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Whom should Pitt Panthers hire to be their next coach?

Kevin Stallings is gone after just two seasons. It was a head-scratching hire when former Pitt AD Scott Barnes tabbed Stallings, who was on his last legs at Vandy. But Barnes had worked for Todd Turner, who runs a search firm, and Turner had hired Stallings at Vanderbilt.

It didn't make sense ... and it didn't work. The predecessor, Jamie Dixon, didn't leave Stallings much, but this wasn't the right hire, and just about everyone knew it two years ago. Stallings didn't win a single game in the ACC this season, and the two sides (Stallings and AD Heather Lyke) didn't have any relationship.

Now Lyke is on the clock, and she has a difficult decision to make.

Job description

The job has changed since Pittsburgh when to the ACC. The Panthers had plenty of success in the Big East, but much of it came because New York kids could be lured to the hook of playing close to home in a league that featured no shortage of teams within driving distance.

You still have to get under-the-radar guys and develop them at Pittsburgh, but there's no reason that Pittsburgh can't be in the equation for the NCAA tourney most years. It has the resources, enough players within a few hours' drive and enough tradition.

But now whoever takes it over will have a major rebuilding task -- one that will take time and energy.