You’d have to be deaf or simply not paying attention to hear the rumblings this week concerning the next men’s basketball coach at Arkansas.
Assuming Hunter Yurachek is actually making the decision this thing is filled with as many wild rumors and as much speculation as anything in Washington, D.C., these days.
Some think a member of the UA’s esteemed Board of Trustees who actually thinks he knows something about basketball is holding veto power and pulling the strings on the entire deal.
Everybody has known somebody and this entire search has gone in so many directions it’s clear all of it’s just wild speculation or somebody sending everyone in a wild goose chase.
Which brings us to today’s flavor of the day with the Hogs reportedly near a deal with Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall before a radio show Friday afternoon said he turned down the Hogs.
That sorta throws things into chaos.
The speculation is Yurachek has been asked to wait until Texas Tech’s Chris Beard finishes a run at the Final Four to give him the opportunity to say no. Some have said a friend of Beard reached out to say he would be interested after the tournament ends.
It seems from this corner this an interesting way to end up worse than where you started.
Over the past two weeks now we’ve heard the names Kelvin Sampson (that was supposed to be a done deal before Yurachek came to Arkansas), Eric Musselman (that was allegedly going to happen earlier this week) and former UCLA coach Steve Alford.
Now Marshall was the hot name and if he’s indeed turned down the gig that means, well, who really knows?
From a positive standpoint you wonder that if he’s turned it down, how many have declined?
You never really get a bill of particulars on these things. Let’s face it, when’s the last time you heard an athletic director get up and say, “After we have been turned down on five candidates this is who we’re stuck with.”
But you do have to really start to wonder what’s going on.
There is some speculation that part of the problem is they don’t want to pay a basketball coach more than Chad Morris’ $3.5 million a year … which is a futures contract, based on a 2-10 season to start last year.
If that IS the case, it means they are appearing to at least try making Arkansas a football school. That will be entertaining to watch play out.
Right now it appears if they don’t pull the Beard rabbit out of the hat, well, fans may have to lower their sights because that takes Billy Donovan and Rick Pitino out of the mix (although I’m not remotely confident either would be interested in coming to Fayetteville).
Is the Hogs’ job not as big of a deal as some fans have hoped it is?
