Max Sass from the Hofstra Chronicle caught up with Hofstra AD Jack Hayes - it’s interesting to see how these coaching carousel searches take form.  Hayes was very candid about how the Welsh/Hofstra marriage took place.

Step 1: Pecora leaves
Fordham University athletics called Hofstra athletics to ask permission to interview Tom Pecora for their head coaching vacancy. “The Fordham situation is a little different then when these normally occur because I had worked at Fordham in the late ‘90’s for three years,” said Hofstra athletic director Jack Hayes.

Hayes explained that both he and Coach Pecora were very open and honest about the entire situation. “Coach Pecora and I talked through it that week and he asked questions of certain things about the basketball program, about the athletic department as a whole and then went and met with them.
On Wednesday, March 24 Pecora went to visit Fordham. That day he decided to accept the position. “We talked about how we would discuss that at the banquet and then Thursday I met with the team, no coaches, just me,” Hayes said.

“From that point forward,” said Hayes, “the responsibility was to find a coach.”

Step 2: Evaluating the position
Once Pecora left, Hayes needed to determine what type of candidate Hofstra would pursue. “I felt that we could hire a [current] head coach,” Hayes said. “I felt that the term mid-major was so encompassing that what you find out is that there are some jobs that are much better than others. I felt that we could look at head coaches that would view our job as a better one than the one they might have.”

Hayes works at Hofstra so he felt his judgment might be biased so he went outside of the current Pride circle. He spoke to Jay Wright (former Hofstra coach), Billy Donovan (Hayes’ friend, Providence graduate as was Hayes, and Long Island native) and Mike Tranghese (former Big East commissioner who was working on a separate athletic project at Hofstra). He also consulted current Davidson coach and Hofstra alum Bob McKillop.

“We weren’t necessarily asking them for candidates,” Hayes said. “We weren’t necessarily asking them if they were interested. We were asking them, ‘What is your perception of Hofstra basketball?”

“All of them agreed,” Hayes said, “that we had the type of job where we could go out and find a head coach.”

Hayes added that, “We felt like we had the history, the facilities, the talent on our roster, the reputation from outside coaches that someone who is currently a head coach would have wanted our job.”

Step 3: Evaluating the candidates
Once Hayes determined which type of candidate to pursue, the issue became picking the actual candidates. “As we started to go into the list, Mike Tranghese said,’ What do you think of Tim Welsh?” Hayes said.

Hayes would not name the current head coaches that he was looking to pursue. Hayes said that Van Macon, Pecora’s top assistant, was considered for the position. “He met with the President and I about the position and he did a great job,” Hayes said. “At the end of the day we had someone who had been a head coach for 13 years and that experience we just felt was the way for us to go.”

Tim Welsh was out of coaching for two years working as an analyst for two years. Previously he had been a head coach for 13 years at Iona College and Providence College. Welsh was not on the original list of candidates but Hayes explained, “The only reason he wasn’t on the list was because I didn’t know he was interested in coming back.”

Hayes said that the players were not involved in selecting candidates but he met with juniors Charles Jenkins and Nathaniel Lester on Wednesday to tell them about Welsh.

Step 4: Courting Tim Welsh
Once Hayes heard of Welsh’s interest in the school he immediately contacted Welsh. “When he was interested,” Hayes said, ” I got on the phone with Coach Welsh. He came down and we met with him for a couple of days.”

“It made sense right from the beginning for both sides,” Hayes said.

Welsh came and visited on March 29 with Hayes and Hofstra president Stuart Rabinowitz. “He had no been here since the arena was built so there was a lot he had not seen, which he had a chance to visit and see last Monday night,” Hayes said.

Step 5: Hiring Tim Welsh
“Coach Welsh and I got together Tuesday morning,” said Hayes, “we spoke for a while. He met with the President and we knew by that afternoon that we had the person we wanted.”

Hayes said that both parties were on the same page in terms of the contract and things were able to move quickly. “Seven days from Tom Pecora’s press conference was Tim Welsh’s press conference,” Hayes said.

Step 6: The Tim Welsh Era
Welsh’s press conference was over spring break at Hofstra so many of the team members were not present. Welsh spoke with the players that were present on the day of the conference. Welsh held his first meeting with the entire team Tuesday, April 6.

Welsh has already started hiring his staff and will soon contact players that have signed letters of intent with the Pride.

There needs to be a statement made from Rutgers….one way or another…

- Is Fred Hill your head coach next season?

- Is Fred Hill fired?

- Is Fred Hill returning?

Either way, let’s just move forward so the Rutgers faithful know what’s going on with their team and the families involved can make decisions.   By families, I mean the families of the recruits, the families of the players and the families of the coaching staff.

So often in sports, we tend to just associate the coaching carousel with the buyout of the head coach.  Yet, the head coach is usually the last person we need to worry about.

“So what is Norm Roberts going to do next season?” — I’ve been asked this question several times this spring.  Norm will be fine and be able to live on the 700K he received in his buyout….the question should be, “what will his assistant coaches do?”

Since Fred Hill’s unfortunate incident at his Dad’s baseball game….(a Rutgers Univ. baseball game)….there have been detailed reports of his firing.  Through Twitter, blogs and newspaper articles, we’ve even made our way into Hill’s team meetings the past week.

I realize buyouts and negotiations can take time….but a lot of time is dragging on….a lot of time is being wasted….and a lot of families are being affected.

courtesty of gojaspers.com

Manhattan junior guard Rico Pickett has announced he will enter his name in the 2010 NBA Draft. Pickett, a 6′4″ product from Decatur, Ala., led the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in scoring (17.7 ppg) last season.

“Rico has expressed interest in pursuing a career in professional basketball and at this time would like to enter his name in the NBA Draft,” explained Manhattan head coach Barry Rohrssen. “He has met with the school’s compliance office to have a full understanding of academic responsibilities and eligibility rules regarding this matter. We at the College support his decision and wish him the best in all future endeavors.”

Pickett registered 514 points in 2009-10. He led the Jaspers in scoring 19 times and recorded double-figures in 27 of 29 appearances. Pickett posted 20+ points on 10 occasions and poured in 30+ points twice, including a career-high 33 points in a MAAC Tournament victory over Loyola. The All-MAAC Third Team selection was sixth in the conference with a 44% field goal percentage and ranked in the top-15 in steals (1.3 per game) and 3-point field goal percentage (33.3%). Pickett shot 71.1% from the free-throw line and averaged 3.9 rebounds over 31.4 minutes per game.

“It has always been a goal of mine to play professional basketball,” Pickett said. “This is an opportunity I would like to explore at this time. I have not signed with an agent and I do not intend to do so. I have the option to remove my name and return to college.”

The 2010 NBA Draft will be held on Thursday, June 24 at Madison Square Garden. Underclassmen have until April 25 to declare for the draft and have until May 8 to withdraw their name.

*check out more on Pickett at gojaspers.com

The NCAA Tournament potentially growing from 65 to 96 teams in the near future is looking more and more like reality.  Personally, I couldn’t disagree more with the move and I truly feel it will put a damper on March Madness. First of all, the 64 team tournament was, and always will be the best format. If there’s any expansion, at most it should be to 68 teams…..throw in a play-in game to each region and be done with it.

Teams already have the opportunity to play their way into the field both through the regular season and the conference tournaments. That should be enough preliminary action before the main event begins.

And you could forget about Bracketology being so much fun. The Bubble is going to turn into the Blob! Mid-majors that can play with the big boys getting in is fun. Middle of the pack Big East teams beating each other up on the bubble is fun. Joe Lunardi telling us who the last 4 in and last 4 out are is fun. With 96 teams, our bubble teams are now going to be the 5th place PAC-10 team and the 3rd place Colonial team – not fun. It is hard enough trying to find 34 at-large teams for a bracket. But soon the committee may have to figure out how to get 65 at-large teams in the tournament.

If this goes down, the NCAA will expand the field in the simplest way possible. The NIT will disappear and be folded into the NCAA tournament. The new 96 team field will be filled with mediocre-to-poor major conference teams, with the occasional cameo appearance from a deserving mid-major.

Supporters of the 96 field have two major schools of thought.

1. THERE ARE A LOT MORE D-1 SCHOOLS NOW

……who cares? It is all relative. Yes, several schools have made the transition from D-2 to D-1 the last few years. But just because a few D-2 schools have joined, does not mean that we should increase our playing field towards determining a national champion.

2. FEWER COACHES WILL BE ON THE HOT SEAT & PROGRAMS WILL BE MORE STABLE

……no they won’t. College basketball from now on will always be about winning now. The hot seat will never disappear. A coach making the field of 96 and saving his job may apply for the first year or so….. but after that, Presidents, AD’s and fans on the message boards will adjust their thought process. In the future, if you’ve made the field of 96 three straight years but haven’t cracked the top 60 or 70…..you’ll be let go and replaced by a new coach who promises to get you to the field of 32!

I hope the NCAA knows what it’s doing. March Madness is the greatest three weeks of sports.

Why are we changing it?

Oh that’s right….I know why….money.

Drexel Assistant Coach Tony Chiles is Steve Lavin’s first hire on the St. John’s coaching staff.  Chiles just completed his 6th season at Drexel under Bruiser Flint and has always had a strong reputation in New York City basketball circles. Before Drexel, Chiles coached at Iona under Jeff Ruland and Manhattan under Fran Fraschilla and John Leonard.  At Iona, Chiles signed Steve Burtt Jr, Marvin McCullough, Kiril Wachsmann and Rick Soliver - the crew responsible for Iona’s 2006 MAAC Championship.

Steve Lavin has picked the brains of everyone in the area you can….and Tony Chiles was on every single person’s list.  He knows the city inside and out and will immediately get Lavin involved with local kids.  Lavin is also expected to receive an answer any day now from Manhattan head coach Barry Rohrssen as to whether he will be joining him or not.

The reason why the St. John’s coaching staff hires are getting so much attention is simple….the salaries are competitive with MAAC head coach pay.

Iona Athletic Director Pat Lyons is busy these days.  Kevin Willard is off to Seton Hall and the 6th year A.D. must fill a coaching vacancy that is very appealing right now.  Iona returns nearly the entire roster from a 20 win, 3rd place season.  And coaching the Gaels in New Rochelle has always been considered one of the best jobs in the metropolitan area.

One name that has been emerging is ESPN Analyst Fran Fraschilla.  Fraschilla successfully coached Manhattan, St. John’s and New Mexico before joing ESPN for the 2002-2003 season.  Let’s face it folks….there hasn’t been a metropolitan area head coach buzz in New York since Fran was coaching the Red Storm & Jay Wright was coaching Hofstra in the late 90’s.

I’ve made it clear that I think Steve Lavin is a home run for St. John’s….well I think Fran would be just as big for Iona.  He has stayed close to the AAU & High School scene since becoming an analyst and he is very highly respected for his coaching abilities.  And like my Lavin/Red Storm analogy - kids, parents and coaches will recognize his face immediately.  In my opinion, that aspect alone more than makes up for several seasons not coaching.

I’m hearing that Fraschilla is interviewing withPat Lyons today.  Credit Lyons for getting this done while Fran is in town for the NIT at Madison Square Garden.  It will be interesting to see what direction Lyons chooses.  But I’ll tell you this, if I’m Iona brass I’m trusting his decision.  Three years ago Lyons took a chance that some other schools weren’t willing to take….he hired a 32 year old assistant with no head coaching experience .  The result, Lyons discovered and jumpstarted the career of Kevin Willard who is a future star in the coaching profession.

*I’m also hearing that recently fired Al Skinner has some interest in coaching in the MAAC.  Skinner’s agent is telling people his client may be interested in Iona or Siena.  Skinner was fired the other day from Boston College after 13 seasons.

* As first reported here at VPHOOPS, Tim Welsh is officially Hofstra’s new coach.

What do you guys think about the Steve Lavin hire at St. John’s?

Check out my thoughts….

I’m hearing that the Boston College coaching search starts and ends with Cornell’s Steve Donahue.

The NY Post and Daily News have jumped the gun more than once during this St. John’s search the past two weeks.  But I’m hearing that this Steve Lavin rumor actually has some legs….

He’s a lot better of a sell than some of these other candidates.  Kids see him on ESPN every night in their living rooms and local coaches will eventually respect him if he kisses their butts….

Check out the story here and let me know if you think Lavin could get it done at St. John’s.

Check out the Elite 8 things on my mind this Saturday!