November 10, 2009

Rivals.com

Twenty-nine schools have new coaches this season, with nine of them from "power" conferences or programs.

We asked our basketball writers to weigh in on the best and most puzzling hires from the 29.

THE BEST HIRE

MIKE HUGUENIN: John Calipari at Kentucky. This seems like the perfect marriage - big-name coach at a program begging for national relevancy again. Calipari is one of the best recruiters in the game. Kentucky has perhaps the most rabid fan base around, and those folks are starved for a winner. UK will win under Calipari - sort of like it won under Rick Pitino in the '90s. There were other offseason hirings that will pay off, but none to the extent of Calipari's.

STEVE MEGARGEE: John Calipari at Kentucky. Calipari's hiring already has paid huge dividends on the recruiting trail. We're about to see how this move also pays off on the court. The arrival of Calipari and the nation's top-ranked recruiting class is the reason Kentucky enters this season as a top-five team after settling for an NIT bid last season. Kentucky may need time to adjust to Calipari's dribble-drive motion offense, but the Wildcats should be as good as just about anyone by the time March rolls around. Calipari already has guided UMass and Memphis to the Final Four. Don't be surprised if he gets Kentucky there as soon as this season. And maybe this Final Four appearance won't have to be vacated.

JASON KING: John Calipari at Kentucky. The Wildcats couldn't have found a better fit for this position than Calipari, who relishes and thrives in the spotlight. He already has proven to be great at glad-handing with basketball-crazed Kentucky fans, and his ability to lure top recruits has transformed the Wildcats from a team that missed the NCAA tournament last season to one that will contend for the 2009-10 national title. Again, it takes a special kind of person to keep his sanity and perform well in a job as high-profile as this one, but Calipari is the type of coach who will flourish in Lexington.

THE MOST PUZZLING HIRE

DAVID FOX: Isiah Thomas at Florida International. Just bizarre, but I guess FIU is looking to build a buzz any way it can. Since his playing career ended, Thomas has struggled just about everywhere and in every job he's had. The failures of the CBA and the Knicks were some of the lowlights, but those failures don't concern me as some of the off-court issues. Can he coach college kids? Can he schmooze boosters, or attract them, for that matter, to FIU? I don't know.

MIKE HUGUENIN: Mark Fox at Georgia. Fox did a solid job at Nevada, but a jump from the WAC to the SEC East - where he will be tussling with John Calipari, Billy Donovan, Kevin Stallings, Bruce Pearl and Darrin Horn - is quite a large one. Fox's entire career has been spent west of the Mississippi River, and his recruiting is going to be a big question; he has hired one assistant with ACC ties and one with SEC ties, which should help. This is a program that lacks tradition, and it's not as if athletic director Damon Evans was going to be able to go out and hire a Calipari. But Evans took a gamble with this hire. Fox inherits a team lacking in talent in a division in which the other five teams expect success this season. He has a tough job ahead of him.

STEVE MEGARGEE: Kevin O'Neill at USC. I understand USC's desire to hire a no-nonsense coach in the wake of the accusations that led to Tim Floyd's departure. But I don't know if this was the right move. O'Neill brings more discipline to a program in need of it, but I can't help but wonder if he will be able to recruit the same types of players that Floyd brought to campus. O'Neill's difficult one-year stint as Arizona's interim coach raises more questions. USC is facing so much turmoil and has lost so much talent that this job would be a difficult assignment for just about anyone. I'm not convinced O'Neill is the answer.

JASON KING: Isiah Thomas at Florida International. Sure, hiring the former NBA standout may have generated some early headlines, but now it's time for Thomas to coach, and the guess here is that he'll be a failure in the college ranks. Whether he realizes it yet, Thomas won't be willing to put in the time and effort it will take to rebuild FIU's program. He won't want to spend countless hours on the road recruiting, and he won't enjoy dealing with administrators and alumni. If Thomas' teams endure a few losing seasons, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Thomas resigns or takes another job in the NBA - which would mean everyone would finally see this thing for what it is: a publicity stunt.