« March 30, 2008 - April 5, 2008 | Main | April 13, 2008 - April 19, 2008 »

April 10, 2008

Travis Ford staying at UMass

BY KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer

AMHERST, Mass. -- Travis Ford has told Providence College officials he will not accept their offer to become the next coach at PC, deciding instead to remain at the University of Massachusetts.

There is no word on the Friars' next move in their coaching search, which began when they fired Tim Welsh nearly a month ago.

Posted by Art Martone at 5:29 PM | Comments 2

No word on PC and Travis Ford

BY KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer

PROVIDENCE -- There is no pending word on whether Travis Ford will accept an offer to become the next basketball coach at Providence College.

PC has no press conference scheduled, according to associate AD Arthur Parks. Athletic Director Bob Driscoll is in Providence and no doubt anxiously awaiting some kind of resolution to his courtship of Ford.

The UMass coach spent yesterday at PC but returned to Amherst last night and is on campus there today. There is no word coming from UMass, either.

"John McCutcheon, our athletic director, has a policy of not commenting on speculation regarding coaches," said UMass athletic spokesman Jason Yellin.

UMass is holding its end-of-season team banquet tonight on campus. Representatives of both schools privately say they hope this situation is resolved sometime later today. PC's banquet is scheduled for Monday night.

It's unclear if Ford is asking for more money from UMass. He already has a contract that runs through 2015, so security is not an issue. UMass' athletic department is far from flush with cash and the university system is dealing with major budgetary issues.

What could also be playing out is Ford wishes to tell his team and UMass officials that he is moving on. Doing so before (or at) a public banquet would prove difficult but Ford is scheduled to attend the event.

Posted by Art Martone at 11:27 AM

April 9, 2008

NO PC Decision tonight

We do not expect a decision on PC's courtship of Travis Ford tonight.
Ford and his wife spent all day with PC athletic boss Bob Driscoll and schools president Rev. Brian Shanley. They were still on campus tonight but no announcement from the school is forthcoming. No press conferences are set for tomorrow at this point either.
Ford has a team banquet at the University of Massachusetts scheduled for Thursday night. It would be a major shock if he doesn't give PC his decision by then.
Could Ford turn the Friars down? Sure. He'd be walking away from a huge payday, Big East notoriety and a chance to live in a more vibrant, urban community than Amherst but he's done a very good job at UMass and proven he can win a lot of games (49 in the last two years) in the Atlantic 10. Only fear that he can't do the same (or something remotely close) at Providence should keep him from saying yes to the Friars.

KEVIN McNAMARA

Posted by Kevin at 10:04 PM | Comments 1

Travis Ford's in town, talking with PC

BY KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Providence College's search for a new basketball coach has focused on Massachusetts coach Travis Ford.

Ford, 38, is in Providence today and meeting with athletic director Bob Driscoll. He and his wife just finished a tour of the Dunkin' Donuts Center.

There are no indications that an agreement between the two sides is complete but this is the strongest sign yet that the four-week search could be nearing an end.

"I have not scheduled any press conference for today.'' PC associate athletic director Arthur Parks said.

Ford met with Driscoll at the Final Four in San Antonio. On Tuesday, he issued a statement from his office at UMass that said he no longer wished to be considered for the coaching job vacancy at LSU.

"I would like to make clear that I do not want to be considered for the head job at LSU," Ford said in the statement. "There has been a lot of misinformation circulating about me and the job at LSU. I feel that it is necessary to state that I do not want to be considered for the job."

Ford's interest in other jobs was not addressed, however. UMass finished 25-11 this past season in Ford's third year at the school and the Minutemen lost the NIT championship game to Ohio State, 92-85.

Posted by Kevin at 2:18 PM

April 8, 2008

Friar Fans: Go watch the Sox

BY KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer

PROVIDENCE -- All Providence College basketball fans hungry for a press conference to announce the next coach can rest easy today. Go watch the Red Sox' Opening Day game.

First off, no New England school in its right mind would ever announce anything on Opening Day. This is a true Holy Day for the majority of sports fans in the region.

More importantly, PC isn't closing in on a new coach. Bob Driscoll is set to fly home from San Antonio today. No candidate has met with Fr. Brian Shanley, which clearly must happen before anyone gets hired. In theory, that could occur in the next 2-3 days but we've learned not to hold our breath during this search. We think a search that's already taken plenty of twists and turns has more twisting and turning ahead.

Larry Brown? We hear he's listened to Driscoll in San Antonio. Would he really come here? You can find some long odds somewhere on that one but it sure would make things interesting in Friar Town.

By the way, PC's Driscoll is NOT attending the Frozen Four in Denver this week. He's on the NCAA Hockey committee but has cancelled do to the basketball situation.

Posted by Kevin at 10:31 AM | Comments 2

April 7, 2008

Daniels opts not to go to camp

URI forward Will Daniels has decided not to take part in the Portsmouth Invitational draft camp.

Daniels, who was in Texas last week for the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-Star game at the Final Four, has had a hectic schedule and decided not to go the event in Virginia that runs Wednesday through Saturday.

Daniels had five points and five rebounds in the NABC game as his National All-Star team won, 108-103. Demarcus Nelson of Duke had 21 points Josh Duncan of Xavier 19 for Daniels’ team.

URI guard Parfait Bitee will compete in Portsmouth this week. He is on the Cherry, Berkaert & Holland team with guards Joe Crawford of Kentucky, Derrick Lowe of Washington State and JaJuan Smith of Tennessee along with forwards Brian Butch of Wisconsin, Patrick Ewing Jr. of Georgetown, James Mays of Clemson and Sonny Weems of Arkansas.

Posted by pkenyon at 5:42 PM | Comments 2

Robinson expected to be introduced as Oregon State coach tonight

Here's word from Oregon State's athletic web site.....

Corvallis – Oregon State University Director of Athletics Bob De Carolis is asking “Beaver Nation” to turn out for Monday’s welcoming press conference for the new men’s basketball coach at Oregon State University.

The formal introduction will take place at 4 p.m. in legendary Gill Coliseum.

Brown coach Craig Robinson is expected to be the coach introduced at OSU. He traveled to Oregon this morning but had yet to accept the job. Obviously a press conference will seal the deal.

- KEVIN McNAMARA

Posted by mikemcd at 4:09 PM | Comments 1

April 6, 2008

Brown's Robinson Headed West??

There is a report from FoxSports.com that Brown coach Craig Robinson is ready to accept the coaching job at Oregon State.
That's bad news for Brown and bad news for Providence College, which clearly took a pass on Robinson or at least was caught dragging its feet if it indeed wanted Robinson to be the next Friars' coach.
We're trying to confirm this report as we speak.

Posted by Kevin at 8:05 PM

PC Coach Update

ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla has emerged as a candidate for the vacant PC job. Fraschilla hasn't coached since he was bought out of his contract by New Mexico in 2002 but he is a `name' coach who is an ex-PC assistant under Rick Barnes and was the head coach at St. John's from 1997-98.
Albany coach Will Brown is also in the mix. The New York Daily News reported Sunday that PC had `focused' its search on Brown, Ohio's Tim O'Shea and Brown's Craig Robinson.
More on the PC search in Monday's Journal

KEVIN McNAMARA

Posted by Kevin at 6:33 PM | Comments 3