Indiana says it wants to have a new coach in the fold before next weekend, and this must be true because the rumor mill has gone into high gear.
Washington State coach Tony Bennett had reportedly been offered the job, at roughly the same time I was hearing he was a finalist for the Cal job. But Bennett says he hasn't even talked to IU.
Meanwhile, Mike Montgomery, the former Stanford coach, has been floated as a candidate. And I've heard a lot of Rick Pitino talk in the last week, although Pitino and IU doesn't seem a good fit to me for some reason (probably because with Pitino, you'd get an NCAA title and the next day you'd be looking for another coach, because he'd cash it in on the Next Big Job).
Sean Miller of Xavier, on the other hand, may not be in the mix anymore. Word has it he has a $2 million buyout, and considering all the ex-coaches Indiana's paying right now, somehow I think that would be a deal-breaker.
And of course, there's always Dick Vitale's guy: Bob Knight. He's tanned, rested, ready and, the last time I saw him, wearing a pink sweater over a brown shirt. Recalling those godawful retina-searing plaid jackets he used to wear, I take that as a sign that, fashion-wise anyway, he's back at the top of his game.
-- Ben Smith
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