MVPosey Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 Wednesday, May 19, 2004 Updated: May 20, 3:18 PM ET By Andy Katz ESPN.com The Golden State Warriors fired head coach Eric Musselman on Wednesday night and have an agreement in place for Stanford coach Mike Montgomery to be his replacement, league sources told ESPN.com. "It's been a great two years. The players have played their hearts out," Musselman told the AP in a cell phone interview Wednesday night. "The organization's headed in great direction. ... I got an opportunity of a lifetime and will always be grateful to the Warriors for that." Dick Vitale's Take The news of Mike Montgomery's deciding to leave Stanford to coach the Golden State Warriors is shocking, shocking, shocking! I can't believe it. If there's one guy who epitomizes what college basketball is supposed to be about, it's Mike Montgomery. More The Warriors announced Musselman's dismissal Thursday. Warriors' general manager Chris Mullin told ESPN.com on Thursday that serious discussions with Montgomery are ongoing and that an announcement about the Golden State head coaching position could come as soon as Friday. A source close to Montgomery, 57, confirmed for ESPN.com on Thursday that he shook on a deal with Warriors owner Chris Cohan. The multimillion-dollar deal, believed to be for four years, was still being finalized Thursday afternoon. The Cardinal and its coaching staff are aware that Montgomery will take the Warriors post, but Montgomery was still at Stanford as of Thursday afternoon. Stanford will not hold a news conference on Montgomery's status until the Warriors announce his hiring. Musselman, 39, told the AP that he learned his fate at 7:15 p.m. PT Mullin. "This was a difficult decision," Mullin said in a statement Thursday. "This team certainly showed some progress the last couple of years and Eric should be given some of the credit." Reached earlier in the evening in Florida by ESPN.com, Musselman said that he hadn't talked to Mullin in two weeks and that Mullin had been noncommittal on his and his staff's status. Musselman, who had one year remaining on his contract, went 75-89 in two seasons with the Warriors, his first NBA head coaching job. He finished second in the league's Coach of the Year voting in 2002-03 after guiding Golden State to a 38-44 record. Musselman told ESPN.com that hiring Montgomery would make sense since, to his knowledge, the Warriors hadn't been talking to anyone within the NBA about replacing him. It would be a bold hire for Mullin, given the relative lack of success for coaches making the jump from college to the NBA; however, Montgomery is regarded as one of the college game's foremost X's-and-O's men. Sources told ESPN.com that Stanford athletic director Ted Leland was called out of a Pac-10 properties meeting in Los Angeles and left abruptly, saying he had to return to campus to deal with pressing issues. Montgomery is one of the most successful active college basketball coaches and is coming off a remarkable season, during which the Cardinal went 30-2 and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament before losing to Alabama in the second round. The Cardinal won 26 straight before losing their regular-season finale at Washington. Montgomery, who is under contract at Stanford through the 2007-08 season, is 393-167 in 18 seasons on the Farm and 547-244 overall. Mike Montgomery led Stanford to the '98 Final Four and reached the NCAA Tournament 12 times in 18 seasons. He was honored in April with the John Wooden "Legends of Coaching" Lifetime Achievement Award at the Wooden Award banquet in Los Angeles; he was choked up and humbled upon accepting the award from Wooden. Montgomery coached NBA players when he was an assistant with the 2002 World Championship team that did not medal in Indianapolis. Considered one of the sharpest coaching minds in the business, Montgomery has been increasingly hardened by the defection of his players to the NBA. The Cardinal lost Jason Collins, Curtis Borchardt, Casey Jacobsen, and now it appears Josh Childress, early to the NBA in the last three years. In taking the Warriors job, Montgomery will try to change a recent trend of college coaches -- namely Tim Floyd, Lon Kruger, John Calipari and Rick Pitino -- who left prominent Division I jobs and failed in the NBA. Nonetheless, Mullin wanted to make a splash with this hire. Montgomery is well respected in the Bay Area and would not have to move to take the Warriors job. With Montgomery's exit, Stanford's job becomes one of the most attractive openings in the country. With or without Childress, the Cardinal are expected to compete with Arizona for the Pac-10 title. Nevada coach Trent Johnson, a former Stanford assistant who just signed an extension with the Wolf Pack, would be a candidate. So, too, would Gonzaga coach Mark Few, who has looked at the Stanford job as one of Division I's most coveted positions. Rice coach Willis Wilson, also a former Stanford assistant, likely would be in the mix, too. The Stanford job likely would attract some of the top names in the business who have a history of working with academically rich, highly skilled basketball players. The Cardinal's recruiting pool is consistently considered one of the smallest in the country for a high-major program. Andy Katz is a senior writer for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVPosey Posted May 20, 2004 Author Share Posted May 20, 2004 this is great for two reasons: 1. The Warriors now have a great coach (although he could wind up as another Pitino) 2. This will kill Stanford's basketball program, ending their dominance of the pac 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest marlins02 Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 i thought you said the best college coach signed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVPosey Posted May 20, 2004 Author Share Posted May 20, 2004 i do think the warriors should have kept mussleman but they're always going to suck anyways so as long as they kill Stanford's basketball program, i'm happy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest marlins02 Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 for a second there i thought you were serious about montgomery being the best in the nation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramp Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 why are the Warriors so dumb? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Passion Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 i do think the warriors should have kept mussleman but they're always going to suck anyways so as long as they kill Stanford's basketball program, i'm happy I think Musselman was canned because he had lost some of the young player's respect. As for Montgomerey, I dont blame him for leaving much better money and if he fails he could still go back to college and get a very good job again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TarHeel324 Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 this will a) kill stanford basketball and b) keep the warriors in the cellar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rferry Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 I guess he got tired of all those short tournament runs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Das Texan Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 he will regret this move. golden state has some good young talent though. but they are going ot lose dampier for sure this offseason which wont help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Last offseason, the retarted move was firing Paul Silas and hiring Tim Floyd. This offseason, the retarted move is firing Eric Musselman and hiring Mike Montgomery. Mike Montgomery did nothing to prove he can win a big game in COLLEGE, and I think he will be a total flop in the pros. God the Warriors are stupid. Oh, and the title of this thread is pathetic, there are 10+ coaches in the NCAA better than Mike Montgomery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Das Texan Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 musselman did good considering he lost his best two players after last season. you can only do so much with a team like that and then factor in the injury problems. garry st jean is stupid.....hopefully mullin can do something productive. when they were Run TMC they actually scared me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVPosey Posted May 21, 2004 Author Share Posted May 21, 2004 this will a) kill stanford basketball and b) keep the warriors in the cellar if that's what happens, I will be happy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVPosey Posted May 21, 2004 Author Share Posted May 21, 2004 musselman did good considering he lost his best two players after last season. you can only do so much with a team like that and then factor in the injury problems. garry st jean is stupid.....hopefully mullin can do something productive. when they were Run TMC they actually scared me. exactly. Until St. Jean is gone and Cohan sells the team, the Warriors will continue to suck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugg Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Prediction: This won't kill Stanford basketball. They have a reputation now, players are still going to go there. They'll probably hire from within, the system will stay the same, and they'll continue to win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Accord Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 Being a good coach in college in no guarantee for success in the NBA, they're two different games.... ala Tim Floyd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Passion Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 Being a good coach in college in no guarantee for success in the NBA, they're two different games.... ala Tim Floyd. Or to a larger degree...Rick Pitino. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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