What has been the tenure of SEC M BBall Coaches during the Expansion Era?

[jbcarol]

Number of Teams the SEC placed in the Mens NCAA-T from 1992 Tourney to present with seeds in parentheses:

2016 [3]: A&M (3), Kentucky (4), Vandy (11)

2015 [5]: Kentucky (1-overall), Arkansas (5), LSU (9), Georgia (10), Ole Miss (11)

2014 [3]: Florida (1-overall), Kentucky (Eight), Tennessee (11)

2013 [3]: Florida (3), Mizzou (9), Ole Miss (12)

2012 [4]: UK (1-overall), VU (5), UF (7), Bama (9)

2011 [5]: UF (2), UK (4), VU (5), UT (9), UG (10)

2010 [4]: UK (1), Vandy (4), UT (6), UF (10)

2009 [3]: LSU (Eight), UT (9), MSSt (13)

2008 [6]: UT(2), VU(4), Hogs(Eight), MSt(Eight), UK(11), UGa(14)

2007 [5]: UF(1), UT(5), VU(6), UK (Eight), Hogs (12)

2006 [6]: UT(2), UF(3), LSU(4), Hogs(Eight) ,UK(Eight), Bama(10)

2005 [5]: UK(2), UF(4), Bama (5), LSU (6), MSt (9)

2004 [6]: UK(1-overall), MSt(2), UF(5), VU(6), Bama(Eight), SC(10)

2003 [6]: UK(1), UF(2), MSt(5), LSU(Eight), Bama(10), AU(10)

2002 [6]: Bama(2), UG(3), MSt(3), UK(4), UF(5), OM(9)

2001 [6]: UK(2), OM(3), UF(3), Hogs(7), UG(Eight), UT(Eight)

2000 [6]: LSU(4), UT(4), UF(5), UK(5), AU(7), Hogs(11)

1999 [6]: AU(1), UK(3), Hogs(4), UT(4), UF(6), OM(9)

1998 [5]: UK (2), SC (3), OM (4), Hogs (6), Vols (Eight)

1997 [5]: UK (1), SC (2), UGa (3), OM (Eight), VU (10)

1996 [4]: UK (1), State (5), UGa (Eight), Hogs (12)

1995 [5]: UK (1), Hogs (2), State (5), Bama (5), UF (10)

1994 [4]: Hogs (1), UK (3), UF (3), Bama (9)

1993 [4]: UK (1), Vandy (3), Hogs (4), LSU (11)

1992 [4]: UK (2), Hogs (3), Bama (5), LSU (7)

[jbcarol]

Jeff Goodman Verified account
‏@GoodmanESPN

TCU has let Trent Johnson go, sources told ESPN.

[jbcarol]

 Steve Walentik ‏@Steve_Walentik 8h8 hours ago

South Carolina Coach Frank Martin: "I couldn't ask our guys to do any more than they did." Noted team set school regular-season win record

24

[jbcarol]

SEC commissioner Sankey: 3 NCAA bids isn't enough

SEC announced that Mike Tranghese, once the commissioner of the really-Big East, has been contracted as a special advisor on men's basketball.

Sankey said his league "gained positive moment over the last 12 months." Later, in a telephone conversation, Sankey sought to clarify: "The reality is that we're back with only three (NCAA teams) for the third time in four years. People read 'positive momentum' and ask, 'What rose-colored glasses are you looking through?' I'm not."

Sankey said Tranghese will speak with coaches, athletic directors and league officials: "He has a different eye." But the commissioner also said something intriguing: "Coaches need to be able to build programs." That's really a two-pronged issue: Schools must hire the right coaches, and then those coaches must be given time to work.

Clueless Johnny Jones may represent a new low, but the SEC has seen a glut of substandard coaching. Anthony Grant (Alabama), Stan Heath (Arkansas), John Pelphrey (Arkansas again), Jeff Lebo (Auburn), Tony Barbee (Auburn again), Dennis Felton (Georgia), Gillispie (Kentucky), Rick Ray (Mississippi State) and Darrin Horn (South Carolina) worked 43 2/3 seasons at eight league schools and combined for six NCAA appearances and one NCAA win (by Pelphrey's Hogs). Most had done good work elsewhere; they just didn't do it in the SEC.

Said Sankey: "I'll use South Carolina as the best example ... That program is in a very different state today (under Frank Martin) than four years ago. I look at Tennessee's hiring of Rick Barnes, at Ben Howland's hiring at Mississippi State. Andy Kennedy (of Ole Miss) and Mark Fox (of Georgia) have built programs."

At the same time, none of those five programs Sankey mentioned will grace the NCAA field.

Sankey said he huddled with associates Monday and studies team profiles to try and figure out why his conference got only three bids. (Georgia and Florida played good schedules but didn't win enough games; South Carolina won 24 but played a bad schedule.) "We have to win those games," he said. "It's not enough to schedule."

He did, however, counsel against overcorrection. "We need to be very attentive without hitting the panic button," Sankey said.

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports ‏@aldotcomSports 13h13 hours ago

To figure out the #SEC's basketball problem, look no further than the coaches, per @KevinScarbinsky http://ow.ly/ZvwSA

Scarblog: The SEC has a basketball problem. You know it, I know it and Greg Sankey knows it, too.

When a Power 5 conference sends only three teams to the NCAA Tournament - while the other four Power 5 leagues send seven each - that's a problem.

When a Power 5 conference gets only three NCAA bids - while the Big East gets five and the American Athletic Conference gets four - that's a problem.

Some problems are bigger than others. If this year were an outlier, ...

If the commitment is there from the conference and the schools themselves, who's not getting the job done? Who's primarily responsible for turning the SEC into a league in which football is bigger than ever and basketball has shrunk in comparison?

It's gotta be the coaches. The SEC has hired too many coaches in the last decade and change who couldn't get it done.

Why couldn't they get it done? Ask Wimp Sanderson. The Alabama legend was one of the best coaches in league history because he was one of the best recruiters, as an assistant and a head coach.

"The answer to all of it is you have to have coaches that have a staff as well as themselves that will burn the midnight oil as far as recruiting," Sanderson said...

Mark Gottfried wasn't Sanderson, but Alabama hasn't been as good since it bid Gottfried farewell. Ditto for Auburn since Cliff Ellis, LSU since John Brady, Mississippi State since Rick Stansbury, South Carolina since Eddie Fogler and Tennessee since Bruce Pearl.

Arkansas hasn't come close to living up to Nolan Richardson's standards, despite finally bringing back his coaching son, Mike Anderson. Missouri hasn't been the same since Anderson left there for Fayetteville.

It doesn't mean some of those coaching changes weren't justified. It does mean too many of the replacements haven't been as good as advertised. See Johnny Jones. That responsibility lands on the people who hired them.

[jbcarol]

David Cloninger ‏@DCTheState 11h11 hours ago

USC matches a school record with its 25th win of the season. The only other team to win 25 was in 1969-70, with no postseason.

[jbcarol]

Will the SEC ever be a Basketball League?

Has SEC football grown so massive — seven national titles in nine seasons — that basketball cannot flourish in its shadow? Sankey said what I expected he'd say: That the SEC just sent nine teams to the women's NCAA tournament, that the conference's baseball and softball teams are thriving, that there's no reason the conference can't be good at everything. (Did not Florida, under Billy Donovan and Urban Meyer, go NCAA title-BCS title-NCAA title in the span of 12 months?)

Just because a school is great at something is no reason for it to be bad at something else — not when money and manpower are being supplied. The SEC now has its own ESPN-affiliated network, which means, as Sankey noted, that every basketball game "is on TV." [His words.]

Having covered the SEC since 1976, I've seen schools get excited about basketball. Vanderbilt is second to Kentucky in its enthusiasm for the indoor sport, which is surely no coincidence: Like UK, Vandy stinks at football. Tennessee and Florida fans can be made to care about hoops. LSU was pumped when Dale Brown was coaching. (Not so much when John Brady was.) Arkansas was crazy about hoops when the Hogs were rollin' with Nolan Richardson.

Mississippi State has had very good teams...

Three SEC coaches (Barnes, Calipari, Howland) have taken teams to the Final Four. Three more (M. Anderson, Martin, Pearl) have reached the Elite Eight. One (Stallings) has made the Sweet Sixteen. One (Johnson) took a team to the NBA finals. One (K. Anderson) won a Division II championship. Of the 14 league coaches, only LSU's Johnny Jones seems overmatched.

Still, it's worth noting: Mike Anderson hasn't yet won an NCAA tournament game at Arkansas, though he did at Missouri when it was based in the Big 12; Mark Fox won an NCAA game at Reno but hasn't at Georgia; Frank Martin won NCAA games at Kansas State but, in four years, hasn't gotten South Carolina to the Big Dance. Rick Barnes, Ben Howland and Avery Johnson just completed their first seasons at Tennessee, Mississippi State and Alabama, and the best any of them could do was Alabama's NIT bid...

[jbcarol]

Since Tennessee's last losing season in 2005, the Vols made seven NCAA tournament appearances, reached two Sweet 16s and one Elite Eight and won one regular-season SEC title.

Tennessee's basketball seniors certainly did not want to conclude their collegiate careers with the program's first losing season in more than a decade.

[jbcarol]

SEC Network ‏@SECNetwork 2h2 hours ago

Texas A&M NCAA Tournament Records
- 92 Pts scored (most in NCAA Tourney game)
- 27 Pt win (largest NCAA Tourney W)

[jbcarol]

Ranking Calipari's Kentucky teams from worst to first:

'12-13: 21-12 (12-6); First round losses in the SEC-T and the NIT.
Images of Archie Goodwin driving and flipping the ball in the general direction of the basket last. There was no one in the Rupp crowd falling all over themselves and holding up little cards with a handwritten "10". His 26% from 3 and 63% from the line did not hold him back from being selected in the NBA first round and he is still getting paid. Something was lacking.

There was an inside defensive presence but for one of two seasons under Cal, there was a lack of post scoring. After Nerlens Noel suffered an ACL due to an ESPN cameraman sitting on a stool under the basket, it was over. The fan pass came from the expected hangover from a championship or otherwise great season. It was one that the hair of one-and-done culture that bit you could not sooth. 

'15-16 27-9 (12-6); SEC Co-Champs, SEC-T winner, Round of 32 exit
It was a study in the one-n-done recruiting pipeline and domino effect. All the chips went in on Skal Labissiere, an early signee who was the most overrated player in the modern error (sic). With Skal in the bag, Dakari Johnson left school for the D-League and no top 2015 big chose to compete with Cal's Memphis connection. This will be one of two early recruited bigs that will mess with Cal's roster during his UK tenure. The late addition of high school junior Jamal Murray saved Cal's Canadian bacon. The three guard line-up has not brought as much success for Cal at UK as the lineup with three long players in the front court who will rebound and play defense. The cold shooting night can come at any time and strike midnight.

'13-14 29-11 (12-6) SEC-T and NCAA-T Runner-ups
Calipari brought in eight scholarship freshmen including six McD All-Americans and tried to sell the ruse of "starting" an all-freshmen 'Fab Five' (Johnson would play until the first media time out replaced by Cauley-Stein). Aaron Harrison's clutch shooting run in the NCAA tournament places this team over the '15-16 club. If UK had put together an answer for UConn, Arkansas would have had two more wins over a 30-win team and an NCAA champion.

'10-11 29-9 (10-6) SEC-T Champ and Final Four
Kentucky had missed making the Final Four in the decade of the 2010s, the first decade miss since the Great Depression. Kentucky fans were similarly depressed that Enes Kanter could only be used as a practice player. Rather than give up like UK did in '15-16, JuCo and BCG punching bag Josh Harrellson stepped up to provide post presence in some big games. Brandon Knight, notorious for never signing the NLI, led a mixed group of freshmen and experienced players who shot nearly 40% from 3 as a team. Wins in the NCAA-T over UNC and tOSU made this team a fan favorite. Knight was one-n-done, but due to some NBA players union dynamics, two UK freshmen Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb decided to come back for another season. They were put to use.

'09-10 35-3 (14-2) SEC regular season and SEC-T champ, Elite 8
The Wall-Cousins-Bledsoe team did not make the Final Four like the previous two teams but they did change the tide for UK with their late signing in May 2009. Cal never got the one-n-done SF he wanted and his three guard line-up went cold in Syracuse against West Virginia. After an NIT appearance in BCG's last season, Calipari was given direction by the UK president that he had to honor all of the recruiting pipeline commitments back to 8th grader Michael Avery and he had to bring back the returning players. For the recruits, who did not get their daily 100 texts and stack of mail, they one-by-one decommitted.  For the returnees, a one-on-one promising of a scholarship but not even five-on-five practice playing time caused a transfer migration. One of these roster moves that puzzled UK fans was choosing the aforementioned Josh Harrellson over playground legend Matt Pilgrim who was later fighting rape allegations at OkSt. The numbers worked out for Cal.

'14-15 38-1 (18-0) SEC-T champ, Final Four
What if the signing class was locked in early and most of the players getting NBA evals decided to come back. Presenting "The Platoon" or the illusion of a platoon. 38 wins to start the season is unprecedented for an SEC team. UK fans' only legit gripe is only getting see players like Towns and Booker play 21 mpg. This team's kryptonite was the need to create the big moment on the big stage for the big NBA front office viewing audience. Bo "Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me" Ryan, knew that Andrew would flip back to Aaron with two seconds left on the shot clock rather than post up the NBA's number one draft pick. Three straight shot clock violations later and Wisconsin was off to a whipping by Duke. Tyler Ulis and Devin Booker were sitting next to Kenny Payne during both of the final two turnovers.

'11-12 38-2 (16-0) SEC and NCAA Champs, SEC-T runner-up
The front line of NBA picks one and two, Anthony Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist with returning Terrence Jones made for a tough hand to beat. Doron Lamb's 46.6% from 3 helped to keep things from getting too crowded inside.  I think Marquis Teague was on that team as well. They did not have a lot of depth and they did not suffer a serious injury.

[jbcarol]

Kevin Brockway
‏@gatorhoops

Kevin Stallings has been surprisingly good on TV.

Kyle Tucker ‏@KyleTucker_CJ 11h11 hours ago

Kyle Tucker Retweeted Kevin Brockway

I love the idea of him explaining how to win a second-round game.

[jbcarol]

Craig Pinkerton ‏@SEC_Craig Mar 18

With Texas A&M's NCAA Tournament win [Friday], @SEC teams are 18-4 (81.8 percent) in postseason opening games over the last three years

[jbcarol]

David Cloninger ‏@DCTheState 10h10 hours ago

Frank Martin posted the best season by wins in Kansas State history (29) and tied for the best in USC history (25).

[jbcarol]

Jerry Tipton ‏@JerryTipton 3h3 hours ago

Congrats to ex-Georgia coach Hugh Durham. He is among inductees in National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2016.

[jbcarol]

Kyle Tucker ‏@KyleTucker_CJ 15h15 hours ago

I think you can sum up Calipari's first six UK teams in a sentence each. This year's group? Good luck. http://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/kentucky/2016/03/22/how-remember-these-cats-s-complicated/82126642/ ...

LEXINGTON, Ky. – John Calipari's first six teams at Kentucky are easily packaged and labeled for rapid recollection.

His 2009-10 squad got the party started with John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and NBA draft history. Then Brandon Knight's leadership and Josh Harrellson's jean shorts turned the 2010-11 squad into Final Four party crashers.

Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist made it won-and-done with the 2011-12 national championship. Ryan Harrow's bubble guts and Nerlens Noel's knee injury imploded the ensuing 2012-13 NIT team.

Aaron Harrison's jumbo guts and Julius Randle's broad shoulders turned the disappointing 2013-14 Cats into NCAA title-game shockers. Then WCS met KAT and there was so much talent that 2014-15 Kentucky platooned its way to perfection – almost.

But this, Calipari's seventh season with the Wildcats, will be harder to wrangle on down the line. These Cats won 27 games, lost nine. They shared an SEC regular-season title, won the league tournament. They earned a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament, had seemingly half the country believing they might sneak up and win the whole thing, then got bounced in the second round by rival Indiana.

That could be the tidy tag line for this season: What might've been.

[jbcarol]

Dana O'Neil ‏@ESPNDanaOneil 1h1 hour ago

Nice guy finishing first? Lon Kruger just might  http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/15046014/oklahoma-sooners-lon-kruger-nicest-guy-college-basketball ...

He is the very antithesis of the shills most folks imagine when they envision coaches, a bespectacled Everyman who loves his tractor and despises self-promotion with equal fervor.

In an impressive career that includes NCAA tournament wins with a record five schools, five Sweet 16 appearances and one Final Four, Kruger remains one rung short of basketball heaven. He has never won a national championship.

But paired with a player who is the Abbott to his Costello, an effervescent bubble of a Bahamian named Buddy, Kruger has the best chance to rewrite the tired cliché.

A nice guy just might finish first.

Sooners' practices, either in the main gym or the more intimate practice arena, are open to anyone and everyone who would like to attend --

Just as it was at Kansas State, Florida, Illinois and UNLV.

"He was pretty much an open book," says Joel Glass, Kruger's sports information director from his Florida days. "Nothing was ever closed."

The really good part, that's what people sometimes don't understand. Kruger's name will not be the first -- or probably the 15th -- when people are asked to name the best and most successful coaches in the game today. Yet he's a savant -- Glass remembers NBA scouts jotting down his inbounds plays at Florida -- and a masterful rebuilder. Texas-Pan American, Kansas State, Illinois, Florida and UNLV were a combined 78-99 in the year before he arrived at the respective campuses. They were 117-72 by his second year in charge.

[jbcarol]

Kevin Brockway ‏@gatorhoops  2h2 hours ago Georgia, USA
Gators finish first season under Mike White 21-15 with loss in NIT quarterfinals.

White drops to 7-4 all-time in NIT with three straight losses in NIT quarterfinals.

Takeaway, Florida's offense progressed in first season under White, but defense regressed, big reason why UF fell short of NCAA Tourney.

Gators gave up 80 or more points in four of their last nine games, including Wednesday night v. GW.

In White's first season, #Gators failed to win more than 3 games in a row. Could never get on a roll.

Florida finished first season under White 12-4 at home, 6-9 on road and 3-2 on neutral courts.

[jbcarol]

Remembering the Good Ol' Days: Greatest runs per SEC School

Ole Miss '97-'02

Rob Evans led Ole Miss to their first 20 win seasons and first place in the SEC-W in '97 and '98 with Ansu Seasay, Keith Carter and others.

Ole Miss made the NCAA tournament in consecutive seasons for the first time ever and was eliminated in '98 as a 4-seed by Bryce Drew's iconic buzzer beater (they should go ahead and hire him as coach).

Evans was one of the few coaches to leave the SEC on a high note for Arizona State. He was later an assistant at Arkansas.

Former Ole Miss player Rod Barnes led Ole Miss to NCAA-T appearances in '99, '01, and '02 and an NIT Quarterfinal appearance in 2000.

Ole Miss reached the Sweet Sixteen in 2001, the biggest NCAA Tournament accomplishment in the school's history.

Honorable Mention:  Early 80's teams led by Sean Tuohy (The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game) gained Ole Miss their first ever SEC Tournament championship and first NCAA Tournament appearance. They had three other NIT appearances.

Andy Kennedy's Marshall Henderson and Stefan Moody teams have made the NCAA Tournament twice and won opening games.

[jbcarol]

A&M made the Sweet 16 for the third time in program history which is their deepest NCAA-T run (1980, 2007, 2016).

The 2016 team's 28 wins are the most in school history.

[jbcarol]

Brent Zwerneman
‏@BrentZwerneman

A&M fun fact: 5 years ago, Billy Kennedy, Ben Jacobson (Northern Iowa) & LSU's Johnny Jones (then at N. Texas) top 3 to replace Turgeon.

[jbcarol]

Eric Crawford ‏@ericcrawford 15h15 hours ago

After that bench warning, Turgeon told ref, "Yeah, you're a real tough guy."

[jbcarol]

Brent Zwerneman ‏@BrentZwerneman 6m6 minutes ago

Close buds Lon Kruger, Dana Altman agreed to never play each other - until they had to (that's today): http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/article/Oklahoma-Oregon-coaches-are-reluctant-opponents-7106377.php ... @HoustonChron

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Dana Altman's Oregon Ducks made it to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight against Lon Kruger's Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday...

"He's been a great friend and mentor for 30 years, and we've never played each other for a reason," Altman said Friday of Kruger. "We didn't want to play.

"When the pairings came out a couple of weeks ago, I talked to Coach and we said if we're fortunate enough to get to this point, at least one of us is going to the Final Four."

The Ducks (31-6) and Sooners (28-7) tip at 5:09 p.m. Saturday in the Honda Center for the right to move on to NRG Stadium next week.

"I know Coach Altman was talking to Coach Kruger a lot," Coach K foil Dillon Brooks said with a smile, "because that's his boy."

That he is, primarily because Kruger hired Altman as an assistant at Kansas State in 1986.

Altman at the time was coaching at junior-college power Moberly (Mo.) Community College, and star player Mitch Richmond also wound up at Kansas State and went on to excel in the NBA.

Altman, 57, spent the late 1980s with Kruger at Kansas State before moving on to coaching jobs at Marshall, Kansas State, Creighton ... Creighton and finally Oregon in 2010.

Kruger, 63, left Kansas State in 1990 and has since served as coach of Florida, Illinois, the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, UNLV and finally Oklahoma in 2011.

[jbcarol]

Jerry Tipton ‏@JerryTipton Mar 25

NABC names Billy Kennedy of Texas A&M as its District 21 Coach of Year.


Kennedy is Coach of the Year in his little district.

[jbcarol]

Last week the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2016 inductees. Former Georgia coach Hugh Durham and other members of the class will be inducted on Nov. 18

Durham, a native of Lyndon, Ky., is the only coach to lead two schools to their only Final Four appearance: Florida State in 1972 and Georgia in 1983.

Durham was the opposing coach in Adolph Rupp's last game as Kentucky. Florida State beat UK 73-54 in the 1972 Mideast Region finals.

[jbcarol]

Jon Rothstein ‏@JonRothstein 4h4 hours ago

Pitt has officially hired Vanderbilt's Kevin Stallings as its next head coach, sources told @CBSSports. Story: http://cbsprt.co/25qY1Gx

[jbcarol]

 SEC Network ‏@SECNetwork 4h4 hours ago

Longest Tenured SEC Men's Basketball Coaches:
Andy Kennedy, 10 years
John Calipari, 7 years
Mark Fox, 7 years
Mike Anderson, 5 years

[jbcarol]

Adam Sparks ‏@AdamSparks 10h10 hours ago

Vandy & Kevin Stallings at least appeared to part ways mutually. Was it a win-win for both? http://tnne.ws/1ZFx0ep 

Kevin Stallings' exit from Vanderbilt at least appeared mutual.

Stallings, the winningest coach in Commodores history, landed a new job Sunday in the ACC as the Pittsburgh men's basketball coach and a six-year contract, according to ESPN.

Vanderbilt got to part ways with the most successful coach in program history without firing him or dragging him through a lengthy hot-seat situation. And the Commodores get a new start, tipping off their first men's basketball coaching search in this century.

In a statement, athletics director David Williams called Stallings "a great coach and a true gentleman" who "won more games than any coach in our program's history, and he always did it the right way."

Stallings coached the Commodores from 1999-2016, as the longest tenured coach in both Vanderbilt history and among the SEC's active coaches. In 17 seasons, he compiled a 332-220 overall record, 138-142 SEC mark and seven of the program's 14 NCAA Tournament appearances.

Stallings replaces Jamie Dixon, who left Pitt last week to take the job at TCU. In a statement, Pitt athletics director Scott Barnes said, "Coach Stallings and I share the same vision for Pitt — playing in the Final Four."

Stallings had not made a deep NCAA Tournament run at Vanderbilt in nearly a decade, and he became a victim of his own early success. After Sweet Sixteen runs in 2004 and 2007, his teams suffered an opening loss in four of the next five NCAA Tournament trips. The last one hurt quite a bit, as the Commodores fell 70-50 to Wichita State in a play-in game in Dayton two weeks ago to cap a frustrating season.

[jbcarol]

ESPN Stats & Info ‏@ESPNStatsInfo 12h12 hours ago

Syracuse is the 4th double-digit seed to make the Final Four since seeding began in 1979

[jbcarol]

Adam Sparks ‏@AdamSparks 24m24 minutes ago

Y2K, Elian Gonzalez, Titans in Super Bowl. What world was like when Kevin Stallings arrived http://tnne.ws/1VPVMIE 

SEC basketball: There have been 33 SEC men's basketball coaches since Stallings' debut at Vanderbilt. When he started in 1999, the other SEC coaches included Alabama's Mark Gottfried, Auburn's Cliff Ellis, Ole Miss' Rod Barnes, Mississippi State's Rick Stansbury, South Carolina's Eddie Fogler, LSU's John Brady, Tennessee's Jerry Green, Florida's Billy Donovan, Arkansas' Nolan Richardson, Georgia's Jim Harrick and Kentucky's Tubby Smith.

Vandy football: Needing one win for bowl eligibility, Woody Widenhofer's Vanderbilt squad lost its final three games against Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee that November.

Where were they then: Will Wade, the current VCU coach and possible candidate to replace Stallings, was three days shy of his 17th birthday when Stallings coached his first Vanderbilt game. Wade went to Franklin Road Academy.

SEC football: On Nov. 20, Alabama beats Auburn 28-17 in the Iron Bowl behind Shaun Alexander's 182 yards and three TDs.

Campus tragedy: Massive bonfire collapsed at Texas A&M, killing 12 and injuring 27.

[jbcarol]

WKU Basketball
‏@WKUBasketball

#HilltopperNation, welcome your new head coach, Rick Stansbury!

http://bit.ly/StansburyWKU 

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - With 293 career wins and 11 postseason trips as a head coach to his credit, Rick Stansbury has been named the 15th head men's basketball coach at Western Kentucky University, Director of Athletics Todd Stewart announced on Monday.

A formal press conference to introduce Stansbury is set for 1 p.m. today inside the Jack and Jackie Harbaugh Club at Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium. The event is open to the public, and free parking is available in Parking Structure 2 (PS2) next to Smith Stadium.

Stansbury, a Battletown, Kentucky native and Campbellsville University Class of 2003 Hall of Famer, comes to The Hill following two years at 2015-16 Southeastern Conference regular season champion Texas A&M which included a run to the 2016 NCAA Sweet 16. In his 30 seasons as a head coach or an assistant coach, Stansbury's teams have gone to the postseason 18 times, with Top 5 seeds in the NCAA Tournament in 2016 (3), 2004 (2), 2003 (5), 2002 (3), 1996 (5) and 1995 (5) and in the NIT in 2012 (4), 2010 (1), and 2007 (1).

The veteran head coach made his name over a 22-year run at Mississippi State, including the final 14 as head coach (1999-2012), where he compiled a career record of 293-166 (.638), led the Bulldogs to the postseason 11 times, with six NCAA appearances, and became Mississippi State's all-time wins leader in the process.

His 293 career victories are the ninth-most in SEC history. The Bulldogs won the SEC tournament in 2002 and 2009, the overall SEC championship in 2004 and dominated the league's Western Division during Stansbury's tenure, winning the side in 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2010.

His teams were also postseason regulars, appearing in the NCAA Tournament or NIT 11 of his 14 seasons as MSU's head coach including trips to the NCAA tournament in four consecutive seasons (2002-2005) and consecutive appearances in 2008 and 2009 with NIT trips in 1999, 2001, 2007, 2010 and 2012. Including his time as an assistant, Mississippi State went to the postseason 15 times in 22 seasons.

[jbcarol]

David Worlock ‏@DavidWorlock 15h15 hours ago

Cuse is 12th team to send M&W teams to FF in same year. UGA 83, 99 Duke, 02 Okla, 03 Texas, 04/09/11/14 Conn, 05 Mich St, 06 LSU, 13 L'ville

[jbcarol]

 David Worlock ‏@DavidWorlock Mar 26

Lon Kruger waited 22 years between Final Four trips. Second-longest span, trailing Ray Meyer, who led DePaul to FF in '43 and '79 (36 years)

[jbcarol]

SportsTalk ‏@sportstalksc 11h11 hours ago

Martin, USC could be closing in on contract agreement http://goo.gl/fb/sWTi0L

USC basketball coach Frank Martin said at his press conference following the season ending loss to Georgia Tech last week that he had asked athletic director Ray Tanner to hold off on discussing with him a new contract until after the season.  According to a source familiar with the negotiations, the first talks have taken place and a meeting is upcoming...

Martin has completed four years of his original six year deal which is scheduled to run out on March 31, 2018.  His salary for this season was at least 2.1 million dollars in base salary, media compensation and supplemental compensation as outlined in his contract.  Martin could also earn additional bonuses based on the Academic Progress Rate of his team,  ticket sales and attendance.

Martin's named (sic) has been rumored with some current and potential job openings but the source said there's been no contact between Martin and any other school at this point.

[jbcarol]

Remembering the Good Ol' Days: Greatest runs per SEC School

Vandy '65-68

'65 team won the SEC (24-4, 15-1) and advanced to the NCAA-T Elite 8 losing by 2 to tournament runnerup Michigan.

Vandy went 54-14 in SEC play during these four seasons (SEC expanded from 16 to 18 teams during this run).


Honorable mention:

'88-93 After the NCAA had expanded to 64 teams and took more than the conference champ, Vandy went on the first run of post-season success in school history. CM Newton and Eddie Fogler took teams to the Sweet 16, while Fogler won the NIT in his first season replacing Newton.

'04-12 Kevin Stallings took two teams to the Sweet 16 and beat eventual champ UK to win the SEC Tournament in '12.  Vandy had six NCAA-T appearances in these nine seasons with two NIT draws.

'50-52 Bob Polk led Vandy to three SEC second place finishes with the '51 beating eventual national champ UK in the SEC Tournament. The SEC regular season champ advanced if they chose to go, so Vandy stayed home.

'73-74 Roy Skinner's second entry in this listing with two back-to-back 20 win seasons and a rare NCAA bid in '74 after winning the SEC (23-5, 15-3). That team made the Sweet 16 which means they lost their first round game after receiving a bye.

[jbcarol]

DJournalnow ‏@DJournalnow 6h6 hours ago

RICK CLEVELAND: A one of a kind run for Bulldogs http://ow.ly/105iLM

When the 77th NCAA Tournament Final Four is completed next Monday, 308 teams will have competed in college basketball's ultimate showcase.

And here's what you need to know about that. Of those 308 teams, only one has been from the Magnolia State: the 1995-96 Mississippi State Bulldogs.

It was my great fortune to cover those Bulldogs, coached by Richard Williams, when they toppled eventual national champion Kentucky for the SEC Tournament Championship and then ripped off four straight victories in the NCAA Tournament to reach the Final Four at The Meadowlands.

That team will be celebrated Thursday night at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum on the 20th anniversary of its feat.

[jbcarol]

Chris Low ‏@ClowESPN 18h18 hours ago

Jim Boeheim scored his first NCAA tournament win 39 years ago, 93-88 in OT vs. Tennessee, the final game for Ernie Grunfeld and Bernard King

[jbcarol]

Hugh Kellenberger ‏@HKellenbergerCL 23h23 hours ago

Here's @USATODAYsports' annual look at the salaries of the top college basketball coaches. http://www.clarionledger.com/story/sports/ncaab/2016/03/30/sean-miller-doesnt-ask-arizona-raises-but-he-keeps-getting-them/82383682/ ...

2. Calipari

11. Current Oklahoma and former UF coach Lon Kruger

http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/mens-basketball/coach

[jbcarol]

Jeff Goodman ‏@GoodmanESPN 21h21 hours ago

Hearing there's a good chance that N.C. State's Mark Gottfried will hire former Oklahoma State assistant Butch Pierre.

[jbcarol]

Frank Martin ‏@FrankMartin_SC 9h9 hours ago

Frank Martin Retweeted Patrick Patterson

Thx Patrick I'm humbled and honored

https://twitter.com/patrickpat803/status/715390587814318080

[jbcarol]

Michael Carvell ‏@Carvell_AJC 1h1 hour ago

NCAA tournament: SEC's 10 greatest Final Four Saturday games of the modern era http://sec.news/1MZsL64


Andy Lyons-Stephen Dunn-Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images

Six SEC programs (Kentucky, Florida, LSU, UGA, Arkansas and Mississippi State) have reached the Final Four over the last 40 years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-hNh6YKSO4

[jbcarol]

Jeff Goodman ‏@GoodmanESPN 21h21 hours ago

Hearing there's a good chance that N.C. State's Mark Gottfried will hire former Oklahoma State assistant Butch Pierre.

Jeff Goodman ‏@GoodmanESPN 19h19 hours ago

Told Butch Pierre to NC State is done. Pierre top 5 most feared assistant by other guys in business.



Of course Gottfried is the only coach to lead Bama to the Elite 8. Pierre is a former Miss. St. player and was an LSU assistant and interim head coach.

[jbcarol]

Adam Sparks ‏@AdamSparks 18h18 hours ago

South Carolina mistakenly invited to NCAA tourney. Vandy got accidental NIT bid 7 years ago. http://tnne.ws/1UvDXiW 

On Selection Sunday, the South Carolina athletic department received a text message congratulating its men's basketball team for making the NCAA Tournament. That was an error, the NCAA told USA Today on Thursday.

"Unfortunately, during the selection show a junior men's basketball staff member mistakenly sent a text to a member of the University of South Carolina athletics department staff via an app we used for the first time during the 2016 tournament," NCAA vice president of men's basketball championships Dan Gavitt said in a statement. "The text was supposed to go to all teams, congratulating them for making the tournament. Regrettably, a text meant for another institution went to South Carolina instead."

Vanderbilt was the victim of a similar error back in 2009, when a representative of the National Invitation Tournament sent a congratulatory email on the Commodores selection. However, the attached bracket on the NIT email did not include Vanderbilt. A few minutes later, the NIT sent another email to Vanderbilt that said the Commodores in fact had not been invited. Vanderbilt was practicing at the time, and players were later told their season had ended.

This year, Vanderbilt received one of the last four bids to the NCAA Tournament. And for those who believe conference quotas come into play in NCAA Tournament selections, Vanderbilt may have supplanted South Carolina for the SEC's final spot. The NCAA said South Carolina was never intended to receive a bid.

Then that's how it is. Case closed.

[jbcarol]

Remembering the Good Ol' Days: Greatest runs per SEC School

Ole Miss '97-'02

Rob Evans led Ole Miss to their first 20 win seasons and first place in the SEC-W in '97 and '98 with Ansu Seasay, Keith Carter and others.

Ole Miss made the NCAA tournament in consecutive seasons for the first time ever and was eliminated in '98 as a 4-seed by Bryce Drew's iconic buzzer beater (they should go ahead and hire him as coach).

Evans was one of the few coaches to leave the SEC on a high note for Arizona State. He was later an assistant at Arkansas.

...

Paul Oren ‏@NWIOren 15h15 hours ago

Official word from @ValpoBasketball is that Keith Carter has a foot sprain and he's going to try to gut it out. #NIT #HLMBB

Emily Van Buskirk ‏@Emilnem 14h14 hours ago

Congrats to @GW_MBB on their #NIT championship!

[jbcarol]

Michael Carvell ‏@Carvell_AJC 58m58 minutes ago

Report: 4 SEC teams among top 20 most valuable in college basketball http://sec.news/22VlnFF

Four SEC men's basketball clubs rank among college basketball's 20 most valuable teams, with Kentucky earning the No. 3 spot thanks to a $244.3 million valuation.

Arkansas ($97.4 million), Tennessee ($84.5 million) and Alabama (83.4 million) came in 17th, 19th and 20th, respectively.

[jbcarol]

Steve Walentik Retweeted
Tim McKernan ‏@tmckernan Mar 29

7 years ago today, Missouri was 1 win from The Final Four. Hasn't been really great since then. #Euphemisms

https://youtu.be/mjZ0uaNMkwk

[jbcarol]

 David Cloninger ‏@DCTheState 20h20 hours ago

USC extends Frank Martin's contract through 2022: http://www.thestate.com/sports/college/university-of-south-carolina/usc-mens-basketball/article69446227.html ...

Martin receives a raise to 2.45 million in Year 1. Buyout raised to over 4 million in Year 1

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/aldotcomSports/status/716379726152118272

Scarblog:

SEC basketball was at its best when the likes of Brown, Wimp Sanderson and Sonny Smith were stalking the sidelines. Add Gene Bartow, and basketball had a vibrant pulse in the Heart of Dixie.

Louisiana and Florida aren't the only Deep South states with reason to reminisce about roundball this week. They took a similar trip down memory lane in Mississippi on Thursday.

At the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, they held a 20-year reunion of the 1996 Mississippi State Bulldogs, the one-and-only team from that state to reach the Final Four.

You know where you won't find a Final Four reunion this week, next year or anytime soon? Here in the state of Alabama.

Anyone who knows or cares anything about basketball in Alabama knows one cold, hard, sad fact. No team from our state has ever advanced to the final weekend of the college basketball season.

Alabama, Auburn and UAB made it to the Elite Eight one time each and came up short. The last near-miss was Alabama under Mark Gottfried in 2004.

The good news is there are good people in Alabama who do care about basketball who've been trying to change things for the better. Auburn hired Bruce Pearl. Alabama landed Avery Johnson. Mark Ingram and his advisory committee have been interviewing candidates for their coaching job at the site of the Final Four in Houston.

And still there's that glass ceiling hovering over us, almost mocking us. This year, forget the Final Four. They held the entire NCAA Tournament without us.

It doesn't have to be this way, as Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and Georgia have proved, but it's always been this way, and it's a crying shame. No one here who follows the bouncing ball should rest until this madness ends.

[jbcarol]

Steve Berkowitz ‏@ByBerkowitz 14h14 hours ago

Well, at least Lon Kruger got $125,000 in bonuses for getting OU to the Final Four.

[jbcarol]

Adam Sparks ‏@AdamSparks 9h9 hours ago

How much was Bryce Drew paid at Valparaiso compared to Kevin Stallings at Vandy? http://tnne.ws/1URLGrW

Bryce Drew was paid $377,464 by Valparaiso the same year Vanderbilt basketball coach Kevin Stallings earned $2.1 million, according to tax records.

Drew is expected to be Vanderbilt's next coach, replacing Stallings after a 17-year tenure, according to numerous reports. But the only holdup to Drew's hiring was finalizing a contract...

SEC BASKETBALL COACH SALARIES

Current annual salaries of SEC head coaches

John Calipari (Kentucky): $6.9 million

Avery Johnson (Alabama): $2.8 million

Bruce Pearl (Auburn): $2.3 million

Rick Barnes (Tennessee): $2.3 million

Mark Fox (Georgia): $2.2 million

Frank Martin (South Carolina): $2.1 million

Mike White (Florida): $2.0 million

Mike Anderson (Arkansas): $2.0 million

Ben Howland (Mississippi State): $1.9 million

Andy Kennedy (Ole Miss): $1.9 million

Johnny Jones (LSU): $1.5 million

Billy Kennedy (Texas A&M): $1.2 million

Kim Anderson (Missouri): $1.1 million

Note: Vanderbilt's Kevin Stallings was paid $2.1 million in 2013, per tax records. His 2016 salary is not available since Vanderbilt is a private institution.

VANDERBILT BASKETBALL COACHES

(Since 1948)

Coach (Years): Record

Kevin Stallings (2000-16): 332-220

Jan van Breda Kolff (1994-99): 104-81

Eddie Fogler (1990-93): 81-48

C.M. Newton (1982-89): 129-115

Richard Schmidt (1980-81): 28-27

Wayne Dobbs (1977-79): 38-42

Roy Skinner (1959, 62-76): 278-135

Bob Polk (1948-58, 60-61): 197-106

[jbcarol]

Michael Carvell ‏@Carvell_AJC 14h14 hours ago

South Carolina loses assistant basketball coach to rebuilding Oklahoma State http://sec.news/236vTdf

Lamont Evans has left South Carolina to join ex-Gamecocks assistant Brad Underwood's staff at Oklahoma State, the school announced in a press release.

Evans followed Martin from Kansas State to South Carolina in 2012. He was regarded by many as the staff's top recruiter and had a major role in recruiting five-star guard PJ Dozier to South Carolina...