A day before N.C. State announced the hiring of Mark Gottfried - April 5, 2011 - Frank Haith left Miami to take the coaching job at Missouri.
Even though Gottfried was a popular hire and has quickly re-energized the program, there was a sizable faction within the Wolfpack fan base that thought Haith would be an ideal choice to succeed Sidney Lowe.
Both coaches absorbed disappointing defeats this week - N.C. State lost 74-55 at UNC and second-ranked Missouri's 79-72 stumble at Oklahoma State, which has an unimpressive 10-10 record.
Nonetheless, Haith still has about a five-furlong lead in everyone's national coach of the year handicapping.
But soon, it'll start to get tricky for the former Elon guard and Wake Forest assistant.
After today's walkover game against Texas Tech, Haith's team will have to face Texas (13-7), Kansas (17-3), Oklahoma (12-7), Baylor (18-2) and Oklahoma State again in a 16-day period.
With four teams ranked among The Associated Press' top 25, the Big 12 almost certainly rates as the nation's best league top to bottom. The Big East, with 16 members, also has four teams in the top 25, but the Big 12 is doing it with 10.
In seven seasons at Miami, Haith overachieved (129-101), but it did nothing to build interest.
Miami is among the very worst college basketball locales anywhere, and it was a no-brainer for him to take the Missouri job.
The fact that the Tigers (18-2, 5-2 Big 12) began the week ranked second to Kentucky is more proof of Haith's talent as an offensive strategist.
He's doing it without much size, too. Only two regulars are taller than 6-foot-3.
But it's also true that Mike Anderson left behind a lot of depth and experience before he moved on to Arkansas. Haith is playing four seniors, a junior and a sophomore.
Long term, Haith's comfort zone at Missouri will be determined by his recruiting and good standing with the NCAA. He was implicated in the scandal at Miami involving booster Nevin Shapiro.
Haith has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing at Miami, but the Shapiro matter is still being sorted out.
At N.C. State, Gottfried is off to a 15-6 start - including a 4-2 mark in the ACC - and has emerged as a productive recruiter. Both camps are happy, but it'll be interesting to see how the two programs progress over the next two or three seasons.
