Keep in mind how Pitt stepped up when Maggie Dixon passed away. Dixon strikes me as someone that won’t forget that. I know Loyalty is a thing of the past but can’t help to think that it still is applicable with Jamie.

What Ben Howland has done with our program is unbelievable. He took us from a point far lower than UCLA ever should have been allowed to sink to and brought us three Final Four appearances in a row. He did this with very young squads. He did this with squads that were pieced together with some players out of position. He’s been so successful 4-year guys have become 3- or even 2-year guys. Howland is, without a doubt, the coach I want for UCLA.

Let me assure you that Dixon will not leave Pitt for USC. He’s been living in PIttsburgh for 10 years, he gets paid very well, his kids were all born in Pittsburgh, his wife works for the University, he has one of the best facilities in the nation (the Pete),…and he’s in the best conference in the country.

He would leave all that for what? USC? A football school that will constantly be in the shadows of UCLA? Dixon and Howland are friends but I’m sure he wants to forge his own career without having to deal with Howland on a yearly basis. The Pitt administration has treated Dixon extremely generously, even flying his entire family on private jets for his sisters memorial service. Dixon is a loyal guy, I think he’ll stick with Pitt.

Even if Howland goes pro,…I don’t think UCLA can lure Dixon. Thats how strong his ties are here.

Also,…he was already offered the Cal job, and the Arizona job,…..he turned down both. Why in the hell would he accept the USC job over the Zona?

Why the hell would Dixon leave a great situation (Pitt: perennial Sweet Sixteen/Elite Eight team with a top-20 recruiting class coming in) for a program that’s iffy at best (USC: perennial first/second round team about to lose their two best players and their best incoming recruit)? I think the “Southern California native” thing only goes so far. Like ismail said, he’s been living in Pittsburgh for 10 years, gets paid very well, and has set up a family there. And I don’t know this for sure, but can USC afford to pay Dixon (or any big-name coach for that matter) top dollar, since they already have so much money committed to their football program? Add it all up and I doubt Dixon comes if Floyd goes.

If Timmeh leaves, and if his recruits follow him, do they have to give back all the money they’ve already received from justsc? Or is that just one of the risks justsc takes when they make those kinds of payments?

Late April fools? Don’t scare me. I don’t want to see Dixon as sc.

As Pitt fans,…we’ve gone through this before. Last year Cal went after Dixon hard and he showed absolutely no interest. Andy Katz recently reported that Dixon is extremely pleased with his situation in Pittsburgh. Dixon is also a very low key guy by nature, for example he has a reputation of being a bad interview in the sense that it doesn’t come naturally to him and he would prefer to do the coaching without the media spotlight. I don’t see how USC would be more comfortable for him that Pittsburgh in any sense.

If anything, he could’ve had the Arizona job and he declined.

Cons: Lateral move or step down, Always second fiddle in LA, Compete with Howland for talent, Always second to football program, More media focus/expectations, NCAA cloud

Pros: Hometown, Better weather, Pay?

Unless he is dying to get back to LA or gets a huge offer, it seems to me he waits for an offer from an established program.

Zona supporters can say that the big names passed on them because they were looking at a rebuilding job like IU is going through. Not buying it. CBH was looking at a similar situation when he took over and yet, he got us into the Tourney in his 2nd season. THIS is why those that talk about CBH has no freakin’ clue.

Would you like some more Humble Pie zona? LOL!

Cmon wildcats, you can do it.
Don’t let us down

and bothered to go to an interview only not to get made an offer…

They had all year to work on this search, kept it supersecret the whole time, and have now been rejected by their top 4 candidates?

Livengood can’t be good for much longer.

I’ve been critical of how this past season went, and I’ve heaped some of that criticism on our head coach. But any notion that Ben Howland isn’t THE coach we should have hired, or the coach we want going forward, is ridiculous. It took UCLA over 25 years to find a very, very good coach who also willingly embraced our legacy of success and championships. For years, no one good wanted this job because they didn’t want to deal with the “Wooden” pressure. Additionally, while I think Howland isn’t perfect, I expect he’ll continue to improve as a coach over time. He had never advanced very far in the NCAA tourney prior to coming to UCLA — it’s not like he had a track record of doing that. Yet he did it with a UCLA team that, on paper at least, no one expected he could. At the time, he was playing two previously-under-achieving Lavin recruits and some freshman from Cameroon (LRMA) no one had really ever heard of.

Floyd, to me, is a better version of Lavin: He wins some games he shouldn’t, and he loses some games he shouldn’t. Occasionally he surprises, like winning the PAC 10 tourney this year (see: Lavin’s record of getting us into the Sweet 16, where his teams would be summarily and embarrassingly sent packing.) I say Floyd is better because he’s a better coach, overall, and a better recruiter. I hope he stays at SC at least long enough to see his head literally explode in the middle of a game.