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Mizzou Links, 4-1-11

By Bill Connelly

Mizzou Basketball Links

  • The Trib (Joe Walljasper): Not every story has a villain

    If I had one suggestion for Alden moving forward, it would be about managing misinformation. A misconception that has persisted since last year’s conference-realignment saga is that Alden leaks too much information to the media, creating false expectations. If anything, the opposite is true. He says nothing, even when erroneous reports could use some refuting.

    After Missouri was snubbed by the Big Ten last summer, I asked Alden what he would have done differently if he had it to do over again. He said he would have shot down an incorrect report on a Kansas City radio station that Missouri had received a bid to the Big Ten. By saying nothing, MU appeared to be agreeing with the report.

    It was a similar situation yesterday. A few phone calls could have given Alden some control over the message and tamped down what became a runaway train of optimism. That fueled the perception that Painter’s decision to stay at Purdue was yet another example of Missouri snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

    It wasn’t that at all. It was a coach deciding between two good options and picking the one closest to his heart. Every story doesn’t have a villain.

    This column is simply awesome (definitely worth one of your free clicks), though I do have one qualification to make about the above blurb: the Mizzou athletic department DID come out and attempt to deny the rumors that were flying around.

    The problems are that a) if you deny TOO much (especially when you don't know if he's going to say yes or no ... and apparently Mizzou officials had no idea until about 2:45), then people start assuming that you've been turned down (really nothing wrong with that, I guess, but it's still misinformation of sorts), and more importantly, b) once the rumor is out there, we all view anything else through that prism.  When the Mizzou athletic department began to deny the rumors and call them presumptuous, we all assumed they were doing that because Painter wanted to keep his acceptance under wraps until the inevitable team meeting and official announcement.  Because if he HAD accepted, that's what would have happened.  So once Bernie shared his "I think he's already called and accepted!" piece, it was over for the athletic department.  There was no tamping down optimism or information at that point.
  • KC Star: No time to wallow, Mizzou: Back to work
  • The Missourian (Blog): Search continues for next Missouri coach
    The Missourian (Blog): ESPN's Michael Kim discusses coaching search
  • PowerMizzou: Coaching Candidates, Take Two
  • Post-Dispatch: Weber 'joke' worth considering for Mizzou?
    Post-Dispatch (Burwell): Alden needs to show patience now in coach search

    Chances are, Stevens still remains the improbable, but not impossible, dream. Consider everything I'm telling you informed opinion based on a number of well-placed conversations I've had here in Houston. Stevens is smart enough to know at this point in his coaching life his star is glowing so bright that he can afford to patiently wait for one of those crown-jewel jobs to open up — think Indiana (dream job), North Carolina or Duke (is there anyone in the extended Tar Heel or Dookie family better than Stevens? Nope.).

    On Thursday, he reiterated what we already know. He loves it at Butler. He has already proven that he can do all of that at Butler with its modest budgets, mid-major conference affiliation and Cinderella slippers. He is working with an administration he loves, and an athletics director in Barry Collier who is a former basketball coach who gets it. "Barry Collier has constant vision for growth," Stevens said Thursday. "We go to the national championship game last year and he is still trying to grow (the program), trying to take one more charter flight than before. He puts us in a position to be successful and invest in those things like travel. To do all the things to give us a chance to have success when the clock starts. ... It has been a great place to work."

    But things change rapidly in the college sports world. Presidents come and go. ADs do, too. Today's fascinating working relationships can be tomorrow's problems. So what if that happens at Butler before Stevens' dream job opens up? Before Missouri goes and immediately assumes Stevens would never be interested in a million years in the Missouri job, I want to hear him say no.

Other Basketball Links

Mizzou Football Links

  • Shutdown Corner: Blaine Gabbert and Christian Ponder go under the microscope in 'Game Changers'
  • PowerMizzou: 12 for '12: Part One

Other Football Links

  • Dr. Saturday: NCAA may 'explore' paying players. It may also have no other choice.
  • ESPN.com (Bruce Feldman): Former Florida State star Myron Rolle discusses the state of collegiate athletics

Other Mizzou Links

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