Round two…

It sounds like Southern Mississippi interim AD Jeff Hammond has narrowed the search down to two candidates and has begun negotiations to hire Larry Eustachy’s replacement. Originally we expected the announcement to take place today – now it sounds like it will drag out until at least Monday. We still believe that the final two are Wichita State assistant Greg Heiar and current So. Miss associate head coach Steve Barnes.

Apparently new Colorado State head coach Larry Eustachy is going to retain current CSU assistant Niko Medved. Medved has spent the past five seasons at Colorado State and will be the only holdover from Tim Miles staff. I’ve also heard that Southern Mississippi assistants Leonard Perry and Ross Hodge will be coming to CSU with Eustachy as well as DBO Tiffany Beckham. I’m not sure where this leaves Steve Barnes if he does not get the Southern Miss gig.

I keep hearing Wisconsin associate head coach Greg Gard’s name mentioned surrounding the Illinois State job. It’s very early here, but he sounds like a legit contender. I’ll have a more comprehensive list next week.

I’ve heard so many names at Virginia Tech over the past few days….I think it’s too early to seriously speculate on this one. The names that keep popping up are Jay Wright (Villanova), Phil Martelli (St. Joe’s), Jeff Capel (Duke), Bobby Lutz (NC State), and Virginia Tech alum Dell Curry. The most interesting name I’ve heard however is former Wizards and 76ers head coach Eddie Jordan. He is now working with the DC Assault AAU and has helped out at Carroll High School (DC). I’ll have a better list with this one as well next week.

I have heard that Schreiner University (TX) has narrowed their search down to a handful of candidates and could have a decision by Monday. Two names that I’ve heard that are involved are UT-Dallas assistant Travis Carruthers and University of Mary Hardin-Baylor assistant Jimmy Smith. It sounds like interviews wrapped-up this week. Stay tuned for the announcement.

State College of Florida has hired a new coach, and it’s not Tree Rollins. Many believed that he would be the choice, but in the end SCF wound up going with Monroe College (NY) assistant Brock Erickson. He has also been an assistant at CCNY and College of Eastern Utah. This is his first head coaching job.