Give credit to Oregon for reaching for the stars in search of their next head coach after firing Ernie Kent on March 16.

The Ducks didn’t try to swoop up a successful small school coach like Iowa did when they hired former Sienna coach Fran McCaffery a few days back.

No, instead the Ducks offered their head coaching position to Michigan State’s Tom Izzo.

I couldn’t figure out why Oregon who has a modest college basketball tradition would think they could lure away a man who is in the midst of taking his school to their sixth final four in 12 years. Then I remembered that Nike chairman Phil Knight is a booster of the program and has a vested interest in Oregon basketball. Eugene, Oregon, TV station KEZI reported that the Ducks where planning on offering Izzo the largest contract in college basketball, a contract that would have surpassed John Calipari’s salary at Kentucky.

Tom Izzo denied he had been contacted by the school and said he is happy where he is it. The Spartans coach said that his focus is to bring another National Title back to East Lansing.

“I have no response, I’ve learned that it really doesn’t pay to respond,” Izzo said during at pre-Final Four news conference. “This will not be a distraction. My only focus is winning a third crystal ball.”

Mark Turgeon of Texas A.M. and Jamie Dixon of Pittsburgh had been mentioned as coaches that had been visited by interim Oregon athletic director Pat Kilkenny. It now appears though that Oregon has offered their head coaching position to Minnesota coach Tubby Smith.

It will be interested to see if the athletic department at Oregon and some of the more powerful members of their fanbase, (Phil Knight…cough) can land a big name head coach to kick start their basketball program.

As of right now the Ducks head coaching position is still vacant; but they have sent a strong message that they are looking for a big name to guide their men’s basketball program in the future.