The season is barely halfway over and the rumor mill is already churning.
VCU coach Anthony Grant, whose Rams walloped Hofstra Wednesday night, is a hot commodity. With the impending retirement of Dave Odom, there's a sure opening at South Carolina. And remember, SEC folk (that there is Southern talk) are well aware of Grant. He was an assistant under Florida coach and Rockville Center's own Billy Donovan and was thought to be the heir apparent back in the spring when Donovan bolted to the coach the Orlando Magic before recanting.
Some people are acting as if it's a slam dunk and Grant is on his way to Gamecock nation. I've been told not so fast. With a 42-11 record in two seasons, Grant should be able to pick where he's going to land next and there could be better jobs out there than South Carolina. There's growing speculation about the LSU gig opening up. They will be surely more jobs he'll be linked to.
Hey, there could be an opening at St. John's the way things are going over there if Norm Roberts isn't careful. You can bet the powers that be in Jamaica are paying attention to all those open seats at the Garden, and they should jump at the opportunity to bring someone like Grant on board if he is available.
Grant, who credited former VCU coach Jeff Capel with building the program to its current status, was asked after the game what he thought about his name popping up among coaching rumors.
''For me, that's all it's about -- is winning,'' Grant said. ''I can't control the hearsay and the he said, she said. My focus is on this team, competing for a championship and doing the things we need to do. All of that stuff I guess makes for an interesting story, a good read. But it's not reality."
Spoken like a man who's going to have to be hit with a major multi-million dollar offer from a high profile institution to pry him away from his digs in Richmond. But anyone who follows "mid-major" basketball knows coaches at that level have to jump at the right chance when it comes along. It may take two or three solid seasons to rise on the coaching radar, but it takes only one bad season to fall off it.