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Maryland AD went commercial in his coaching search

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Maryland moved quickly to hire Gary Williams’ replacement when the Hall of Fame coach retired in May. Did it on the cheap, too.

When athletic director Kevin Anderson made a play for Arizona coach Sean Miller, he flew commercial to Las Vegas, paid for a room, but didn’t even stay overnight. After that, it was a trip to Pittsburgh to meet with Mark Turgeon, who Anderson soon hired.

That’s it. According to Jeff Barker of the Baltimore Sun, there were no secret meetings, no chartered planes, nada. Doesn’t Anderson know you’re supposed to make these things into a production?

Guess not. Barker slogged through travel records, receipts, etc., and found that Anderson and aide flew to Vegas on the morning of May 7 (a 5-hour flight), booked a $144 room at a JW Mariott, but checked out the same day. (Mostly because he and Miller didn’t mesh.) They flew USAirways there and Southwest on the way back (a 4-hour flight).

That’s a long day when you’re flying commercial. Yuck. Maybe Anderson was in a much better mood the next day when he found out Turgeon wanted the job and he was on vacation in Pennsylvania. No cross-country flight!

Was it a bold hire? Probably not. But it certainly came at the right price.

(Thanks ACC Sports Journal)

You also can follow me on Twitter @MikeMillerNBC.