As the mess at Rutgers unfolds, no one has really commented on it, but one of the potential losers is the Big Ten: having wooed Rutgers away from the Big East, they inherit a mediocre football program with some recent success but which is a long-term train wreck. Now the basketball program is collapsing again. Toss it in with Penn State and the B1g has issues it may not have conceived of prior to this round of expansion.
As for Rutgers, the get-a-Hurley train is rolling into the station. Melissa Hurley is pushing for her dad, who say there's "zero chance" he'll be at Rutgers, and by the way, he's not at all interested in being an assistant for Bobby or Danny either - zero chance there, either. That's oddly refreshing: Dad's still the man.
Realistically, though, that might not be easy. Danny is a logical target, but he's barely landed at Rhode Island. Bobby's just weeks into his first head coaching gig.
Add to that that Rutgers is currently a big fat mess and things could be dicey. People will need to think outside the box. The program is in transition in almost every possible way. What's needed is someone who can stabilize things and make the program appealing to fans and a successor. He doesn't even need to stay that long.
Having a native would be good; having a guy who is an established winner would be as well. Having a guy who can find recruits at a level below the top tier would also be really good, because Rutgers won't be getting Five Star recruits for a while. Toss in substantial Big Ten knowledge and you've got a home run.
We can think of a guy who fits all those requirements. Best of all, he's not working for another school because a couple of years ago, he stepped away, meaning that he's refreshed. Can you think who we're referring to?
Gary Williams, of course.
We're not at all sure he's got the competitive juices out of his system. If we're right, he could go for 3-5 years, which would be enough. His teams would play very hard, he certainly knows the Big Ten, and he's a master at finding guys like Michael Adams, Dana Barros, Lonnie Baxter, JOe Smith, Greivis Vasquez and Jordan Williams.
Whenever he's ready, he could step aside and if things are going well at Siena, then former Williams assistant Jimmy Patsos might be convinced to take over.