re: The national opinion on Haith.

Haith was COY last year. This year, he's the dog. The truth is probably somewhere in between.

I believe Haith is a good coach, but having Ernie Nestor on the staff last year was huge. I think it was Nestor that helped them keep focused in tight games, and late in games. Nestor is a great Xs and Os guy - not a recruiter as much; when they tried to force him into more of a recruiting role, he left.

I believe what we've seen this year i directly tied to his loss. No one else on staff has his strengths. Haith is a good coach, but I would say his strength isn't tough game coaching.

Some of you know I have a good family friend who has coached basketball for years. He isn't Haith's biggest fan, to put it mildly. He's critical of his in-game coaching, and to an extent of his recruiting too. He believes we've recruited some kids that may be good ball players, but not necessarily have good basketball intelligence. That's his concern for Mizzou going forward - inexperience and low basketball IQ. I guess time will tell.