Oregon Coaching Search: Saturday Morning Cartoons or Sunday Funnies?

Oregon was very close on Friday to announcing that, “Creighton coach Dana Altman has agreed to a deal that will have him headed to Eugene”, according to Fox Sports’ Jeff Goodman, who cited “Multiple sources close to both sides”.

Goodman also stated that, “The deal is for seven years that will pay Altman less than $2 million per season”. It doesn’t say how much less, but it could be for more money per year than what Lorenzo Romar just agreed to. That proved two things in my opinion. UW got a great deal to get Romar for the next 10-years on a number of levels and that as (Andy Katz of ESPN called them) “Nike/Oregon” is trying to buy its way to success.

Nothing about Dana Altman’s resume says to me that he is worth more than Romar, but by the huge list of guys that turned down the Oregon job, it seems like this is not a job that guys were real exited about taking on. It reminds me of the sign you see sometimes in repair shops that says $50 an hour if you leave the car, $100 an hour if you watch.

I don’t know who it is that’s watching but I heard that a cartoon version of him played a huge role in a famous children’s cartoon as Scrooge McDuck.

Whatever the price tag, Altman will meet the Oregon team Sunday and after some details are worked out on the contract be introduced as the new Oregon Head Coach on Monday according to the Oregonian.

The Eugene Register guard reported on Friday that both Marquette’s Buzz Williams (remember him) and Dayton’s Brian Gregory was also candidates of late, but at least Williams turned down the job. This hire allows Altman less than a week to speak to Jones and Ross about Oregon. Maybe McDuck will have some ideas about how to close that deal.

A television station in Eugene reported that Matt Humphrey, who is transferring out of Oregon is looking at, “Baylor or Tennessee”. Fellow Chicago IL product Josh Crittle and Oregon native Drew Wiley have transferred, not willing to wait for a new coach. Wiley is headed to Boise State. There is certainly room for Terrence Jones and Terrence Ross now and the question begs to be asked.

Will McDuck have the last laugh?

Husky Huddle

Husky Assistant Coach Paul Fortier did not get hired by Cornell, as Virginia Tech assistant Bill Courtney was named Head Coach on Friday. Fortier never confirmed that he interviewed for the job, though bloggers stated that he could have been one of the candidates.

Paul was an assistant there prior to being hired by Washington to replace Ken Bone when Bone was hired by Portland State in the spring of 2005. Fortier did a great job working with the Husky big men this past season, the improved play of Matthew Bryan-Amaning being most noticeable.

As we reported earlier in the week that he was likely to do, Brandon Roy did play today for the Blazers in the 4th game of their best of seven series against Phoenix. Roy was also picked by Rivals as the “Player of the Decade” in the Pac-10. Considering names like Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, O.J. Mayo, The Lopez Twins, Aaron Brooks and Andre Igoudala also deserve consideration, this is a prestigious honor and a flattering mention.

Other players with NW ties mentioned were Gonzaga’s Adam Morrison who was named the WCC “Player of the Decade” and Rodney Stuckey of Kent WA and Eastern Washington who was named for the Big Sky.

According to the AP, Isaiah Thomas had surgery to remove a bone spur. According to AP, “He is expected to be in a walking boot for a short time and be limited in his basketball activities for the next three to six weeks.” Thomas, who will be a junior next year, returns as one of the key leaders on a UW team that also features three seniors in Matthew, Venoy Overton and Justin Holiday.

Husky Recruiting Corner

2010 UW guard recruit Terrence Ross is strongly leaning towards signing with UW on his scheduled visit this weekend, according to his mom Marcine Ross in the Oregonian.

“I think he likes the fact that most of their players are returning, as well as their history for producing professional guards. He really has a nice bond with Coach Lorenzo Romar. We’ll have to see how it goes, but so far, Terrence feels strong about the University of Washington.”

2010 Husky forward recruit Terrence Jones is in Kansas, according to anonymous sources. He will visit the KU campus on Sunday, but arrived there Friday, according to these same sources. Jones mom confirmed that her son would announce on Friday April 30th and it appeared as if she was not in the loop in regards to her son’s trip to Kansas.

In my opinion after reading comments by both Ross and Jones moms in the Oregonian Jones may have made moves in regards to his visit to Kansas which were not done with his family being completely in the loop.

“Jones added Kansas to his list of finalists last Saturday while participating in the Jordan Brand Classic in New York. After the game, Jones told reporters he was planning to take his fifth and final official visit to Kansas. But earlier this week, Mashia-Jones said she did not know of any plan of her son to visit Kansas, and in fact, she hasn’t even spoken to Jayhawks coaches in recent weeks.”

Marcine Ross appeared to be confused as what to say about Jones decision to move the date for his announcement, which was originally supposed to include her sons’ and two other Jefferson High School basketball players. It may also be that this statement may be commentary on Jones decision to visit Kansas, right after his mom had gone on record as saying that the Jayhawks are not on his Final-5 schools list. A player is able to take 5 official visits and Jones had one still remaining.

“I heard the same thing, but it’s really hard when kids mention certain things without the parent’s involvement. But if that’s what they want to do, we’ll support them.”

Jones mom also appeared a bit ruffled by the situation when she confirmed her son’s trip to KU for the Kansas Rivals site by saying, “The only news I have is that Terrence will be taking an official visit to Kansas on Sunday”.

Kansas fans are excited about the prospect of Jones filling up what appears to be their one remaining scholarship spot for 2010.

Campus Corner, a fan blog that is part of the Kansas City Star (which is not real professional unbiased journalism by a well established daily paper, but I guess that’s the new face of today’s newspaper to compete with successful blogs and fan sites) reported that, “Jones would appear to be a perfect fit for the Jayhawks, who only have four big men on scholarship for next season”.

One possible factor for Jones’ decision that keeps getting bandied about around the internet is whether junior forward Patrick Patterson will return to Kentucky for his senior year. The logic, as discussed by various bloggers and anonymous message board posters, is that if Patterson decided to stay there would not be sufficient minutes for Jones, but that if Patrick leaves then Jones will be hugely tempted by the opportunity to get major minutes.

Well the plot thickens because Patterson announced on Saturday his decision to enter the draft.

If Jones ends up at Kansas or Kentucky; Washington will still have a spot left to fill. One guy that they had an in-home with UW this past week and is starting to get a huge buzz going in 2010 forward Remi Barry. According to the Bruin Rivals site Barry is visiting the UCLA campus this weekend and is getting interest from a number of schools that does not include UW, but does include, “UCLA, Stanford, Arizona State and Washington State, among others”.

The reporter that wrote that piece on Friday seemed a bit out of the loop however, as he also reported that, “Sources have confirmed that UCLA has officially offered Deonte Burton, the 6-2 combo guard from Compton (Calif.) Centennial, a scholarship to play basketball there next season” and added that “Burton has been waiting for this offer and is now deciding which school he will attend in the fall”.

It has been confirmed by numerous sources that Burton had signed to Nevada on Thursday.

One player that we mentioned this week was reported to be getting looks from Washington is 2010 Minnesota post player Kevin Noreen. According to a report in Rivals, he held a workout and a number of big name programs showed up to take a look.

In a report on the workout his coach John Sherman stated that, “Teams at Minnesota Transitions yesterday were Providence, Texas, Lehigh, Indiana , Washington State, and California and added that, “The day before Minnesota, Iowa State, and Penn (were there)”.

Sherman also mentioned that, “Other interest (is coming from) Penn State, Northwestern, and Marquette”. I’m not sure if the coach meant Washington and not WSU, but it probably was the Cougs, as Sherman mentioned them twice in a piece before the workout in Rivals when asked what schools were interested.

“Schools I have heard from are Minnesota, UCLA, Penn State, Florida, Washington State, Providence, Washington State, Texas, Marquette, and many, many mid-Majors including Northern Illinois, Saint Louis, and North Dakota State; maybe 50 schools in all.”

Does Ken Bone get two ping pong balls in the Noreen lottery or just one?

According to a report in ESPN, former UW 2010 commit Enes Kanter will be eligible to play for Kentucky in the fall of 2010, per a new NCAA rule. Though there are some questions as to how and when the new rule goes into effect, ESPN ventured the comment that, “More than likely, the rule change will allow Kanter to play at Kentucky immediately”.

Perhaps he will play this fall for UK, unless something else comes out. Don’t be surprised, as it involves John Calipari. The way this Spring Signing Period is going nearly anything could happen.