The Best Basketball Coach You've Never Heard Of Is..

Mike Dunlap, 2008-09 associate head coach for Arizona, now associate coach at University of Oregon. This is not good news for UCLA fans. Nike's home university, Oregon's recruiting success, now with one the best bball minds in the country OregonLive: The Dunlap hire was a remarkable convergence of some of the most powerful individuals in basketball. Don't underestimate this. And it makes me think that the key players in the sport must view Oregon and this new arena as a sleeping giant. NYTimes: Dunlap is known as a master tactician. His practices at Metro State focused so much on footwork and fundamentals that his players would often go hour-long stretches without touching a ball. He counts John Wooden and Pete Newell as friends and mentors. But in an environment in which teaching and coaching are often considered less important than collecting talent and catering to powerful summer coaches, it remains to be seen if Dunlap’s vast résumé will help him get a major Division I job. His former athletic director at Metro State, Joan McDermott, said she had not received any calls about Dunlap this year. She said he was a finalist for the California job last year and got a long look from Stanford. She says she knows what she will tell any athletic director who calls. “He’s absolutely one of the best coaches that I’ve ever been around,” she said. McDermott added: “I know as an athletic director at those top Division I schools that sometimes it may be tough to take a chance on a guy without the big name. But he’s worth the risk. If they hired him, the rest would be history.” and followup NYTimes blog: "I basically think he's a diamond in the rough," (Denver Nuggets Head Coach George) Karl said. "If someone gave him the opportunity, they'd be shocked by the passion and direction and caring he brings to the game and to the kids." Karl went on to call Dunlap the most intelligent person who is passionate about basketball that he had ever met.