- It’s not often that you see a BCS-level coach leave his position for a mid-major job (even a very good one), but that’s what will happen today when Iowa State’s Greg McDermott takes over for the departed Dana Altman at Creighton. McDermott was clearly on thin ice with a 59-68 (18-46 Big 12) record in four seasons in Ames and little prospect for improvement in the near future, so this has every hallmark of a pre-emptive strike. McDermott of course was at Northern Iowa in the MVC for five years prior to taking the ISU job, and he did very well there, going to three straight NCAA Tournaments from 2004-06. He said that one of the primary reasons he wanted to take the Creighton job was for an opportunity to coach his son, an incoming freshman who had signed with UNI but will be allowed to move on to Creighton to play for his dad.
- As for Altman’s move to Oregon, it became official yesterday. He’ll roughly double his annual salary to $1.8M per year in a seven-year contract that will include some seriously high expectations. As we said before, though, we expect he’ll do very well there. Gary Parrish and Jeff Goodman give their takes.
- Good weekend in the Big 12 for a couple of Texas teams — Baylor picked up UCLA transfer center J’Mison Morgan, a talented but enigmatic player who never seemed to be able to find a role in Westwood; and the Horns got a commitment from highly touted point guard Cory Joseph, the #7 overall player on the Rivals rankings in 2010.
- Well, DePaul’s Oliver Purnell is off to a rousing start with the Chicago Public League high school coaches. You know, the ones who control all of the great talent coming out of that city every year. We’re sure this is all going to work out famously.
- Love this stuff. A well-done photo montage from the 2009-10 season from CHJ. What is your favorite? Gotta say that the Randy Culpepper dunk attempt is ours, with the second-prize going to the Lebron photo at Kentucky. Creepiest pic? The Jon Scheyer one in the Carolina-bluish warmups. Great stuff — check it out.