| 06 May 2011
As is the custom along either coast, once a BCS basketball job opens up the locals immediately begin their speculation about his replacement. Undoubtedly, their focus turns to Jamie Dixon. We've seen this happen at USC, Oregon, Arizona, Arizona State, NC State, Tennessee and even DePaul (among others). Looks like it's time to add Maryland to the list in the wake of Gary Williams' retirement:
Pitt coach Jamie Dixon, Villanova coach Jay Wright and Sean Miller — who apparently had interest in the job before taking his current spot at Arizona — are all likely candidates. Maryland native and current Minnesota coach Tubby Smith has been linked to the job in the past as well, but it is expected that a younger coach will be hired.
John Feinstein of The Washington Post believes that the university will try to hire Butler’s Brad Stevens — who seems to be on every program’s wish list these days. But Stevens has made his desire to stay at Butler very clear, making him an unlikely replacement for Williams.
Maryland has a lot of good things going for it: attractive conference, resources, passionate fanbase, local talent, etc. Pitt has three of the those four and it's not like luring talent away from the coasts has really been an issue.
There is at least some connection to Dixon, however:
College basketball sources across the country and those close to Maryland’s athletic department said the focus of first-year Athletic Director Kevin Anderson should initially center on Dixon, Miller, Brey and Wright.
Dixon and Anderson have a strong relationship that stems from Anderson’s tenure as athletic director at Army. Dixon’s sister, Maggie Dixon, was the women’s basketball coach at Army before dying from heart failure in 2006.
Dixon has amassed a 216-60 record in eight seasons at Pittsburgh, and the Panthers went 31-5 in 2009.
For now, the constant list seems to be Jamie Dixon, Jay Wright, Mike Brey, Shaka Smart, Brad Stevens and Sean Miller. That's probably the list for 99% of schools in the country so it's hard to tell if these names are actually being considered by Maryland's AD or these are just the names basketball writers think they should/will consider.
No real news yet on whether Jamie Dixon would consider the position, but I found this humorous:
I'm not particularly worried. Maryland is a fine program and all, but I think there are only a select few jobs that Jamie Dixon would leave Oakland for. I'd be ecstatic for the Big East to lose Maryland native Mike Brey, who has been a constant pain during his tenure at Notre Dame. Something about Notre Dame being good at basketball just doesn't sit right with me anyways. As I wondered on Twitter yesterday, does Mike Brey's signature look become "mock Terrapin necks" if he becomes the coach at College Park? Yeah, it's a bad joke, but it gets funnier with time. Let it simmer for a while.
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