More on the LaSalle Head Coaching Job

Scratch Niagara head coach and LaSalle alum Joe Mihalich from the list.  Bill Dooley, former Richmond head coach and recently hired as the now-departed Billy Hahn's top assistant, is running the team now, but he doesn't seem to be a candidate.  SportsProf mentioned before that Fran Dunphy, the Penn mentor and a LaSalle alum, is a candidate, as is Fran O'Hanlon, the Lafayette coach.  Two other names have surfaced, Penn State top assistant Kurt Kanaskie, once the head coach at Drake (where his teams posted just plum awful results), and West Virginia top assistant Jeff Neubauer, another former LaSalle guard.  Dick Jerardi of the Phila. Daily News provides a good rundown of the sweepstakes in today's edition.

Dunphy, if interested, would appear to be the frontrunner.  SportsProf has always thought Dunphy to be ready for the next level, and his window of opportunity will continue to narrow as he ages past 55.  But there appears to be another reason for Dunphy's wanting to leave -- his relationship with Penn AD Steve Bilsky.  According to www.ivybasketball.com, the relationship isn't great.  Even though Dunphy enjoys great status on the Penn campus, if he doesn't have a good relationship with his boss, who knows how much fun he's having.  Stay tuned for this one -- getting Dunphy would be a great coup for LaSalle (which, until they anted up for Billy Hahn's contract extension, had a reputation for having one of the lowest paying men's head coaching jobs).  

O'Hanlon is a viable candidate; you can read my previous post about him.  Kanaskie (scroll down) would be a mistake.  While a good shooter and scorer when a player at LaSalle, his coaching record at Drake was so bad that the LaSalle faithful's groan at his election would be heard all the way down on South Broad Street (for the uninitiated, LaSalle is located not far from the most northern reaches of North Broad Street, and, yes, Broad Street is the straightest street in the U.S.).  Neubauer (scroll down) seems to be a solid pick if Dunphy isn't interested.  He's a LaSalle alum, he's young, he assists an excellent coach in John Bellein at West Virginia, and he has a bright future ahead of him.

The question remains whether LaSalle will feel compelled to stay within the family.   If so, they'll push hard for Dunphy.  If not, they'll have to find a combination of ethics, solid basketball knowledge and good recruiting.  And, at their (usually low) price. 

There are only about 330 Division I coaching jobs, and there are thousands of coaches who would want a shot as a DI mentor.   The candidates mentioned above are the logical choices.  But if heralded Duke of the ACC picked a relatively unknown Mike Krzyzewski in 1980, why can't the LaSalle administration take the right coach with the right pedigree -- even if he's in his early 30's. 

The guess here is that Fran Dunphy will say no; the LaSalle job, as much as he would hate to admit it, is not a step up.  And without its ace to complete its inside straight, the LaSalle administration will be praying for guidance to pick the right guy. 

Here's to hoping they do.