Alabama basketball is close to a tipping point with Avery Johnson. If Greg Byrne wants to send out some feelers, here are some options.
Most Alabama basketball fans are ready to face the inevitable. The Alabama Crimson Tide will not get a NCAA berth this season unless it wins the SEC Tournament. Other than Vandy at home, there is no remaining SEC regular season game the Tide is likely to win. Even the Vandy game is no lock.
It is possible the Tide will go into the SEC Tournament at 16-15. Maybe a few among us are not willing to give up hope for winning the SEC Tournament, There is no sound basis for such optimism.
Against a mediocre Texas A&M team, Tuesday night, Alabama basketball may have reached a new low. Leading by 12 points in the second half, the Tide collapsed. The failure in a winnable, must-win game is inexcusable.
Avery Johnson is a fine man. He knows basketball. He does not know how to coach basketball at the University of Alabama. The players too deserve blame, particularly the upperclassmen. In fairness to Avery the assistants don’t appear to have provided much assistance.
The buyout for Avery is significant, purportedly in the $8-9 million range. That’s a lot of money. Also purportedly, a delay of about six weeks will reduce the buyout by $3 million. Waiting will be tempting. Greg Byrne has a tough call.
Any delay almost assures the state’s prized recruit, Trendon Watford will go elsewhere. But Watford should not be a consideration. Alabama basketball has not led in his recruitment for a good while.
There are many coaches Greg Byrne will not be able to consider. The situation bears no resemblance to Mal Moore pursuing Nick Saban. Alabama is not a big-time basketball school and top coaches already making $4-7M are not coming to Tuscaloosa. Buzz Williams is a name that will be mentioned. He has done well at Virginia Tech. It is very hard to imagine him, even at maybe $5M, being willing to leave the ACC.
There are a few name coaches whose careers have taken a hit that Byrne should not consider. The first would be Rick Pitino. Another is Sean Miller whose Arizona status may be tenuous due to the continuing FBI investigation into college basketball.
Still there are names that may have already been on a Byrne list. Steve Prohm at Iowa State; Steve Wojciechowski at Marquette; and Fred Hoiberg. Wojo has often been rumored as the next Duke coach once Coach K retires. If that transition is within the next couple of years, it is unlikely Wojo would leave Marquette. Hoiberg would be a big stretch. He may have zero interest in Alabama basketball. Any conversations would begin around $4M and go higher if Hoiberg showed any interest.
There are three other lesser know coaches who might be a good fit. They are John Becker at Vermont; Eric Musselman at Nevada and Porter Moser at Loyola-Chicago. All three are good coaches, though Moser might require too much of a leap of faith. Can they recruit players to Alabama basketball? Do they have any interest in coaching in the SEC? We cannot answer either question.
Could Avery rally Alabama basketball enough after a Vandy win to close winning three out of the last four? Maybe, but his team is 5-8 since knocking off Kentucky. Closing the regular season 4-1 might be the greatest turnaround in college basketball history.
Going back a few weeks is the rumor Avery has been quietly checking into other options. If he or his wife are not happy in Tuscaloosa, Greg Byrne might give him some time to choose his own exit.