Russ Smith

Apparently confirmed now that Miles Simon has been fired.

And there's a bunch of rumors on a Memphis site that spread around the Scout.com network that Calipari has contacted UA about Josh Pastner possibly going to Memphis. Memphis has 2 openings now because assistant coaches left to take head coaching positions. One opening they hope to fill with current Oregon assistant Kenny Payne(very tight with Worldwide Wes) and apparently they want Pastner for the other.

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“Your expectations always exceed outside expectations. I feel like you just can’t stop working, can’t stop getting better, because I’ll be a failure in my eyes before I’m a failure in someone else’s eyes.” -- Arron Afflalo

MaoTosiFanClub

Right on both counts. Losing Pastner as a recruiter definitely hurts, but assuming Lute is one and done (which is the general consensus around Tucson and the UA) I don't mind there being more x's and o's guys on the pine for that last run. Not sure exactly what Miles has brought to the program once his playing days ended.

abomb

Do either of you (Mao or Russ) recall UA getting a verbal from a Houston 8th grader a few years ago? I was thinking about that the other day, but couldnt recall his name.

Renz

Nic Wise committed when he was 15.

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Russ Smith

I guess this answers the question what does Calipari plan to do now that the NCAA changed the rules on prepschools. Now that he can't have a prepschool pipeline he's apparently just going after guys with clear recruiting ties, Payne to worldwide Wes, Pastner through his dad.

__________________
“Your expectations always exceed outside expectations. I feel like you just can’t stop working, can’t stop getting better, because I’ll be a failure in my eyes before I’m a failure in someone else’s eyes.” -- Arron Afflalo

MaoTosiFanClub

UA hasn't landed that many Houston kids over the years and most thus far have been busts, the Pastner/UA pipleline myth is largely exaggerated.

Good luck to Pastner in Memphis, I'd say there's a shot he returns when the next coach is in place should he not have his own program by then. The dispute with Lute and UA is really only job title and security over Lute giving the associate title to a more experienced guy and Livengood foaming at the mouth to fire Lute.

Russ Smith

Is Pastner actually gone or just rumored to be gone?

__________________
“Your expectations always exceed outside expectations. I feel like you just can’t stop working, can’t stop getting better, because I’ll be a failure in my eyes before I’m a failure in someone else’s eyes.” -- Arron Afflalo

General Chaos

He isn't completely gone yet. Most insiders expect him to leave, but I don't think he has made the final decision. Him leaving could push Wise a bit closer to transferring though.

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Bring back the Red Baron, Barron Tanner!!!

Russ Smith

So can I ask do UA fans consider the goings on now to be a good thing for the future of the program?

I have to admit from the outside it looks like things are spiraling out of control. Lute has always been a terrific coach and he built that program from scratch but it sure seems like chaos right now?

Not that I think Pastner is a great coach by the way he was largely there for recruiting I don't think anybody ever accused him of being an excellent assistant coach, but it does seem odd what's happening.

__________________
“Your expectations always exceed outside expectations. I feel like you just can’t stop working, can’t stop getting better, because I’ll be a failure in my eyes before I’m a failure in someone else’s eyes.” -- Arron Afflalo

MaoTosiFanClub

KO had to go, that much is pretty clear. If he was still coaching in Tucson then Lute would've been fired while the top 8 scorers and 2008/2009 recruiting classes likely all would have gone NBA, transfer, or de-committed. Not to mention a career failure in KO would be steering the UA Hoops program. That inevitable disaster scenario is what Livengood was pushing for, but once word started to spread of his intentions and the fallout of firing Lute become clear then he backed off. Of course they still don't get along which is part of the reason Lute probably only has one year left.

Simon was almost useless other than serving as the minority on the staff which every program needs to prevent the abhorrent practice of race recruiting. I don't think anybody is losing any sleep over this, except Lute who probably isn't happy about Livengood firing the guy who won him his National Title.

Pastner is the biggest loss. While his talent evaluation skills weren't keen, he did provide a great service in being the mediator between Lute and whoever tells these kids where to go. I personally don't think it's as big of loss as others are making it out to be because in my opinion Lute's run is very close to it's end anyways so whoever we recruit in 2009 and 2010 would probably de-commit regardless.

The staff to replace these guys is pretty solid as well. Pennell was known as pretty much the sole reason Rob Evans had any success at all, ASU went down the crapper once Pennell was demoted behind Tony Benford. And Mike Dunlap had a great run at d D-II school before jumping to the NBA. It's not like Lute is replacing Roz, KO, and Pastner with Chris Rodgers, Mustafa Shakur, and Rick Anderson. That being said, it's probably not the best time to create the perception of a program in turmoil.

I've already resigned myself to the reality that UA probably won't ever be an elite team under Lute again. Pastner, Kevin O'Neill, Rosborough, and Miles Simon or whoever else couldn't change that. What's important is that the program treads water until Lute retires which at the latest is the end of the 2010-2011 season which is three full years away so that we have a stable program and a boatload of money (UA is still a top 5 program in revenue despite their recent mediocrity) to throw at his successor. I think Dunlap and Pennell have enough experience and connections to make such happen.

Russ Smith

So Dunlap is confirmed? He was a candidate for Stanford's head coaching position I think he had NBA people pushing him for that position so he sounds like a nice fit.

People are already speculating as you said about the impact on future recruits like Abdul Gaddy who've verballed but were largely recruited by Pastner.

Recruiting is so crazy look at the whole Morgan/LSU/UCLA situation now.

I guess the obvious question is if Lute is one and done, who's the heir apparent?

__________________
“Your expectations always exceed outside expectations. I feel like you just can’t stop working, can’t stop getting better, because I’ll be a failure in my eyes before I’m a failure in someone else’s eyes.” -- Arron Afflalo

MaoTosiFanClub

Dunlap's not confirmed, there's this idiotic seven day waiting rule that all state employees have to go through even collegiate coaches. It's pretty much widely ignored though and things are agreed upon before the end of this term.

Who knows what happens with Gaddy, I think the fact that he'll have an offer from every school in the country will make a difference more than Pastner leaving. He grew up an Arizona fan though, so that helps.

Obviously no idea who the heir apparent is, Dunlap was needed not as a successor but as a insurance policy in case Lute decided to bolt for another LOA and we needed someone that could act as a HC. Although I think if Dunlap/Pennell can right the ship and get the program back on track under Lute then Dunlap would be considered for such a position. An important thing to note on all this is UA's AD tried to force out Lute in favor of KO this last season but could not due to almost everyone hating KO. If he had someone like Jamie Dixon or Mark Few lined up things might have been different.

If you asked me today, I'd guess Arizona has another mediocre year in which they barely get into the Tourney and are bounced in the first weekend at which point Livengood or the new AD will ask Lute to step down due to the program's inability to recruit. At that point it would really depend on who's the AD but pretending it was Livengood I'd guess the top candidates would be Dixon, Few, and Capel.

Russ Smith

Read in AZ starnet that Dunlap interviewed at Stanford, Cal and with the Bulls so he does have interest as a head coach. Not sure if they see him as an heir or not as you said probably depends on what happens this year if they hired him.

also says Pastner would be leaving for more money from Memphis if he leaves it's a lateral move but he'd get a raise. Memphis has HUGE cash for basketball because of Fed Ex the CEO and another exec there personally donated like 1.5 million to the basketball program so I would assume they can pay Pastner more than 125K.

__________________
“Your expectations always exceed outside expectations. I feel like you just can’t stop working, can’t stop getting better, because I’ll be a failure in my eyes before I’m a failure in someone else’s eyes.” -- Arron Afflalo

MaoTosiFanClub

It's probably a similar deal as KO got except with less guarantees. KO would've been given the reigns to UA had the program gotten back to it's old winning ways as he would've been mostly responsible for getting us back on track. Same probably goes for Dunlap, but realistically I don't see the athletic department giving him the chance to do such because they want Lute out so bad and if such a turnaround happens it will take more than a year to complete.

Russ Smith

Apparently Pastner officially accepted the Memphis job.

You should see the Memphis boards they're all speculating Pastner could bring Jennings or Withey along to Memphis

Have to hand it to Calipari he's found a new way to recruit just go after assistants and see if they can bring players with them.

__________________
“Your expectations always exceed outside expectations. I feel like you just can’t stop working, can’t stop getting better, because I’ll be a failure in my eyes before I’m a failure in someone else’s eyes.” -- Arron Afflalo