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I thought Steve Richardson nailed it in the paper today. He said there was a danger in hiring the hot coach in March. He used the same example I did a few weeks ago: Houston hired Ray McCallum after some real success at Ball State. Problem was he had no Texas recruiting connections. Richardson seems to favor Tubbs for SMU and I think for good reason, he has the connections and he can coach.

The biggest arguement you seem to hear on this board against Tubbs is that UNT or TCU didnt hire him. I say, so what? How many winning seasons has UNT had lately? None. I'm glad they didn't hire Tubbs or BHop and others would probably be up in Denton. TCU would never hire a longtime SMU assistant, nor would we hire one of theirs.

Hiring Jimmy Tubbs will not get the attention of ESPN. It will get the attention of every program that recruits Dallas and the Southwest. SMU would immediately become a very dangerous force to be reckoned with on the trail. I bet you anything the TCU and UNT folks are sitting out there with their fingers crossed hoping SMU hires another Dement clone from some far away part of the country.

HF - time to chill on the Tubbs thing

Hoop, I think we all know where you stand. We're all hoping we hire the best candidate. There can be some conjecture as to who that may be, but we all want the same thing. I think all the candidates mentioned have some strengths and weaknesses. I think Copeland is going to pull a surprise on this pick.

Alright Matt Doherty answered my question and h clearly wants to get back in coaching. I've said it many times that Copeland should at least call him to guage his interest. BTW, the chat was on www.collegesports.com


Brian (New Orleans): Matt, Where do you see yourself this time next year? Coaching? Commentating?
Matt: Brian, I see myself looking at a good coaching opportunity if one comes my way. Otherwise, I will look forward to doing another year of TV work with CSTV.

sorry if youre tired of the subject, or if you dont care about a relevant article in the newspaper about SMU. Just hurry up and hire Tubbs and we can get on with it then.

Steve and Calvin sure are letting their thoughts be known. A&M has non-existent basketball tradition and I don't know the last time they were dancing either. Gillespie would be a great hire for them. Penders is kind of a nitwit but may help Houston and might be good for CUSA.

Let me make one point. We are entering CUSA in 2005. Part of the buyout that UL, UC, DU, MU and UNCC had to pay was to agree to schedule non-conference b-ball games with CUSA schools. This means that in Dec./Jan whoever is the coach at SMU will get some national TV face time. Plus, Rice, Tulsa, Memphis, UAB, UCF have pretty good programs as well. CUSA will be an above average conference. The stakes just got higher for whoever is our coach, because as good as the WAC was this year, CUSA will be even tougher. BTW kudos, to Hawaii, Boise and Nevada. UTEP also had a great effort against a very hot team.

On another note, now that Michigan State is one and done we'll know if Wojik is the guy.

The surprise could be someone else in the Big Ten

I'm from Big Ten country. I'm a fan of a Big Ten school since birth basically, so there is no bias from me. But, if the "surprise" from the Big Ten is a guy without significant Texas recruiting connections, that will be a grave mistake on SMUs part.