Now that Pitt has kept Dixon, it’s time to take a look at Arizona State on the reboot.

Actually there was a suggestion earlier in the week to bring back Frieder.

Arizona State needs to go back to the future and hire Bill Frieder. I can hear the groans all the way from the Valley of the Smog.

But think about it, the Devils have had two winning coaches since orange hoops replaced peach baskets: Ned Wulk and Frieder. Both were successful, both were fired. Just shy of his 500th coaching victory, Wulk was chased off by a cruel ASU administration. There are those who believe the Devils are still under a curse because of the way he was treated.

Frieder, 64, was fired after a couple of his kids were caught shaving points. That’s a horrible thing to happen, but it came about because he made a mistake in recruiting players who couldn’t be trusted.

Point shaving. These things happen.

A lot of the focus after ASU seems to be a bit down. They seem to doubt that they could even lure Bill Turgeon from Wichita State.

However, there are reasons Turgeon might want to stay put. As an Oregon assistant from 1992-97, he witnessed ASU’s struggling program from the visitors’ bench at Wells Fargo Arena.

A problem at ASU has been the absence of a home-floor advantage. Last season, ASU averaged 6,731 fans at Wells Fargo, far short of the 14,141-seat capacity. The Shockers averaged 10,433, or near capacity, at 10,512-seat Charles Koch Arena.

And it looks like Turgeon is in line for a healthy raise from the Shockers.

Turgeon received an extension a year ago that runs through the 2009-10 season. It increased his compensation to $460,000 annually, second in the Missouri Valley Conference only to Creighton’s Dana Altman, whose total compensation is more than $700,000. Any potential increases in Turgeon’s contract, Schaus said, would be discussed later.

Like Turgeon, George Fahnestock was still smiling after the Shockers’ season ended. Fahnestock is one of the Shockers’ most influential boosters and attended each postseason game.

“It was so exciting, having such a great, great season like this,” he said. “Even after losing the game tonight, it still feels so magical.”

Yet Fahnestock knows there is reason to worry about WSU’s ability to keep Turgeon.

“When you step up to join the elite, you’re going to have players and coaches people are talking about, people they would want for their team,” he said. “I hope and pray we can keep Mark for a long, long time. But I’m sure he will have lots of choices to make.”

It is expected that Turgeon will get a pay raise that will put him around $700,000. With the MVC establishing that it is can be a multi-bid conference, Turgeon doesn’t have to jump until it is exactly the right fit.

That means Rick Majerus could be the man. Though some hope not, and frankly don’t understand why.

Welcome to Arizona State, Lisa Love. It’s nice that you have visions of grandeur for your basketball program, but Jamie Dixon’s rejection should tell you something: ASU is a second-tier program that is not going to attract the hot coaching candidate unless A.) he has some personal reasons for coming, or B.) the Sun Devils throw so much money at him he can’t say no.

Dixon has West Coast roots. He coached at Northern Arizona University. His wife was born in Hawaii and would prefer to live where the sun shines.

He was an ideal candidate, but he turned ASU down because while the quality of life in Pittsburgh can’t compare to Tempe, the quality of basketball is far better.

The same, by the way, can be said of Wichita State and its coach, Mark Turgeon. He’s the other hot property, but if he’s going to move, it will be for a better job than ASU.

Love, then, might have to lower her sights. Find a capable young coach, like St. Mary’s Randy Bennett. Or Sun Devil alum Lionel Hollins, who would settle down here rather than view ASU as a pit stop.

Anybody but the one man Love, ASU’s vice president of athletics, is now pursuing: Rick Majerus.
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What’s truly baffling about ASU’s reported interest in Majerus is that Love was an administrator at USC when Majerus did his about-face. You’d think that after getting burned once, she wouldn’t stick her hand in the oven again.

I think she may have no choice with Majerus. She’s whiffed badly with Dixon. ASU was known to want Dixon since December or January. To be that focused on one guy that long and miss is a huge blow. You almost have to get a big name at this point to save face.

Oh, and it looks like Missouri has found a new coach at long last. They will bring in Mike Anderson, formerly the head guy at UAB.

Anderson, who helped Arkansas develop its relentless defensive style as an assistant under Nolan Richardson, has driven UAB to the NCAA Tournament in three of his four years at the school. He owns a record of 89-41 and won at least 21 games in all four seasons.

Sources said Anderson was in Columbia on Saturday afternoon and that details of a five-year contract were being worked out with MU officials.

Anderson will become the 16th head men’s basketball coach in school history and is the first black head coach of an intercollegiate sport at the university. Melvin Watkins, who coached MU’s final seven games of a 12-16 season after Quin Snyder quit Feb. 10, is also black. However, Watkins was only an interim coach.

Missouri officials declined to comment Saturday. By early evening Saturday, sources said that MU officials and Anderson were working out final details of a contract that had yet to be signed and approved by both sides.

In that regard, two sources said Missouri might not announce the signing of Anderson until Monday. But the target date, both sources indicated, is today.
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The wild week continued swirling into Saturday morning with speculation regarding MU closing in on a potential deal with Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon. That talk ended, however, with reports that Dixon turned aside interest from Missouri and Arizona State, and took an extension at Pitt.

Missouri was known to have asked permission to interview only three coaches who were currently employed by other schools — Anderson, Dixon and Iowa’s Steve Alford.

Hey, at least Missouri had a quick fall back plan.