Hoops coaching carousel starts turning

With only two weeks remaining in the college basketball season, we're starting to see coaching moves and rumors popping up across the country. I came upon two interesting notes today concerning the coaches of two prominent Penn opponents: Villanova and Princeton.

ESPN Insider, citing Adam Zagoria's ZagsBlog.com, listed Sydney Johnson as a candidate for the opening at Fairfield after the Stags' Ed Cooley moved on to Providence. It doesn't seem to be anything more than a rumor at this point, and Johnson's name was part of a list of five different candidates to replace Cooley. I would be utterly shocked if Johnson left Princeton, at least this season. Frankly I find it interesting his name is even being tossed around, not because he's unworthy of a better gig, but because I just don't see him leaving Princeton anytime soon.

According to GoVolsXtra.com, 'Nova's Jay Wright is being considered as one of five leading candidates to take over for Bruce Pearl at Tennessee. This seems like a much more likely scenario than Sydney Johnson leaving Princeton. 'Nova loves Jay Wright, and he loves 'Nova, Philadelphia, and the Big 5, but I don't see him being as tied down to the Wildcats as Johnson is to his alma mater. It definitely wouldn't be an easy or obvious move for Wright to make. Some might even see it as a step down from Villanova to Tennessee (I would be on that boat). But in the craziness of the coaching carousel, this at least seems plausible and it's worth keeping an eye on. Wright's name has come up in coaching rumors the past few years, and after a very tumultuous end to this season, it might be the time we see him move on.

Ed's note: rumors are also swirling around the internet that former Penn coach and current director of basketball operations at UConn, Glen Miller is top on the candidate list for an opening at Colgate. Interestingly, the athletic director at Colgate, David Roach, was the AD at Brown when Miller was hired there, so the two are already well acquainted.