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The end

Actually, this is not the end, it is the beginning of the end if I borrow the Winston Churchill quote. This is the last account (I hope) defending the hire of Dennis Gates at Mizzou. It’s anticipated in the future only game and recruiting wins will be noted. This is the letter I read, “Mizzou could have done so much better over hiring Gates.” A respondent immediately came back and said, “Give us some names?” All we heard from the initial writer was crickets, the guy didn’t like the hire so he decided he was against it although he couldn’t provide us a name to discuss. Okay, let’s join the action and complete the task for him, we heard the names Todd Golden University of San Francisco, also in the mix was Matt McMahon of Murray State.

Let’s say one or both were approached by Mizzou, both said thanks but no thanks. Is Mizzou supposed to announce, “We interviewed Todd Golden, but he turned us down or “We gave Matt McMahon 24 hours to decide but he passed on the job.” Who’s to say these two and others might have been contacted regarding the head coaching position at Mizzou. I believe we get it; Gates comes from Cleveland State a mid-major program. There is no guarantee in place claiming he can recruit or win in the SEC. One thing we must do, give the guy an opportunity to at least prove he’s not right for the job. Here’s an example of what was done, your company hires a fresh marketing manager, you get a glance at his resume. You decide before he begins employment, “I can’t work for this guy he doesn’t know what he’s doing.” This conclusion is made prior to his first day on the job, you think this is fair.

They arrive from all over

NBA drafts of the past once contained only American (or foreign) athletes who played at schools here. As the footprint of the league expanded, we began to see a trickle of Euro players, that trickle has now become a steady stream over the last 10 or so years. Then Australia became a player as LaMelo Ball and others journeyed to the Southwest Pacific nation before beginning their NBA career. At the dawn of the 2022 NBA Draft if the mock draft projections are correct another stream of talent might soon arrive. We have athletes from the G-League Elite team and at least one from the newly established Overtime Elite. Will these prospects be drafted; we cannot be sure however the names should be noted for the future?

Jaden Hardy 6-foot 4 200-pound SG G-League

MarJon Beauchamp 6-foot 6 200-pound SG G-League

Dyson Daniels 6-foot 6 200-pound PG/SG G-League

Michael Foster 6-foot 8 250-pound PF G-League

Jean Montero 6-foot 2 175-pound PG/SG Overtime Elite

As a reminder again, we have no clue if any of the names above will be announced June 23. Despite this fact one or more might play their way onto an NBA roster. NBA Summer League play has led to free agent contracts for a number of players in years past. In any event these additional sources of talent could prove fruitful, if not in 2023 perhaps in future years.

Do you want this job?

Steve Nash was injured most of his tenure with the Lakers. In my view Nash might have been nearest Magic Johnson since Magic, not only could he lead a team he could score as well. Nash managed to play only 60 games in two seasons prior to retiring. In 2020 he was hired as head coach of the Nets, Nash with no coaching background was given the opportunity to coach this team. That first season he led the Nets to a 48-24 record but were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. The 2021-22 season would be different, this team with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Hardin was odds on favorite to win the NBA Championship. A series of issues have been an obstacle in the path of the Nets. The first issue, Irving was declared unable to play home games due to his opposition to the covid vaccine and the mandate by NYC.

Irving would become a part-time player but that might change as covid numbers have been reduced in recent weeks. Second issue, after appearing to play in his sleep for most of the season Hardin decided he wanted out. The Nets traded him to the Sixers for Ben Simmons, as this is written Simmons is yet to step on the court. The final issue, the Durant injury…Durant has been missing for several weeks but recently returned to the lineup. This is written ahead of publication, the Nets are three games above .500, this is certainly not the vision Nets fans (and maybe management) had last October. It’s certainly not too late, the Nets could still contend for the championship. The larger question might be can they at this point, in closing all this drama has nothing to do with the ability of Nash to coach. It does cause us to wonder if he wants to continue in this role.

“Can’t tell the players without a program”

In the early days of baseball, it was said vendors would sell their programs using that call. This ain’t baseball however there’s been so much movement in the college ranks it’s difficult to tell who is where. Hopefully, this will aid you in keeping up with several of the major coaching changes in college basketball.

Louisville-Kenny Payne

Florida-Todd Golden

Xavier-Sean Miller

Mississippi State-Chris Jans

Kansas State-Jerome Tang

Missouri-Dennis Gates

Maryland-Kevin Willard

LSU-Todd McMahon

South Carolina-Lamont Paris

Georgia-Mike White

Rhode Island-Archie Miller

It should also be of note there remain jobs unfilled so it’s likely a few more names will be added. Each season we have more coaches fired or transfer to other schools. Serving as head coach of a college basketball team seems to be more fluid than ever.