John Clay’s Sidelines

I know it’s not John Calipari and it’s not Kentucky basketball, and therefore it’s not going to get a ton of page views, but some impressions from up in Cincinnati for the Reds’ opening day.

• For some reason, Xavier basketball news follows me here and none of it good. I was here at GABP last year when the news came that ex-Xavier coach Skip Prosser had died at Wake Forest of a heart attack after jogging. It was surreal being in the press box at that time, given that so many in the Cincinnati media were still friends with Prosser, or thought so highly of him form his Muskie days. Now, here I am again, and the news came early that Sean Miller, the coach at Xavier, had changed his mind and decided to take the Arizona job. Here’s a press box full of Cincinnati journalists, watching the city’s big even, and the coach of the best basketball team in town, is making news by reversing course and heading out West.

• Who might Xavier chase now that Miller is off to Tucson? Muskie assistant Chris Mack will reportedly be in the mix. But Shannon Russell of the Cincinnati Enquirer mentions Siena coach Fran McCaffrey, and he seems like a worthy choice. A friend told me that Louisville coach Rick Pitino is pushing Steve Masiello for the job, but the U of L assistant has no head coaching experince and the Muskies are loaded for next season. He’d be a longshot, at best.

Continue reading ‘Basketball news on baseball’s opening day’