Happy New Year! Here is 2021’s first installment of the Daily News & Notes from though out the college basketball coaching world…
- Kentucky’s John Calipari got ejected Saturday night in a game that saw the Wildcats snap a 6-game losing streak with a 2OT win at Mississippi State. According to ESPN, Calipari said he didn’t plan the ejection, which left assistant Bruiser Flint to run the team and was the result of a second technical foul he picked up after an argument with one of the officials with his team down six points midway through the second half. But he also said he hoped it would give his players a boost. More HERE.
- Speaking of ejections…University of Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman was ejected for the first time in his two-year tenure late in Saturday’s 81-68 loss to Missouri at Bud Walton Arena. According to Whole Hog Sports, Musselman drew his first technical in the opening moments after a TV timeout with 3:51 remaining and Missouri leading 66-52. Lead official Doug Shows was getting an earful from Musselman when he assessed the technical foul. As Shows was jogging over to the scorer’s table to document the technical foul, Musselman kept jawing. Shows turned and assessed the second technical, which led to an automatic ejection. Musselman was livid and had to be restrained by Arkansas personnel at the team’s huddle on the court. More HERE.
- Good story here from the Westerly Sun on Providence head coach Ed Cooley, and his weight loss. “Ed Cooley — lean, mean coaching machine” dives into Cooley’s battle with being a “big guy” and going from 397 to 215, and then back to 290. More HERE.
- University of Wisconsin-Green Bay men’s basketball coach Will Ryan waited longer than he wanted, but he finally earned his first NCAA Division I win after a 79-69 victory at Youngstown State on Saturday. He still needs 550 more to match his father Bo’s total. More HERE.
- Congratulations to D2 Northwestern Oklahoma State University head coach Vinay Patel, who picked up win #100 of his career on Saturday. More HERE.
- The coaching tree at D3 Williams College is a very impressive one!. The Berkshire Eagle does a check-in on all of the current college coaches with Williams ties HERE.
- If you’re looking for a good podcast, check out “Inside the Mind of Miles.” Former Nebraska head coach Tim Miles has some pretty interesting conversations with Shaka Smart, Richard Pitino, Greg Gard, and more. You can find all of the episodes HERE.
- Former BYU head coach Dave Rose suffered a stroke, and is “currently stabilized in the hospital” according to a release from BYU. More HERE.
Unfortunately, some recent deaths to report in the coaching world…
- Paul Westphal, a Hall of Fame player who won a championship with the Boston Celtics in 1974 and later coached in the league and in college, died Saturday. He was 70. More HERE.
- Former Kansas men’s basketball assistant coach Lafayette Norwood died Saturday in Lawrence, Kansas. Norwood was 86 years old. Norwood was also the Johnson County CC (KS) men’s basketball coach for 10 seasons from 1982-91. More HERE.
- John Bostick, who served as an assistant basketball coach for C.M. Newton and Wimp Sanderson at the University of Alabama during his 32-year coaching career, died on Saturday. Bostick also spent eight seasons as an assistant at Vanderbilt. More HERE.
- Bob Bessoir, one of the most well-known and successful basketball coaches throughout northeastern Pennsylvania, died Wednesday at the age of 88. As the leader of the Scranton Royals men’s program for 29 years, Bessoir guided the team to a pair of national championships in 1976 and 1983, 14 conference titles, and 554 wins overall. Bessoir retired from coaching in 2001. More HERE.
- ICYMI: The first D1 firing of the year happened yesterday, as Northern Illinois jettisoned Mark Montgomery. More HERE.
- Stay tuned…The HoopDirt.com / Just Play Solutions Week 6 Coach of the Week winners will be released later today.
