DETROIT – The coaching turnstile is spinning rapidly and bodies are starting to fly.
Tim Floyd is reportedly considering heading to Arizona from USC and that move could have fallout on coaches and recruits across the nation.
Pitt coach Jamie Dixon, who was born in Burbank, Calif., could opt to take the USC job, although one source close to the Pitt program called that possibility “doubtful.”
But if Dixon were to leave, Sean Miller, a Pittsburgh graduate whose team lost to the Panthers in the Sweet 16, could move to Pitt from Xavier.
Floyd could also bring some of his recruits to Arizona from USC with him.
Solomon Hill, who first chose Arizona and then committed to the Trojans after Lute Olson retired, told the Tucson Citizen he would “weigh his options” if Floyd goes to Arizona.
Renaldo Sydney, a 6-11, 250-pound USC commit, has not signed his Letter of Intent but is a huge fan of Floyd.
“I chose USC because Tim Floyd has been a successful coach at every level and I am confident he can help me become a better player,” Sidney said when he committed.
Sidney would be a huge addition to Arizona, which likely will lose Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger to the NBA.
Hill told the Tucson Citizen it’s too early to decide what he’ll do because the Floyd move hadn’t been confirmed.
“It would be a good situation if [Floyd] went there and a good situation if he stayed,” Hill added. “The only thing I worry about is the recruiting class” at Arizona, which has no one signed for next season except for a junior college player.
“We have a good recruiting class [at USC],” Hill added. “I guess I’d have to talk to the people I got to know going to USC and see what they think about it.”
Another player who could be impacted is Oak Hill Academy point guard Lamont “Momo” Jones of Harlem, who had been leaning toward USC but could now reconsider.
PittGrad91 / April 2, 2009
Why would Dixon want to downgrade by going to a lesser USC program? What evidence do you have that Dixon is even considering it? Speculating, I presume, Zag?
Besides, all this stuff about Jamie being a West Coast guy is overblown. The only real tie is his wife’s family lives out there.
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InfinityDividedByZero / April 2, 2009
Living in beautiful Southern California with a stronger local talent base and an amazing new arena isn’t much of a choice compared to rebuilding in a dying, gloomy city like Pittsburgh
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Panblitz / April 2, 2009
1st: The Pete is one of the best college basketball facilities around. So the arena point is irrelevant.
2nd: A big difference is though that Pitt fills its arena, with fans who really care. Pittsburgh has an incredible fan base, the Zoo is the best student section in the Big East, and they make the Pete one of the worst places for visiting teams to play. Good luck getting that kind of fan base being the 3rd or 4th best show in town in Cali.
3rd: Local talent….who cares. Being able to recruit players from Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York, and the whole DC area is a bigger benefit that having a local area that every good Pac-10 team competes for. There are enough elite players in the East to feed all of the schools and Pittsburgh recruiting is really starting to take off.
4th: The type of style that Dixon plays is built around East coast type players. He wants tough, hard-nosed, defensive minded players who he can develop. His style caters to East coast players. West coast guys aren’t as interested in that. Especially Pac-10, they would rather run and gun.
5th: Pittsburgh doesn’t rebuild, it reloads: The Panthers have been like one of the 5 winningest programs the past 8 years. They get tough kids who step up when its their turn.
6th: Arizona is 50000x the program USC is so if he wasn’t going to jump at that why the heck would he want to go to USC????? Arizona is a close enough drive for his family.
7th: Pittsburgh pays Dixon at least double what Floyd made.
8th: He’s a coach of one of the best teams year in year out, of the best conference in the country.
So yes, you are right, it isn’t really a choice. You’d have to be crazy to take all of those disadvantages just for a little sunshine.
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PittGrad91 / April 3, 2009
Last time I checked California was a dying state. Pitt has great facilities and plays in the best conference in the country. The program is better than USC’s right now and has plenty of places to draw talent from.
Oh, and now wildfires and Hollywood morons around either. 🙂
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johnjohn / April 3, 2009
I hear that the big problem at AZ is the ex-coach. LUTE OLSO
LUTE is just too involved and no top coach wants to deal with LUTE.
AZ needs to tell LUTE to get lost.
Seeeee a huge problem.
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