Salaries for MWC coaches

From this Chris Murray article, comes Mountain West Conference head coach salary information:

1. Steve Fisher (SDSU), $951,000

2. Craig Neal (New Mexico), $950,000

3. Larry Eustachy (Colorado State), $928,000

4. Leon Rice (Boise State), $738,573

5. Stew Morrill (Utah State), $715,138*

6. Dave Rice (UNLV), $700,000

7. Larry Shyatt (Wyoming), $650,008

8. Dave Wojik (SJSU), $403,848

9. Eric Musselman (Nevada), $400,000**

10. Rodney Terry (Fresno State), $350,000

11. Dave Pilipovich (Air Force), $250,000

Average, $639,688

More on Nai Carlisle

Nathan Baird quotes Nai Carlisle's father extensively regarding his son's de-commit from San Jose State University. The best news in it is the junior will still trip to Washington Square.

Trying to be neither naive nor cynical, it just seems West Lafayette will be his landing spot but time will tell. The guess here is he will commit in November which is the first month a prospect can sign.

The latest on Juwan Anderson

You never know (always an important preface when writing about recruiting) but it seemingly doesn't look good for SJSU landing guard Juwan Anderson. He did an unofficial at St. Mary's followed by an official at Washington Square and now he's taking an official with the Gaels.

From Jeff Depelteau (his coach at Suffield Academy in CT): "Juwan Anderson '15 will visit St. Mary's (CA) on Monday!"

Then from Depelteau: "LIU-Brooklyn is the latest school to begin recruiting Juwan Anderson '15"

St. Mary's has already signed a 6-foot-1 heralded guard out of Idaho and has a Boston College transfer who sat out this season and plays the point. So who knows?

Carlisle decommits

Via Kristof Kendrick: "Nai Carlisle, Indiana Elite 2016 point guard & Jr. All-Star has decommitted from San Jose State. Will be 1 of Top PG's on Adidas Gauntlet."

Maybe connected to this from Jeff Rabojohns: "2016 Arsenal Tech (IN) PG CJ Walker has re-opened his recruitment from Purdue."

Another Kendrick tweet: "4 those wondering the Walker+Carlisle decommits ARE A COINCIDENCE. Carlisle is open to ALL schools, PU staff will reevaluate its options."

Carlisle and his family used to live in Santa Clara County but are now in Indiana, West Lafayette specifically. Duane Carlisle, Nai's father, is the Director of Sports Performance at Purdue. He previously worked for the 49ers.

SJSU's interest in a freshman point as part of the current recruiting class may have played a factor too.

Utah State goes with Aggie assistant

Jeff Goodman is reporting: "Utah State will hire assistant Tim Duryea to replace Stew Morrill, sources told ESPN."

If it ever emerges, the process USU AD Scott Barnes utilized will be fascinating (a la who was interviewed, who turned it down, if anyone, why so long for ultimately an insider).

The Big Dance payoff

Geoff Grammer reports on the financial largesse the Mountain West Conference teams, SJSU included, will receive from financial shares in the 2015 Big Dance.

Patty to Murray State

As expected, Vincennes College forward A.J. Patty has committed to Murray State.

Some might question the why of going to an Ohio Valley Conference school, thinking the Racers are a nothing-burger of a program compared to playing in the Mountain West Conference. Well, MS finished this season at 29-6 overall, 16-0 in league. It was 23-11 the previous season, 21-10 before that. The young man has two years of eligibility and joining a rebuilding project isn't all that attractive in such a situation.

How the MWC coaching positions rank

Seeing as Nevada has a new coach and Utah State will soon be introducing Stew Morrill's replacement, Chris Murray ranks the attractiveness of the head coach positions in the Mountain West Conference.

The Wolf Pack braintrust happily surprised

Chris Murray writes that the Nevada AD was surprised at being able to land Eric Musselman.

The Utah State coaching search

Steve Luhm reports that Utah State AD Scott Barnes has yet to announce his choice to succeed Coach Stew Morrill and time is of the essence with recruiting season in full-fledged fury.

Is this because Tommy Connor is an assistant coach at Utah which is still active in the Big Dance? This theory makes sense -- all may be revealed on Friday after Duke and Utah battle if the game oddsmakers are correct on the favorite in that pairing.

Musselman the new Nevada coach

From Nevada athletics:

"Two-time NBA head coach Eric Musselman has been selected to coach the Nevada men's basketball team and a five-year contract will be presented to the Board of Regents for their approval at a meeting on Thursday, athletics director Doug Knuth announced today.

Musselman, 50, returns to Reno after spending the last three years as an assistant coach at a pair power five schools, first at Arizona State and most recently helping the LSU Tigers to the NCAA Tournament this season. He spent the 2010-11 season in Reno, coaching the NBA D-League's Bighorns and leading them to the only Western Conference title in franchise history.

He has been a head coach with seven professional teams, including two seasons with the Golden State Warriors (2002-04) and one with the Sacramento Kings (2006-07), and has won more than 500 games as a head coach with an overall winning percentage of .625 (566-340).

Musselman is one of just five former NBA head coaches working in NCAA basketball. His father, Bill, was also an NBA head coach and they were the first father-son combination to become head coaches in the NBA. His first head coaching job came at the age of 23 when he was hired by the Rapid City Thrillers of the CBA in 1989. He was the youngest coach in CBA history and the fastest to win 100 games..."

Chris Murray: "Musselman said one of the reasons he likes Nevada is because of his ties to Sacramento & the Bay Area and how that will help in recruiting."

The latest out of Nevada

The latest from Chris Murray: "Reported names who have interviewed at Nevada: Eric Musselman, Tony Barbee, Joe Pasternack, Justin Hutson. Musselman appears front-runner."

Patty tripping to Murray State

From Brad Winton: "...AJ Patty visiting Murray St..."

That's a very successful program. Patty is going to be a very difficult get for SJSU for multiple reasons. Anyone know if he has scheduled a Washington Square visit?

The coaching carousel is spinning

From Hoop Dirt: "Multiple sources have told me that LSU associate head coach Eric Musselman is emerging as the leader at Nevada. He has been rumored to be involved at his alma mater San Diego, but seems to now be the target at Nevada. In addition to Musselman's NBA experience (head coach of the Warriors and Kings), he spent 2010-2011 as the coach of the Reno Bighorns (NBADL)."

Chris Murray has more.

Nevada's new coach?

Gary Parrish is reporting that Nevada has zeroed in on a Kentucky assistant as its next coach. This individual succeeded at UTEP but fell down at Auburn. Sure seems the coach hiring process isn't much more than a crapshoot ';cause who really knows what the succeeding years will bring?

Chris Murray