Hamilton looking for 'right guy'

This is when deals are struck or shattered.

Tennessee's search for a new men's basketball coach is at its most critical point for athletic director Mike Hamilton.

He has to find "his guy," the right guy to turn around a program floundering in apathy after a 61-59 record the past four years.

Champ Search of Los Angeles was paid $25,000 to compile a list of candidates, test the waters and do some background checks.

Bruce Pearl of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Dana Altman of Creighton, Mike Anderson of Alabama-Birmingham and Bobby Lutz of Charlotte each have been interviewed.

So where does Hamilton go from here?

Cedric Dempsey, former NCAA President and head of Champ Search, has said repeatedly his firm compiled a strong list of candidates.

That's coming from the man who hired Lute Olson to coach at Arizona in 1983.

It's time for the negotiations to begin.

Pearl has a track record of success at various levels and the personality of a showman.

Possible pitfall: Pearl admits he likes to set up roots.

He was a longtime Iowa assistant for Dr. Tom Davis and spent nine seasons at Southern Indiana, turning that school into a Division II power with a 1995 national championship.

Pearl is 86-38 in four years at UWM with recent success being NCAA victories against Alabama and Boston College, his alma mater.

"It was hard for me to leave Evansville and it would be hard for me to leave here," Pearl told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "I am not a nomad."

Pearl - endorsed by former Tennessee star Ernie Grunfeld - has four children and his oldest son is a junior in a Milwaukee high school.

Altman has built and sustained a winning program at Creighton, turning the Bluejays into NCAA tournament regulars.

Possible pitfall: He is obviously set up in Omaha. Like Pearl, he's not a "nomad."

Altman has been at Creighton since 1994, compiling a 218-111 record, and spent four years prior to that at Kansas State.

Anderson has recruiting ties to Memphis and a feel for the SEC after his longtime stint as an assistant at Arkansas.

He has taken UAB to back-to-back NCAA tournaments, including a Sweet 16 finish a year ago.

Possible pitfall: Anderson could obviously increase a salary thought to be in the neighborhood of $600,000, but he might want to do it at another SEC school in the future.

Lutz has won and won often at Charlotte, a school in the heartland of the ACC.

Possible pitfall: Lutz was one of the first names mentioned as a possible Peterson replacement, but talk seems to have shifted to Pearl and Altman.

An announcement could come early this week if Hamilton finds "his man" and his man is ready to rebuild consistency at Tennessee.

Mark Burgess covers Tennessee men's basketball. He may be reached at 865-342-6277.