Sources: Tim Floyd to Arizona & more dominoes could fall

08-09 Basketball General146

The landscape of the Pac-10 continues to transform as 2009’s coaching carousel continues with this somewhat surprising move – Tim Floyd to Arizona

After unsuccessfully trying to woo Rick Pitino and reportedly going after Mark Few and Jeff Capel, Arizona is set to name Tim Floyd as its new head coach according to reports.

Fox Sports reports that Floyd is still weighing the offer.

Floyd, 55, has spent the last four seasons at USC and is 85-50 in his tenure in Southern California. He led the Trojans to three NCAA tournament appearances — including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2007.

According to a source close to the situation, Floyd — as of Wednesday night — is still deliberating on whether to accept Arizona’s offer.

Floyd’s Trojans won the 2009 Pac-10 Conference Tournament Championship and qualified for the NCAA Tournament by overcoming a 15 point deficit to Arizona State. The Sun Devils and All-American guard James Harden only scored six points in the last eight minutes and ten seconds of the game en route to mustering only 63 points for the day. They scored only four points in the last 7:37, which included only one field goal in the last 7:37. The Trojans took the lead with about 30 seconds to go in the game and continued to ride their momentum into the NCAA Tournament.

I thought USC was able to pull a surprisingly good move in their initial hire of Floyd four years ago, so it will be interesting to see where the Trojans choose to turn. Jobs at Georgia and Memphis also remain open.

As Andy Katz discusses in the above video, Floyd’s move could open the door for the dominoes to fall in a manner that sends Pitt’s Jamie Dixon to USC, opening the Pitt job for Sean Miller. First, such a move would suck for NC State as Sean Miller is clearly emerging as a top candidate for our job in the next couple of years if Coach Lowe were to unfortunately not show some improvement.

Excuse me while I continue to be baffled by these reporters. Katz, like Seth Davis and Greg Doyel and so many others, is usually fast to tout the attributes of former NC State coach, Herb Sendek. In this report he immediately mentions Miller and totally ignores Sendek as a candidate for Pitt. Hell…Miller coached for Sendek, who is also originally from Pittsburgh!

Sendek was (supposedly) the subject of speculation around the Pitt job when Ben Howland left for UCLA. Although the speculation was later proven to be a manufactured and appear to be an opportunistic PR stunt by Camp Fowler/Sendek to make Herb appear desired by other programs, it still baffles me that Herb could be such an amazing coach yet these media-guys who love him so much never even think of him as a potential candidate for any of these jobs where is obviously a natural fit. I wonder why that is?

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08-09 Basketball General

146 Responses to Sources: Tim Floyd to Arizona & more dominoes could fall

  1. GAWolf 04/02/2009 at 8:45 AM #

    A good analogy we struck up last night: Sid, a great Wolfpacker, is similar to Daniel Evans, another fine Wolfpacker. It’s not either one’s fault that NC State thrust them into positions they weren’t prepared for. They both have handled themselves admirably in the face of adversity not of their own making. We possibly put both in a position, by no fault of their own, where they maybe simply could not be successful. The powers that be at the respective times set them up for failure.

  2. Dan 04/02/2009 at 8:47 AM #

    let’s look at our last FIVE basketball coaching hired:

    1. Sidney Lowe: NBA assistant with no college experience or degree
    2. Herb Sendek from Miami, Ohio
    3. Les Robinson from ETSU
    4. Jimmy V from Iona
    5. Norm Sloan from a Florida team that had never been better than 4th in the SEC and was coming off a fifth place 16-10 season.

    How in the hell is Sean Miller the floor?

    SFN: I didn’t realize that Sean Miller has been coaching for the last 45 years. Dude…the landscape of college basketball and the amount of money available to NC State is very different from when Willis Casey hired Jimmy V from Iona. AGAIN, our own incompetence of having morons like Lee Fowler and assholes like Todd Turner EXECUTING is a different topic.

  3. wufpup76 04/02/2009 at 8:51 AM #

    “and at that point sid could promote monte towe as his head recruiter so we can fill our roster out with 5′9″ 3 star pg’s and 7″0″ Polack Projects. awesome”

    ““sure, you want to go to the jersey shore? its only like an 800 hour drive from here in Pittsburgh”

    ^That’s pretty funny stuff, packbackr04 🙂

    “I am trying to understand why almost every entry has backhanded stabs at a coach that left 3 years ago.”

    ^Not really intended that way (or at least I don’t think). Once again, most folks wish Herb well. The issue isn’t really Herb, b/c as you said he is no longer here. The issue is the Seth Davis’es, Jeff Goodman’s and others who continously hammer State fans about the era of “Sendek” more than 3 years later. Out of the blue. Unprovoked. They do it because it’s easy. They do it for their own agendas. Actual research and analysis is hard.

    Some ask “Why do we let the ignorant media bother us?”. Well, that’s just the point … They *are* the national media. They hold all the power. There are no retorts. They can say whatever comes to mind on a whim. They can bury a program, a coach, etc … or they can create a legend out of very thin air.

    It’s about having a voice where you otherwise don’t have one. If you don’t stick up for yourself, who will? Most people have let the whole Herb thing go. The media guys haven’t … they should be taken to task for their own words and flawed logic. If you wanna bash, bash – but there’s an opposite side to that and it’s all to easy for them NOT to bring that up.

    3 cheers to SFN for doing so. It’s not about bashing Herb, it’s about calling out two-faced jackasses.

  4. Bubba 04/02/2009 at 8:52 AM #

    Daily

    I really dont think about Herb Sendek after 3 years have passed. I really dont care if he’s at ASU or High Point College? I certainly cant control what the media writes so why let it bother me? IMO, he did a good job getting NCState back on the map of college basketball and then he left. I hold no grudges.

    My concern as always is with NCState. Hopefully, Sid gets 2 more years to prove if he can get the job done.I think he will be given that chance.

  5. Trout 04/02/2009 at 9:05 AM #

    I need some help here.

    Who again is this Tim Floyd? I’ve never heard of him.

  6. packbackr04 04/02/2009 at 9:07 AM #

    thanks Wulfpup. good to know my efforts at humor and sarcasm were appreciated.

  7. ktoh 04/02/2009 at 9:08 AM #

    Thats all you people think about is Herb.Bubba^”Hopefully,Sid gets 2 more years to prove if he can get the job done.” What job might you be talking about?
    This job is not an internship. One year is too much in my mind but give him 2 and nothing will be left here to rebuild.
    It is not about Herb it is about now and this so called basketball program.
    You same people are knocking uva for hiring a coach that employ’s a certain style but wins.

  8. Daily Update 04/02/2009 at 9:09 AM #

    Bubba: So we have the media taking cheap shots at our basketball program, university and more specifically our fans for the last three years, but you don’t understand why an NC State centric blog wouldn’t point out how the media is wrong and unfair on the Herb Sendek issue? I think it is pretty easy to understand why this blog(and any others) would defend NC State when the media takes shots at us or at least point out their mistakes. I see that is one of the main reasons to have a blog.

    SFN: We have bolded this because we couldn’t have said it better.

  9. BJD95 04/02/2009 at 9:22 AM #

    1) Valvano’s profile at Iona was at least as good as Sean Miller’s is at Xavier.

    2) Les Robinson was hired during the era of self-flagellation. Enough said.

    3) Our program was in the toilet (and the reprehensible Todd Turner was the AD) when Herb Sendek was hired.

    4) Three years ago, clueless AD Lee Fowler had no “Plan B” when Barnes and Calipari said no. The rest of the search was an abomination.

    Here’s what I worry about – is NC State really going to offer $1.5-$2M for a replacement coach? Or are we going to go the “blue light special” route like we did with Lowe? Therein lies the rub. We showed we would pay for a sure thing like Barnes or Calipari, but will we offer a market package to the best available “next tier” coaches, even if we are smart enough to evaluate and interview them? Perhaps we spend $1M instead and give the job to a nobody.

    That said, if we did pay market rates and conduct the search competently, whose job is going to be more attractive than ours? Indiana last year, and Kentucky this year. Maybe Arizona, but not by much.

    But the shocking thing here is how Arizona can be so uncouth as to hire Tim Floyd away from USC. Aren’t we glad that Lee Fowler is such a “gentleman” that he wouldn’t even consider Oliver Purnell or Frank Haith for our job last time? Because Lord knows his loyalty should be to Clemson and Miami, not NC State.

  10. wufpup76 04/02/2009 at 9:24 AM #

    “Who again is this Tim Floyd? I’ve never heard of him.”

    Floyd had a really good run in the Big 12 at Iowa St. in the ’90s prior to giving the NBA a try. He didn’t far as well in the NBA, but he has won everywhere he’s been in college, mostly at programs with little to no winning tradition.

    Floyd has been in the news the last couple of seasons due to some sketchy recruiting issues surrounding quite a few of his players at USC. (Who would EVER think that anything unscrupulous could be occuring at USC of all places?)

    SFN: Trout was joking. Back when we hired Sendek Trout was known as the Champion of promotion of Tim Floyd for our job. He loved Floyd and his focus on Floyd became a big joke to everyone.

  11. waxhaw 04/02/2009 at 9:25 AM #

    As long as our athletic department has issues with AD, lack of BOT/Chancellor support, etc., I don’t know that it would be fair to say anyone is the floor.

    I also don’t think it is fair to look at a Lee Fowler run coaching search to determine interest in our job. Just because you can’t get Calipari or Barnes doesn’t mean you can’t get Miller or Anderson. By all accounts we swung for the fences, struck out and then dropped down a sacrifice bunt.

    Also, I for one have no problem with Fowler handling the women’s basketball coaching search. It will keep him busy and in a spot where he will do little damage.

  12. packbackr04 04/02/2009 at 9:29 AM #

    i just read that Herb tried to throw his name in the hat for the UVA job… is there any validity to that?

    SFN: YES. We heard it a week ago but chose not to put it into the public domain. Obviously, Seth Davis of SI ran his article about it the other day. Now that it is out there, we will obviously have more to say about it in the future.

  13. tractor57 04/02/2009 at 9:29 AM #

    To me Bubba has some good points. I also don’t hate the ex-coach – he helped the Pack along the way and he moved on (about 5 years too late in my opinion). These days I don’t care one bit what he is doing or where he is going. I don’t wish him ill but he has dropped off my radar.

    Lowe may or may not be the coach who brings the BB team back to some semblance of respectability but he did step up when the BB coach search was in the toilet.

    I saw some signs of improvement on court last season but the time is now for a big leap in results.

  14. Trout 04/02/2009 at 9:32 AM #

    wufpup76, you obviously never spent any time on Wolfchat in the 90s. 🙂

    Sorry, I should have put a smiley face on my comments. Noah and several others know the inside joke.

  15. StateFoxer 04/02/2009 at 9:37 AM #

    Dixon goes to USC, Miller and Harris go to Pitt, Lowe goes back to the NBA, and Monte Towe takes over as head coach. After two seasons State pulls all its money out of basketball and puts it in college hockey. Frozen Four 2015!!! You heard it here first.

  16. Daily Update 04/02/2009 at 9:40 AM #

    I guess some people just won’t get it. It isn’t about hating Herb Sendek. It isn’t about Herb Sendek at all. It is totally about the media.

    SFN: I guess we could bronze this and put it in our header and people STILL would ignore the point AND the fact that we have generally ignored Herb since he left Raleigh.

  17. Rick 04/02/2009 at 9:43 AM #

    “This is one of the reasons that I still think highly of the potential of our program – if talent like Sean Miller is ‘the worst that you can do’ then the program still has a chance.’

    With Fowler running the show it is not safe to assume anything. It is possible (nay even probably) that Fowler would screw up another coaching search. The man lost weight over worrying about the coaching search. Why would you lose weight worrying over something you control?

  18. Greywolf 04/02/2009 at 9:49 AM #

    Noah
    April 2nd, 2009 at 8:13 am
    This is one of the reasons that I still think highly of the potential of our program…

    It’s a $1.5-$2 million salary.
    `
    Noah,
    Our program does have high potential: some historical value, excellent arena, financial support of backers, etc. It isn’t hard to imagine being right back in the thick of it with one good season, followed by an excellent season. I can see an NC is possible in the next 10 year — sooner with some of the ’83 luck. This isn’t a prediction or a vote of confidence in Lowe. It’s just an opinion that NCSU is not dead.
    `
    I am a little surprised by your $1.5-$2 million salary figure. I know the part that NCSU pays is peanuts but the $1.25 to $1.75 that has to be made up some way. I have no way of knowing but my guess is that the big spenders would be reluctant to part with that kind of money considering what they have contributed recently — Murphy Center, Dail Practice facilities, Vaughn Towers etc.
    `
    Has the climate at NCSU changed enough that we would part with that kind of money? And please don’t invoke Fowler in this conversation. He’s just the bag man.

  19. buttPACKer 04/02/2009 at 9:55 AM #

    It’s true Bubba,

    If you read any article in Pac-10 country on HS as ASU it will almost invariably begin something like this:

    “Herb Sendek, who has taken the Sun Devils back to national relevance, and who took NC State to four straight NCAA tourneys–before he was chased into the windmill by screaming villagers carrying pitchforks and torches, and wearing Block-S’s on their red sweatshirts. . . ”

    It is really true, despite my sarcasm. We CAN’T forget him, we’re not ALLOWED to!

  20. buttPACKer 04/02/2009 at 10:05 AM #

    I really like Lowe, as a person, but it drives me crazy when people say something like “he helped us out when the search was in the shitter,” or something similar.

    I hardly call Lowe taking a job with much more prestige, boat-loads more money, not to mention a head coaching gig in the ACC, as somehow falling on his own sword. . . As if he took the job for some altruistic, completely charitable, reason–to save NCSU from more embarassment. . . Get a fu*king grip!!!

  21. Dan 04/02/2009 at 10:06 AM #

    BJD,

    You are correct. Valvano was probably equal to Miller, but that’s the highest profile BB coach we’ve EVER hired. EVER.

    SFN,

    Miller should be our “floor”, but our admin history tells us its been our ceiling. I think looking back at our previous hires shows us how out of touch our admin has been with our alumn.

    SFN: I agree with you. I thought I said it that way in my original statement:

    I view Miller as ‘the floor’ of what we could do in the market if a transition was executed with a modicum of competence.

  22. Gene 04/02/2009 at 10:06 AM #

    Sean Miller is not the floor when the last three openings ended with Les Robinson, Herb Sendek, and Sidney Lowe.

    Come to think of it, let’s get really real. When was the last time State hired a big name basketball coach?

    Herb would be in the same ball park as Sean Miller, in terms of a coaching hire. Herb, in three years at Miami (OH), started winning right off the bat with a program that hadn’t done much of anything ever. He took them to two NIT’s and to one NCAA tournament, where he beat Lute Olsen’s Arizona squad.

    SFN: I respectfully would ask that folks share NUMBERS when possible as opposed to making broad conclusions that risk being far too subjectivity. For example —

    Herb Sendek advanced to ONE NCAA Tournament at Miami and won ONE GAME while in the tournament. In five years at Xavier, Miller has been to four NCAA Tournaments.

    In just FIVE YEARS of coaching: Sean Miller has been to 100% more Sweet 16s than Herb Sendek as been to SIXTEEN years of coaching. Sean Miller has been to a Final 8 and Herb Sendek never has been to one. Sean Miller has been ranked in the Top ten for multiple weeks and Herb Sendek has never had a single week of being ranked in the Top ten.

    The two of them do share something in common — both have won SIX NCAA Tournament games. Of course, Sean has been coaching for five years and Herb for sixteen years.

    Miller took over a Xavier program that has won a lot, since the 1980’s. He seems to be a good coach, but successful Xavier coaches have landed in the ACC to mixed results. Pete Gillen and Skip Prosser immediately come to mind. I think there was one more Xavier coach, who wound up in the ACC but his name escapes me.

    SFN: Sendek took over an NC State program that had won a lot more, since the 1940s

    Almost every coach, who comes to the ACC with prior collegiate head coaching experience, has been EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL at smaller schools. This success does not always translate to success in the ACC.

    Almost any hire we make will be a roll of the dice. There’s no sure fire formula for success.

    The problem NCSU has is a loss of identity and a nebulous notion of what “successful” is. We don’t have a process to determine what qualifies as a good hire or not, within the administration. Fans have a gut feeling about it, but not all fans will agree, unless a coach is winning titles, which splits the fanbase and further confuses the identity of the program.

  23. SaccoV 04/02/2009 at 10:07 AM #

    As an alum, and as a lifelong NC State fan, I have an affinity for this job. But where most of us have a misguided notion of this job’s allure is thinking that this is the same job Valvano was essentially forced out of. The NC State job means everything to us fans, but I can’t believe that this job is as desirable as many others around the country (and NO, I don’t mean to deface the position because of the winning programs surrounding us). It is my contention that this job is a good job, but not one that everyone and their brother are fighting to have. Yes, GAWolf, Fowler sucks. That’s understood. But even sucky ADs have landed good hires on occasion, Baddour at UNC for example. Because of this program’s stagnation since Valvano, I cannot qualify it as a job that is greater than say, West Virginia, Arkansas or California. All fans are more than familiar with the past successes of this program, but those past successes aren’t enough to keep the status of the program in the echelon of UK, UNC, UCLA, etc. If you think that, then you’re thinking of this program RIGHT NOW as it was in 1983 or 1974 or during the Case years. I have no doubt that we can certainly achieve that status again. But we’re not where we were as a program, not with the AD or the current coach or the former coach or with the fans continuing to live in the glory of 26 years ago.

  24. whitefang 04/02/2009 at 10:09 AM #

    Grey, how much does it cost to continue to be unsuccessful? As LTR tickets get unrenewed, less bodies in the RBC, less merchandise sales, less WPC membership dues, etc, etc. It doesn’t take much to equal another $500,000 a year.

  25. tractor57 04/02/2009 at 10:11 AM #

    KY
    Yes I saw some modest improvement. Compare the on court performance from the early season to the end season. There was some improvement.
    Enough – NO but at least the product on the floor actually looked like a college BB team.

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