Decision on new coach expected soon

Twelve days after the firing of Michigan men's basketball coach Steve Fisher, practice is in full swing, the first exhibition game is less than two weeks away and the Wolverines have all the pieces in place except for one - a head coach.

But that could change as early as today. University Athletic Director Tom Goss, who has been conducting a nationwide search for Fisher's replacement since Oct. 12, was scheduled to return last night from his latest round of face-to-face candidate interviews. Goss has said he would like to hire a new coach no later than tomorrow.

While Goss has confirmed only two candidates - Cazzie Russell from the Savannah College of Art and Design and ex-Brigham Young coach Roger Reid - the leading candidate may be Illinois State coach Kevin Stallings.

Goss reportedly met with Stallings last week, as well as Kansas assistant coaches Matt Doherty and Neil Dougherty, before heading west to interview Southern California coach Henry Bibby.

Of the six potential candidates, Stallings' resume is a standout.

In his four seasons at Illinois State, Stallings' Redbirds have posted an 82-42 record, including one NCAA Tournament appearance and two National Invitation Tournament showings. His first two recruiting classes ranked in the top 40.

Before joining the Redbirds, Stallings served as an assistant coach under Gene Keady at Purdue and Roy Williams at Kansas, accumulating an 11-year assistant coach record of 272-82.

Neither Doherty nor Dougherty, the current Kansas assistants, have any head-coaching experience. Doherty, who is starting his fifth season with the Jayhawks, specializes in recruiting.

Dougherty, who is entering his second season with the Jayhawks, has 12 years of assistant coaching under his belt, including four years at Vanderbilt and two years at South Carolina.

Russell and Reid are the only candidates who have Michigan connections.

Russell, who is starting his second year at Savannah, played for Michigan from 1963-66 and helped lead the Wolverines to two NCAA Final Fours and three Big Ten titles. Russell's play also helped fuel the overall popularity of the Michigan program, which eventually resulted in the construction of Crisler Arena. The Wolverine's home court is historically known as "The House that Cazzie Built."

But Russell's lack of major collegiate coaching experience may be a liability. Before taking over the Savannah Bees, a Division III program, Russell coached for Continental Basketball Association and high school teams.

Reid looks to be a more qualified candidate, but as of yesterday, he said he was still waiting to hear from Goss, who left a message with Reid saying that he would call back.

Reid was fired last year by Brigham Young, seven games into his eighth season, after leading the Cougars to a 152-77 record during his tenure. Reid's Cougars made the NCAA Tournament five times and the National Invitation Tournament once.

In the wake of his dismissal, Reid's son Robbie, who played for his father at Brigham Young, transferred to Michigan this fall and will play for the Wolverines this season.

The most recent name to surface as a possible candidate is Bibby, who would neither confirm nor deny that he has talked with Goss. Bibby is entering his second full season with the USC Trojans and is known as a strong disciplinarian. But Bibby was an assistant coach at Arizona State in 1985, when the NCAA found numerous rules violations, which may be a big strike against him considering the present situation at Michigan.

Goss is looking to clean up a program that has admitted to three minor NCAA violations under Fisher's reign. Fisher's dismissal came just two days after the Kansas City-based law firm Bond, Schenk and King released its report after a seven-month investigation.

That report is now in the hands of the NCAA, which will decide whether or not to conduct its own investigation into the program.

10-23-97