"Hoops" speaks out

Dick "Hoops" Weiss, a man who's been THE go-to source of info for the past 40 years when it comes to college basketball, gives us his take on all the craziness that has taken place out West this season. Read the article here then come back to HHS to leave your comment. I think he nailed it...

Oregon State cans John; still left with a mess

The inevitable happened last night when Oregon State decided enough was enough and gave the OSU men's basketball coach Jay John his pink slip. The team had sputtered to a 6-12 start and was winless in six Pac-10 games. Assistant coach Kevin Mouton takes over as head man through the end of the season.

Before the season started there was much speculation about John's job. He had been there five years after working under Lute Olson at Arizona but had failed to put the team in the NCAA tournament. Fan support was dropping and the future was growing bleak.

All of the blame though, can't be placed on John and the job he did while in Corvallis. The 11th winningest program in Division I, Oregon State has only had one winning season since the 1989-90 season and John is the man that gave that to them. Struggling to recruit top-notch players away from Pac-10 powerhouses UCLA and Arizona is a well-documented fact. USC, Washington State, Oregon, and Arizona State are also on the upswing so that leaves OSU scrambling for scraps.

Add in aging facilities and insufficient resources and the outlook isn't very promising. ESPN college basketball analyst Doug Gottlieb says that until OSU does some "soul searching", they will continually face situations just like this one. Placing blame for on court failures solely at the coach's feet isn't going to solve the root problem.

Once Eddie Sutton gets his two wins and rides off into the sunset, Jay John might just rebound as the new USF coach. He has ties to that program, having been on the staff there in the late '80s. Whether that happens or not isn't important right now. The fact of the matter is his twenty-five years of coaching experience coupled with a patient but straight-shooting style can't be ignored by ADs looking for a quality coach.

Walberg resigns; Odom to retire after season

Vance Walberg has resigned as head basketball coach at Pepperdine, effective immediately. Walberg, just in his second season, stated it is for personal reasons. He is credited with inventing the dribble drive motion offense used by Memphis. Walberg was 14-35 at Pepperdine, his first Division I position. He was hired in April 2006 to replace Paul Westphal.

Assistant coach Eric Bridgeland will take over as interim head coach.

ESPN reports that Dave Odom will retire at the end of the season. The head man at South Carolina has been in coaching over 40 years. He left Wake Forest in 2001 to take over for Eddie Fogler. During his tenure at South Carolina, his team has earned one NCAA tournament bid, and has made three appearances in the NIT, winning the championship twice. He was named SEC Coach of the Year in 2004.

Eustachy takes leave at Southern Miss

Golden Eagles head coach Larry Eustachy has taken an indefinite leave of absence to be with his mother, who is battling cancer.

It's unclear how long the the fourth-year coach will be out, but he could be back as soon as Saturday's game against Tulane. Eustachy, who flew to California on Wednesday, told the media that's it a day-by-day thing.

Associate head coach Steve Barnes will take over the charge while Eustachy is out.

USM is 8-7 and lost their fourth consecutive game on Tuesday night. Eustachy placed the blame completely on himself.

Watson on leave from UD

University of Detroit head coach Perry Watson has taken a medical leave of absence, starting yesterday. Details were not disclosed and no timetable was set for his return. The team is 4-10 and has lost 8 in a row. Pressure from boosters was mounting so it may not all be health-related. Watson, in his fifteenth season, has a 258-185 career record at UD. Associate head coach Kevin Mondro will take over his duties.

Here's wishing Coach Watson a speedy recovery and best wishes.

From 1 to 80

I missed my self-imposed deadline to take you through 75 by Dec. 31, so I'll add five more and start at the beginning. I've got over 80% of all Div. I schools on file. Since posting them by hand is so time-consuming, I need to figure out how to use a format other than standard text; as a result, I'm holding off on including coaches' records. Stay tuned...

Big win for Cronin and the Cincinnati Bearcats today on the road at Louisville.

Now for the Hot 75 --
1. Jessie Evans (San Francisco) Replaced by Sutton; just waiting on the buyout
2. Dave Odom (South Carolina)
3. Jay John (Oregon St.)
4. Norm Roberts (St. John's)
5. Bill Carmody (Northwestern)
6. Bobby Lutz (Charlotte)
7. Ed DeChellis (Penn St.)
8. Tim Welsh (Providence)
9. Bret Campbell (Tennessee-Martin)
10. Dennis Felton (Georgia)
11. Robert Moreland (Texas Southern)
12. Paul Hewitt (Georgia Tech)
13. John Brady (LSU)
14. Mike LaPlante (Jacksonville St.)
15. Ben Braun (California)
16. Trent Johnson (Stanford)
17. Mark Gottfried (Alabama)
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. Kelvin Sampson (Indiana)
28. Neil Dougherty (TCU)
29. Bill Herrion (New Hampshire)
30. Scott Drew (Baylor)
31. Frank Martin (Kansas St.)
32. Jerry Wainwright (DePaul)
33. Rick Pitino (Louisville)
34. Reggie Witherspoon (Buffalo)
35. Rob Jeter (Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
36. John Giannini (La Salle)
37. Jim Boylen (Utah)
38. Matt Doherty (SMU)
39. Billy Kennedy (Murray St.)
40. Fred Hill (Rutgers)
41. Oliver Purnell (Clemson)
42. Fran Dunphy (Temple)
43. Doug Wojcik (Tulsa)
44. Chris Mooney (Richmond)
45. Jeff Jackson (Furman)
46. Jim Baron (Rhode Island)
47. Tod Kowalczyk (Wisconsin-Green Bay)
48. Steve Shields (Arkansas-Little Rock)
49. Kermit Davis (Middle Tennessee)
50. Samuel West (Alcorn St.)
51. Jeff Jones (American)
52. Jerome Jenkins (Sacramento St.)
53. Cy Alexander (Tennessee St.)
54. Sean Sutton (Oklahoma St.)
55. Mick Cronin (Cincinnati)
56. Matt Painter (Purdue)
57. Jeff Capel (Oklahoma)
58. Robert Lee (Louisiana-Lafayette)
59. Greg McDermott (Iowa St.)
60. Dwight Freeman (Norfolk St.)
61. Todd Bozeman (Morgan St.)
62. Dave Dickerson (Tulane)
63. Sergio Rouco (Fla. International)
64. Billy Gillispie (Kentucky)
65. Dave Leitao (Virginia)
66. Phil Martelli (St. Joseph's)
67. Mike Brey (Notre Dame)
68. Tim Floyd (USC)
69. Tom Pecora (Hofstra)
70. Steve Hawkins (Western Michigan)
71. Matt Kilcullen (North Florida)
72. Brett Reed (Lehigh)
73. Mike Sutton (Tennessee Tech)
74. Larry Wright (Grambling)
75. Gary Williams (Maryland)
76. Bobby Gonzalez (Seton Hall)
77. George Pfeiffer (Idaho)
78. Billy Lange (Navy)
79. Jerry Slocum (Youngstown St.)
80. Jim Les (Bradley)

Happy New Year!