The question to rehire Travis is a moot point. The real question is Chris Cobb, and to a degree Jay Flores. Chris has been with Travis from the very beginning. He’s also responsible for a lot of the Bay Area recruits that make their way to Missoula. Jay, while not having been on staff as long, has a very high basketball I.Q.
I’m sure Travis is sensitive to Chris’s and Jays lack of income that comes with being assistant coaches at the University of Montana. That’s not going to change any time soon or probably at all. Travis has annotated Chris as his successor and I’m sure Kent would agree. Regardless of how much Haslem were to offer Trav it would pale in comparison to what even a Mountain West school could offer. I think, although not positive, Sprinkle at USU was north of $800,000. Trav would be smart to wait until after the Final 4 to consider any offers. No doubt there will be some opportunities to pick and choose.
Then there’s the question of would Chris and Jay go with him? If they could triple their income they’d be foolish to not go too.
Let’s face the facts, we’ve been fortunate to have the coaching tree we’ve had. I think it’s fair to say Travis is now part of that tree. He’s not getting any younger and his options will begin to diminish in the next couple of years. If he stays, and produces another year like this year I think we can color him gone. Sad to say.
