CBSSportsline on Grant, South Florida, etc.

[Brad]

VCU's Grant could be in for change of scenery

Sorry, Virginia Commonwealth fans, but you might not have Anthony Grant as your head coach for much longer.

   

South Florida, which needs a coach, may take a run at VCU's Anthony Grant. (AP)    

This is what happens when you knock off a program like Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. People notice, a star is born, and suitors come calling.

This is a fact. The University of South Florida, which recently fired basketball coach Robert McCullum, wants Grant to replace him. Barring some sort of odd circumstance, they will make a serious run at Grant.

This is a highly educated guess. Grant is from Miami -- it's his hometown. He might not go to a place like South Florida and instead wait several years for the Hurricanes basketball job to open up. Miami's basketball team has stunk in recent years, and Grant has the talent to do with the Hurricanes what he helped to do at Florida, and that is turn a traditional football power into a basketball one as well.

The Duke game changed the direction of Grant's life forever, setting him on a different career path. Now, larger more formidable basketball programs than VCU's will attempt to steal him away.

South Florida will be the first to try. If they are unsuccessful, they might not be the last.

Grant will say all the right things about staying at VCU, but the problem is some of the opportunities that could present themselves will be too tempting to resist.

Grant will face a dilemma many young and talented coaches do. Should he stay at VCU for an extended period of time and try to build the Rams into a great program, a challenge to be sure despite their success in the tournament this year?

Or does Grant go to a school with more resources and a bigger stage?

What would you do?

Exactly -- you'd hit the road.

And if Grant somehow beats Pittsburgh on Saturday, just imagine how much more interest he will draw.

The fact Grant is in this position should not be a shock to anyone. You knew he was going to be a head coach one day. "Any assistant coach dreams of one day having the opportunity to become a head coach," he said.

You also knew he'd be good.

At Florida, Grant was a trusted confidant of Billy Donovan and highly respected by the players. He was also a favorite of many of the school's professors, who found him to be a straight shooter when it came to the players' academics.

When Grant went to VCU, he quickly captured the trust of his players there. "I feel like he won me over the first day I met him," said Eric Maynor.

"Coach Grant won us over because we knew he had great credibility," said Jesse Pellot-Rosa. "Coming from Florida and they had just won a national championship. Over the summertime, there was a lot of adversity. Everyone on the team was just kind of down and out. Then Coach Grant came in, and we all gained his trust and bought into his system."

And he has created one hell of a system. But that system just might be on the move back to the state of Florida.

Or some other grand place.

Because Anthony Grant is about to be in high demand.

Link

[Cubanbull]

If Woolard can pull it off it would be the biggest move for our program since we got Lee Rose and opened the sun dome

[JoeBulls]

chances of him leaving..

5%..

i could see him go if a job like UCLA came open..

but he is not leaving for South Florida.

i cant see it.

[Herman_Momart]

UCLA? cmon lets not give him that much credit just yet.

Why only 5% because he said he had no interest.  like the article stated of course he is going to deny rumors of leaving the team he has built a bond with a has taken into the tournament.  I dont kow what the percentages are but he grows on me more and more every game i see him coach.  

[JoeBulls]

it just think it would be very dis-loyal to the institution that gave you your first job to come in and leave after one year..

just not the right thing to do.

[JoeBulls]

I have them knocking off Pitt too.

VCU to the elite 8 in hinkelbergers bracket.

my sister graduated from VCU...

i remember her graduation fondly.

I was donking this great brunette my senior year in high school and we drove down saturday morming for the graduation.

oh the days.

[Brad]

I do not see why he would shy away from a school like USF when he could be the Leavitt of Basketball...Less pressure than going somewhere like UCLA.  But if he were to go to UCLA (unlikely), I'll take Howland in a second...

[edit]corrected spastic typing[/edit]

[Matt]

i just want this tourney to end so we can get a coach already.....

[Held_AccountaBull]

i just want this tourney to end so we can get a coach already.....

same here

[Guest BasketBull.]

I'm sure our AD will talk to Grant and some of the others. He's a basketball AD, and he knows what he is doing.

The more time he takes, the better the choice will be, I feel. To be honest, I didn't know if this day would ever happen -basketball being pulled out of the slums of administrative apathy.

Q: Where is Doug Woolard right now?  8-)