Coaching Candidates

If Dixon is indeed interested, it'd be a steal for USC.

Hard choice for him though.

Local boy, local school. Head-to-head with his mentor, Ben Howland. But it's going to be a tough gig for the next couple years.

Next on my list would be Reggie Theus. He's a fantastic recruiter with the charisma to excel in LA.

I spoke with Van Gundy tonight and it seemed like he'd have a tough time taking the job Floyd left. The two are pretty good friends.

Garrett better get this right.

How the hell is Larry Eustachy on this list? Didn't he get fired at Iowa State (uh-oh) for partying with co-eds after a basketball game? I will stop following SC Basketball if he gets hired. Say NO to Eustachy.

Dixon would be a home-run hire. I don't know if he has the balls to take this job, though.

Van Gundy seems like a pro guy to me. He seems like a better fit for an NBA team in the next couple of years.

I agree with Ramona, I think Theus would be a great fit for the reasons she stated. He had success at NM State, assisted under Pitino, coaches an exciting style (complete opposite of Howland). I think he is the most realistic choice under the circumstances.

go for steve lavin...he da bomb yo

Poor delusional battered TrOJies. If Jamie Dixon turned down because he didn't want to compete against his great friend and mentor, the great Ben Howland. Then WTF makes you think he would come to an imploded SUC team? It has nothing to do with balls pal. It's about sanity.

Jeff Van Gundy? HA HAAAAAA. Yeah, that guy is going to go from NBA playoffs and championship games to.....to.....to, first round losses in the Pac Ten Tourney?

Eustachy is another Tim Floyd.

I think of this list Reggie is the most logical and realistic choice.

How about Rick Pinto, he saved Kentucky before.

Poor delusional battered TrOJies. If Jamie Dixon turned down because he didn't want to compete against his great friend and mentor, the great Ben Howland. Then WTF makes you think he would come to an imploded SUC team? It has nothing to do with balls pal. It's about sanity.

Jeff Van Gundy? HA HAAAAAA. Yeah, that guy is going to go from NBA playoffs and championship games to.....to.....to, first round losses in the Pac Ten Tourney?

Eustachy is another Tim Floyd.

I think of this list Reggie is the most logical and realistic choice.

USC should go after Jerry Tarkanien -- he seems like a USC style coach, would fit right in

My two cents, Reggie Theus would probably be the best candidate for the job. This guy brings a lot of spunk that is suited for the college game and not the NBA.
Another guy not listed that I think is a good coach is Bob Huggins, Scott do you think he might be interested leaving WVU for USC (Huggins almost coached the Lakers)? Thanks.

I would be SHOCKED beyond all belief if USC managed to get Jamie Dixon.

For him to come into a program most likely facing sanctions and without any semblance of a recruiting class for 2010 to have to directly compete on the floor AND in recruiting against his great friend and mentor, Ben Howland, who 1)he abhors having to play against 2)who built the Pitt program into the monster that it is and 3) has since built a powerhouse at UCLA...to have to go against that with essentially two hands tied behind his back.

I mean....how the hell do you sell that job? I don't know if any amount of money on earth would do it.

people, let's not be silly here. Dixon and Howland have already worked it out so Dixon will replace Ben at UCLA when the time comes. There's zero chance Jamie will coach at SC.

Maybe we should try to hire Ben Howland. He seems to be pretty good at taking dead or declining teams and perking them up. Then again, I would like us to win a championship at least once in 15 going on 16 years.

I meant if Jamie dixon turned down Arizona, because he didn't want to compete with Ben Howland.

haha, come now, Markey Mark. You know you and the rest of the trOJan nation would be spewing in your pants with 3 final fours in a row. Shoot, you guys went nuts over losing just 2 of 3 to UCLA this year and a run to the sweet 16 - a single final four birth would probably have your collective heads exploding all over So Cal.

Marky Marc:

Yeah, sure pal, and when exactly was it that you guys won an NCAA Championship in BB again? HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Let us know when the ruin fools are done chatting so we can come back and read some intelligent comments...

What is with people these days when they don't recognize obvious baiting when they see it?

They are called ruins.

Why is Dixon even being discussed over Theus? Dixon was a high school star but so was Theus and Theus was a far more successful player with deeper roots, current recruiting ties and a demonstrated record of turning around programs in distress. And Theus is better than Dixon or any other candidate in the following ways.

Reggie Theus has the player fides so he can sell the kids on his personal success as as a local high school star at Inglewood and at UNLV (where he went to the Final Four and was the star) and then in the NBA where he was an All Star player with a brilliant and lengthy career.

Theus can also sell them on his college coaching success as an assistant to Pitino at Louiville and a head coach at NMS where he performed a miracle with a team that had been in the dumps, taking them on a NCAA tournament run the next year. He built the NMS unlike Dixon who picked Howland's program that already had some strong high school recruiting set up as a Big East power.

His coaching experience in the NBA will also help even if it was with a struggling Sacramento team. As a Developmental League and summer league coach for the Philadelphia 76’ers and the Denver Nuggets he will probably be more impressive than someone who was just an NBA coach because he worked with individual players with a specific emphasis on getting them to the next level.

As a coach his style of play not only wins in college but attracts players who ordinarily wouldn't come- it is related to that running, ball movement shot taking, active defense, Tarkanian style. People will come out just to see that.

He has been very tied to the local high school/AAU basketball scene- coaches the Southern California All-Stars (17-and-under AAU Team).

He has the charisma that will open a lot of doors and get a lot of kids to come who ordinarily wouldn't. All the television and his family being on television in that Baldwin Hills show is like tons of advertisement. Heck he literally played a caring compassionate coach on tv for several years in that awful show "Hang Time".

Theus even has the community service set up- on the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse, was the spokesperson for the NBA’s Stay in School Program, and has his “Rap with Reggie” and Reggie Theus’ Trikes for Kids.

All this and he is practically begging for the job! He only live 15 minutes away from campus for crying out loud so why wouldn't he?

It would be almost suspect if USC went with another coach, like they just want to tear the program down and pack it away.