Marquette’s men’s basketball coach search took a huge step in the right direction Wednesday when the Board of Trustees announced the hiring of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor Michael Lovell as the next university president.
More than anything, Lovell will bring a sense of stability to the process of finding a new basketball coach, since the candidates will know who they will work for if hired. Marquette announced it will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. Thursday during which Interim Athletic Director Bill Cords will provide an update on the search.
Lovell holds three degrees from the University of Pittsburgh and worked at the university from 2000 to 2008. Media members, including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Michael Hunt, speculate that this could give Ben Howland an advantage in the process. Howland, who coached at Pittsburgh from 1999 to 2003, emerged as an early favorite for the job over the weekend, which was quickly overshadowed by the speculation of Shaka Smart coming to Marquette. The former UCLA coach and Marquette have mutual interests, according to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman.
While Howland remains the favorite, other prominent names remain in the discussion. In a live chat Tuesday, Goodman, possibly the nation’s most connected college basketball reporter, pointed to Howland, Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins and Wisconsin-Green Bay head man Brian Wardle as his three most likely candidates.
Hopkins has served as an assistant to Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim for 18 years. Wardle, a former Marquette player and assistant coach under Tom Crean, led Green Bay to a 24-7 season and a regular season Horizon League title. In early 2013, Wardle faced an investigation into possible mistreatment of players but retained his job.
Other rumors have pointed to Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall and Tennessee’s Cuonzo Martin as potential replacements for Buzz Williams, who left for Virginia Tech Friday. Marquette is reportedly not interested in Marshall, who took the Shockers to the Final Four in 2013. Martin’s Volunteers are currently in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 and face Michigan Friday.
Monday, Twitter exploded with the speculation, prediction, and false confirmation of Smart as Marquette’s next men’s basketball coach.
While there was no confirmation from any reputable sources that Smart to Marquette was a done deal, that did not stop local TV stations like WISN-12, FOX-6 and CBS-58 from reporting it as such.
As of Tuesday morning, though, the frenzy of confidence that Smart would come to Milwaukee died down significantly. Goodman tweeted Monday night that nothing between Smart and Marquette was done or imminent.
ESPN recruiting analyst Adam Finkelstein followed Goodman’s lead Tuesday morning.
“Shaka Smart spoke to VCU commits & their coaches yesterday & assured them he isn’t going anywhere,” Finkelstein tweeted.
That, coupled with Goodman categorizing Smart to Marquette as unlikely in a Tuesday live chat, seems to rule out the coach famous for his Havoc defense as the next head man.
