Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Minor Update: Harvard and the Coaching Carousel

It's now Day 2 of the Boston College coaching search, and there's been some slight update from yesterday.

What we do now know:
-SI's Pablo Torre, a Harvard alum, said via Twitter that he has "very reliable" information that Boston College has not contacted Harvard's Athletic Director about Coach Amaker as of this morning, though that did not rule out it's happening in the future. Torre added that he had "less reliable" information that Boston College was also looking at Duke assistant coach Steve Wojciechowski.
-Jeff Goodman writes on Twitter that Foxsports.com confirms that Cornell's Steve Donahue was interviewed today about the job. Goodman adds that sources close to the situation say that Boston College will interview Richmond's Chris Mooney tomorrow. The Greenwich Time, meanwhile, reported that Fairfield's Ed Cooley was also interviewed for the job today.
-Speculation continues thatNortheastern's Billy Coen is in the mix as well for the job, though WRBB, Northeastern Student Radio, reports that Northeastern is currently working on a contract extension for Coen, with Northeastern's AD calling him their coach for the foreseeable future.
-The Boston Globe reports that this looks to be only the beginning of the process. Gene DeFilippo was quoted as saying, "I think this is a very important hire, and if it takes us a while to find the right person, so be it,’’ he said. “We’ll take as much time as we need." The Globe also cites sources saying that Boston College will wait a few days to see if the unexpected opening brings any candidates from major conferences. DeFilippo is expected to spend the next few days paring down his list.
-DeFilippo also told WEEI this morning that he has spoken to three coaches so far, and that he still has two ADs left to contact.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS STORY. PLEASE CHECK BACK HERE OR ON TWITTER.COM/WHRBSPORTS FOR MORE INFORMATION AS IT BECOMES AVAILABLE

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Harvard and the Coaching Carousel

A major shakeup has occurred in the New England college hoops scene as Boston College fired head coach Al Skinner today. The Boston Globe reports that Harvard coach Tommy Amaker is being considered to replace Skinner, although it has not yet known whether Boston College Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo has asked Harvard Athletic Director Bob Scalise for permission to speak to Amaker. An earlier Boston Globe report called Amaker the early front runner, though the updated version no longer includes that language.

Multiple sources close to the team have said that Amaker will leave Harvard for Boston College if he is offered the head job, although Amaker is currently just one of many coaches under consideration for the BC gig. Harvard sophomore forward Keith Wright tweeted this morning: "man...all these coaches PROMISE they arent going to leave....but if that money is right they are #GHOST."

Other names that Boston College is reported to be considering are Cornell's Steve Donahue, Fairfield's Ed Cooley (formerly an assistant under Skinner at URI and BC), Richmond's Chris Mooney, Northeastern's Bill Coen (also a former assistant under Skinner) and Rhode Island's Jim Baron.

Amaker's strong recruiting, his efforts to reach out to Harvard students and alumni, and two straight road wins over Boston College are three factors that make a strong case for getting the head position at BC. Skinner's recruiting had fallen off after the departures of assistants Ed Cooper and Bill Coen, and the Boston Herald's Steve Buckley pointed to Skinner's lack of interest in promoting the basketball program to the BC community and the greater Boston area as a major reason for his firing.

Amaker has already been tied to one job offer, at St. John's, a position that is now likely to be filled by Steve Lavin, so being on a short list does not mean accepting the job. Indeed, Amaker told the student newspaper on campus that he was planning on being back in Cambridge next year, admitting to trying to get Boston College on Harvard's schedule but being unsure of how it would work out, and Donahue has only said he'd leave Cornell for a slam dunk, which Boston College probably is not. While it's too early to speculate who will be the coach at Boston College next year, if it's either Amaker or Donahue, a Harvard-Boston College game would certainly become a lot more interesting than just being a crosstown rivalry.

WHRB's Tom Brennan contributed to this report.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS STORY. CHECK BACK HERE OR ON TWITTER.COM/WHRBSPORTS FOR MORE INFO AS IT BECOMES AVAILABLE

Monday, March 8, 2010

Men's Hockey: Saturday's postgame audio

After the conclusion of Saturday's 3-0 victory over Princeton, Ted Donato and Kyle Richter spoke to WHRB Sports about the weekend. After the jump, you'll find their postgame comments on the series sweep.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Men's Hockey: Who to root for tonight

With the 3-0 win over Princeton completing the road sweep last night, Harvard men's hockey advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2010 ECAC Hockey Playoffs. Harvard, as the ninth seed, could face any one of the top four seeds in the quarterfinals - #1 Yale, #2 Cornell, #3 Union, or #4 Colgate. After the jump, you'll find our breakdown of the possible quarterfinal match-ups for the Crimson, and which one would be ideal.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Weekend Preview: Harvard Hockey begins ECAC Playoffs

In advance of this weekend's first-round playoff series between eighth-seeded Princeton and ninth-seeded Harvard, we spoke to head coach Ted Donato about the Crimson's chances against the Tigers at Hobey Baker Rink. Click through to find Harvard Athletic Communications' YouTube video of the interview.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Women's ECAC: Semifinal Matchups Set

The ECAC is down to the final four, so all eyes turn toward upstate New York, where Cornell and Clarkson will host the semifinals. Here we take a look at the four teams in the semifinals and how they got here, after the jump.