re: An argument can be made that Muss should have been making more money

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I'm not on the hype train. I just think he's our floor and a lot better than Bryce Drew/Stackhouse type options.

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I have a very different opinion of "floor" for Arkansas baseball and basketball than I do football. We have several legitimate, acceptable options. I'm looking for consistency and winning at a high cut at schools with no history or resources. Not freak one-off tournament appearances. Moser's first six seasons at Loyola missed the tournament and the NIT. Then a Final Four out of nowhere. Then missed tournament. Then a Sweet 16. Then he gets hired at Oklahoma and has missed the tourney all three years he's been there, and made the NIT only once.

T.J. Otzelberger, Iowa State. Took South Dakota State to the tournament two of the three years he was there. Went to UNLV for two years and sucked. He's been at Iowa State for three years and has posted two Sweet 16s and a first round appearance. He's making 1.5 mil and has no real connections to Iowa State. And he's only 46. If we can't land Beard, this guy is fricking perfect.

Greg McDermott, Creighton. He's been at Creighton 13 years (not counting the COVID year). Total nowhere team. He's taken them to the Dance almost every year with two Sweet 16s and an Elite Eight. Think of what he could do at a place that can actually win an NC at basketball and cares to try every year. Only making 1.3 mil.

Brad Underwood, Illinois. No past ties to the team. Takes Stephen F. Austin to the tournament three out of three years. Goes to Oklahoma State for one year and takes them to the tournament. Goes to Illinois, makes the tournament four out of six years, with an Elite Eight this year. The downside is he's making 4.2 million, but this is a guy who can win a championship at the right place.

Brian Dutcher, San Diego State. Taken SDSU to the tournament five out of six times, including being the runner-up and a Sweet 16.

Tommy Lloyd, Arizona. Jerome Tang, but better. He's been there three years and that's all his HC experience. He's taken them to the tournament all three years, with two of the three being Sweet 16s. But he IS making 4 mil per year, so Arizona is serious about him.

Rick Pitino, currently rehabbing at St. John's, won big everywhere he's been. The only downside is he's 71.

Will Wade, but maybe he's not realistic due to a show-cause.

Would all those coaches plus Beard turn us down? I can't really believe that, but I think our floor should be more like Shaka Smart than Jerome Tang or Porter Moser.

What do you mean by clear path, exactly? There are at least two guys who we can nearly triple their pay day one if they came to us. Then there are guys like Pitino and Wade, who are just waiting for another shot. Only the guys making 4+ mil and the SDSU guy seem inherently complicated.