For real. Now that Jerry Wainwright has been fired and interim head coach Tracy Webster will not be retained for next season, DePaul is void of a head coach.

So they’ve done the only logical thing. They’ve posted the job opening online:

The steps to navigate to this listing, via Tremendous Upside Potential:

1) Go to DePaul.edu
2) Click on ‘Employment’
3) Click on ‘Staff Positions’
4) Click on ‘Applicants: Career Opportunities’
5) Type in ‘coach’ in the keyword box and hit search.

Men’s basketball coach is the fourth job down. It was posted on March 3. Easy as that.

Let me know how it goes, guys.

When Illinois beat Wisconsin on Friday in the Big Ten Tournament, most thought they’d make the NCAA Tournament.

After said win, Steve Lavin even gave Demetri McCamey a congrats for seemingly making the tourney during a post-game interview.

But the Illini didn’t make March Madness. Awkward. Woe is Bruce Weber.

Don’t fret, though: There’s always the N.I.T., guys!

And the Illini made out favorable, as they snatched a No. 1 seed in tourney — granting them some nice home-court advantage in their initial pool of eight teams. Except they actually won’t have home-court advantage for their first-round matchup against Stony Brook.

Because of Cirque Du Soleil.

From Illini HQ:

Though Illinois is seeded No. 1 in the NIT, it couldn’t host a first-round game because Cirque du Soleil is performing at the Assembly Hall this week. If it continues to win, Illinois would host a second-round game March 22 and a third-round game March 24.

Maybe they can keep one of the acrobats for some depth off the bench in the second round?

Ladies and gentleman, your possible National Player of the Year (after the commerical and Manny Harris’ shot):

Money.

Now, it seems sort of silly Michigan would let arguably the best player in the country essentially have a free shot to win the game. But in his post-game presser, John Beilein explained that the 1-3-1 in the half court assured them that such a  shot — a near half-courter — was all Ohio State would get. (Remember, Ohio State only needed a two to tie.)

He’s right. It is all they got. It just happened to go in. Because it’s Evan Turner.

Video HT: BTN

Purdue no longer has Robbie Hummel. Illinois is still riding the bubble. Wisconsin lacks star power. Michigan State is rising at the right time; this is how Tom Izzo teams roll.

But if there’s one that has the potential for a deep tourney run this March, bet on Ohio State.

For starters, there’s Evan Turner, the likely Player of the Year and No. 2 pick behind John Wall in this summer’s NBA Draft. As we’ve seen countless times throughout history, a star player can put you on their back in the tourney and prime you for a deep run. And Turner doesn’t just score; he’s a threat for a triple-double every time he steps onto the court.

But there’s plenty of other reasons why Ohio State has a chance of being a great team in the tourney when we judge them against their Big Ten peers. First off, this team takes high-percentage shots. Outside of Jon Diebler — who’s a terrific three-point shooter; his true-shooting percentage of 63.1 ranks him 48th in the country — all their guards can slash to the hole for an easy two at the rim.

The Buckeyes have the third-highest eFG percentage in the country at 56.1 percent, and their offensive efficiency ranks 10th. And their length and athleticism helps them on the defensive end, as their defensive efficiency ranks 20th in the country.

This team also takes care of the ball, as their turnover percentage is 17.4 percent — good for 30th among all DI teams.

If there’s one way exploit this team, it’s to get into their bench. They only go six-seven deep on most nights, so if the opponent can get them into some foul trouble, it could work to their advantage.

Am I saying this team is going to make the National Championship game? No. Am I saying they’re going to make the Final Four? Eh, maybe. Elite Eight? They’ve got a good shot. Sweet Sixteen? Anything less would be a disappointment.

For now, this team will enter the tournament as a very deadly 2, 3 or 4 seed, one that has the best chance of any team in the Big Ten to strike some fear into its opponents.

All stats courtesy of KenPom.

Trick shots are fun to watch, but rarely do we see any on display in an actual game.

You know, like a dude shooting from his knees at half-court …. … … wait a minute:

One question: did he call bank?

HT: Le Dagger

… and then there is this from Brady Morningstar last evening in the waning moment of the Kansas-Texas game:

Cue the Yakety Sax!

Morningstar told the Lawrence Journal-World the ball was wet, and that’s why it slipped.

Wet balls. They’ll get you every time.

When news came down that Northwestern stud Kevin Coble would be out the entire season for Northwestern with a foot injury, I did not expect them to be much of a factor this season.

Because this is Northwestern, and they’ve never made the NCAA Tournament. These are just the facts, people.

But the Wildcats have held court pretty well: they’re currently 13-5 (2-4), with a nice win over Purdue on their resume. Keep it up, and they have a decent shot of advancing to the Big Dance.

Enough with my low-level analysis of their season, though. Let’s see what Coble has been up to during practice (via the Daily Herald):

Well then. This just goes to show you kids out there that when you have a boot on your foot, there is no limit to the type of trick shot you can pull off.

Sky is the limit, really.

HT: Former MPS blog star and current ESPN basketball blogger extraordinaire, Eamonn Brennanbro