When I woke up this morning I signed online to ESPN.com, expecting to see Mike Dunlap had accepted the job as University of Arizona's new head coach on an interim basis. See, when I went to sleep the reports were saying that Dunlap wanted to sleep on it Thursday night, before he made his final decision. To me, there wasn't much of a decision to make! Dunlap was being offered the head coaching position at one of the most storied basketball universities in the whole US. Really, what is there to think about? The reports state he turned down the offer because U of A's AD Jim Livengood was unwilling to give Dunlap any future security as the head coach past this season, because, after the season, he wanted to open it up and do a national search for the university's next head coach, and the whole Kevin O'Neill situation turned out so poorly. This is the part that makes no sense to me. Why is Dunlap staying on staff as associate head coach then?? Why is that job more secure than the head coaching position? If anything, he is completely pushing the ball out of his court by staying on as the associate head coach, because anyone who knows the ins and outs of coaching KNOWS that whoever the next head coach is, will NOT keep Dunlap on his staff. The only way this really could have worked out well for Dunlap is if he had accepted the interim head spot, and impressed people by winning some games, and then made a little run in the tourney with this pretty talented wildcat team (they return two possible first round picks with Buddinger, and Jordan Hill, and a solid PG in Nic Wise). If that were to happen, who knows?? Livengood could have felt comfortable with the direction Dunlap took the program, and offered him a multi-year contract. What was the worst that could happen?? He get fired? Oh well, he is not going to be around next year anyhow!! After being part of the Saint Mary's basketball family for five years, I was around a head coach who ALWAYS made the best out of the opportunities presented to him in Randy Bennett, and I know if RB was in Dunlap's position, he would have accepted the job on an interim basis and never looked back. Obviously Arizona is not in nearly as good of shape as it was 5-10 years ago, but it is still a tremendous job with unbelievable resources, a job that most any other college coach in the nation would jump at. And now that job is being held by Russ Pennell, a man who was coaching AAU BASKETBALL in Arizona for the past two years... I'm being serious, that's not a joke. Maybe Pennell can surprise some folks, and get these guys to play hard, but my guess is Arizona will have a lackluster season, and the AD open's it up to a national search next Spring. Some of the names they are already talking about are Gonzaga's Mark Few, and Pitt's Jamie Dixon, but I'm going to be the first to throw out a dark horse candidate... don't sleep on SMC's Randy Bennett. Picture: New U of A interim Head Coach Russ Pennell
