Our coaching search coverage is sponsored by WealthTrust Asset Management.“
Success in business can be obtained by identifying and exploiting inefficiencies in the competition.” – John G. McHugh
We recognize that our competition is the benchmark assigned to each of our strategies. Remarkably, the average portfolio manager outperforms its benchmark only 20% of the time, our portfolios have outperformed their assigned benchmark approximately 80% of the time over the last 19 years. Please stop by www.wealthtrustam.com for performance history.
Here is yesterday's rumor mill
We'll start with a little bit of "news." I put that word in quotes because this is the rumor mill. It's virtually impossible to say what is and is not news. I'm confident Missouri has started meeting with potential candidates via Zoom. I cannot tell you how many at this point, but I'm confident the talks have started. How quickly that moves to in-person interviews and a decision probably largely depends on how many coaches they feel like they need to talk with are playing in the NCAA Tournament.
*I have now had two people mention each of the following coaches as ones Mizzou is at least exploring and would like to check on. I want to say up front that these are names I debated even putting out there because I don't view either one as remotely realistic. But this is the rumor mill and I told you guys you'd hear what I heard, so here we go (insert my worthless warning to not start inventing scenarios in your head where Missouri hires these coaches).
Anyway, both Danny Hurley and Kelvin Sampson were mentioned to me as names Missouri will look into. Those names came from people I trust and who have had information at times in the past. So they very well may be accurate. Again, I simply don't see either one as a realistic hire for Mizzou. Both Hurley and Sampson currently have "mid-major" jobs, but I think it's pretty easy to argue they also currently both have better jobs than Missouri. UCONN is one of the best programs in the country over the last 30 years and Houston went to a Final Four last year.
Hurley recently signed a 2-year extension that takes him through the 2027 season. He makes $2.9 million per year. The buyout is $10 million until April 1. That's a lot of cash. Plus, Hurley is a career East Coaster with, again, a better job right now. See no way it happens.
Sampson also recently signed a two-year extension through 2027. He made $3.1 million this year and gets a $100,000 raise every year. Sampson's buyout is the remainder of the contract, which means it's somewhere around $15 million I believe. That plus the fact he's 66 years old makes this a ridiculous notion unless I'm somehow misunderstanding the buyout.
*Colorado State signed Niko Medved to an extension yesterday through the 2029 season. In reading, his buyout is 1/3 of the base salary remaining on his contract. That adds up to $3.17 million. He will make $1.1 million next season. So the finances aren't impossible at all. If Missouri really wants to hire Medved, it still could. The Tigers could double or triple his salary and eat the $3.1 million buyout and the cost isn't as much as getting some of the higher profile names even after the extension. But if Medved was really looking, he probably doesn't sign this. Taking a new job two weeks after you sign a seven-year deal isn't a great look that inspires loyalty. The Rams are a six seed and have most of the roster coming back which is a two-fold problem: He'll win more in the immediate future at CSU than he will at Mizzou and you're going to have to wait at least a week to be able to talk to him and negotiate. It seems unlikely to me he is that much better than anyone else on the list that he's worth all of that.
*Based on conversations I've had, I don't believe Chris Mack is going to be a candidate here. I think there are too many question marks about what happened at Louisville and too much baggage for Mizzou.
That's all the "news" for now.
Last edited:
