New Tennessee basketball coach Cuonzo Martin speaks with the media following a news conference today.
KNOXVILLE – Mike Hamilton went into his search for a new basketball coach expecting questions, and prospective candidates certainly asked the Tennessee athletic director how the Volunteers’ NCAA future might play out, as well as Hamilton’s own job.
“We talked to great coaches, and they want to know about your place as well as you knowing about them, so I went about visiting with folks, our counsel, about what we might be able to expect,” Hamilton said after introducing Cuonzo Martin as Bruce Pearl’s replacement Monday.
“No guarantees, obviously, but what we might be able to expect as we go through this process over the next several months. And I asked what can I share with the coaches that I’m visiting with, and they gave me some parameters of what they felt comfortable with me sharing, and we did that in these interviews.”
Firing Pearl, who was charged with unethical conduct in addition to other recruiting violations, might alleviate UT’s punishment when it goes before the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions in June.
“Mike assured me everything will work out, and I support that 100 percent,” Martin said. “Whatever happens with the NCAA, I’m here to coach a ball team and to be successful doing that. I’m really not concerned with what the NCAA has to do, what they have to say. We’ll just wait and see when that happens.”