Brace For A Coaching Tree
![LaVall-Jordan-and-Trevon-Bluiett-at-Michigan-Indiana-597x398[1]](https://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Brace-For-A-Coaching-Tree_A12C/LaVall-Jordan-and-Trevon-Bluiett-at-Michigan-Indiana-597x3981.jpg "LaVall-Jordan-and-Trevon-Bluiett-at-Michigan-Indiana-597x398[1]")
Jordan with Bluiett, via UMHoops
Well, nuts. Brad Stevens has shockingly bolted Butler for the head job with the Boston Celtics, throwing over lifelong employment at a place that loves him for an awful lot of money right now and getting fired in like three years because he's an NBA coach not named Gregg Popovich.
This would be pretty dang good for Michigan's pursuit of IN SF Trevon Bluiett, who is basically down to Butler and Michigan, except for…
“He asked us personally, ‘What do you think (would make) an ideal coach for this program?” Butler forward Khyle Marshall said. “We told him a couple of things. We told him we want someone who is familiar with Butler basketball and knows our identity.”
Butler has long hired from within. Possible candidates to succeed Stevens include former players LaVall Jordan, now an assistant at Michigan, and Brandon Miller, a current assistant with the Bulldogs.
“(Collier) told us, ‘Don’t be surprised if we get a new guy this Friday,’” Marshall added.
ESPN's Jeff Goodman reports that Jordan is the frontrunner in a group of candidates that are all Butler alums or former coaches. Unfortunately for Michigan, slam-dunk candidate Matt Graves, a longtime Stevens assistant, just finished his first year at South Alabama and has taken his name out of the running. If Jordan goes that would break up Beilein's new-look staff that turned his program around; Bacari Alexander and Jeff Meyer would still be around, but the guy coaching Trey Burke and THJ would be in Indy.
Jordan getting the Butler job would give Michigan an obvious option to turn to when Beilein retires… or at least it would have if Butler wasn't joining the new Big East this fall. The only thing that pirated Stevens away was a 6 year, 22 million dollar contract from an NBA team.
If Jordan does go, everyone and their aunt will clamor for Jalen Rose to become an assistant… which is not happening. Rose has not coached and has a cushy job with ESPN. It'll be a current Midwestern assistant.
UPDATE: Jordan is interviewing today, and Miller interviewed yesterday. They're the only two candidates, it seems.
Aww, hamburgers...
No? Rats! Best wishes to Lavall if he is chosen and accepts!
What exactly would stand in the way of Michigan hiring Jordan after Beilein retires? The Big East? Michigan can certainly commit to paying Jordan more than Butler has shown. Even if he was getting Stevens' money, Michigan could offer him a significant raise.
I think the insinuation is that it took NBA money to pull Stevens out of Butler when probably every other major college program had taken a run at him. The thought being that money might not be enough to pull your typical Butler guy out of Indianapolis
Stevens wouldn't leave for another NCAA job, but Lickliter and Matta had no trouble leaving the Horizon for the Big Ten. I would imagine the next coach will be more like the latter two than Stevens.
Brad Stevens was never an assistant coach at UCLA. Just because Stevens appeared to be a Butler lifer doesn't mean Jordan will be the same way.
I second Juwan Howard if Lavall leaves. I think he'd be a great leader and recruiter.
Doesn't Bacari already coach big men? I'm not that familiar with college assistants and their roles, but it would seem we'd want a guard-oriented guy. I'm for sure not concerned with getting a "name".
If we could become a player through his local connections, then that could lead to great things with all the studs that come out of that city.
That's funny. People same the same about Duke and BYU. Let us not be so sensitive.
Sometimes I think this whole PC thing has just gone too far. There was no intent to hurt anyones feelings there and it was definitely pretty funny. To be clear, I don't have an issue with the PC movement in general, I just think some take it a little too far at times.WolvinLA is one of the funniest guys on here and it is clear he was just cracking a joke.
^^^^^ taboo
Seriously, you're one of the posters that, when I am speedily grazing over a thread, I always stop to see what you post. I do because 50% of the time I find your posts hilarious and the other 50% of the time I find them insightful. One of the best posters on here IMHE.
p.s. don't change your pic or I'll miss your contributions...
Made me laugh and I'm black which means it is ok.
/that's racist .gif
Travis Conlan as a candidate seems to make several degrees of natural sense to me:
- Played guard for Michigan (was a captain), so he'd fit the hole left by Jordan's departure
- Just left the staff to pursue coaching, so he's intimately familiar with the program and the culture
- Is originally from St. Clair Shores, so he'd be familiar with the recruiting territory
Quote from Beilein: "Travis was born to coach."
Jordan or Alexander. I am not sure which is the better recruiter at this point.
offer Zack Novac a position on it. The guy is going to be a great leader of men one day.
Sorry, Lavall, we don't want you to leave yet. At least not until we're cutting down the nets.
Assistants moving out of program because of promotion to HC = good thing
Assistants moving out of program and stay assistant for any reason = bad thing
As long as the coach fits and meshes with Beilein's philosophies, I don't care where they're from. The fit is all that matters.
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