Done Deal. Mike Anderson To Arkansas

As expected Mike Anderson was named the new head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks.

It's a homecoming for Anderson who spent 17 years as an assistant to Nolan Richardson at Arkansas.

"We are extremely excited to welcome home Mike Anderson to the University of Arkansas as our new head men's basketball coach," Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long said.

"Under Mike's leadership, I am confident the Razorbacks will be successful in the future on and off the court. The decision to hire Mike Anderson as head coach is based on my firm belief that he is the right person to lead the Razorback program today and in the years to come."

"I am extremely excited to once again be a part of this special University and Razorback Athletics." Mike Anderson said. "With the continued passionate support of all Razorback fans, I am confident that we will have the opportunity to succeed on and off the court and continue to build on the University of Arkansas' championship tradition."

The Razorback Foundation board has approved a contract that will pay Anderson $2.2 million a year for seven years, with a $500,000 buyout clause.

After years of stability and NCAA Tournament appearances first under Eddie Sutton and then Nolan Richardson, the Arkansas men's basketball program had been anything but stable since Richardson was let go in 2002. Razorback fans are hoping with Anderson returing to Fayetteville the program will stablize and return to it's winning ways.

Here's player reaction, thanks to our friends at KTHV-TV in Little Rock.

Mike Anderson may stay at Mizzou...or not

Mike Anderson/Courtesy: cuttingdownnets.com

Well, at least Missouri is trying to keep Mr. Anderson as their coach. They've tentatively agreed to give him a raise and extend his contract. Unlike most people struggling for a 1-percent raise, Anderson would get around $500,000, raising his pay to about $2 million a year.

The contract would also add two years to the five remaining on his contract.

The reason. Mizzou wants Anderson to stick around. He's supposedly been heavily courted by Arkansas, who is among several schools in the market for a new head coach.

Read about the extension from STLToday RIGHT HERE

The Columbia Daily Tribune says that the agreement is imminent and in fact, the two sides have been working on it since before the Arkansas rumors starting floating.

You can read that story RIGHT HERE

We believe that Anderson would be insane to go to Arkansas. Yes, we realize he was an assistant there for many years and has some ties. But why would he give up an arguably more lucrative job for that one?

He's built a very solid program in Missouri and with most of his lineup returning for another season, there is no reason to think they won't be better than this years NCAA tourney team.

If he goes to Arkansas, he already has half the crazed, insanely stupid boosters against him. They would be looking for a way to run him out of town like they have so many others. And quite honestly, the Arkansas people are delusional if they think their job is better.

We think most of what happened here with Anderson was just a ploy to get more money. Not that an agent would ever do that for a client. And you know what. Because the coaches now get paid obscene amounts of money, just like the pros....it worked.

Here's the latest, we think, from our friends at KFSM-TV
 

Mike Anderson To Arkansas, Or Not...???

Okay... this is quoting those "numerous confidential sources close to the situation..."

The HQ will check with ours to confirm...

But it looks like Mike Anderson is going to Arkansas from Mizzou...

Anderson, who played for Nolan Richardson at Tulsa and coached under him at Arkansas for 17 years, is expected to accept the head coaching job.

Chris Lincoln started the madness last night... in a Tweet...
Reports out of Arkansas say Mizzou coach Mike Anderson to be introduced tomorrow in Fayetteville as Razorbacks new head basketball coach

KFSM-TV in Fort Smith is reporting that there is a group of Hog Boosters that may be trying to stop the hire because of the association with Richardson...

From Mike Irwin's commentaries:
((KOCO-TV Sports Director Dean)) Blevins wrote that sources close to the job search at Arkansas told him that two factions are in play with different preferences with regard to Anderson.

A group of former Richardson players at Arkansas are pushing Jeff Long to hire Anderson, the source told Blevins. However, according to Blevins’ source, "long-time Razorback people of influence who basically don’t want to have anything to do with anyone connected to Nolan Richardson" are against the hire.

More when we know more...

Tuesday Carousel: Other Than Zeke...

Mike Anderson signed his contract...
Good money- a base salary of $1.35-million and a bunch of spiffs...

Xavier promoted top assistant Chris Mack in the wake of losing Sean Miller to Arizona...
Mack has no head coaching experience. Apparently, AD Mike Bobinski is cool with that...
An announcement is scheduled for Wednesday...

Hasheem Thabeet is tired of playing with smaller-than-he people...
Thabeet then gave standard sound bites about his plans...

DePaul's leading scorer Dar Tucker may have lost his mind...
It remains to be seen. Maybe he just wanted out of an 0-18 team...
Matthew Stafford wants in on one of those...

Anderson Stays in Columbia

((HT: KMBC-TV))

The University of Missouri has struck a deal to keep head coach Mike Anderson in Columbia after he nearly led the basketball program to the Final Four.

MU has reached an agreement on a seven-year contract, which will keep Anderson in charge of the Tigers through the 2015-16 season.

Sources tell KMBC that Anderson's contract will be worth $1.6 million per year.

"We are excited Coach Anderson is going to be at the University of Missouri for a long time," athletics director Mike Alden said in a news release. "He's done a tremendous job rebuilding our basketball tradition and is poised to lead our program to new heights in the coming years."

"I am excited to remain here at Missouri," Anderson said. "We are looking forward to the future of this program and can't wait to continue building on the success of the past season."

Anderson has led the Tigers to a 31-7 record, and the team had an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA tournament.

Several universities had been courting Anderson, including Memphis and Georgia. Sources said Anderson turned down a $2.5 million offer to coach at Georgia.

Here's the report from KSPR-TV:

Cal Gone: Take Me Away To UK

((HT: Memphis Commercial Appeal))

Press conferences start at 9:30 AM eastern time in Lexington for Calipari's introduction.

Dan Wolken starts the Memphis side of the Tigers post-mortem saying Calipari will receive an eight-year, $31.65 million deal plus incentives, according to the University of Kentucky. According to sources close to the process, however, Memphis had offered a deal that was just as lucrative.

Kentucky will pay Memphis a $200,000 buyout that was included in Calipari’s U of M contract.

Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson will hold a news conference at noon Wednesday to discuss plans for the future, as the program moves into its first coaching search since 2000. Donors Alan Graf and Mike Rose will play major roles in the search.

One name at the top of Memphis’ list was removed on Tuesday night when Mike Anderson agreed to a new seven-year contract to stay at Missouri.

The next coach on Memphis’ radar could be Southern California’s Tim Floyd, who has big-time recruiting connections, a track record of college success and NBA head coaching experience. Floyd, who reportedly makes $850,000 at USC, might also be intrigued by the opportunity to coach at a school where basketball is the top priority and doesn’t have to share the spotlight with USC football or UCLA basketball.

According to one of Floyd’s close friends in coaching, he would be interested in the job because of his strong roots in the South, despite his recent acclimation to the West Coast. Floyd owns a home just outside of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where he was born. According to the coach, who requested to remain anonymous, the Memphis job would make a lot of sense for Floyd and he’d be as close to Calipari as Memphis could find in terms of his track record and ability to fit in with the program.

Other names that might come into play include Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy, Miami coach Frank Haith, UTEP coach Tony Barbee, current assistant Josh Pastner or former New Mexico State and Sacramento Kings coach Reggie Theus.

ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla said Memphis can stay relevant if it makes the right hire.

“There’s no question. It will be slightly different,” Fraschilla said. “What John did is going to be tough to duplicate, and I’m not sure most coaches would want to try to step in his shoes, but two guys that could get it done are Tim Floyd and Mike Anderson. They both have the experience and the recruiting ties and the substance to be able to weather what is a tough place to please a great fan base.”

Here's Coach Cal's Landing in Lexington...
((HT: WKYT))


And the flip side from our friends at WHBQ-TV/Fox Memphis...