Lon Kruger has won a Big Ten title at Illinois.

Just in the last week or so a bunch of coaching openings have been in the news. There's the Mike Jarvis in Washington situation. Will he or won't he? And whose fault is it? Down in Atlanta, Isiah Thomas was supposed to be the man, but Lon Kruger from Illinois got the job. And in Los Angeles, does anyone want the Clipper job? Also, John Lucas claims he's talking to several teams, the Clippers being one of them. Enjoy.

TEAM	NEW COACH?	WHY & HOW
Pacers	Rick Carlisle Bob Huggins Byron Scott	The thought here is that Carlisle will be the choice, since we do know that Larry's gone. The Pacers have been tight-lipped about who the new coach will be. Carlisle was an assistant under Bill Fitch, Chuck Daly and P.J. Carlesimo before coming to Indy. According to the Pacers' media guide, he likes golf and playing the piano. Late word from ESPN.com's own Andy Katz has Huggins very interested in this job, but Carlisle is seen as the favorite.

TEAM	NEW COACH?	WHY & HOW
Grizzlies	Sidney Lowe Lenny Wilkens John Lucas Byron Scott	Lowe, a Timberwolves assistant, has been talked about for a number of jobs. Wilkens could be the choice here, since he owns a home in the Seattle area. Dick Versace may eventually want this job, but not right now. Haven't heard of a lot of names for this job, since this is Vancouver we're discussing, but with solid young players in place, and the No. 2 draft position, that could change.

TEAM	NEW COACH?	WHY & HOW
Mavericks	Don Nelson Sidney Moncrief Kiki Vandeweghe	Now who wouldn't want Nelson back? He's done such a nice job the last decade or so. Anyway, since there is a whole group of assistants waiting in the wings for a chance, something could change soon. Moncrief was just brought in from Arkansas-Little Rock.

TEAM	NEW COACH?	WHY & HOW
Nets	Maurice Cheeks Lionel Hollins Rick Barry John Lucas John Thompson Lenny Wilkens Eddie Jordan	Now that Don Casey is gone, and the Nets suddenly find themselves with the top draft pick coming up, it would figure that the Nets would want/need to get a high-profile guy in there. And it would figure that people would want this job. The Nets did miss the playoffs this season, but had far too much talent to do so. Cheeks has never coached before, and if Julius Erving (there's your big name) is really brought in to run operations, Cheeks would be a good choice. Hollins has officially been cut loose in Vancouver, and there's always the recycled coach possibility. And maybe Rick Barry, who has openly campaigned for this job and sent a letter to Steinbrenner stating his interest, will get a look. Hey, Barry did a great job with Fort Wayne in the CBA, right? As for John Thompson, that may be more for a front office spot.

TEAM	NEW COACH?	WHY & HOW
Wizards	Mike Jarvis Jim Clemons Rod Higgins Lenny Wilkens Darrell Walker John Lucas	Michael Jordan might have lost his man. He brought Higgins in to his front office and Walker, last year's coach at the end, is likely to end up in the front office as well. But maybe not. Jordan might not be able to get a coach. He lowballed Jarvis, who formerly coached at George Washington, and might not be able to get him back. Wilkens said a few weeks ago that the job was his, but apparently it wasn't. We don't know what's happening, but we do know Jordan has made a big mess. Clemons, a Laker assistant, has been recently rumored for this spot and could be moving here. And for all we know maybe Lucas is a possibility here as well.

TEAM	NEW COACH?	WHY & HOW
Nuggets	Bob Huggins	We're just floating this one out there, but we have heard a few tidbits about this. Dan Issel sure didn't look like he wanted to coach last season. It showed. Since the team's point guard is Nick Van Exel, who played for Huggins at Cincy, it's a natural fit. Huggins really, really wants an NBA job, but this one might not be open.

TEAM	NEW COACH?	WHY & HOW
Clippers	Jim Todd Bob Huggins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Mike Fratello John Thompson Dennis Johnson	Does anyone care? Rumor has it (from ESPN.com's Andy Katz) that the Clippers called Huggins, but he said that he was not interested. Is this a surprise? After that, well, Abdul-Jabbar would appear to be a good choice, since the team brought him to town to try to tutor Michael Olowokandi. Jim Todd is the current interim guy, but nobody comes to the Staples Center to see him, and the team says he's not an option. You get the feeling that as long as money isn't an issue, Donald Sterling would prefer a name guy. Why not let Kareem or even Dennis Johnson have a shot? If Sterling goes the safe (and old) route, Fratello could be the man. The front-office brass also spoke to Thompson when he was in town broadcasting Game 2 of the Lakers-Blazers series.