Coaching Search News

by Jake Bertalotto on Jan 22, 2008 6:54 AM PST in Men's Basketball Comment 6 comments

It's day two of the Kevin Mouton era. What's going to happen today?

To give you a brief recap of the last 48 hours: Sunday, athletic director Bob De Carolis announced that Jay John had been fired from the position of head coach. Jay's contract runs through 2010, so the university owes him around $1.1 million. The fire has been hurting Jay and his family, but he had to see this one coming. Even if you've got a good core of guys assembled, if you can't win on the court, you're not going to last in the head coaching world. Now, with the firing aside, Interim coach Kevin Mouton was in control of his first practice yesterday. First order of business? Kick C.J. Giles off the team. Mouton didn't cite a particular infracton or a particular behavior issue, he just said, "We needed to make a change."

Which means Oregon State can remove two chairs from the end of their bench prior to the USC game on Thursday.

Here's what Mouton had to say to the media on Monday:

"Guys will get their playing time depending on the effort they put out in practice," he said. "I'm not going to come in here making changes, making wholesale subs, and doing things of that nature.

"But I'm going to hold guys accountable for the effort they put out at practice on a daily basis. When they practice hard, they will be rewarded. And our team will be rewarded because we will stay in games."

De Carolis is itching to get a new head coach in Corvallis. And it looks as if he'll get the help of a full-service headhunting firm. John Canzano addresses his dislike for headhunting firms in his Tuesday morning column:

A full-service headhunting firm will bill Oregon State University somewhere in the neighborhood of $65,000 in the next couple of months.

In return, it will provide athletic director Bob De Carolis a list that will include the name of the Beavers' next men's basketball coach.

Trust the list?

I don't.

Because some of the headhunting firms are run by men like David and Dana Pump, the 41-year-old identical twins who are linked to sneaker companies and have run a variety of Amateur Athletic Union basketball programs, camps and seminars.

Basically, the Pump brothers, who run a California-based company named ChampSearch, are basketball power brokers. At the NCAA Regional in Oakland, Calif., two years ago, Kyle Singler sat beside the Pumps, spurring rumors about where the South Medford star would sign.

Canzano also has some names that he would like to see Oregon State track down. Ryan White would like to see the Beavers go after Gonzaga coach Mark Few. But I don't see that happening.

De Carolis has said that he's looking for experience and a proven track record in his next head coach. He's willing to take his time to find the right guy, and doesn't believe in contacting coaching in the middle of their seasons.

Which means we'll be riding out the rest of this 2008 wave with Kevin Mouton at the helm.

If you're him, it's a dang good chance to show the athletic department what you're all about.

Mouton's already made some (a) big move off the court.

Now will he be able to make the right moves on the court?

--JB--

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This Giles thing bugs me

I know this is a slightly naive way of looking at things, since college basketball is a business in a lot of ways now. Theoretically though, this is still amateur sports. I would have had no problem if they had kicked him off for violating team rules multiple times or even one time if it was bad enough. But to say "We needed to make a change" really doesn't sit well with me. To do this in the middle of the season to a player who, if we count his scholarship, gets paid very little for his services just seems wrong to me. Jay John got fired because his team was awful, and he got a cool $1.1 mil out of the deal. What did Giles get?

Clearly, Giles had his issues, so I would have felt much more comfortable if they had just come out and said it was because of all of his issues he's had. It just seems so arbitrary this way or as if Mouton is making Giles out to be the fall guy here.

by funk on Jan 22, 2008 9:14 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Your points are valid...

but there is probably more to the story than we know. Mouton and C.J. have had issues in the past that we know about (practice between the Arizona and Arizona State games), but then there are probably other altercations that only the team knows about. It's hard for us to tell.

You've gotta admit C.J. was a cancer to this team. Even though we all hoped he would wake up one morning a different man and a different player, I just didn't see it happening. Basically, the whole situation was a lot of hype for no payout on the court. Foul outs, sporadic minutes, and running to the wrong bench plagued C.J.'s Oregon State career.

Again, your points are valid, especially the part about Giles being the fall guy. I just think there's more to the story than we know.

--JB--

by Jake Bertalotto on Jan 22, 2008 11:01 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I'd be shocked

if Giles ever played 20 minutes in a game. He has the physical tools to be awesome, but he doesn't know how to use them. Instead of trying to block every shot that come nears him he should be boxing his man out instead of trying to out jump him. I'm glad hes gone.

by Alan on Jan 22, 2008 11:26 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, the tools are there

He just doesn't use them. Just like most coaches say.... they'll take a guy with less talent and more heart over a guy with less heart and more talent...

--JB--

by Jake Bertalotto on Jan 23, 2008 7:09 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

New coach possibility

I just finished reading the O's article by Mike Tokito -- see OSU coaching search -- which I thought covered the possible candidates well, although there was a name I feel should be on the 'short' list. Where is the name of ex-Stanford and GS Warriors coach Mike Montgomery? He is currently employed as a part-time assistant AD at Stanford essentially in charge of fund raising, his NBA coaching career panned out (NBA enough said) and I'm sure he doesn't want to be a desk jockey the rest of his life -- once a coach, always a coach it never really leaves your system.

Here's a guy that brought a program (Stanford) out of the doldrums (sound familiar), helped raise $$$ for a new arena (does Gill need repairs??), has Pac-10 experience and knows how to recruit!

If someone with any influence in the athletic at OSU should look into this, (I hope there's someone with enough sense to do so) at minimum they should at least contact him and see if he'd be willing to listen to DeCarolis & Co. regarding the opportunity!

Go Beavs!!

by calripken08 on Jan 22, 2008 1:51 PM PST reply actions 0 recs