Indiana interim coach Mike Davis’ future has been the subject of intense national speculation. Will the Hoosiers make him the permanent successor to Bob Knight or will they hire a big name, as many in the college game expect?
Meanwhile, there’s been little talk about the Big Ten’s other interim coach, Brad Soderberg, who was promoted when Wisconsin coach Dick Bennett unexpectedly retired last month.
“I can’t speak for Mike, but my future has no anxiety . . . because I have just been totally consumed by the job at hand,” Soderberg said this week. “I mean that in total sincerity.
“I get that question a lot, `The fact that you don’t know if you’re going to be back next year, does that make it harder?'” Soderberg said. “Actually, it might make it easier because I have nothing to deal with except the day at hand. I don’t know if that’s how Mike feels, but that how it’s been for me since coach Bennett retired.”
Davis and Soderberg have taken different approaches to their new jobs. Davis, who took over about a month before preseason camp opened, junked Knight’s motion scheme and installed a new offense. Soderberg, by contrast, pledged to make the Badgers “look like a Dick Bennett team,” with the emphasis on defense and hustle.
“Coach Knight ran almost pure motion . . . and there was no set play to any of their possessions, whereas coach Davis has elected to go a different way,” Soderberg said. “To tell you the truth, I think Mike’s done the right thing. I think the most important thing a coach has got to do is go with what he’s most comfortable with.
“In my case, it wasn’t as much of an issue because I wasn’t going to make any changes,” Soderberg said. “I had one day to get ready, which was enough time. He had one month to get ready which probably wasn’t enough time because he wanted to implement a whole new system. I suspect it’s been more difficult for him than for me.”
While he’s popular within the program, Soderberg appeared to be in peril when the Badgers dropped three of their first four conference games. But the Badgers have bounced back and knocked off Iowa, Ohio State and Penn State to climb into fifth place in the Big Ten. Last year the team finished sixth in the regular season before making a surprise run to the Final Four.
Free throws: Minnesota, the biggest surprise of the early season, is trying to prevent a free-fall. With losses to Iowa, at home, and at Purdue, the Golden Gophers have dropped to seventh place. The loss in West Lafayette was compounded when forward Mike Bauer broke his arm. He’ll be out for the season, leaving Minnesota with eight scholarship players. “It doesn’t get any easier for us,” coach Dan Monson said. “The situation we’re in, we can’t be in foul trouble, we can’t have injuries.” …
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Purdue coach Gene Keady hedged when asked about the top NBA prospects in the Big Ten. “I hate to see us start talking about young players and the NBA,” Keady said. “One of the things that’s made this league strong is that not many have gone out early. I don’t see why we’d want to start that talk.”
Ohio State coach Jim O’Brien was happy with his team’s toughness in the second half of its 64-55 upset of then-No. 3 Michigan State on Saturday in Columbus. “That has got to be a major emphasis,” O’Brien said. “This is what can happen if we play as tough as we did. It has nothing to do with playing hard. Our guys have played very hard. But there’s that little extra element that differentiates playing hard and playing tough. If we can keep that going and continue to play as hard as we have, we’ll be a better basketball team.”