This wasn't the hire I expected. It wasn't what anyone expected. A week ago we were talking about stealing Matt Painter from Purdue and now we wind up with a guy that many of us never heard of. Now to be fair, I really don't recall hearing much about Painter either, but a lot of people that I respect think this is nothing short of a bad hire. Since being hired as the head man in Miami Haith has compiled a record of 129-101 (43-69 in conference) in the tough ACC. He's taken the Hurricanes to 1 NCAA tournament and frankly, appears to be mediocre at best. The talking heads have been pounding AD Mike Alden over this hire, led by former Tiger great Jon Sunvold who's disliked Alden since Norm Stewart was relieved of his duties in 1999.
Not since the day that Mike Anderson was announced as coach have I felt like Alden's job was in more jeopardy than it is today. I've always defended Alden. I think he's improved the overall athletic department incredibly, but you know, sometimes it's just best to move on. That time may be coming for Mike, and frankly, I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. He's be accused of micro-managing the sports programs and there are indications that has been true, at least as far a men's basketball is concerned. I remember when the youngest Rush brother was deciding on which school to attend and Alden over rode then coach Quin Snyder and forbid him to come to Mizzou. Rush went to ku and played on their last national title team in 2008. The firing of Snyder was handled as badly as it could have been, and even an Alden supporter like myself can't defend that. You never hear any complaints from Alden's cadillac hire, Gary Pinkel, but the fact is that in the AD heirarchy Pinkel is the 600 lb gorilla in the room.
As for the Haith hire, there's a BOC teleconference this evening, presumably to discuss the final language on his contract. I expect it to be resolved and we'll hear Haith announced as the 17th head coach of Missouri basketball tomorrow. But, it wouldn't surprise me if we hear later tonight that Alden has been terminated and now we're looking for a new AD as well as restarting the coaching search. I don't really think it is a good idea, but you know, I don't know that it's all bad either.
Probably as long as I think he's doing a good job. I have long stated the Snyder firing was handled as badly as it could have been. The hiring was trumpeted as a home run by almost every news service when it happened. Anderson proved to be a decent hire until he got a wandering eye. We'll see. As I've said before, he may need to leave since he's such a polarizing figure, but some of the complaints about him are nothing short of childish and uninformed.
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