Last week, three sources indicated to us a belief that Gregg Marshall was the top target, though we did speak to one who spoke in much-less definitive terms about this. Between the latter and the respect to not burn the others, we never flat-out said this, but it was our belief that this is where the search centered. Behind the scenes, the talk of Marshall dominated most of what we heard that week, and up until Sunday night, we very much believed Marshall to be a possibility.
That said, no one ever said VU was "all-in" on Marshall, either. It was believed that VU could conduct interviews in Houston with other candidates, which was obviously smart because the fit might not work either way.
Tom Crean's name popped up twice last week in connection to this job, but we have no reason to think that's a possibility now.
As stated earlier in the weekend, there are still plausible reasons to think Kevin Ollie might jump but with the Marshall talk dominating everything we'd been hearing, it wasn't getting a whole lot of traction outside of the initial buzz we'd heard. We still think Ollie has reasons to leave Connecticut and that Vanderbilt is more than capable of making a financial offer that could get him to jump, but:
a) We don't have an accurate gauge on Vanderbilt's true interest here, and,
b) the bottom line is that Ollie played and coached at UConn, and even though the American Athletic conference ain't the Big East (by a longshot) and while his messy divorce was the reason we've heard he'd like to jump, it's still home in so many ways. It's one thing to ponder leaving; it's entirely another to do it.
So, is Ollie a candidate or not? We think there was at least a feeler there but we're not sure where it's gone since.
The Marshall buzz got so heavy with so many people we spoke with, that we thought Bryce Drew, though he certainly seems to be a fine candidate, could have been more of a smokescreen or a backup plan than anything. Based on information we got late Sunday night, we think he's in play.
But, will Drew sign the contract that Georgia Tech has presented him, or will Vanderbilt make a late play? We're not certain that Drew's the lead candidate now--in fact, we were told there are two or three coaches still in contention--but it certainly can't be dismissed now.
Winthrop's Pat Kelsey was mentioned to us as a possibility last week; given talk of Vanderbilt legitimately contacting some bigger fish, it didn't seem likely. We heard it again on Sunday night from someone who believes Kelsey is legitimately a candidate. Kelsey has received some smaller-school interest, but has declined it so far. We've got our eyes open to see if this goes anywhere.
We have our reservations about former Vanderbilt assistant King Rice (Monmouth) but certainly, Rice at least got a courtesy look.
The same can be said of former VU assistant Dan Muller (Illinois State), though Muller's hire would be very popular among a portion of former players. We have not heard Muller's name mentioned beyond the angle above, and though we took Rice off our board last week, the name hasn't completely gone away with some thinking he's in the mix.
The wild card could be VCU head coach Will Wade, who signed an extension at his current school last week. We don't think it was because Vanderbilt wasn't interested or that Wade wasn't interested, but because Wade's timeline didn't fit with VU's due to feeling it needed to explore all the options, and VCU was pressuring Wade to sign an extension, which he did on Wednesday. Should Vanderbilt go back to this well, would Wade reconsider? Sources close to Wade have consistently said "no," but that remains to be seen.
That said, no one ever said VU was "all-in" on Marshall, either. It was believed that VU could conduct interviews in Houston with other candidates, which was obviously smart because the fit might not work either way.
Tom Crean's name popped up twice last week in connection to this job, but we have no reason to think that's a possibility now.
As stated earlier in the weekend, there are still plausible reasons to think Kevin Ollie might jump but with the Marshall talk dominating everything we'd been hearing, it wasn't getting a whole lot of traction outside of the initial buzz we'd heard. We still think Ollie has reasons to leave Connecticut and that Vanderbilt is more than capable of making a financial offer that could get him to jump, but:
a) We don't have an accurate gauge on Vanderbilt's true interest here, and,
b) the bottom line is that Ollie played and coached at UConn, and even though the American Athletic conference ain't the Big East (by a longshot) and while his messy divorce was the reason we've heard he'd like to jump, it's still home in so many ways. It's one thing to ponder leaving; it's entirely another to do it.
So, is Ollie a candidate or not? We think there was at least a feeler there but we're not sure where it's gone since.
The Marshall buzz got so heavy with so many people we spoke with, that we thought Bryce Drew, though he certainly seems to be a fine candidate, could have been more of a smokescreen or a backup plan than anything. Based on information we got late Sunday night, we think he's in play.
But, will Drew sign the contract that Georgia Tech has presented him, or will Vanderbilt make a late play? We're not certain that Drew's the lead candidate now--in fact, we were told there are two or three coaches still in contention--but it certainly can't be dismissed now.
Winthrop's Pat Kelsey was mentioned to us as a possibility last week; given talk of Vanderbilt legitimately contacting some bigger fish, it didn't seem likely. We heard it again on Sunday night from someone who believes Kelsey is legitimately a candidate. Kelsey has received some smaller-school interest, but has declined it so far. We've got our eyes open to see if this goes anywhere.
We have our reservations about former Vanderbilt assistant King Rice (Monmouth) but certainly, Rice at least got a courtesy look.
The same can be said of former VU assistant Dan Muller (Illinois State), though Muller's hire would be very popular among a portion of former players. We have not heard Muller's name mentioned beyond the angle above, and though we took Rice off our board last week, the name hasn't completely gone away with some thinking he's in the mix.
The wild card could be VCU head coach Will Wade, who signed an extension at his current school last week. We don't think it was because Vanderbilt wasn't interested or that Wade wasn't interested, but because Wade's timeline didn't fit with VU's due to feeling it needed to explore all the options, and VCU was pressuring Wade to sign an extension, which he did on Wednesday. Should Vanderbilt go back to this well, would Wade reconsider? Sources close to Wade have consistently said "no," but that remains to be seen.
