Crump1 wrote:
I think he's be a very good one.
Yezza he sho is.
I still think I'd prefer Flanigan or Forbes to him, though. And I really have nothing concrete to base that on, other than maybe the fact neither of those guys have coached with Stan Heath (okay, okay, I'm kidding ... sort of. After watching Pelphrey in action I realize now that Heath isn't nearly as bad as I thought a few years ago.)
One thing I do wonder about ... McCollum mentioned in his analysis the lifestyle change and time away from family that comes with the long bus rides and getting home at all hours and how things like that make guys like Corliss (Arkansas Baptist) and Kleine (UALR) "dream on" or "unrealistic" choices – which is a valid point. Guys who are accustomed to flying all over the place or have kids at home they don't want to be away from so much have to take those types of things into consideration.
Looking at those other candidates listed, it may very well be "dream on" for them as well. For one, they all come from bigger-time programs than UALR or Arkansas Baptist and, you would think, have cushier travel arrangements than do the Bears.
And on the family side of things...
Flanigan has three sons – ages 16, 8 and 2.
Cox has a 16 year-old son and a 10 year-old daughter.
Forbes has sons aged 14 and 6, plus a daughter enrolled at UT.
Tony Madlock has a 9 year-old daughter and a 6 year-old son.
So maybe all four of those candidates are out as well, or are at least "unrealistic" candidates given what they'd have to give up as far as lifestyle, family or both.
That basically leaves Flaska from those listed, as far as I can tell.
But who knows. The next coach could very well be someone entirely off the public radar right now.
Ernie Kent is out at Oregon, evidently, and not because he wants to be. Of course he's 55 and doesn't appear to have any direct ties to anything around here unless you count that he had a player a few years ago (Fred Jones) who was born in Malvern. So while that's pretty darn far-fetched, he is a suddenly unemployed former Pac 10 coach of the year who has been to two Elite Eights this decade.
Former Razorback TJ Cleveland is an assistant under Mike Anderson at Missouri. He doesn't have any kids listed on his bio. Maybe he's interested in his own gig and coming back to Arkansas?
Matt Zimmerman is another assistant at Missouri and is an Arkansas native and used to coach at Dardanelle before catching on with Anderson. Also doesn't have a wife or children mentioned in his bio.
Oronde Taliaferro at OU, formerly of Arkansas and Kent St under Heath, is 37 and has yet to be a head coach at the collegiate level. Maybe he wants a crack.
Glynn Cyprien, another former Arkansas assistant, is an assistant at Memphis under Josh Pastner right now. He’s coached under Eddie Sutton at Oklahoma State, so he has probably learned a little something about coaching (and maybe binge drinking, which would put him on par with the Gillispie disciples). He’s a UTSA alum, so maybe he’d like to get a shot as a head coach in his old league?
Or there’s Michael White at Ole Miss, who has had some success there and had some bigtime players that he helped recruit. And, was the Rebels’ starting point guard at the same time that Dr. Teague worked there for whatever that’s worth. Plus, his dad is the AD at Duke.
And all that’s just from randomly selecting some Big 12 and SEC schools and others nearby and seeing who is on staff. If you really got thorough you could probably find a ton of possibilities that make sense because of some connection.
It could be damn near anybody.
Or here's a nutty idea ... the CEO of Hewlett-Packard is a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. So is Gary Williams, the coach at Maryland. One of his assistants is Keith Booth, who was drafted in 1997 by the Chicago Bulls. The starting small forward on that team was, of course, Scottie Pippen. I don't know what all that means (other than nothing, obviously), but you would like to imagine a scenario in which HP gives UCA a lot of money.