Even though there have been conflicting reports throughout the day, there has been enough buzz about Bennett today to believe that there is something doing.First, it was Foxsports saying that IU had offered Bennett.
Then, it was Andy Katz saying that wasn't true, but he did say that IU hopes to announce a new head coach by Thursday.
Then, it was Gary Parrish saying that the offer was through third-party representatives and Bennett had 24 hours to decide.
Tonight, the latest buzz seems to be consistent with Parrish's story -- both that the dealings have probably been through third-party reps, but Bennett does have an offer and now many are saying that he has until noon Sunday to make a decision.
However, WSU's A.D. said tonight that he has not been contacted by any other university and it is in Bennett's contract that the A.D. must be contacted before any negotiations.
Of course, these things can be tricky with all the third-party representatives and crap like that. And I wouldn't be surprised if IU somehow botches this and ends up with Bennett declining the job and also in trouble for contacting him without the A.D.'s permission.
Here are some of the latest articles:
http://www.dailyevergreen.com/blogs/sports/
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/foulshots/archives/135341.asp
So, if all that is true, the question becomes, does Bennett want the job?
The other rumors tonight include a lot of talk about Mike Montgomery and Lon Kruger. And as a true sign of the IU fans obsession, I keep seeing reports on airplane flights. I guess the IU Foundation has a plane. Earlier this week, it was said to be going from Bloomington to South Bend (Brey) and late tonight it was said to be going from Bloomington to Albequerqe (Alford).
As for me personally, I hope the Bennett rumors are true and I hope he accepts because the latest other rumors seem to be Tier 2 or lower.
I did also hear that Bennett may just need to indicate interest by noon tomorrow and that there is not actually an offer on the table.
Lavin just mentioned Pitino on ESPN and Digger basically said the IU job is not attractive because of the pending NCAA hearing. I hate Digger.
Well, it will be interesting to see if more comes out about all this Tony Bennett buzz in the next 12 hours.
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4 comments:
ryun:
where does the lon kruger thing come from? how do we feel about that? brey would be fine i think. no alford. i guess from the realistic side i say:
1. bennett-easily
2. montgomery-easily
3. brey
4. kruger
5. alford
ryun:
where does the lon kruger thing come from? how do we feel about that? brey would be fine i think. no alford. i guess from the realistic side i say:
1. bennett-easily
2. montgomery-easily
3. brey
4. kruger
5. alford
Lon Kruger seems to be coming from left field, but he is the feature story on peegs this morning as a "left field" candidate.
He has done a nice job rebuilding programs, but only tends to stay in one place for no more than 4 years.
I think he's got pretty good coaching skills, but he would not be high on my list for the IU job.
Note: I would continue to take these rumors with a grain of salt.
I would think there is something to the Bennett rumors just because there were many of the major media outlets reporting something on it, even if they were somewhat conflicting.
I'm not sure where this stuff on Lon Kruger is coming from, so I would only put as much stock in that as the other 500 rumors that have been out there.
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