right for this university," Heird said. "And when that happens, we'll get back to where this place expects to be."
As for WDRB's Hot Board, there was plenty of carnage during the conference tournaments, but that all was forgotten by the end of the NCAA Tournament selection show.
Mick Cronin's UCLA team fell to Arizona in the Pac-12 tournament. Other conference tournament losers: Scott Drew (Baylor), Steve Forbes (Wake Forest), Kevin Willard (Seton Hall), Ed Cooley (Providence) and Brad Underwood (Illinois), and Matt Painter (Purdue lost in the championship game of the Big Ten.) Three coaches can take a bow for avoiding the jinx: Matt McMahon of Murray State, Scott Davenport of Bellarmine and Matt Painter of Purdue (for now).
One tournament isn't going to make or break any candidacy, but at this point, we watch everything.
LSU's abrupt firing of Will Wade after the school received a lengthy Notice of Allegations from the NCAA leaves another top job open, though it probably isn't as traditionally strong a job as Louisville and faces some of the same NCAA implications. Still, SEC football money is a growing factor in these basketball jobs, and SEC schools have upped the coaching profile of the league in recent years.
A look at the updated hot board, as it stands:
1). Kenny Payne. The New York Knicks assistant has kept a low profile throughout the search, though a couple of SEC job openings may give Louisville a bit of competition for his services. Nike, with whom Payne has had a long affiliation, would like to keep him in the fold, sources told WDRB's Rick Bozich.
2). Mick Cronin. The UCLA coach should be a top target, though his interest level remains unknown. One source tells WDRB that Louisville has made initial contact with Cronin, though no one from the school would confirm that. Much would rest on whether Cronin wants to walk away from a high-profile program that he has rejuvenated. The Bruins are projected to start the 2022 NCAA Tournament as a four-seed and Cronin has a Top 10 recruiting class committed for next season.
3). Chris Holtmann. The Ohio State coach is an addition to WDRB's hot board, after several sources noted his omission a week ago. Google his name and the first return is a column asking, "Is Chris Holtmann on the hot seat at Ohio State?" Now, the linked column says, in essence, "No, it isn't hot, but it may be warming some" given the program's habit of late-season losing streaks. Still, the Kentucky native might be more inclined to interest if the natives in Columbus are getting a bit restless.
4). Scott Drew. Baylor was bounced early from the Big 12 tournament, but just about everybody was bounced early. Doesn't change his status as a top coach, but there's been no change in the past week regarding him and Louisville; that is to say, there's been no rumbling of any talks. Doesn't mean there haven’t been any, just nobody talking about them. Which usually means that there haven't been any.
5). Scott Davenport. He just won the ASUN Tournament. Because of his team's unique situation as an automatic qualifier that won't get to play in the NCAA Tournament, his program's Q-rating has been the highest in the city this past week. It was Bellarmine they were talking about on PTI this past week, not Louisville. If Louisville should find itself in a Jeff Brohm situation, with other top candidates turning elsewhere or staying put, Davenport could get a hard look. He has good relationships in the city, and with players from both the Rick Pitino and Denny Crum eras. Also, for those who haven't noticed, the guy can coach. Louisville would've been better off right now had it hired him four years ago. He's still a long-shot, and likely not a long-term fix, but for a program with immediate NCAA issues that aren't likely to dissipate soon, he ought to be a more-than viable option.
[Pause: At the moment, all anyone has really focused on are the Plan A hires. The easy choices. Kenny Payne gets his chance. Mick Cronin, a former Louisville assistant under Rick Pitino now at a glamor spot, comes back East to try and revive a former glamor spot. But who "Plan C" might be is only known to Heird and perhaps the DHR Global search firm. And, of course, if one were to get the job, he'd be presented as "Plan A" anyway. So the order of these next candidates is more in line with their notoriety than likelihood of being the next coach at Louisville.]
6). Matt Painter. Purdue is in the Big Ten championship game, and Purdue is projected to have a long NCAA Tournament run. If he were the guy, the wait for that to happen could extend to or beyond the Final Four. But Painter played at Purdue and has served as its head coach for 17 seasons. Would he leave his alma mater for the uncertainty that Louisville faces?
7). Ed Cooley. The only thing missing from the Providence coach's resume is a deep NCAA run. He'll have to fashion that off a lackluster Big East Tournament effort that saw his top-seeded Friars lose to Creighton by 27 points. That's a tough sell.
8). Kevin Willard. Has Seton Hall back into the NCAA Tournament, and is a former Pitino assistant who was well-liked when he was here. Might be a bit light on NCAA Tournament success for a fan base that is expecting big changes quickly. Is not believed to have had any contact with Louisville during the search.
9). Steve Forbes. There was good news and bad for the Wake Forest coach last week. He was named a semifinalist for Naismith Coach of the Year. He also saw his team suffer an 82-77 loss to Boston College to make a premature exit from the ACC Tournament, and wound up in the NIT. Forbes also earned a contract extension from Wake.
10). Brad Underwood. His Illini are easily in the NCAA Tournament but saw an expected Big Ten tourney run upended by Indiana. He has already changed head coaching jobs twice and might be open to a change with the expected loss of Kofi Cockburn, his all-American center as well as the departure of his top two assistants to Kentucky last season.
11). Mike Boynton. Speaking of Underwood, his old team, Oklahoma State, was banned from postseason play for things that happened on his watch. So technically, Boynton is undefeated this postseason, or winless, depending on how you look at it. His team went out in style however, upsetting No. 12 Texas Tech to deny the Red Raiders a share of the Big 12 regular-season championship.
12). Matt McMahon. Murray State has had a week of R&R after winning the Ohio Valley Conference title. There's been no talk of McMahon using any of that time to talk with Louisville, however. Is not believed to have had any contact from Louisville.
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