The annual coaching carousel is running at full speed, which means mid-major basketball fans everywhere are growing wearier with every spin.
The coaching carousel is not like the carousel you rode as a toddler with pretty horses and carnival music. This carousel has fans of successful programs sweating it out as their coach's name pops up in every coaching vacancy across the country.
Bobcat fans received a scare last week when former Xavier coach Sean Miller went to the University of Arizona, which left a coaching vacancy in a place where Ohio coach John Groce was an assistant from 2001-2004.
Groce was listed as a contender for the position in an article in the Cincinnati Enquirer, but Yahoo.com reported yesterday that the Musketeers hired assistant coach Chris Mack to fill Miller's void.
There is always a double-edged sword that comes with being a fan of a successful mid-major basketball program.
Fans root for their team to do well, but any sniff of success can mean a long rebuilding process.
Even highly-successful mid-major programs, such as Memphis, which is a yearly national title contender despite being in Conference USA, have trouble keeping coaches.
John Calipari made $1.8 million in guaranteed money to coach the Tigers. Memphis lost last year on a last second shot to Kansas in the championship game. But even with that salary and that success, Calipari found the bluegrass of the University of Kentucky a bit greener than that of Memphis.
Mark Few is one of the few coaches who has led his team to sustained success and not left for a program with deeper pockets and more prestige. Few has led Gonzaga to the NCAA Tournament in all 10 of his seasons with the program and has made the Sweet 16 three times in that span.
But Few is the exception, not the rule.
It should be telling for Bobcat fans that even in a down year, in which Ohio went 15-17 and finished last in the Mid-American Conference East Division, Groce was mentioned as a candidate for an open coaching position.
That's not to say that Groce is putting his resume out to every available coaching position because all indications are that he's not. But Groce's respect in coaching circles combined with his ability to recruit will make him a candidate for vacant coaching positions for years to come.
So while Bobcat fans are smiling after surviving Groce's first spin on the coaching carousel, like every other mid-major fan, it will only last until next year when they have to get ready for yet another long, agonizing ride.
2 Sports
Matt O'Donnell
