Well, crud. There goes the chance to make a big splash. I was convinced that Jordan's personality and strengths/weaknesses were perfect for the college game.

Man, this really is starting to play out like the soccer coaching one. The parallels would have been even closer if Fred Hill's buyout didn't prevent Seth Greenberg from leveraging Rutgers for a bigger extension like he wanted to do.

Time to prepare for the influx of negative publicity surrounding a Fran Fraschilla hire, because that's the best remaining course of action. I still refuse to believe that Mike Rice is a realistic candidate. Not when Fordham and Seton Hall passed. That would be an unconscionably bad decision. People do realize that the Northeast Conference isn't the Atlantic-10, right? It's probably an even bigger risk than hiring a top Big East assistant in Fred Hill.

One more bad hire and the basketball program won't ever dig out, so this is no time to be taking a risk on an unproven commodity. If by chance it's not Fraschilla, or another good option like Fran Dunphy, then Rutgers should turn towards a proven turnaround expert in Jim Baron. He may not have the ceiling of a Rice, but has a higher floor, and I'd argue a better overall chance to succeed. While he hasn't ever made the NCAA Tournament at Rhode Island, that's largely the result of the unpredictability of winning a conference tournament.

edit: wreeee, Al Skinner interviewing. He's instantly the best candidate.