This article was written by Jason King, a well known KU supporter and fan. At least to me he is. His articles seem always to favor the Jayhawks. This one struck me as interesting because in it he primarily quotes Bill Self. Why would he not get quotes from any other major div 1 coach? Is Coach Self already leaning towards the Pro's? If so, the only places I can see him going to are the Spurs when Pop leaves who knows when and to OKC, already taken by Donovan. No way he goes to a program where he can win right away.
Anyways, its a good read.
Last weekend, once it became obvious that Fred "The Mayor" Hoiberg was ending his term at Iowa State to coach the Chicago Bulls, this question popped into my mind:
Who's next?
Not at Iowa State, where Tim Floyd, Jeff Hornacek, Steve Prohm and current Cyclones assistant T.J. Otzelberger are among the names being floated as potential Hoiberg replacements. More intriguing is identifying the next coach to jump from college to the NBA.
Judging by the recent trend, it's bound to happen soon.
Former Butler coach Brad Stevens just wrapped up his second season with the Boston Celtics. In April, Billy Donovan left Florida after 19 years for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Even though the 2015 college-to-NBA carousel likely stopped with Chicago's hiring of Hoiberg, it could certainly start spinning again next spring. Kentucky's John Calipari, Connecticut's Kevin Ollie, Kansas' Bill Self and Michigan State's Tom Izzo have been mentioned as candidates for various NBA jobs in recent years. It's only a matter of time before one (or more) of them makes the leap.
What happened to the days of Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams spurning overtures from the Los Angeles Lakers? Will college-lifers soon be a thing of the past?
That may be a stretch, but it's safe to say the lure of the NBA is prevalent among college coaches like never before. And the reason may have more to do with escaping one level than reaching another.
Sideline veteran Kevin O'Neill said, "Coaching college basketball is harder than it's ever been."
O'Neill would know. Along with head coaching stints at Marquette, Northwestern, Tennessee, Arizona and USC, O'Neill also served as the head coach of the Toronto Raptors and has been an assistant with four other NBA teams.
He's not alone in his opinion that the current culture in college basketball may be causing burnout among some of the game's brightest coaching stars.
Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press
Kansas head coach Bill Self.
"Certainly," said Self, the Kansas Jayhawks head coach, "there are some things about the job today that make it not as fun as what it used to be."
Indeed, while fans complain about a lack of scoring and poor officiating, the most troubling issues in college basketball these days—the ones that are wearing down some of its coaches—are taking place off the court.
As if dealing with the grind of recruiting, alumni functions and media responsibilities wasn't enough, the patience of college coaches is now being tested by the one-and-done rule, the growing number of transfers and the increasing presence of social media that has made their jobs more stressful than ever before.
"The NBA has its own set of problems," O'Neill said, "but they're all basketball-related. All you do is coach. No matter who you are, unless you're Gregg Popovich, you rank No. 6 in the organization. It's the owner, then the GM, then the top three players and then you. In college, you're the No. 1 person in the program. You're at the center of every storm. It can wear on people. Some guys just don't want to deal with it anymore."
Some coaches believe things began to change in 2006, when the NBA stipulated that players must be a year removed from their senior year of high school before entering the NBA draft.
All of a sudden, players such as Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins—all of whom were good enough to turn pro out of high school—were forced to attend college for a year. The pressure from fans to sign one-and-done-caliber players was intense, and even worse, the layers of people (AAU coaches, high school coaches, relatives, handlers) surrounding those players made recruiting them that much tougher.
Nathaniel S. Butler/Getty Images
Former commissioner David Stern with Kevin Durant in 2007.
"There are definitely more people wanting to have an impact on a kid's decision than ever before," Self said.
Perhaps even more aggravating for coaches is the mentality that the one-and-done tag has created among players who aren't surefire NBA superstars. Guys who have no business leaving school after one year often do so anyway. Others may leave after two years when they should've stayed three or four. The point is that fewer and fewer kids are relishing the college experience because they're so obsessed with the NBA.
The mentality can be taxing on a coach.
"It used to be that kids picked a school because of the school or the program," Self said. "I'm not saying that doesn't exist anymore, but for the guys projected to be in school a short amount of time, they're picking a school for the opportunity as much as anything else. They want to get in and get out. Twenty years ago, if you recruited a good player, you knew you'd have him a minimum of two years, and maybe even three or four. Now, if they're a good player, they're gone after one."
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And if they're not departing for the NBA, they're bolting for other schools. According to a list compiled by ESPN's Jeff Goodman, approximately 650 Division I players elected to transfer after the 2014-15 season. A year ago, the number was "in excess of 700."
"Players want instant gratification," O'Neill said. "If they come to school as a freshman and aren't starting or scoring a certain amount of points—if they don't see their NBA dream coming true—they're not going to care about the team, and they're not going to care about sticking around.
"It used to be cool to get a college scholarship," O'Neill continued. "It used to be a privilege to play at a place like Michigan or Syracuse. Kids don't dream about getting scholarships anymore. They dream about playing in the NBA. There so many kids that have absolutely no chance of being an NBA player that think they're good enough to play in the NBA. It's hurting the college game."
Thus, instead of spending two or three years developing players and creating team chemistry, coaches—especially the ones from power conferences—deal with increasing amounts of attrition every offseason.
"You basically have to recruit players twice," Baylor's Scott Drew said. "Once when they're in high school to get them to sign, and then a year or two later to get them to stay."
The roster turnover each year, whether it stems from players transferring or leaving early for the NBA, makes it tough to sustain success. Four of the last nine NCAA champions—Florida in 2007, North Carolina in 2009, Kentucky in 2012 and Connecticut in 2014—failed to reach the NCAA tournament the year after winning the title.
Joe Robbins/Getty Images
UConn head coach Kevin Ollie.
"Before, when you looked at the Top 10 in the preseason, it was like football," Self said. "Seven of the teams were going to be there year in, year out. Now it's not like that. That doesn't make it bad at all. But it makes success harder to maintain when you have so many different intangibles compared to what you used to have. You don't have guys for three years in your program anymore. It makes the ability to stay at a very high level consistently harder than it was in the past."
To be fair, the most recent coaches to jump from college to the NBA haven't cited the current college culture as the main factor in their decision. Hoiberg played four seasons for the Bulls and even expressed his dream to coach in the NBA during his interview with Iowa State. Stevens and Donovan simply said they wanted a new challenge.
During a recent interview with ESPN.com's Dana O'Neil, however, Donovan seemed excited about the opportunity to focus on basketball—and only basketball—in his new job with Oklahoma City.
"One thing here, the workload is heavy but it's different," Donovan said. "The workload is dealing with the team, making the team better. It's basketball. You have a chance to coach in the summer league, to go different places and work with your players. It's a lot of work, but it's more basketball work."
Layne Murdoch Jr./Getty Images
Former Florida Gators head coach, and current OKC Thunder head man, Billy Donovan.
It's a situation that, at least in part, helped sway Donovan. And if the current climate stays the same in college basketball, it could influence some of his former colleagues, too.
"I've got what I consider to be as good of a basketball job as there is in the country at any level," Self said. "There are still more positives than negatives going on in college basketball. It's still a great game. But there are definitely some things that need to be addressed to make the game better."
Jason King covers college sports for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JasonKingBR.
