Friday, March 20, 2009
Leitao did not have option of returning
Will other job openings impact UVa search
Doug Doughty
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I hope I’m not violating doctor-patient confidentiality by saying that Roanoke ear, nose and throat specialist and Virginia graduate Dr. Mark Hanabury was the first person to ask me about the UVa men’s basketball coaching situation today.
Hanabury said he had heard that former Cavaliers’ head coach Dave Leitao balked at the demand that he make changes to his staff.
(My wife will be happy to know, after having some wax flushed out of my ear, that I heard Dr. Hanabury very clearly. I can’t promise that I will hear her any more clearly.)
I bring up Dr. Hanabury’s observation because I don’t think he is alone in that perception. Other people are under the impression that Leitao could have saved his job by letting go of assistants.
That was not the case.
Indeed, the subject of staff changes had been broached with Leitao and he was on board with it. And, he was set to come back before the Cavaliers got off to their customary uninspired start and lost to Boston College 76-63 in the first round of the ACC Tournament.
Here’s what the UVa people had to be asking themselves:
Is this the guy to take the Cavaliers where they want to go?
First of all, where do they want to go?
I’d say that regular NCAA Tournament appearances would be a reasonable goal.
Over the course of 17 seasons from 1980-81 through 1996-97, UVa made 13 trips to the NCAA Tournament.
In 12 subsequent seasons, UVa has been to the NCAA Tournament twice. The Cavaliers have one NCAA victory to their credit since 1995.
MAYBE SOME NEW assistants would have helped. Former Wake Forest and South Carolina head coach Dave Odom would have been perfect, but I’m not sure the route that UVa has taken isn’t better.
Now, athletic director Craig Littlepage has to try and not screw up the search.
I don’t know how scientific the poll on roanoke.com is – it’s probably not scientific at all – but I think the 260 votes that had been cast by 2:45 p.m. Friday represent a realistic look at how the UVa fans were feeling.
If you haven’t voted, we’d love you to do so and post your feedback.
Poll
Minnesota’s Tubby Smith has led the way with 23.08 percent of the vote as of this afternoon, followed by VCU’s Anthony Grant (15.0), Oklahoma’s Jeff Capel (14.6) and ESPN’s Bob Knight (12.3).
In case you’re wondering, Bob Knight is Al Groh’s choice. No surprise there. They were at Army at the same time.
I don’t think UVa will be able to get Smith, who has been quoted as saying he’s not interested. Plus, he’d be much more expensive than the other candidates.
The best bet, in my view, is Capel. As far as I can tell, he’s making no more than $1.2 million per year. Look for Oklahoma to give him a nice bump, particularly if Virginia seeks permission to speak to him.
So, let’s say the Sooners push him up to $1.5 million or $1.75 million. That’s still less than Virginia is paying Groh and a lot less than it would have to pay Smith.
I’M SURPRISED AT how little support (3.46 percent) there is for Xavier coach Sean Miller. He would be my choice, particularly in light of the way the Musketeers have pounded UVa in a non-conference home-and-home series the past two seasons.
Somebody pointed out that Miller, a University of Pittsburgh graduate, could return to his alma mater if anything happens to current Panthers’ coach Jamie Dixon.
Dixon, a native of Burbank, Calif., is a West Coast guy who was an assistant to then-Northern Arizona head coach Ben Howland before Howland came east to Pittsburgh. Dixon assumed the Panthers’ head job when Howland resigned to become the head coach at UCLA in 2003.
In any case, Arizona looms as one of the plum jobs that will be open this postseason and, for a West Coast guy, probably would be viewed as a more attractive opportunity than Virginia’s.
Dixon, incidentally, signed a contract extension in 2006 that will take him through 2012-2013.
Interestingly, Miami’s Frank Haith is among those who have been mentioned with another job opening: Alabama’s. What would be really interesting is how many ACC coaches would be tempted by Virginia and its $128-million, three-year-old arena?
Two words: Oliver Purnell.
The ACC has always frowned on the notion of member schools raiding other member schools for head coaches, particularly in football and women’s basketball. In recent years, we’ve seen Boston College football coach Tom O’Brien move to N.C. State, but, for all intents and purposes, that was by mutual consent.
Don’t look for another ACC coach to head to Virginia.
FOR THE VIRGINIA TECH fans starved for a Hokies’ note this week, Jamie Oakes’ column on the CavsCorner.com site revived an old Virginia Tech name.
Unofficial visitors to Virginia’s first weekend of spring practice this weekend will include Zach Zwinak, a 6-foot-2, 235-pound linebacker from Linganore High School in Frederick, Md.
Zwinak, who will be accompanied by 6-7, 325-pound Frederick offensive lineman Robby Havenstein, is the son of former Virginia Tech nose tackle B.J. Zwinak, a letterman for the Hokies from 1980-1983. Tech has made a scholarship offer to Zwinak, as have Notre Dame, Penn State and Michigan.
