The Forest & The Trees
Jerry Ratcliffe of the Charlottesville (VA) Daily Progress authors a very useful primer on Virginia's coaching search and all matters Dave Odom. I suggest you read "What We Know, What We Don’t Know, and What We Think."
A few observations.
First, it is fair to say that Dave Odom has been less than truthful but not quite dishonest regarding his interest in the opening at Virginia. Either he is (or would like to be) a candidate or he is out of the running. But to on Monday issue this statement only to on Tuesday fail to categorically deny his involvement in Virginia's search in a meeting with South Carolina's players strikes me as less than upstanding behavior.
Second, should Dave Leitao, the current favorite to succeed Pete Gillen, be turned off by his Wednesday morning tour (?) of the University of Virginia and its facilities, and "backup candidate" Dave Odom accept Virginia's offer, semantics won't excuse Odom's actions during the past week. In a recent email, Dave informed me of a report in which Odom is said to have met with Virginia President John Casteen to discuss his interest in the Cavs' head coaching position. Therefore, Odom's aformentioned statement -- which included a note denying that he and Virginia Athletic Director Craig Littlepage had reviewed his interest in returning to UVA -- could be true. But if the report is accurate, Odom's statement is certainly misleading.
Third, as CBS SportsLine's Gregg Doyel suggested, ESPN's Andy Katz too quickly accepted Odom's denial at face value. To his credit, the Washington Post's Mark Schlabach, who along with Eric Prisbell had earlier suggested Odom was Virginia-bound, joined Team Doyel rather than Team Katz, refusing to accept Odom's first denial. Now that we know the story has legs, a fair question is why the normally reliable Katz demonstrated bad judgement. My hypothesis? Andy felt a wee bit guilty after his Monday morning conversation with Odom.
Odom was more than a little upset with the Washington Post story that incorrectly stated that he had been offered the UVa job and was on the verge of accepting it. He was even more upset that ESPN’s Andy Katz called him at 6:45 a.m. yesterday morning to ask him about the Post’s inaccurate story.
Fourth, I'm skeptical of radio host Phil Kornblut's sources. But take Kornblut's report to mean that Virginia has discussed salary requirements with Dave Odom. A very significant development and one that further calls into question the veracity of Odom's denial.
An Internet report Monday night by Phil Kornblut of the South Carolina News Network had Odom agreeing to a contract with Virginia that would bring him $1.5 million a season and that he would be introduced as early as the middle of this week.
Fifth and finally, I must admit I'm shocked to see Tubby Smith's name continue to pop up and surprised at conflicting reports regarding Virginia and Mike Brey. Some say Casteen and/or Littlepage have already contacted Brey, while others say they have yet to do so. But, either way, I can't say I didn't expect South Carolina's recruiting targets to find the entire affair nerve-racking.
One prospect in Tennessee was ready to commit to the Gamecocks when the Washington Post story incorrectly reported that Virginia had offered Odom the job and that he was on the verge of accepting.
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