Strange: If UT hire isn't a home run, it still might score

A class might be rated No. 1 on paper, but the true evaluation is three or four years in the waiting.

It's much the same with coaches.

UT athletic director Mike Hamilton is trying to hit a home run with this basketball hire. Sure enough, the introduction of Bobby Knight in the mix certainly qualifies.

However, the shelf life of the Knight-Tennessee flirtation might already be running out.

ESPN college basketball analyst Andy Katz said Wednesday night that Knight won't be leaving Texas Tech for Tennessee. Considering Knight will be 65 when the 2005-06 season tips off, that's not surprising, if it is in fact the case.

Still, the Knight angle has created a, uh, buzz, at the start of this search unlike any of UT's four others in the past 16 years.

Over the mountains at Virginia, athletic director Craig Littlepage is also hoping to smack one out of the park in his hire to replace Pete Gillen.

Tubby Smith and Rick Barnes were the first names out of the gate.

Barnes, however, pledged allegiance to Texas on Wednesday. Smith is annual item on the rumor mill but he keeps coming back to Kentucky.

Virginia and Tennessee are the plum jobs in a relatively lackluster market. So far, at least, it's a far cry from two years ago when the dominoes fell from North Carolina to Kansas to Illinois.

At first glance, Virginia seems the sexier opportunity. But on further review, the Cavaliers haven't had much success in the two decades since Ralph Sampson left. Their ACC legacy reads a lot like Tennessee's in the SEC.

At any rate, both schools could use a headline hire to jump-start programs that aren't setting their respective leagues on fire.

Swinging for the fences, however, is not without risk.

What if Hamilton doesn't get Knight? He most likely won't

Hitting a double is a good thing for its own sake, but not at a home-run derby.

After you've raised your fans' expectations with the possibility of a Knight, or a Tubby or a Barnes, there's going to be an inevitable letdown when you introduce Bobby Lutz, Jeff Lebo or Mike Brey.

A home run's great when you connect. Louisville hit one four years ago when it grabbed Rick Pitino.

But they are few and far between.

Bruce Weber wasn't a home run when Illinois hired him two years ago. Paul Hewitt wasn't a home run when Georgia Tech found him at Siena.

Though it's easy to forget now, Smith wasn't even a home run when Kentucky called him up from Georgia in 1998.

Weber's Illinois team is ranked No. 1 and just missed an undefeated season.

Hewitt took Georgia Tech to the national championship game last year.

Smith won an NCAA title in his first year at Kentucky and has since elevated himself into the elite of the elite.

So keep in mind that if Hamilton hits a good solid double now, don't be disappointed.

It might look like a home run in a few years.

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strange2@knews.com.