Taking a moment from pissing on the angst of Pitt fans that there is no Pitt men’s basketball head coach in place. That present Rhode Island Coach Dan Hurley may not want Pitt.

To bring you this.

Rhode Island head basketball coach Dan Hurley has received a contract offer from Pitt with an annual salary north of $3 million, multiple sources have informed FanRag Sports. Hurley is currently weighing whether or not to stay with the Rams or accept an offer from either Connecticut or Pitt, the latter of which would serve as the more lucrative option.

Sources have also indicated to FanRag Sports that Hurley is likely to make a decision on his future at some point in the next 24 hours.

Hoo-boy.

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Nothing really to report or pass on. Just a couple articles and thoughts.

Eric Musselman is likely out of the running now. Simply because I doubt Pitt can wait for him now that he got Nevada into the Sweet 16. I mean, unless they KNOW they he is already in the can. Which I find highly improbable. Still, he seems like an amusing maniac.

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And by approaches, I mean in the next 72 hours. Not the next 6.

I’ve been enjoying the hell out of the NCAA Tournament this weekend. The wife and oldest are on a Girl Scout camping trip. Just the boy and I binging on basketball. Well, I’m binging. He’s casually watching every now and again while playing video games or with Legos.

The UMBC upset of Virginia was mind-blowing. And as much as it was presumed, that eventually a 16 would take down a 1. That was not the one anyone expected, and certainly not like that. The close calls over the years.  All the #1 seeds that may have struggled, even late into the second half, put it together to pull it out. Instead, to watch Virginia implode. It’s not just simply the way UVa panicked on offense and started rushing things.

It was their vaunted packline defense being shredded. Yes, UMBC was great on their 3-point shooting, but the way the guards just blew past them to the basket. That just doesn’t happen very often. Plenty of teams have tried, but rarely succeed.

Their head coach, Ryan Odom, once presumed to be the guy targeted by ECU as their next head coach might have other options (probably not Pitt, though).

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“Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see.”

–Edgar Allen Poe

Obviously, Poe was familiar with coaching searches.

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Especially when the relationship crash and burns so quickly.

So, maybe Pitt is trying not to pay the full $9.4 million buyout to Kevin Stallings as previously reported.

In a meeting Thursday in which Stallings was terminated, 93.7 The Fan has learned the Pitt administration offered two paths for Stallings’ impending departure. He could:

•  Accept a reduced buyout of $4.8M, which works out to about half the sum of the buyout language in his contract.

OR

• Not accept the $4.8M reduced buyout offer and be met with a “for cause” termination for his actions at Louisville, thus forfeiting the totality of his buyout.

Multiple sources confirmed to 93.7 The Fan that Stallings was unwilling to accept either condition — and a previously reported $7.5M reduced buyout was never formally offered at the meeting to him — so his exact conditions in terms of separation from the University of Pittsburgh remain in flux.

I don’t know.

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I’ve been out for work since about 6 this morning and only got home a short while ago. I know what I missed. Now, I’m here and the decision was made to pop open one of my Dogfish 120s.

AD Heather Lyke’s press release was short and to the point.

University of Pittsburgh Director of Athletics Heather Lyke announced today that Kevin Stallings will no longer be the Panthers’ head men’s basketball coach.

“I want to express my appreciation to Coach Stallings for his commitment to our program,” Lyke said. “In moving forward, we have tremendous expectations for our men’s basketball program at Pitt and I believe we can achieve great things within the Atlantic Coast Conference and nationally. A national search for the next Pitt head coach will begin immediately.”

The relief for Pitt fans is palpable.

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Good news, spring football practices begin on Monday. There’s no pesky post-season tournaments to distract anyone from that for a second straight year. Yay?

Apropos of absolutely nothing, but my undying love for Bill Raftery is this gem of wisdom.

I asked the legendary Bill Raftery today if he’s ever thought about joining Twitter. His outstanding response: “No, and I’ll tell you why — because at 11:30 at night when I’ve had my 10th drink, I’m liable to say something that will cost me my job.”

Words to live by.

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There is more then a sense of inevitability to Kevin Stallings’ fate. Pitt plays at 2pm today at the Barclays Center against Notre Dame, and there is little reason to think things will be different then the previous 18 ACC games.

At some point after the conclusion of that game — be it days or a week — Stallings will be fired. All rumors and tips are that a buyout has been negotiated.

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7pm, ESPNU.

Oh, good. Bonzie Colson will finally return to the Irish line-up tonight. Always nice to have a warm-up game when returning from injury.

This is the final regular season game for Pitt. 0-ACC regular season looks solid. Oh, and in ACC Tournament it looks like Pitt will face ND or Syracuse.

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If you feel like it, I did a podcast Sunday night with Talkin ACC Sports.

For the most part, I kept things coherent. That is until I had to talk about whether Kevin Stallings will be back for a third year as the head coach of Pitt Men’s Basketball.

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4pm

ESPNU

During the ESPN College Basketball Game Day, they asked whether Pitt would break 45 points against Virginia today.

Have to be honest, I thought they had the line a little high. Perhaps it was so they could all go under, but if I was trying to gauge the O/U line, 40 seems like the sweet spot. 1 point per minute of game. Not too low to be absurd, but with Pitt’s offense, Virginia’s defense and both sides’ slow tempo; just enough to make you unsure.

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Maybe it was just the ineptitude of Wake Forest that made the loss feel like the end of Stallings. Maybe it has been seeing his name on so many of the “hot seat” articles this week. Maybe it’s because no one was watching the game — at the Pete or even on TV. Hell, maybe it’s because it is snowing this morning where I live after being 70, two days ago.

Whatever the reason, there is almost a palpable feeling that Pitt basketball coach Kevin Stallings has moved into the terminal stage.

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9pm (goddammit), multiple RSNs.

In what many are calling Pitt’s last, best chance for a wi– No. Sorry. Can’t do it. Tried to type it, but it wouldn’t happen.

Let’s see. Pitt is really slow offensively. Yep.

Ron Cook is feeling downright ghoulish, then sort of feels bad about it, but not really.

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Remember the Pitt-Syracuse football game this past year? The one where Kenny Pickett had his redshirt blown for one play because Ben DiNucci couldn’t keep his helmet on? Lots of frustration at that point since there was no indication that Pickett was going to get much of a chance to play that season. Obviously that changed with the Miami game. One of the expected changes to the redshirting rule would have let Pickett stay redshirted.

If a new rule proposal goes through, that decision could be a lot easier and not cost anyone anything. The Atlantic Coast Conference has submitted a proposal to allow all players to participate in any four games without losing a redshirt, the designated term for a player who practices with the team but does not participate in game competition, thus preserving a season of playing eligibility. The proposal will be voted on by the NCAA Division I Council in April. If passed, it could go into effect as early as this fall but would not be retroactive to past seasons.

So, no it wouldn’t give Pickett back another year of eligibility, but this is a very exciting thought going forward.

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6pm, ESPNU.

You know things are bad, when the Pitt quick notes, includes this.

Pitt has dropped 14 consecutive games, the longest streak in program history. The Panthers have dropped 18 consecutive regular season league contests.

Those are notes from Pitt. The part where they try and spin as positive as possible. Yet, there is no hiding from this reality.

A little unintentional fun from the ACC schedule makers. The last time Pitt won a regular season ACC game was exactly a year ago, against the same team they face today. That’s right, Pitt whipped up on FSU 80-66 on February 18, 2017.

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