This man has a job at UK --- the question is which one

by:Matt Jones07/02/06
The worst kept secret in Lexington right now is that former Kentucky assistant and Tulane head coach Shawn Finney will be on the Kentucky payroll next year. Many of you will remember Finney as one of Tubby's first assistants and his coaching pedigree was strong enough to land him a head coaching job in Conference USA. His tenure at Tulane was a bit rocky, but he has always been one of Tubby Smith's true confidants. It now seems that Finney has been asked back by Tubby to rejoin the Kentucky family. Virtually everyone close to the situation seems to agree on that fact. However exactly what he is to do remains a bit up in the air. There are essentially two stories.....one fake and one real. The generally accepted fake story is that Finney has been brought in to be head of "Basketball Operations", a great title, but one that leaves the actual job description up in the air. According to this story, Finney was brought in specifically for this job and he will fill it admirably. The other story (and likely the correct one) is that Finney was hired by Smith under the assumption that one of his assistants would no longer be on the staff next year. Specifically, most believed that Reggie Hanson would be moving on and, depending on who you talk to, the decision not to move on was either his, the employers who were considering hiring him or some combination of the two. According to this more likely story, Finney was to then be an assistant coach....a job which actually exists and is what Finney does....and the "Basketball Operations" job was not part of the equation. Some believe that Reggie Hanson will be gone in the next few weeks anyway and this will all be a moot point. Others say the staff is what it is and there will be another year of the same faces on the sideline. Whatever is the case, Shawn Finney will likely be a part of the UK program next year. Where you say? Well why dont you tell me.....

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