bob gottlieb report 0312

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SoCalHoops High School News

College Coaching Rumors Abound; Wild Or True?
Fact Or Fiction? We Have No Idea--(March 12, 1999)

We may not know, but Bob Gottlieb thinks he does. So when we received an e-mail from Bob Gottlieb, who coaches the BWBA teams in the Rockfish Spring League and the Pump Discovery Shootouts, among other top events, and who now also maintains his own internet Branch West website with Midwest Basketball, we thought we'd pass his thoughts along to our readers. Bob is the Southern California correspondent for Greg Swaim's Midwest Basketball, and he'll also be sending his reports to SoCalHoops from time to time. As a former college coach, and head guru of the Branch West Basketball Academy, Bob does know his way around the block when it comes to the college coaching world. Whether this stuff turns out to be accurate or just idle speculation is something we really can't say. Bob's either (a) a genius, (b) just well-connected with good sources, or (b) he's a raving madman. He may be some or all of those things (just kidding Bob), but whether this stuff turns out to be accurate is something only time will tell. If all (or any) of it does come to pass, we'll be happy to take all the credit here at SoCalHoops. Of course, if it's wildly inaccurate, well, then we never had anything to do with it. Blame Gottlieb.

We're also not sure how much of this stuff really and truly relates to SoCal (well the first item clearly does), but hey, Bob's in Southern California, so sorta kinda qualifies as a "SoCal" report. Here's the letter we received from Bob, suitably edited to protect the innocent:

Bob Gottlieb's Southern California Report:

1. Look for Gene Keady to be announced as the new coach at San Diego State right after Purdue concludes its season in the NCAA Tournament. He would be a great hire for SDSU, which just opened its new on-campus arena this past year.

2. Rick Majerus is inches away from accepting the Head Coaching position at Notre Dame. John Macleod was a prince of a person and a good solid coach, but they never recruited well enough, with any degree of consistency, to have the kind of success they hoped for.

3. Ralph Willard, the deposed Pitt coach to be named as the new Head Coach at Holy Cross. Done deal.

4. Derrick Wittenberg, the long time assistant to Bobby Cremins at Georgia Tech has been offered the Wagner job, an NCAA Div I program on Staten Island in New York City, the same school which gave P.J. Carlisimo his coaching start. But he may be leaning instead towards taking either Georgia Southern or East Carolina, both of which have been offered as well.

5. Rumor has Denny Crum possibly resigning at Louisville. Should that happen, look for Leonard Hamilton to possibly move from Miami to Louisville. Miami has had a great year, but has a hard time drawing well, in what is an NBA and Pro type town. He is well remembered in Kentucky where he was considered a super recruiter for Joe Hall's national champs some years back.

6. Mike Brey, Head Coach at Delaware, coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance this year and a former Duke assistant, along with Buzz Peterson, successful coach at Appalachian State and former Tarheel, are the two leading candidates at Vanderbilt.

7. At Baylor, Bill Self of Tulsa and Willis Wilson of Rice are the two leading candidates for the head coaching position.

8. If Lamar opens, look for Pat Foster to return to the scene where he enjoyed great success some years back.

Yeow. Majerus to Notre Dame? Shhhh. Don't tell the Utes. And we thought he was the prime candidate for the Aztec job. Darn. . .