Another year, another coaching scandal, or two… actually there have been a LOT of coaching scandals in the SEC this year. Thankfully none of them have involved John Calipari, because we all know that would dominate the media (what does Pat Forde write about during times like this?).
The latest SEC coaching scandal was covered [URL=”http://www.nationofblue.com/report-john-pelphrey-violated-ncaa-rules-5853/”]here[/URL] this afternoon and involves John Pelphrey of Arkansas. Evidently coaches are not allowed to have ANY contact with recruits away from campus until July of their senior year. Who knew? Repeat after me coach, “no photos please…”
Aside from Pelphrey, it seems that Mississippi State’s Rick Stansbury is not guaranteed to return next year. The [URL=”http://blogs.clarionledger.com/msu/2011/03/09/qa-stricklin-on-stadium-expansion-cowbells-and-the-basketball-program/”]Clarion-Ledger is reporting[/URL] that Mississippi State athletic director Scott Stricklin would not answer questions about Stansbury’s return directly, and danced around the topic in a recent interview. I think Stansbury has had a lot of success overall. Unfortunately, he has suffered recently from multiple players leaving the program and a few problem players monopolizing the local media.
Of course we are well aware of the recent issues Bruce Pearl has suffered through regarding recruiting violations. Not only did he host some recruits at a barbecue, but he lied to the NCAA about it. The NCAA has yet to rule on Pearl’s indiscretions, but it doesn’t look good. Tennessee seems to be standing behind their man, but the NCAA may not give them a choice.
Who else? [URL=”http://www.mrsec.com/2011/03/three-coaches-could-make-their-final-sec-tourney-appearances-tomorrow/”]According to MrSEC[/URL], Andy Kennedy over at Ole Miss may be in the hot seat as well. The reason? Despite four 20-win seasons in 5 years, Kennedy hasn’t seen one NCAA tourney bid. And let’s be honest. Coaches Trent Johnson at LSU and Darrin Horn at South Carolina are probably only one year away from making local headlines if they don’t earn an NCAA bid. Both third year coaches have seen declines since outstanding first years. The only “safe” jobs right now probably belong to John Calipari, Billy Donovan (Florida), Anthony Grant (Alabama), Kevin Stallings (Vanderbilt) and Mark Fox (Georgia).
