How is GU Impacted by Olson's Departure?

Yesterday brought the college basketball world the stunning news of Lute Olson's departure as head coach of the Arizona Wildcats. Olson is one of the great coaches of the last 25 years, as he amassed 780 wins throughout his Hall of Fame career. While there is no denying the greatness of Olson, the point of this blog is to examine things from the perspective of a Gonzaga University fan. The main question is, will GU be impacted by Olson's departure from Arizona?

- The most important aspect of Olson's departure, is that it opens up a head-coaching job at one of the top basketball schools in the Pac-10. And I am not alone in thinking that one of the first coaches that Arizona will contact at the end of the season is Mark Few. Arizona has announced Russ Pennell as the interim coach for this season, and unless he gets the Wildcats to the Final 4, this will likely be his only year as head coach. Here is what Gary Parrish had to say on the topic

"But again, I'm just throwing out Grant, Bennett and Pastner as back-up plans, because the first two options should be Few and Dixon. Both are experienced and proven winners with west-coast ties (Few has been in the WCC forever and is from Oregon; Dixon is from the Los Angeles-area and assisted Ben Howland at Northern Arizona in the mid-1990s) and still young enough (Few is 45, Dixon 42) to where it's reasonable to think they'll be going strong for at least another 15 years. And, yes, I honestly believe one of them (if not both) would accept an offer after this season under certain circumstances because they will both be facing revamped rosters in 2009-10, making it an ideal time to leave if they were ever going to leave (Gonzaga will lose Jeremy Pargo, Josh Heytvelt, Micah Downs and perhaps Austin Daye after this season; Pitt will lose Sam Young, Levance Fields and perhaps DeJuan Blair)."

"As for Few specifically, at what point does he become bored killing folks in the WCC? You’ve got to think he'll want to try something new at some point, and Arizona would be a great situation, about as good a situation as would ever present itself. So those would be the reasons for Few to leave Gonzaga, to face a new challenge and see if he can run one of the nation's power programs."

TKR's Take: Parrish offers a very compelling argument for why Mark Few would leave. There is no denying that this Arizona is one of the premier jobs in the country. Many GU fans have long speculated that if Coach Few were to ever leave it would be to Oregon or to replace Lute Olson at Arizona. Despite saying all this, I still don't believe that Coach Few would leave for Arizona. My main argument for this is that Mark Few is the Gonzaga Bulldogs. He is the face of the program, and along with the early success of Dan Monson, he has built the program to these amazing heights. If he were to go to Arizona, would the Wildcats ever be his program? I don't believe so. Coach Few would spend every game of every season under the giant shadow that Coach Olson casts over the Arizona program. Olson built the Wildcats from the laughingstock of the Pac-10 to a perennial Final 4 contender. Does Few really want to subject himself to that microscope and scrutiny? Few has built Gonzaga to one of the premier programs in the nation, and is able to recruit the top talent across the country. Being in Spokane, he does not have the pressure of needing a Final 4 appearance every season to please the rabid fan base.

The other interesting aspect of Olson's departure is what will will happen with his recruiting class. The 09 class originally consisted of Abdul Gaddy (recruited by Gonzaga, from Tacoma), Solomon Hill (recruited by Gonzaga), and Mike Moser (from Portland, Oregon). According to Gary Parrish:

" Arizona's recruiting class is falling apart, as predicted.

Scout.com is reporting that both Mike Moser and Solomon Hill -- a pair of top 65 national prospects -- have decommitted from the Arizona program since Lute Olson's Thursday retirement, leaving Abdul Gaddy as the only Class of 2009 product still verbally committed to the Wildcats. However, a source has told CBSSports.com that Gaddy will also likely decommit soon, and that UCLA is emerging as a probable destination.

Gaddy, a point guard from Tacoma, Wash., is ranked as the ninth-best prospect in the Class of 2009.

Arizona will announce later today that assistant Russ Pennell will coach the Wildcats on an interim basis."

TKR's Take: As much as I would love to see Abdul Gaddy in a Gonzaga uniform, it just isn't going to happen. At this point I would be beyond stunned if Gaddy isn't a member of the UCLA Bruins recruiting class. The more realistic prospects to look at are Solomon Hill and Mike Moser.

Solomon Hill is a 6'6 wing that has improved dramatically over the past year. However, I never got a great read on how serious GU was in its recruitment of Solomon. He expressed interest in visiting Gonzaga prior to his committment to Arizona, but at this point it seems that USC is the school to beat for Hill. However, if the Zags could somehow lure Hill to Spokane, he would be a great complement to a class of Dower and Arop.

Mike Moser is another available prospect who I would love to see the Zags go after. Moser is a 6'8 SF, who has a world of potential. At this point, Moser is an elite level defender, but his offensive game is a struggle. Moser is an incredibly hard worker, and has put lots of strength in the past year. He has also improved his offensive game, and demonstrates the potential to be an elite player. I'm not sure why the Zags haven't recruited him, as Moser is a native of Portland, Oregon.

Interview with Gary Franklin....head coach of Solomon Hill

Today is a good day for all you recruiting fans....as our correspondent was able to get an interview with Gary Franklin, the head coach of California Supreme and Solomon Hill. Our correspondent was able to catch up with coach Franklin, who was at the Lebron James camp, watching Solomon play. TKR would like to thank both coach Franklin and our correspondent for making this interview happen.

TKR: Solomon's recruiting stock seems to have soared recently. What do you think is the reason for his sudden notoriety?

Coach Franklin: Most of that is just most coaches have not had the opportunity to see him play. At his high school he has been surrounded by high profile players like Stanback (Chace Stanback) and Sidney(Renardo Sidney). Now he is being give the chance to step away from these great players, and people are being able to see him as a player himself. He also can guard and play in the post as well as on the wing.

TKR: Where have you seen the greatest improvement in Solomon's game over the past year?

Coach Franklin: That's tough, because he has improved in so many different ways. His ball-handling and his ability to see the floor and being a good floor leader. He has been working really hard on improving individual stuff, as well as working non-stop to improve as a team player.

TKR: What schools have been contacting Solomon the most? Where has he visited, and does he have any more unofficial visits planned?

Coach Franklin: Oregon State, Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Utah and lots of other schools. USC is the only official visit he has taken. He has a visit planned to Arizona in August.

TKR: How has Solomon performed at the Lebron camp so far?

Coach Franklin: He has played really well. It is interesting seeing some of these writers listing him in their top-20 or top-30 players. He is a beautiful player and honestly I think a lot of coaches haven't seen him to much because of the role he has to play on his high school team. With Sidney and Stanback he had to do a lot of things for his high school team from playing in the post to guarding the wing and the post. He has had to play a lot of different roles for his high school team. At this camp, a player on his team got hurt, so he actually ran the point.

TKR: What is the schedule for California Supreme the rest of the summer?

We will be playing the the Peach Jam starting on July 12th. Then we will go to Vegas and play in the Main Event starting on July 22nd. Then we will play in either the Full Court Press or The Best of Summer tournament, we haven't decided on that yet.

Hill and Burton shine at Pangos

This past weekend, two GU recruits put on a great display at the Pangos All-American camp. Both Solomon Hill and Joe Burton were recognized for their terrific performances.

Solomon Hill is a versatile wing, who along with Tyler Honeycutt, is the main focus at the wing position for the coaching staff. Hill is such an elite talent due to the versatility that he displays on the court. He does everything on the court at a high level, including being a very strong defender and rebounder. The one aspect of his game that he does need to work on is his jump shot. It has been described as solid but inconsistent. It seems that if he can sure this part of his game up, then he has the makings of being an incredible talent. Texas seems to be the school to beat for Hill, but he has mentioned the Zags numerous times recently, and it seems the staff is really stepping up its recruiting of Hill.

The other recruit who really shined was Joe Burton. This has been a theme for Burton throughout the Spring/Summer AAU circuit. He has consistently impressed people with how he uses his big body to grab rebounds and finishes well at the hoop. His big frame, and the way he rebounds, has reminded many Zag fans of JP Batisita. For me, this is the ultimate compliment for any big man. One aspect of Burton's game that is getting lots of notice, is the fact that he is a great passer. Anybody who watched Kevin Love this past season known that a great passing big man can really ignite a team's fast break offense. Burton has mentioned that the Zags have been recruiting him, and I have to believe that if he comes to campus for a visit, the Zags have a good shot of landing him.