The Missouri Tigers named Frank Haith their new men's head basketball coach on April 4 --- three days later than it should have been.
No foolin'.
Fans scratched their heads, and perhaps other body parts, at this hiring. Who?
They wouldn't know Frank Haith if he walked into the room wearing a t-shirt that said: "Hi, I'm Frank Haith."
They wouldn't know Frank Haith from Frank Smith, the guy who hangs out at the bus station. (Disclaimer: If your name actually is Frank Smith and you really do hang out at the bus station, it's just a crazy coincidence. Sorry. We all have our hobbies, after all!)
Frank Sinatra, frankly speaking and frankfurters ... we know those franks. But Frank Haith?
Still, it doesn't matter, because it's a great time to be a Tiger.
M-I-Z ... Z-O-U!
Haith inherited a mediocre basketball program at the University of Miami and took it downhill. He was 129-101 in seven seasons with the Hurricanes and led them to a whopping one NCAA Tournament appearance.
Faith in Haith? These days, you may as well put your faith in the stock market. (How's your 401K doing, anyway? Mine too. But I do have some good news ... I found a quarter in the couch the other day. :o)
Missouri athletic director Mike Alden has built nearly every Missouri program into a winner or, at the very least, competitive. But in men's basketball --- the second big money maker in college sports --- he's thrown up two air balls.
Take the Quin Snyder era, please. No, really, take it. Snyder's problems with Ricky Clemons, which went to the top of the MU hierarchy, knocked the program into near oblivion.
Let's just buy Haith a four-wheeler and be done with it.
Ah, the good ol' days.
Out went Snyder and in came Mike Anderson, who restored sanity and respectablity to the program during his five-year run. But when Arkansas --- Anderson's old stomping grounds --- came calling, he left Missouri faster than you could yell Sooey pig!
Now, another storm cloud is gathering over Missouri basketball. Call it Haith Gate.
According to reports, Haith had close ties to Nevin Shapiro during his days at Miami. Who is Nevin Shapiro? Well, he's the guy wearing the: "Hi, I'm Nevin Shapiro," t-shirt.
Beyond that, Shapiro's serving 20 years in prison for a tidy $930 million Ponzi scheme. Also, according to reports, Shapiro was in over his head with innapropriate recruiting "techniques" with Hurricane athletes, mostly football players. But one of Haith's players --- and to the coach's knowledge, according to reports --- was given $10,000 to attend Miami.
Enter the NCAA, which is investigating the matter. Haith denies all wrongdoing; Missouri officials insist they had no knowledge of this mess prior to his hiring.
So what's next? Who knows? Natural diamonds form faster than it takes the NCAA to make a decision.
Been there, done that. M-I-Z ... E-R-Y.
Sometimes, it's not such a great time to be a Tiger.
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