Matta to leave Xavier???

[Billiken Law]

3 Columbus TV stations have reported he and OSU AD Geiger were interviewing in Columbus today despite saying last week that he wasn't interested.

[Billikan]

I heard on ESPN that he was in final negotiations and they expected him to accept the job shortly. He has done a great job at Xavier but so did his predecessors and he inheirited a solid program. My guess is they will find a good coach to replace him but the Xavier fans must be bummed.

[billiken_roy]

i am surprised that stallings lost out. i wonder why it is he keeps "turning off" interviewers. if you remember, he was "the other" candidate when we hired romar, he was passed by when purdue took painter. he has finished second a lot.

[Billiken Law]

Sean Miller, former Pitt star and XU assistant will become the new head coach.

As for Stallings, Vandy is rewarding him in a big way for staying.

[tseugnekillib]

Perhaps Matta wasn't interested in being one of several candidates for the Ohio State job; but, if offered the job he would take it! That scenario usually plays out once or twice a year.

I hope Sean Miller gets the Xavier job. He has had some great stops as an assistant. I'm sure he will recruit well. We'll see what he does with the X's and O's. I think he will fair well, but only time will tell if Miller is another Matta, Prosser or Gillen at Xavier.

[tseugnekillib]

.

[courtside]

What exactly is wrong with Vandy job?

[Taj79]

... which is old news but in watching ESPNews last night and getting the story over and over, I found it interesting that Matta was there three years as head coach. Tim McCormack said that he had done all he could at Xavier (Elite Eight/ something like four points short of a Final Four) and that was all he could ever hope to accomplish at X. What I heard was "Matta took the Muskies as high as they can ever expect to go and had to move on."

In hindsight, I believe that is true. X rode a fantatic wave last year .... granted not as far as Crean and MU did the year before but just as close given what some might perceive as X being a rung or so below MU (this is not meant to knock or praise one over the other ... I rank MU higher because of Al McGuire and one modern national title, that is all). Matta has set a very high bar at X for the next generations to follow.

What I also found interesting was the comment that all of Matta's talent was gone .... David West from two years ago, Sato and Chalmers from this year. But that got me to thinking, weren't they Prosser recruits? Now maybe Matta was on staff there but I recall Matta coming in from a head gig at Butler. So he did not recruit any of these Big Three ..... the three that carried him in his three-year stay at X.

I'm sure the X fans know better than I and will respond but just what did Matta bring to the bench in the form of talent? Some might offer Finn and Myles and Doleman (is that the name?) but I would offer the counter that that doesn't seem like much. Only time will tell.

I think Matta knew the iron could not get any hotter and struck while he could. Realistically, the slope at X is pointing downward right now and his time was right. I don't believe he will succeed .... I think both Gillen and Prosser have not done as well once they stepped up to the bigger time in both the Big East and the ACC. I also believe that Ollie Purnell won't last but one contract run at Clemson.

My final shot would be over the fact that Matta lied. He told everyone in Cincy (the way I understand it) that he was in no way competing for or even under consideration for the OSU job. Now he has it. That, to me, is a personal integrity issue. He should have said ..."hey, for my family and my career, if they talk I'll listen" ... that would have played a whole lot better than what he's leaving now.