OT - MSU hires Dane Fife as assistant basketball coach

Submitted by gebe659 on

Won't post a link as the confirmation is coming from SpartanMag and RCMB, but it's a done deal.

Honestly, it's a big-name hire for MSU, and somewhat of a surprise.  Fife had just gotten an extension at IPFW after turning the program around, and was considered a candidate for several head coaching positions.

Rumors out of East Lansing are that Fife is "the chosen one" by Izzo and would take over the program when Izzo retires.

Raoul

April 20th, 2011 at 10:37 AM ^

Dugan Fife never went into coaching, but he had been the color guy for some Michigan basketball radio broadcasts prior to David Merritt taking that job. He seems to be doing quite well in the business world. He's currently working at Hines Real Estate Investments, Inc. This is from an SEC filing for that company's parent:

Dugan Fife.  Mr. Fife joined our Dealer Manager [Hines Real Estate Investments] in June of 2004 and is responsible for overseeing share distribution for the Western Division of our Dealer Manager. Prior to his promotion to Divisional Director, he was a Regional Sales Director for our Dealer Manager covering the states of Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky. Before joining our Dealer Manager, Mr. Fife served as a Regional Vice President for Scudder/Deutsche Bank, with responsibility for wholesaling variable annuities. Prior to that, Mr. Fife worked for Sun Life/MFSLF Securities as a Vice President responsible for wholesaling variable, fixed and indexed annuities. He has been in the securities business since 1997. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a B.A. in organizational studies and holds Series 7, 24 and 63 securities licenses.

Spontaneous Co…

April 20th, 2011 at 10:08 AM ^

That's a solid Sparty move.  Dane seems to be as good a candidate to replace Izzo as any, if we are looking 3 or more years down the road.  If we've learned anything, it is that it is difficult, at best, to determine who will or will not be successful at a high profile job.

pdgoblue25

April 20th, 2011 at 10:57 AM ^

I have a few relatives that went to Kent State, so I root for Kent State basketball.  Needless to say their Elite 8 run in 2002 was a lot of fun.  I hate Dane Fife and Coverdale with a passion because of that game.  I have never witnessed a team shoot like that for an entire game in my entire life.  Indiana made 15 fucking 3's, shot 78% from behind the arc, and over 60% for the game.  I will never forget that game.  Now I can hate him even more than I already did.

Nothsa

April 20th, 2011 at 11:47 AM ^

maybe you'll appreciate him for that.

Kent State did have a great run - it was a good team and well-coached. Stan Heath, right? He went to Arkansas, but probably shouldn't have. IU had a wonderful run as well, as they beat top-ranked, 31-3 (and defending national champion) Duke to face the Golden Flashes. The 2002 tournament reminded me a lot of this year's, in that upsets and strong underdog teams really "screwed up" the brackets.

bronxblue

April 20th, 2011 at 11:12 AM ^

I guess good for Fife.  I thought the focus was on Tom Crean at IU being the hear apparent to Izzo, since he is a big-time protoge.  I know that IU is a good job as well, but I guess I always figured they would want an established coach to step in.

 

Ah well, no big deal.

gebe659

April 20th, 2011 at 11:17 AM ^

Crean was more of a hot "replace Izzo" name earlier in his career.  He is still a GREAT recruiter, but his results at Marquette were just meh after D-Wade and he still hasn't shown much at IU (although he does have great recruits coming in soon).

People at MSU have been more on the Brian Gregory bandwagon lately, and I do think Gregory will make a great high-major coach someday.

But Dane Fife is a rising star in the coaching world.  Crean and Beilein have both wanted to get him on their staffs (you can find old threads about this when Beilein was looking for assistants) and he has chosen to stay at IPFW, so it wouldn't make sense for him to take an assistant job at MSU unless there were some other implicatons (i.e. the possibility of one day becoming the MSU head coach).

Raoul

April 20th, 2011 at 11:17 AM ^

Despite MSU's recent success and Indiana's recent struggles, Indiana is the more prestigious program from a historical standpoint--plus the fact that basketball is king in Indiana. To me, it wouldn't make a lot of sense for Crean to move from Indiana to MSU.

gobluehtown

April 20th, 2011 at 11:57 AM ^

Nothing but love for that whole family. I wish him well even if it is Sparty. Never a more fiery player for Calrkston High School. Once he popped his shoulder out and his dad, Dan, popped it back in right their on the court. Was amazing.