[TomSportsHack]

You're right: ATM fans are just getting a sniff at success. And methinks they're going to like it a lot. Three straight 20-win seasons under Billy Gillispie, who has put together four consecutive top-25 recruiting classes; Arkansas has history, but ATM has its future right in front of it.

Arkansas had glory days. Those glory days are in the past. Now it's just another mid-pack SEC team that had a nice run in the conference tournament before falling apart in the NCAAs. And we aren't talking about a step up in terms of conference prestige like a move from C-USA, MVC or Mountain West would be --- this is the Big 12, not the Big South. The two programs certainly do "stack up," and ATM is on its way up while Arkansas is at best treading water.

As for Billy Gillispie ... well, he's a native Texan, not just a typical "coach in passing" who's from someplace else. Heck, he's so Texan that his actual name is "Billy Clyde Gillispie" and he's the son of a cattle-truck-driver-turned-oil-field-worker from a dusty spot on the map called Graford, someplace west of Fort Worth. He's said in the past that he believes a national championship contender can be built without recruiting outside Texas; frankly, if he walks away now it looks a bit like he changed his mind about that. For a Texas native with that much coaching ability, ATM could just be a career-capping stop --- he has the chance to build his own legend instead of following somebody else's footsteps.

Reports out of Arkansas indicate that UA wants either Tim Floyd or Bill Self if it can't have Gillispie. No chance of either going to Fayetteville. Here's a list of coaches who might be gettable by the Razorbacks:

Winthrop's Gregg Marshall
Xavier's Sean Miller
GW's Karl Hobbs
Baylor's Scott Drew
Wichita State's Mark Turgeon
UNLV's Lon Kruger
Oregon's Ernie Kent
VCU's Anthony Grant

Personally, I think Arkansas needs to stop pretending it's North Carolina or Duke (1) and find the next great coach who's on his way up. Gregg Marshall, Mark Turgeon or Sean Miller would fit that description very well; Marshall and Turgeon might be the best coaches on that list.

[SIZE="1"](1) Here is Arkansas' basketball tradition: They haven't been to the Final Four in 12 years, they've won exactly seven conference tournament championships in their history (and only one in the SEC, in 2004 well after their Final Four years), haven't made the Elite Eight since 1995 (their last Final Four appearance) and haven't even smelled a Sweet Sixteen since 1996. Is that history one that makes you think "basketball powerhouse?"

I thought not.[/SIZE]