I don’t think the other coaching vacancies will affect us because we have a better opportunity here (from a coach’s perspective). First, we’re in Atlanta, which isn’t only an amazing city for a top coach to live in and raise a family, but is also a great place to recruit kids both to and from. Jay Bilas was right when he said we’re the best coaching job out there; the upside here is phenomenal. Second, we’re in the ACC, which might not be the best performing right now, but is the most prestigious. Anyone can tell that a job in the ACC is better than a job in any of the other Big Six conferences except for maybe the Big East. I’d say that in terms of Conference prestige, we’re at least on par with the Big East (because the Northeast loves their basketball). Third, next year will essentiall be a free year while we rennovate the colliseum, so the standard “re-building year” will be an easy write-off for fans. However, with a great coach I think our current talent has the opportunity to be a very good team next year.

I also want to say that Mike Anderson is not the coach I want for my basketball team. I want a young guy who is smart and likable. At this point my dream list consists of Shaka Smart (VCU) or Brad Stephens (Butler), although I’d also be willing to take Lon Kruger (UNLV) or Dave Rose (BYU). We should not look at any coach that is currently in a Big Six conference, because even if they are good coaches, they will already be making Big Six money, and won’t have as good value.

However, setting those considerations for who our coach should be aside, I think we should make it known that we are interested in Mike Anderson, as well as any other coach mentioned in the discussions of other schools’ coaching searches. The reason being that this is a high stakes poker game, and we want to bluff on certain hands to throw off our opponents. By saying, “Oh yeah, we’re looking at Anderson,” Missouri and Arkansas have to offer more in order to get him. That should be obvious, but it also says to the coaches that we are persuing that they aren’t the only candidates we’re looking at, so they won’t be able to demand as much.