Talk among knowledgeable sources about the Gopher basketball job is that Flip Saunders is the No. 1 choice. “The job is Flip’s to turn down or accept,” a source said.
Saunders, Bob Knight and Rick Majerus continue to be the top names drawing speculation about the position that opened up when Dan Monson departed following the Clemson game on November 29. Publicly none of the three has indicated he’s pursuing the job but sources say Saunders, Knight and Majerus could be interested.
Saunders reportedly makes about $5 million per year to coach the Detroit Pistons. Doubters ask why Saunders would walk away from so much money while coaching at the highest level of basketball to accept the Gopher job. But Saunders has made a lot of money already during his 12 year NBA coaching career and earning perhaps $2 million as Gopher coach ain’t bad.
Saunders is a former Gopher player and assistant coach, has two children attending the University (he could coach son Ryan, a senior on next year’s team), still has a home here, and could give up the intense travel and egocentric players of the NBA to come home to be a college coach. Don’t discount the possibility, too, that Saunders might enjoy taking over some of the basketball interest in this town from the Timberwolves who encouraged him to leave Minneapolis when they fired him.
A source said Saunders was approached about the Gopher job in 1999 before the University hired Monson. Saunders turned down the opportunity to remain as the Timberwolves coach but reportedly said that in the future he might be interested in college coaching.
Opinion is only Saunders or Knight could sell out Williams Arena for all games next season, generating much needed revenue for the always budget challenged University Athletic Department. The feel good story of the charismatic Saunders coming home, or college coaching bad boy Knight taking over the Gophers will juice University athletics like nothing else since Lou Holtz dazzled Minnesotans with his one-liners and coaching resume upon arrival here in 1984.
Does Knight have influential upper Midwest friends who are promoting his candidacy for the Gopher job? Sources say some successful Minnesotans are pushing Knight’s name. Through his many years as Indiana and Texas Tech coach Knight has enjoyed making friends in this area while attending speaking engagements and hunting and fishing. Since being ousted as Indiana coach in 2000, there has been speculation Knight is interested in returning to the Big Ten Conference. Knight’s reputation for controversy, though, makes it unlikely he will draw support from the politically correct University administration and perhaps the Big Ten office.
Has Majerus already expressed strong interest in the Gopher job? The former Utah coach who took the Utes to the final four has been out of coaching since 2004. The guess from afar has been that at 58 years old and a history of heart trouble the portly Majerus is more interested in having his name linked to job openings than interviewing for them, but don’t be so sure this time. If Majerus becomes the coach, you get a side show watching the big guy navigate the steps to and from the raised Williams Arena court.