BU Coaching Rumor Roundup: Masiello is just not that into you

Out of the three Louisville assistant coaches mentioned for the BU head coaching job, Steve Masiello is clearly the most qualified. Walter McCarty has been an assistant for only 2 years and Richard Pitino Jr. is younger than me - but Masiello has been doing this for about 8 years, and is Louisville's top assistant. He will be a very good coach some day.

After Dennis Wolff was fired, the Boston Globe's Mark Blaudschun reported that Masiello was on the early list, and that was published a few other places. Turns out though, even before Blauschun came out with his list, the local Louisville writer knew better. Rick Bozich wrote for the Louisville Courier-Journal:

Word I've gotten is that two U of L assistants (Walter McCarty and Richard Pitino) ARE interested and one (Steve Masiello) is not.

Masiello is the most experience coach in the group, but he's reportedly looking for a bigger opportunity.

You kidding me?? It doesn't get any bigger than BU baby!! Ok, so maybe it does get bigger than BU, and he will probably get one of those jobs. He could probably get something in the CAA/MAC/A-10/C-USA range as a first gig.

However, there aren't many of those jobs open this year, so he will probably be back at Louisville next year. If BU were to convince him to come to Beantown, it would be a major coup. But don't hold your breath Terrier fans.

BU Coaching Rumor Roundup: LaFleur gets some big backing

Most of the attention in the media for the coaching search so far has focused on Richard Pitino, but today Andre LaFleur was getting some help.

Writing for the Hartford Courant, Mike Anthony says that BU is interested in UConn assistant Andre LaFleur. But he says he has not been contacted by BU for an interview yet. His quote is very PC:

"I'm not the kind of guy who can work with one foot out the door," LaFleur said. "I'm focused on what we can accomplish here and now. I feel like [UConn] can mount a real challenge in the next few weeks. But you always hope you'll get an opportunity to run a program; you hope your name will come up when there are openings."

However, speaking to Mark Blaudschun of the Boston Globe, LaFleur is a little more transparent:

"I am very interested," said LaFleur, who played at Governor Dummer and Northeastern. "I think I can bring a lot to the table."

Not only that, but he's got his boss a.k.a. Connecticut's multi-million dollar man in his corner.

"I called Mike Lynch and talked to him about Andre," said Calhoun yesterday as he prepared the Huskies for today's first-round NCAA Tournament game against
Chattanooga. "I think there was some interest." [...]

Calhoun and UConn associate head coach George Blaney believe LaFleur is ready to take the next step. "He's a great recruiter and he's very aware," said Blaney. "He's more than ready."

BU Coaching Rumor Roundup: Candidates floating out there

The BU coaching position is one of the hottest openings this year, and will attract plenty of interest from some big names. It's getting a lot of ink far and wide, so I figured I'd periodically sum everything up.

For now, I'll mention some of the names that have been published elsewhere. By the way, none of these people have a damn clue about what's being said inside the BU Athletic Dept., they're just making guesses. There's no real hard news being reported.

• The Boston Globe got the ball rolling right after the firing with its list of candidates. It mentions Louisville assistants Walter McCarty and Steve Masiello, former Providence head coach Tim Welsh, current BU assistant Orlando Vandross, Pittsburgh assistant Tom Herrion, BC assistant Pat Duquette, and Providence assistant Pat Skerry. But it spends most of the article (and the headline: "Younger Pitino on BU list") focusing on Richard Pitino Jr. Richard is an assistant at Louisville under his pops, who of course began his coaching career at BU. The article quotes the younger Pitino, "I would be very interested."

• Pat Forde of ESPN.com pimps McCarty for the job, despite only having 2 years of assistant coaching under his belt. He appears to dismiss Masiello for the BU job, saying he might go for a "higher-profile opening" like DePaul.

• Andy Katz, also at ESPN.com, mentions Forde's pick of McCarty, in addition to Herrion and Duquette. He said the BU job will "command a lot of interest."

• Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle of Pittsfield, MA, must have gone to grade school with Duquette or something, because he seems to think he's the best assistant since John the Baptist. He dismisses Pitino Jr. as only having been a college assistant for five years, and says Mike Lynch should "look no farther than down the other end of Commonwealth Ave."

• Katz again flogs Duquette, Herrion, Pitino Jr. and Welsh, but this time throws Florida Atlantic assistant Mike Jarvis II into the mix (as if there weren't already enough nepotism in this coaching search).

• Bill Reynolds of the Providence Journal mentions Pitino Jr. as a candidate in passing. In a carzy coincidence, however, just a day before Wolff's firing he wrote a long story about what an awesome guy Tim Welsh is.

• Lenny Megliola of the Milford Daily News mentions Pitino Jr., saying "it's just a matter of time before he's a head coach."

• Our friends at America Least have a funny list of assistant coaches from around the country seemingly chosen at random. But just in case they happen to be right, I'll list them here: LaFleur at UConn, Georgetown's Robery Burke, Steve DeMeo at Central Florida, Eric Eaton at Quinnipiac and TJ Sorrentine who is an assistant at Brown (btw, yuo have permission to murder me if he ever becomes our coach).

• The Globe chimes back in and says that Tim Welsh said he would definitely be interested in the BU position. We also see former Harvard coach (and current America East head of officials) Frank Sullivan's name for the first time.

• Finally, the bloggers at HoopDirt.com have a whole list of candidates, which includes everyone already mentioned here plus UConn assistant Andre LaFleur, Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Ed Pinckney and Bentley head coach Jay Lawson -- I have not seen any of those guys mentioned in the traditional media.

BJ Bailey is still coming to BU

Great news out of New Jersey, as BU star recruit BJ Bailey has decided to honor his commitment to BU despite the firing of head coach Dennis Wolff. Michael McGarry of the Press of Atlantic City says it had a lot to do with 1) BU's academic rep and 2) Orlando Vandross.

The [firing] caused Bailey to rethink his decision. He decided to stay with Boston University primarily because of the school's excellent academic record, Spirit coach Jamie Gillespie said in an email Friday night.

Bailey also was happy that Terrier assistant Orlando Vandross has been offered the associate head coaching position on the new staff, according to Gillespie. Vandross was the Boston University coach that had the most contact with Bailey during the recruiting process.

Thank goodness for O. The article says he has been asked to remain as associate head coach on the new staff, and not just during the transition period -- new information? I wonder if that will make it harder to attract the best coaching candidate.

Anyway, this confirmation by one of our future stars can only be taken as good news. Now, we just hope that none of our current stars decide to hit the old dusty trail.

Wolff Fallout: Will "distraught" BJ Bailey still come to BU?

I don't write much about recruiting, but I do know that BU had signed a nice 6'4" guard out of New Jersey for next year by the name of BJ Bailey. Kid can light it up, leading his team to the South Jersey finals with 17.6 ppg. But now that the man who signed him has been fired (the same day as his HS career ended), BJ is reportedly "distraught" and rethinking his options:

"B.J. was pretty distraught (Wednesday night)," Gillespie said Thursday afternoon. "He was more or less wondering, 'What do I do.' We're just kind of evaluating things and seeing how it all shakes out."

Gillespie said the school has offered to allow Bailey out of his letter of intent, leaving him free to choose another college.

"If he's not going to be happy, (Boston University) doesn't want him going there," Gillespie said.

I couldn't find anything about Dan Munoz, our other announced signee, and his reaction to the Wolff firing.

Truthfully, I'm not optimistic. At this point, my first concern is keeping all of our current guys at BU. But Bailey was supposed to be a big part of our future as well, and losing him would hurt. If he decides to go elsewhere, the new coach will have almost no time to find new recruits for next year.

Did DW get a raw deal?

Boston Globe writer Mark Blauschun is a friend of Dennis Wolff's, so he's a pretty good guy to go to for quotes when nobody else can get in touch with him. Yesterday he reported that Wolff was "surprised but not stunned" by the firing. Today, he bothered Wolff at home long enough to get some more info, if you're interested in the former head coach's state of mind:

Meanwhile, Wolff was at home in Walpole, absorbing the firing and pondering his future.

"I was up all night thinking about it," said Wolff, who had four years remaining on a 10-year contract, which could cost BU as much as $1.2 million. "I enjoyed my time at BU and this was clearly not the way I would have liked to see my relationship end. But they think that someone else can do a better job. I hope for the kids' sake that everything works out."

I'm excited that BU is trying to move the basketball program and I think this will be a good thing on the whole, but a large part of me thinks DW got a raw deal. He did win games and titles, and even though this timing will make hiring a new coach easier, you'd think he could have had one more shot at a winner with his heralded junior class. The team was on an upswing with the best record in 4 years and 3rd place in the conference, and nobody had transferred in like 2 or 3 years!

However, Lynch made clear that 3rd place isn't going to cut it for BU in the America East, and in the end, that's a good thing. BU should be dominating. And it's not like Dennis won't have 1,200,000 ways to console himself.

I'm grateful Dennis Wolff ran a clean, honorable program without taking shortcuts. He recruited good students with good character. I would rather have that and 3rd place this year than what is going on over at Binghamton these days.

Wolff Was 2 Legit 2 Quit

ESPN.com's Andy Katz spoke with recently shit-canned BU head coach Dennis Wolff:

"Wolff said he was in New York recruiting and was called back to Boston to meet with administrators. Wolff said he was asked to resign. He refused and was let go."

Damn. Well, you can't call the guy a quitter.

Story mentions he's in the process of negotiating a buyout now. Said AD Mike Lynch, "This decision was not made quickly or easily. However, after a thorough analysis, I believe that a change in leadership is in the best interests of our men's basketball program."

Wolff won 247 games over 15 years at BU.

Holy shit: Dennis Wolff fired as BU's coach, sources say

If Fox Sports' Jeff Goodman is correct, BU has fired it's all-time winningest coach after his best season in four years:

Dennis Wolfff was fired as Boston University's head coach after his 15th season at the school, according to sources.

Wolff compiled a 247-197 record at Boston U., including a 17-13 mark this season. The Terriers lost in the quarterfinals of the America East tournament to UMBC.

Wolff has the most wins in school history. His best season at Boston was his third, when he led the Terriers to a 25-5 record and a 1997 NCAA tournament appearance. Boston also made the NCAA tourney in 2002 and the NIT for three straight seasons from 2003-2005.

The Terriers had three straight losing seasons before this one.

I am pretty speechless. I know he has many detractors amongst the fanbase, but I always assumed his job was pretty secure. His contract extension runs through the 2013-14 season, which is quite the pricey buyout.

My first impression is that I think he should have had at least one more shot with his current crop of juniors. Some players left, the team gets into ruts once in a while -- but it can't be denied that the man wins ballgames. He has a reputation as a defensive mastermind. Certainly some frequent commenters here should be pleased, and I'd be interested in their reaction.

Still shocked.

Quarterfinal/Hangover Saturday

I love the Stony Brook Memorial Play-In Game on Friday night because you can get warmed up for the tournament weekend with a game you don't care about. Also, it presents a chance to overboard on the sauce and get a hangover that you'll regret until Selection Sunday. Such is the case today.

We got into town just in time to see Maine lose to Hartford. While I felt bad for Maine since they and their few fans in attendance since they all drove 9 hours, we were rooting for the Hawks because they brought dance team, cheerleaders, mascot and pep band - which makes for a better atmosphere the next day. And I think they have a better chance at beating the hated Bearcats.

Except for an exciting run at the end that brought them within 1 point, Maine never seemed real into the game. Note the guy on the sideline wearing a Snuggie:


I guess he wanted to read a book while still keeping warm.

After the game we took over a corner of Sutter's, which is conveniently located just steps from the campus, and proceeded to stay there way too long. Luckily the people-watching improved dramatically once the drunk students started showing up. One Boston local saw all our shirts and came over to wish us luck tomorrow.

Off to our tailgate now - look for our BU flag flying high and say hello.

On the Road to Albany '09

SEFCU Arena

This is the first tournament that I'll be missing since 2003, but I almost don't mind since it's held in the depressing SEFCU Arena. Almost.

While the MAAC tournament is going on a few miles away in the impressive Times Union Center, or whatever it's called these days, the America East players and fans will be stuck in a box with no where to go, and nothing to do. The scoreboard is outdated. Most of the seats are pretty much benches, so if you don't want to be hunched over for 8 hours on Saturday, walk away now.

If you want to stretch your legs and walk around, there's a small walkway around the perimeter of the top of the stands, and that's about it. You can walk to the lobby, which is fairly small, but I don't think it can handle the restless crowds who have spent all day watching mediocre basketball.

And I'm hoping, for your sake, that they either bring in some outside vendors or step up their game in the food department. The last time I was there, your options were pretty much limited to a hot dog, nachos, or a pretzel, and that's about it.

So in conclusion, I'm hoping that America East decides never again to hold the tournament in Albany. I'd rather go to Binghamton for the next three years. And that's not easy for me to say.

Fearlessly looking into the future

There's a rule when you have a "basketblog" that you have to make end of the season picks and predictions. So fine let's get the boring ones out of the way.

1st Team All-Conference
Marqus Blakely - Vermont
John Holland - Boston U.
Darryl Proctor - UMBC
Corey Lowe - Boston U.
DJ Rivera - Binghamton

Rookie of the Year
Jake O'Brien - Boston U.
Defensive Player of the Year
Marques Cox - Stony Brook
Coach of the Year
Bill Herrion - New Hampshire
Player of the Year
Marqus Blakely - Vermont

The rest of them, 2nd/3rd team, All-Defense... eh, who has the time.

Here's how the tourney should go down:

I don't care what anybody says, this is how I think it will shake out. Binghamton is a paper tiger - you can't win that many extremely close games without eventually losing one of them. BU over Vermont might be a stretch, but not if they are missing Mike Trimboli - who at last check is still "questionable" to play in the tournament.

OK, now for the important predictions.

1) First coach to get T'd up: Randy Monroe, UMBC
2) Least fans in attendance: Tie - BU and Maine
3) Bing player attracting the most heckling: Tiki Mayben
4) Average age of Vermont fans, including dance team: 67
5) Most likely to go to overtime: UNH-SBU
6) Biggest blowout: Hartford over Maine
7) Number of Sparks consumed by our group of 5: 13
8) Weather for our Sat morning tailgate: Rain, of course.
9) Minutes Matt Wolff is on the bench in Round 1: 6
10) Tournament MVP: John Holland, BU

Agree? Disagree?

Tourney Time: UMBC, we comin for you

The Terriers seemed to be ending the regular season on a high note, then almost a disastrous note, then finally on a relieved note. But eventually, BU finished off the spunky Hawks of Hartford in OT and did not put all of their fans on suicide watch.

The highlight of this game was, obviously, The Rod. We here at BU Hoops Blog have been clamoring for The Rod all season long and especially when the injuries hit, but DWolff went for a miniscule rotation instead of adding Sherrod to it. It's gotta hurt when your coach would risk severe exhaustion and burnout of his stars just so he doesn't have to put you in the game. But The Rod proved him wrong with stellar play, subbing for the quickly injured Matt Wolff.

The latest reports say Matt has recovered from his concussion and is back to practice, but will Sherrod still play a part in the Terriers' first round game? Luckily, we're playing the only team with less depth than us.

UMBC beat Albany on Sunday and earned a date with us. This worked out really well in a lot of ways:

• We get to miss the host school, Albany, who even though they suck will have tons of people rooting for them.
• UMBC's aforementioned depth troubles.
• BU handled them twice already this year, even if one of the games went to 2OT.
  
• We avoid Stony Brook, who beat us already and is my pick for a big-time tourney upset.

As the #3 seed, things work out well except that we meet up with Vermont in the semis. But, in order to be the best, you have to beat the best - and I'd rather get a crack at them in Albany in front of a semi-neutral setting. I'd feel more comfortable at Binghamton in a final than at Vermont.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. I like the idea of knocking out the defending champs. Retrievers, you're up.

The End of the Road: The Hartford Preview

The end of this season is a little bit anti-climactic. Today's game against Hartford at The Greek could not mean less. The 3 seed is locked up. Hartford is so bad that they are guaranteed to be a non-factor in the tournament. We beat them by like 30 last time.

The only thing that means anything today is that it's Senior Day. Today we say goodbye to 3 guys who will (hopefully) graduate and who will not put on the red and white beyond next weekend (plus whatever happens with post-season for us, if anything).

Sam Tully - I can honestly say I have never seen the kid play. He hasn't gotten into a game this year, but had a rebound last year as well as a steal. But today, he will get into today's game and make his family proud. Let's see if he can but the biscuit in the basket.

Marques Johnson - I like MJ. He's a good backup PG and pretty much does his part when he's asked to. He was never a scorer but always had a good A/TO ratio when he was in. I remember hearing rumors about him possibly wanting to transfer a couple years ago, and I'm glad he didn't. I'll have two great memories about MJ. One was the career game he had this year when he stepped in for the suspended Corey Lowe against Albany - he played all 40 minutes and came away with 7 points, 7 assists and 8 rebounds... and 0 turnovers. The other memory I'll have is when we went to to Holiday Classic at Madison Square Garden. We were taking the PATH train back to Hoboken after a tough OT loss to St. John's, and one of the train operators noticed our BU shirts. He told he us he had a nephew on the team - it was MJ's uncle. He told us how proud he was to have him playing ball up in Boston, and we told he we loved MJ.

Matt Wolff - Matt is probably the most controversial player we've had in our program. As the coach's son, he gets a lot of scrutiny. And since he doesn't score much, he catches a lot of flack for all the minutes he plays. After a very promising freshman year (ALLLL the way back in 2004-05), he had really bad luck with knee injuries. But since then, he has played in 60 straight games and has quietly been a solid player, whether anyone wants to admit it. For all the shit he has taken, I don't believe would have been as successful this year had Matt not been on the team.

Thanks for the memories, guys.