Report: ESPN's Jay Williams emerges as Rutgers coaching candidate
An unlikely name has surfaced in Rutgers’ search for a new head men’s basketball coach.
According to NJ.com, Scarlet Knights athletic director Pat Hobbs interviewed Jay Williams, the former Duke star and current ESPN analyst, on Monday afternoon.
Rhode Island’s Dan Hurley and George Washington’s Mike Lonergan have been the names commonly associated with the opening, which was created after the firing of Eddie Jordan last week, but aside from the obvious – Williams has never coached at any level – Williams’ candidacy makes some sense. For one, Williams is a New Jersey native and was a star at St. Joseph-Metuchen (20 minutes from Rutgers' campus) before going on to Duke and the NBA. He certainly knows the state and the landscape of high school basketball in the area, where Rutgers has struggled to land to top-end talent for years.
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NJ.com’s report indicates that Williams is “believed to be on the periphery” of the search. However, Williams still reportedly impressed during his meeting with Hobbs.
One person familiar with the situation told NJ Advance Media that Hurley also interviewed with Hobbs, and he remains a top candidate for the vacancy. The person said Williams shouldn't be ruled out, but the current ESPN college basketball analyst is believed to be on the periphery at this point.
Still, insiders say Williams made a strong case to sell himself as the kind of splashy hire who would generate national headlines for a program that has been widely criticized amid a series of controversies over the 15 years since Williams chose to star for Duke rather than playing for his hometown Scarlet Knights.
Williams, who starred at Duke and was the second overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft before his professional career was derailed by injuries suffered in a serious motorcycle accident, considered the in-state Scarlet Knights before signing on with Mike Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils as a recruit. Williams would be a recognizable face to raise interest in a program coming off a dreadful 7-24 campaign that included just one win in Big Ten play. That win, a late-season triumph over a Minnesota team playing with just five scholarship players, ended a 32-game conference losing streak which spanned the last two seasons.
Clearly, Rutgers’ transition to the Big Ten hasn’t been a smooth one. Nonetheless, the Scarlet Knights have a few impressive players to build around, including freshman guard Corey Sanders, who averaged 15.9 points and 4.3 assists per game, and freshman forward Jonathan Laurent, who put up 11.7 points and 8.6 rebounds per game over the last two months of the season.
So the cupboard isn’t completely dry for the new guy, but recruiting, of course, will be key. Williams certainly is a guy who could excite recruits, but is he a better option than established guys like Hurley or Lonergan? Probably not, but he’s certainly a name to keep an eye on.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
