Mark Fox's Nebraska dilemma

[Eric the Red]

Mark Fox's Nebraska dilemma

 

Andy Katz -- ESPN.com

 

Nevada's Mark Fox could have a major dilemma if a phone call comes from Nebraska about the Cornhuskers' now-open men's basketball job.

This isn't a new dilemma for coaches like Fox. Do you go to a school that is one of the tougher jobs in the Big 12 that probably pays significantly more money in a conference that can put upwards of six teams in the NCAA Tournament in a given year? Or do you stay put where you know you have a great shot to make a run in the NCAAs?

 

The lesson learned here is that you can never count on having a great year, due to factors like injuries or sudden ineligibility. Joe Scott felt it was the right thing to leave Air Force for his alma mater, Princeton, despite having a postseason type of team. The next season, Chris Mooney went from Air Force to Richmond, leaving Jeff Bzdelik with an NCAA Tournament team last year. Billy Gillispie left a postseason team at UTEP for Texas A&M. At the time, you could argue that UTEP was a better basketball job than A&M, but Gillispie has changed that quickly.

 

Nevada does return likely preseason WAC player of the year Nick Fazekas after he withdrew from the NBA draft in June, along with the core of the team that won the WAC (but lost to Montana in the first round of the NCAA Tournament).

 

Barry Collier resigned as Nebraska's basketball coach Tuesday to become athletic director at Butler, where he coached basketball for 11 years.

 

If Fox feels the job is right for him, he would need to go after it and pay the $250,000 buyout that was put in his new five-year contract last year (one that pays a base salary of $400,000 a year). Nebraska likely would double that, if not push it closer to the million-dollar mark.

 

Fox won't be the only name in the mix, but he will be high on Nebraska's list because of his ties to the Big 12 (an assistant at Kansas State) and his continuation of the success at Nevada after taking over for Trent Johnson (two NCAA appearances in two seasons). The obvious choice is Dana Altman of Creighton, but it's hard to see how Altman would leave the best basketball job in the state, where he's reportedly making around $750,000 or $800,000 a year.

 

Sources confirmed to ESPN.com that Nebraska also is interested in Kent State's Jim Christian (who would take the job if offered) and George Washington's Karl Hobbs. Hobbs has a significant buyout (close to $1 million) in his deal. There also could be some interest in Rice's Willis Wilson, and coaches who are at jobs where they wouldn't mind leaving before someone might push them out in a year or two.

 

Collier, by the way, got out of Nebraska with a clean slate. He didn't owe them money on his final two years and they didn't need to pay him, either.

[c-husker]

I would be amenable to Mark Fox, obviously. I don't think we'll get him, though. With Fazekas coming back, it seems to me that Mr. Fox will be a hotter commodity next season than he is this year, and I'm sure he knows that. But I'll keep my fingers crossed.

 

Whoever that douche bag on big sports 590 is in the afternoon (after Jim Rome) made a pretty good point a couple of days ago. He thought that it was important to get someone who views this job as a stepping stone job. Someone who's hungry to win now on his way up to a better job like Kansas or even another big name outside the Big XII. At first, I didn't agree with that, but the more I thought about it, do we really want someone who thinks that the Nebraska Basketball job is the pinnacle of their career? The best they can hope for? I say no. So hopefully we can get a young, hungry coach to come in here for a few years and put us in the top four of the Big XII on a regular basis.

 

Has anyone heard what might happen if we have to attach an "interim" title to a coach's name? Who are the front runners in that case? Would Majerus do a one-year tour here?

[KansasHusker]

Would Majerus do a one-year tour here?

No

[hootin' annie's goatfarm]

hello, it seems to be a no-go w/ fox:

 

http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/0...1b688438991.txt

 

p.s. so, who is next on the list mr athletic director?

[ttheKid1*18]

Saw that in the OWH, but it had a lot of other coaches that Stevie P has on the list. Don't remember them, but hopefully they make the right hire.