For Chryst's sake, relax.
Jamie left. End of story. A lot of people on a message board being happy about it IN NO WAY equates to Scott Barnes or the Pitt fan base pushing him out the door. 17 years is a long time. He moved on for whatever reasons he had. But he left.
Barnes was prepared for the move and is taking steps to hire who he feels will be a great replacement.
Sean Miller was the obvious #1 choice - an alum who has big school success. Barnes was smart to target him, but it was always - always - a long shot. He has a spotty history with Pitt which, even if water under the bridge, still likely had an impact to what kind of attachment he has to the school he hasn't been at in almost 20 years. He is at one of the true blue bloods in College basketball - literally one of the 10 top programs - Duke, Carolina, Kentucky, Louisville, UCLA, Kansas, Indiana - name another job bigger than Arizona. He is well paid at Arizona and a raise would never be an issue. For every story that he wanted to get back to the east coast, there was a story that he was happy at Arizona. It was a long shot.
Pitt is now 24 hours post-Dixon, and it doesn't have a coach. That sounds about right. Pitt has the resources to make a great hire. Whether he (or she) has the success JD had or the tenure JD had is, frankly, unlikely. The law of averages suggests that it will not be a 13 year-run like Jamie's. However, if you look at Jamie's run of the last 4 years and the prospects of the next few, that type of success is very attainable, and the right hire might well exceed it.
Jamie left. End of story. A lot of people on a message board being happy about it IN NO WAY equates to Scott Barnes or the Pitt fan base pushing him out the door. 17 years is a long time. He moved on for whatever reasons he had. But he left.
Barnes was prepared for the move and is taking steps to hire who he feels will be a great replacement.
Sean Miller was the obvious #1 choice - an alum who has big school success. Barnes was smart to target him, but it was always - always - a long shot. He has a spotty history with Pitt which, even if water under the bridge, still likely had an impact to what kind of attachment he has to the school he hasn't been at in almost 20 years. He is at one of the true blue bloods in College basketball - literally one of the 10 top programs - Duke, Carolina, Kentucky, Louisville, UCLA, Kansas, Indiana - name another job bigger than Arizona. He is well paid at Arizona and a raise would never be an issue. For every story that he wanted to get back to the east coast, there was a story that he was happy at Arizona. It was a long shot.
Pitt is now 24 hours post-Dixon, and it doesn't have a coach. That sounds about right. Pitt has the resources to make a great hire. Whether he (or she) has the success JD had or the tenure JD had is, frankly, unlikely. The law of averages suggests that it will not be a 13 year-run like Jamie's. However, if you look at Jamie's run of the last 4 years and the prospects of the next few, that type of success is very attainable, and the right hire might well exceed it.
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