Congrats to former Pitt player and assistant coach Orlando Antigua on his first head coaching job. It’s a suicide mission tough road with USF, but everyone will be watching with interest. Obviously for Pitt fans, there is our own biased angle.

He mentioned the characteristics that made it possible: Hard work. Determination. Focus. Vision. An unrelenting thirst for excellence.

They were qualities he learned at Pitt, where he played from 1991-95, then later served under Jamie Dixon for five seasons (2003-07) as he learned the coaching profession.

Antigua, 40, was born in the Dominican Republic. He grew up in the Bronx section of New York. He’s most associated with Kentucky, where he has helped John Calipari’s Wildcats assemble five consecutive No. 1-ranked recruiting classes, where he finishes his UK run this weekend during the Final Four in Arlington, Texas.

But make no mistake, Antigua considers himself a Pittsburgh guy.

“It’s the foundation of who I am,” said Antigua, who was presented with a five-year USF contract and an annual salary of $900,000, which will escalate by $25,000 each season. “I’m a Pitt man. I’m so grateful for everything I learned there.

“Just the blue-collar mentality, the tenacity, everything that town stands for. It’s still who I am.”

If you want to read one of the better pieces on Antigua, this one from ESPN magazine, November 2013 stands out.

For the rest of college basketball the angles have little relating to Pitt.

At this point Antigua is considered more of a Calipari assistant. The success of Calipari assistants on their own has not been impressive. Outside of Memphis’ Josh Pastner and maybe Derek Kellogg at UMass, there’s not much bragging. Tony Barbee failed miserably at Auburn. Bruiser Flint failed at UMass and is slightly above average at Drexel.

There is the obvious Rick Pitino vs. John Calipari matter thrown into stark relief when the Bulls’ first choice got himself hired and fired in a day after it was revealed he never actually got his degree at Kentucky. Nifty clause in the contract that allowed for his firing. I’m guessing it is the George O’Leary clause. Masiello has since gone with the claim that he never realized he didn’t graduate. That he made a mistake.

Now the second choice is a Calipari guy. Probably good for Antigua and USF that Louisville will not be in the American next year.

As an aside, I tweeted about that briefly when it happened but I will repeat it here. Yes, there is plenty of hypocrisy in college sports, the universities and the NCAA. The necessity of a coach to have a degree can be debated. All true. But if the universities are going to even pretend that academics matter than it should be important that the guy recruiting, coaching and allegedly molding boys to men be able to say he has a degree.

The other, more straight forward point is that after what happened with Eddie Jordan and Rutgers last year, why wouldn’t any coach — let alone one that is looking to climb the ladder — make sure his academics and resume in general is in order. That was just plain stupid or arrogant to think no one would notice.

This Charlie Pierce piece on Calipari and Kentucky‘s success this year is another worthwhile read.

In other hirings, Marquette has a new head coach before Boston College or Wake Forest. To recap, Buzz Williams stunned everyone by taking a slight paycut to leave Marquette for Virginia Tech. Definitely a more challenging job in worse condition.

Mind blowing on so many levels. Many pointed to the fact that Marquette is replacing both their President and AD, so he may have sought out a job where he felt wanted. The Marquette side is feeling a bit angered at his departure considering they have given him just about everything he wanted. I can understand that annoyance.

Marquette swung hard for the fences and seemed to be closer than anyone else has come to getting Shaka Smart to leave VCU. That would have been quite the power move.

Then missed on suddenly hot again Cuonzo Martin from Tennessee. Man, there is nothing like a NCAA run to change fan viewpoints. A guy who Vol fans wanted out and to bring back Bruce Pearl midway through the year, now getting an extension and love by getting one of the last four NCAA Tournament bids and getting to the Sweet 16.

And this is precisely why I hate when fans of schools randomly ask if their favorite team is a “Sweet 16 team” because, man, you just never know which teams might be Sweet 16 teams because, in this sport, the best 16 teams are never actually represented in the Sweet 16.

Why?

Because the NCAA Tournament is a single-elimination tournament.

Of 40-minute basketball games.

With a short 3-point line.

Consequently, surprises often emerge.

Back to Marrquette. What the Buzz Williams departure does do, is send a chill down the spine of the entire Big East. Marquette is still one of their top programs making a big salary, and the coach there leaves for the bottom of the ACC. Maybe Villanova and Georgetown can feel comfortable with keeping their coaches, but the rest of the Big East got disturbing news about their place in the hierarchy of college basketball.

How soon do you think it will be until the Pete is outfitted with SportsVU cameras?

Another piece worth reading is on Marcus Smart coming back for his sophomore season at Oklahoma State, and how it backfired. I am not a fan of using players of symbols of what is right or wrong with a sport. And this one has its own bias/axe to grind so take it for what it is. What it did provide, however, was lead to is a piece by Ken Pelton comparing one-and-done players with two-year players as for how they developed in the NBA (Insider subs).

Answer: not a real difference. If anything one-and-dones progressed better. Players who came back to college for their sophomore year before going pro only showed marginal improvements overall.

Now, this study could be picking up on the superior potential of one-and-done prospects, a possible factor in why they generally were more coveted after one year in college. However, the development advantage disappears by the time both groups are in the NBA. In their third year out of high school — the rookie season for the sophomores and second year for the freshmen — the sophomores actually improve slightly more. But this difference isn’t nearly enough to make up the development they missed out on between their two years of college.

…

Despite the quality of coaching at the NCAA level touted by Silver, there are a variety of reasons the NBA might be a better place for elite prospects to develop. Their athletic and skill advantages, especially against the lesser foes that are commonplace on nonconference schedules, might allow them to get away with coasting rather than developing their ability. And opponents often attempt to make up that gap with junk defenses and zones that don’t allow stars to showcase the strengths that will help them in the NBA.

The sample size may be too small at this point, but it still provides some interesting information.