Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
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.
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.