That could very well be the case with both the Record-Courier in Ohio and the Arizona Daily Star having similar reports on the job opened by the retirement of Charlie Coles.
According to Bruce Pascoe of the Daily Star that man could be Arizona associate head coach James Whitford, who spent ten seasons in Oxford as an assistant to Coles.
For the final eight seasons of his tenure at Miami University, Whitford was Coles’ top assistant, making this a logical fit in the eyes of many.
David Carducci of the Record-Courier had a similar line of thinking, writing that the schools is believed to be on the verge of hiring Whitford when going over what schools in the MAC would look to do in order to boost their programs.Some MAC schools are already rumored to be reacting to what is happening at Ohio University.
The first team to respond may be Miami University, which is believed to be on the verge of hiring Arizona assistant James Whitford as its next men’s basketball coach.
At Miami, Whitford was a part of three NCAA tournament appearances including a run to the Sweet 16 in 1999 (led by Wally Szczerbiak).
With today marking the start of the contact period (which runs until the 18th) and an evaluation weekend on the horizon (April 20th-22nd) it would be in Miami’s best interest to make a move soon.
And based on these reports that could be a matter of not ‘if’ but ‘when’.
Raphielle is also the assistant editor at CollegeHoops.net and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.