Sunday Dirt – 3/24/13

Some quick Sunday quick notes…

• The name that is on fire right now at UCLA is VCU’s Shaka Smart. Rumors are that UCLA will be very aggressive with their search. Obviously it’s early here, but there are a lot of people who are close to the situation that have told me they will make a run at Smart.

• It sounds like at least three candidates are in the mix right now at Siena. I have heard that Loyola’s Jimmy Patsos, James Madsion’s Matt Brady, and Florida International’s Richard Pitino are the three leaders at this point. It sounds like at least two of them have visited campus in the past few days.

• The names at Hofstra are coming fast and furious right now. I will have a list up early next week – the one common denominator so far with the guys I’ve heard…they all have some connection to AD Jeff Hathaway (he was the previous AD at UConn).

• Add Boston University head coach Joe Jones to the list of contenders at Marist. He just finished his second season at BU and had spent seven years as the head coach at Columbia. Word on the street is that his candidacy is really heating up.