Evans out, Sutton takes over at USF

Jessie Evans, who was in his fourth season at the University of San Francisco, has coached his last game on the hilltop. The official word from USF is that he will take a leave of absence. Former Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton was named the head Don for the rest of the season on Wednesday.

The whole thing is very unusual. Was this mid-season decision brought on after the AD department had downed too much eggnog? Probably not, although it does seem to be rather odd timing. True, the team had lost five of its last six and earlier this month had a player suspended by the NCAA for supposedly accepting improper payments. That seems relatively minor when compared to the fact that they have only had five winning seasons in the last ten years and only one of those came with single-digit losses attached. The last time they made it to the NCAA tournament was in 1998 and that was after a sixteen year drought; not exactly a model of success. Trying to stay out of the WCC cellar and getting some free publicity must've become their Christmas wish. Everything leading up to the announcement pointed to a situation where Evans would resign. The AD claims the decision was solely Evans'. Still needing to negotiate the buyout is probably the truth of the matter.

Regardless, bringing in Sutton was a nice PR move/goodwill gesture. The 71-year-old needs only two victories to join the elite group of coaches with 800 career wins. He's taken four schools to the NCAA tournament and his last trip to the Final Four was 3 1/2 years ago. He had unwillingly resigned after the 2005-06 season because of his long-reported battle with alcohol.

Maybe he's opened a door for USF and his son Scott (who's the head coach at Oral Roberts) to hook up soon. He's not going to win a national championship but achieving something only four other coaches have achieved (Knight, Smith, Phelan, Rupp) is an outstanding accomplishment and something he can hang his hat on. Being inducted into the Hall of Fame is only a matter of time for the senior Sutton.

Evans will likely resurface as an assistant or as head man at another school. He's spent most of his career out West (having also coached at Arizona, San Diego State, and Wyoming) so there's a good chance he'll turn up someplace in the Pacific time zone.

41-50 Ranked

This and the last post will take you through the 50 hottest seats. I hope to get up 51-75 before the end of the year. To do that, I will probably not include any comments. Instead I will include the coach's career record at that school through last season.

41. Fran Dunphy (Temple) - Needs time since the cupboard was bare when he arrived.
42. Doug Wojcik (Tulsa) - Winning 20 games last season and returning four of those starters has caused expectations to rise.
43. Chris Mooney (Richmond) - Had little to work with once he took the job so he'll need time to instill his stamp on the program.
44. Jeff Jackson (Furman) - Must get through some tough times to have a shot in the conference.
45. Jim Baron (Rhode Island) - Seems to be making progress as he was awarded with coach of the year honors for the second time in his tenure.
46. Rick Pitino (Louisville) - Settling for nothing short of the Final Four this season will cause the rumbling to get much louder.
47. Tod Kowalczyk (Wisconsin-Green Bay) - A winning record this year should buy him another 2-3 seasons.
48. Steve Shields (Arkansas-Little Rock) - Getting their first NCAA bid since '90 will almost guarantee a new contract.
49. Kermit Davis (Middle Tennessee) - Fan support has been built up since he arrived and remains strong but deliver a Sun Belt title and they'll rename the gym after him.
50. Jeff Jones (American) - Consistently producing winning records which hadn't happened there since the early '90s.

Merry Christmas!

1 through 40 Ranked

There's been a little movement in the first 30 so I've decided to post the complete top 40 with comments only for the new additions. The first semester will be over in a couple of weeks so the frequency of games will slow until Christmas is over. I hope to have at least one more posting, taking you through the nifty 50, before Dec. 25.

1. Dave Odom (South Carolina)
2. Jay John (Oregon St.)
3. Norm Roberts (St. John's)
4. Bill Carmody (Northwestern)
5. Bobby Lutz (Charlotte)
6. Ed DeChellis (Penn St.)
7. Tim Welsh (Providence)
8. Bret Campbell (Tennessee-Martin)
9. Dennis Felton (Georgia)
10. Robert Moreland (Texas Southern)
11. Paul Hewitt (Georgia Tech)
12. John Brady (LSU)
13. Mike LaPlante (Jacksonville St.)
14. Ben Braun (California)
15. Trent Johnson (Stanford)
16. Mark Gottfried (Alabama)
17. Kelvin Sampson (Indiana)
18. Bobby Jones (St. Francis PA)
19. Dean Keener (James Madison)
20. Frank Haith (Miami FL)
21. Derek Waugh (Stetson)
22. Rodney Tention (Loyola Marymount)
23. Jeff Lebo (Auburn)
24. George Nessman (San Jose St.)
25. Greg Graham (Boise St.)
26. Rick Stansbury (Mississippi St.)
27. Neil Dougherty (TCU)
28. Bill Herrion (New Hampshire)
29. Scott Drew (Baylor)
30. Frank Martin (Kansas St.)
31. Jerry Wainwright (DePaul) - Needs a NCAA bid soon or the wolves will be at the door.
32. Reggie Witherspoon (Buffalo) - If can contend for MAC championship this year or next, his stock will increase.
33. Rob Jeter (Wisc.-Milwaukee) - Could be headed to Selection Sunday soon enough.
34. John Giannini (La Salle) - Incoming signees and returning last year's nucleus should buy him at least another season.
35. Jim Boylen (Utah) - Instilling toughness and being in contention for conference crown in his first season or two will be a telling factor.
36. Matt Doherty (SMU) - A winning season is the first accomplishment to achieve.
37. Billy Kennedy (Murray St.) - If they don't win 20-22 this year, doubts will begin to creep in.
38. Fred Hill (Rutgers) - Knack for recruiting will be key to getting to post-season anytime soon.
39. Mick Cronin (Cincinnati) - Faces chore of rebuilding but he should be given at least 2-3 more years to show progress.
40. Oliver Purnell (Clemson) - Needs to make the big dance this season or his days may very well be numbered.