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The end is near and this is a complete shot in the dark but here's a few names to think about . . .

1. Steve Forbes, Wichita State assistant, former Tennessee assistant under Pearl. Took a year off after the Tennessee picnic fiasco, went the JUCO route and played in the JC title game both years he was at Northwest Florida. He's the third assistant at Wichita and we all know what they're doing. He was never found to have been guilty of anything at Tennessee
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketb ... e-deserves" target="_blank

2. Mike Rhoades, Virginia Commonwealth assistant, Shaka's right hand man.
http://www.vcuathletics.com/information ... oades_Mike" target="_blank

3. Marty Richter, Florida Gulf Coast, former Dakich assistant (we won't hold that against him, I kid . . . sort of)
http://www.fgcuathletics.com/athletics/ ... y-richter/" target="_blank

4. Steve Merfeld, Special Assistant to Head Coach Greg McDermott, Creighton (add Anthony Stacey to his bench and he's my #1)
Man can flat out recruit, won a game in the Dance as a #15 seed and brought us our two best players in the past 20 years. Yes, there was the Evansville years, but no one else in the last 700 years has won there either.
http://www.gocreighton.com/ViewArticle. ... =204954379" target="_blank

5. Kenya Hunter, Nebraska assistant. Experience at Georgetown, Xavier and now Nebraska. If you can win BASKETBALL games at Nebraska, you're doing something right. Coach Tim Miles is doing an outstanding job, but Coach Hunter was there when they took the leap from doormat to NCAA bubble and will likely have a guy finish in the top 3 Conference POY (Pettway).
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the ... 50374.html" target="_blank

6. Here's a flyer . . . Rather an Oiler. Admittedly, I know very little about him, some I trust don't think he's very good and simply "keeping it between the lines" running Niekamp's system. This is what I do like. He's 40, from Minster (small, small town Ohio) and NOT likely to jet. He's also been around a winner for 20 years and waited his turn receiving praise from fellow coaches with various awards. What I don't like . . . is despite the recruiting efforts of Louis Orr, there's a helluva difference between Findlay and Bowling Green.

Charlie Ernst- http://findlay.prestosports.com/sports/ ... ches/index" target="_blank

7. If we're going DII, there's no better choice than Scotty Davenport at Bellarmine (Louisville). I just don't think Scotty will leave.
http://athletics.bellarmine.edu/coaches ... ath=mbball" target="_blank

8. There's a handful of B1G coaches that will get tossed about, honestly I'm not super excited about too many of them. Greg Gard (Wisconsin) would be my top choice of the bunch, but he's been with Bo for 20 years, I doubt an opening at Bowling Green is what gets him to move. Jeff Boals is Ohio State's "defensive coordinator" and best recruiter. Bacari Alexander and LaVell Jordan at Michigan get called every year for jobs. Jordan was a finalist last year at Butler. Dane Fife and Dwayne Stephens at Michigan State have the pedigree and chops to be considered, but again would either leave?

9. As long as the guy standing next to Mr. Kingston at the next press conference isn't Stone, Hopson, Orr or Dakich . . . I'll be pretty pleased

10. In a dream scenario, we would've lured Chris Jent two years ago or Jay Larranaga before he became an NBA assistant but those ships have sailed.

Wondering what our program IF DD never would have left. IF he would have removed the stepping stone from under his feet and really taken a liking to the university, community, etc. I feel he could have done some nice things for the program. Things that haven't been done under his replacement.

Dakich was a ticking time bomb that was sped up by the Morgantown experiement . . . His erratic tempermant was not one to foster stability. As long as things were going well and no one was questioning Dan, he was fine. As soon as people (myself included) starting asking questions, the "perceived" witch hunt began and continues to play out with his (somewhat) recent on air rant of a 22 yr old questioning his on air "logic." I can tell you plenty of stories of my encounters with him, albeit indirectly (but instructed and sent directly from Dan), but this isn't the place to air dirty laundry.

Let's not forget all of the transfers, the refusal to play certain players because they didn't abide by his ridiculous rules and the lost recruits due to his lack of maturity and language during practice (Pollitz twins come to mind, specifically). 5 years was enough for Louis and 5 years was MORE than enough of Dan, in Louis' case, Mr Christopher gifted us with 2 more years of good junior varsity MAC ball and in Dan's case, he stayed about 5 years too long.

I absolutely love and appreciate these threads.

Option...what are your thoughts on Bobby Lutz. I think he is a perfect fit other than being immersed in the south for so long.

http://www.gopack.com/sports/m-baskbl/m ... 50960.html" target="_blank

I could go along with Bobby Lutz. I thought the Charlotte fan base was unrealistic with him. They wanted a "Memphis" type program. My concerns would be developing a recruiting base for BG's needs. X and O wise, absolutely . . . I think he would need some "Ohio" flavor on his bench but from a pure basketball standpoint, absolutely!

DD recruited some really good talent here....he was a far better recruiter than Orr could have hoped to be. The kids just got tired of listening to him. Bringing him back was a mistake. Hiring Orr to replace him was a bigger mistake. we really can't afford another mistake.

We probably can't afford Bacari Alexander...but would another one of Beilein's assistants, LaVall Jordan be interested in moving south from AA? He's been at Butler, Iowa and now UM...that's a solid pedigree.

Globe...would Lutz be on your radar if Kingston had worked anywhere other than NC State?

OptionQB wrote:I could go along with Bobby Lutz. I thought the Charlotte fan base was unrealistic with him. They wanted a "Memphis" type program. My concerns would be developing a recruiting base for BG's needs. X and O wise, absolutely . . . I think he would need some "Ohio" flavor on his bench but from a pure basketball standpoint, absolutely!

I think Flipper made that point when it was brought up before. I think his scenario is perfect for us. Coach that got outed but not really sure why but had success when he was the coach.

Flipper wrote:DD recruited some really good talent here....he was a far better recruiter than Orr could have hoped to be. The kids just got tired of listening to him. Bringing him back was a mistake. Hiring Orr to replace him was a bigger mistake. we really can't afford another mistake.

We probably can't afford Bacari Alexander...but would another one of Beilein's assistants, LaVall Jordan be interested in moving south from AA? He's been at Butler, Iowa and now UM...that's a solid pedigree.

Globe...would Lutz be on your radar if Kingston had worked anywhere other than NC State?

Not at all. Wouldn't it make sense for Kingston to hire someone he was familiar with? Kingston was the AD over basketball there if I recall correctly.

1. Anyone but Orr. Anyone.

Globe...I get what you're saying...but I don't think Kingston is going to take that approach. I have done no research, so this is just an opinion, but I tend to think AD's don't often hire people from institutions they've previously worked for. It doesn't seem like a common occurrence. I'm only pimping Jordan because he's worked for Beilein ...who Billy Donovan's unbeaten SEC run aside...ought to be coach of the year.

Flipper wrote:Globe...I get what you're saying...but I don't think Kingston is going to take that approach. I have done no research, so this is just an opinion, but I tend to think AD's don't often hire people from institutions they've previously worked for. It doesn't seem like a common occurrence. I'm only pimping Jordan because he's worked for Beilein ...who Billy Donovan's unbeaten SEC run aside...ought to be coach of the year.

You are probably right. Just the only way to get at someone worth discussing with all of the possibilities out there. I know it happens in the NFL a lot where an executive goes from one team to another and brings a coach he is familiar with to run the squad. I don't know much about AD's but I can't name someone off hand. Seems logical but it might not be practice at all. If I remember correctly when we made the Orr hire I used the same logic for touting Cuonzo Martin as a potential hire. He went on to Missouri State and then now Tennessee. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuonzo_Martin" target="_blank.

OHSAA Tournament starts next Thursday. I hope we have a coach by then.

Globetrotter wrote:OHSAA Tournament starts next Thursday. I hope we have a coach by then.

I would be pretty shocked if we have a coach by then.

Anybody affiliated with any successful program is going to still be playing for at least another week or two. I could be wrong, but I don't think basketball coaches leave their teams out to dry before the big dance the way football coaches do before bowl games. I am positive Kingston has his list, but it is conceivable that he'll have to wait a few weeks before even being able to talk with everybody on that list.

The Blade's Ryan Autullo tweets the Jeff Boals should be a candidate.

Ryan Autullo‏@AutulloBlade·3 mins
Expect Ohio State assistant Jeff Boals to be rumored as a candidate. Ohio native, played at OU, has coached in MAC.