Ok, stick with me here. But there are several interesting things about the LSU basketball search going on this week. Well, some of them have been going on longer than that, but I have only recently put the pieces together. Here they are:
- C.M. Newton’s son, Martin, works for Nike and is assisting with the LSU coaching search.
- LSU has not hired a search firm.
- It has been mentioned on this blog (here and here) that Mike Davis is the leader for the LSU job. Also, check this post by I-59 Tiger on Tigerdroppings, where he says that Randy Rosetta was on B’ham radio saying that Davis is a serious candidate for the job. The other name most commonly mentioned is Anthony Grant, Billy Donovan disciple and head coach at VCU.
- C.M. Newton was Mike Davis’ coach at Alabama.
- C.M. Newton is the chairman of the NIT selection committee.
- In the first round of the 2008 NIT, in the bottom left regional, Mike Davis coached and 5th seeded UAB Blazers face off against the Anthony Grant coached and 4th seeded VCU Rams.
This is the bottom line: The LSU coaching search is being assisted by C.M. Newton’s son and the two most commonly heard names in regard to the position are facing off tomorrow night in what could be a winner-take-LSU job game in a tournament where C.M. Newton has significant influence.
I’m just sayin’……
Filed under: Coaching Horse Race | Tagged: Anthony Grant, Basketball, Blazers, LSU, Mike Davis, Rams, Tigers, UAB, VCU
…another interesting link here: Newton is a known ‘hata’ of UAB athletics. He and former UAB coach Gene Bartow have had a number of well-known differences. The problem? Bartow’s desire to make UAB into the best hoops program in Alabama–a desire that he more or less realized. Year in and year out, UAB is better than either Alabama or Auburn in basketball (though, sadly, USA is the best of the bunch this year). So, consider this ‘Newton’s revenge’. He is trying to get Mike Davis out of UAB, lest Davis reach his professed goal and turn UAB into another Memphis (a goal that he’s closer to reaching than one may think!). As with Jimbo Fisher in football, Alabama will stop at nothing to subvert UAB athletics–even as UAB provides nearly 4/5 of the revenue to the University of Alabama system!
[...] 20, 2008 by froberts How does one NIT First Round game affect LSU’s basketball team? See this. What was the game, you [...]