Coaches get hired and fired all the time, especially in college basketball. But when big programs decide to make changes, it's big news. And when Penn men's basketball coach Fran Dunphy is involved in the rumor-mongering -- with which he has been involved with increasing frequency over the last few years -- it's big news here.
Dunphy found himself in such a situation again yesterday. ESPN college basketball reporter and analyst Andy Katz said on ESPNews that Georgetown University was considering the Quakers' coach for the last 15 seasons to replace the recently-fired Craig Esherick.
"That's news to me," Dunphy said last night. He then added that "I think anytime your name is mentioned in these kinds of circles it's flattering, but I have a very good job here at the University of Pennsylvania."
I'd say from that we can be pretty sure Fran is staying here in Philadelphia. Which is a good thing, and not just for Penn fans.
To put it succinctly, Georgetown basketball has had some issues over the last few years. For one thing, it has had trouble stepping out of the shadow of legendary coach John Thompson, who won the 1984 national championship and is still a major presence on the Washington sports scene, with a popular show on Washington's sports radio station.
The result over the last few years has been something of which I, as a D.C. native and longtime follower of the Hoyas, have not been particularly proud.
Attendance at the MCI Center in downtown Washington has fallen sharply while the local media have rightly shifted coverage to Maryland, George Washington and American University. Students had planned a "Fire Esherick" rally, coincidentally for the very day Esherick was sacked.
Yet in many ways, Dunphy is a great candidate to head to the part of D.C. known as The Hilltop. Like Penn, Georgetown is one of the Northeast's great academic institutions. Whether or not people nationally care about Penn all that much, they at least know who we are for our numerous appearances in the NCAA Tournament over the years. And Dunphy is used to working in a big city, with the increased media attention that it entails.
Dunphy admitted that he hasn't been paying too much attention to Georgetown's troubles lately, with enough on his plate as the Quakers' coach to keep him busy this time of year.
"I haven't thought about it," he said. "I'm busy trying to finish up our recruiting and trying to do the best I can. We're trying to make Penn basketball better at this point."
He wasn't being adversarial about it, just telling the truth.
Another candidate under consideration is Princeton head coach John Thompson III, son of the Hoyas legend. That makes a lot of sense in ways beyond the familial -- Thompson is a great coach, whether or not Penn fans want to admit it, and Princeton is also an outstanding academic institution with national recognition in college basketball.
"I have great respect for John Thompson as a basketball coach and more importantly as a person," Dunphy said of his Princeton counterpart. "I'm sure if the Georgetown folks chose to be interested in John that he would be very good at coaching anywhere. He's just a good man and a good coach."
I suspect, though, that it would be in the best interest of Georgetown if the two coaches decided to stay apart. I don't mean to offend either Dunphy or John Thompson III, but Georgetown probably needs a true "big name" coach to bring both the sizzle and the steak back to Hoyas basketball. Neither of those two quite fit the bill, despite the latter's name recognition.
Dunphy has a job that he loves dearly, a well-built reputation as one of Philadelphia's best coaches at any level and an incredibly talented young core of players that he brought here. All those things can, and should, flourish as long as he continues to walk the Palestra's sidelines for the Red and Blue.
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