Pac-12 tourney notes: Stanford fires Haase, Utes bumped, Ducks could run again and Cronin's prophecy

LAS VEGAS – If Stanford played everyone the way it played Arizona over the past three seasons, coach Jerod Haase probably wouldn't have been fired Thursday.

In the final three seasons of Haase's eight-year stint at Stanford, which ended immediately after the Cardinal lost 79-62 to Washington State in a quarterfinal game Thursday, Stanford gave Arizona plenty to worry about.

Stanford gave the Wildcats their biggest scare en route to UA's 2022 Pac-12 Tournament title, an 84-80 game in the quarterfinals, while the Cardinal beat Arizona 88-79 at Maples Pavilion last season.

Then this season, Stanford handed the Wildcats their most lopsided of their seven losses, 100-82 at Maples.

“The Stanford team that played against us (it was) `Oh my gosh, these guys are great,’ “ Lloyd said on his radio show in January. “Then you look at their overall record, you’re like, ‘Man, why? Why are they so inconsistent?’ ”

Stanford essentially deemed Haase as the reason why, or at least the one responsible for that play. Less than 10 minutes after the game ended Thursday, the school issued an email release stating that Haase would be relieved of his duties immediately.

“While the on-court results fell short of our expectations, coach Haase led our men's basketball program with great integrity and made a deeply positive impact on many Cardinal student-athletes," Stanford AD Bernard Muir said in a statement. "As we embark on the search for our next head coach, I wish Jerod and his family all the best in the future.”

Since the release was issued before the postgame press conferences even began, Haase didn’t have to answer awkward statements about his future in response to speculative queries.

Instead, flanked on the podium by Stanford standouts Spencer Jones and Brandon Angel, and with a stream of Stanford players and staffers filing into the interview room to watch, Haase choked up as he discussed the change.

He did not wear the cardinal-colored blazer that he wore in the game.

“I’ll be leaving very proud of the team accomplishments and the reality is I did nothing for that other than recruiting highly exceptional kids,” Haase said. 

Haase said he was proud of developing players and was “super excited” about having built a culture around high standards within his program, but also noted how important on-court performance was.

Haase was 126-127 over eight years at Stanford, which finished 14-18 this season. Stanford did not reach the NCAA Tournament under his watch, though it was 20-12 and on the bubble for the 2020 Tournament before it was canceled because of COVID.

“This doesn't have anything to do with anybody else's standards, my own standards: I have not won here to the level that I expect,” Haase said. “Just like I hold my team accountable, I'm being held accountable. I have no issue with that.”

Both Jones and Angel issued thanks for their time under Haase.

“Coach Haase is so much more than basketball,” Angel said. “I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a coach in the country who cares more about his players. … I couldn't be prouder to play for him. I'd run through a brick wall for him.”

Colorado's 72-58 win over Utah in the last quarterfinal game Thursday meant all four top seeds advanced to the quarterfinals, with No. 2 Washington State scheduled to face the No. 3 Buffaloes at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

It also meant that Utah was almost certain to head to the NIT instead of the NCAA Tournament, a destiny that hit fifth-year center Branden Carlson hard.

"It just sucks," Carlson said. "We worked hard to make the NCAA Tournament and at this point to know you're not going to make it, it just sucks."

A native of the Salt Lake City area, Carlson returned for his fifth season in part to lead the Utes to the NCAA Tournament, according to Utah coach Craig Smith.

During Utah's postgame news conference, Smith expressed empathy for Carlson and senior guard Gabe Madsen, who still has a COVID year remaining if he wants to return.

"These guys grew up dreaming of playing in March Madness, grew up dreaming in playing in games like this, in a world-class facility -- and you only get four or five years of your life to do it," Smith said. "I'm not sure people totally understand. These are hard things because of the amount of time ... discipline and work and nutrition-- everything that goes into it -- and when it comes to where you're not going to make the NCAA Tournament... it's really, really hard."

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In what Haase described on Wednesday as the “carnage” of college sports, the Pac-12 is imploding, most major conferences are going national and players can ping in and out of the transfer portal to follow NIL dollars every offseason.

“Everybody’s a free agent,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “That’s just the way it is.”

So, after UCLA’s season ended in a 68-66 loss to Oregon at T-Mobile Arena, Cronin took a stab at guessing where it could go next.

Maybe it goes to allowing star players to stick around for a sixth year. Or a seventh. Or more. 

Who knows?

“If you'd have met me five years ago and I told you all this was going on, you would have said `There's no way -- you're not in the Big Ten, there's not collectives recruiting and paying players, and … every time we have a ruling (regarding the NCAA) the court says, `You can't have that,' " Cronin said.

“So here's what I got for you. (Oregon center) N'Faly Dante is making NIL money. Let's just assume it's better than what he can make professionally next year. He should get an attorney and he should get an injunction so he can keep playing college. Because we lose every other case, the NCAA.

“You’re looking at me like `you’re crazy.’ But why wouldn’t he do that? Because we've taken away his right to make a living.”

“I bet he would win. I mean, every other case wins. The whole thing is nuts.”

Cronin said he believes NCAA president Charlie Baker is trying to push back against the wave of momentum, and it’s not easy.

“I follow it close, although I've never spoken to (Baker),” Cronin said. “He's doing everything he can to save college sports. Literally everything he can. And all you got to do is look at what happened to this great conference, and realize it can happen to all of college sports.”

Oregon coach Dana Altman runs the fourth-slowest tempo in the Pac-12, according to Kenpom, and there’s evidence that he might want to keep it that way against Arizona.

In the Wildcats’ two victories over the Ducks this season, Arizona averaged 95 points.

But the way Altman described Arizona’s defense, he might not have a choice.

“Their halfcourt defense is really good,” Altman said. “I don't like commenting on other teams, but if you take Arizona's defense this year compared to last year, I think it's a lot better. I don't know what KenPom says but their activity is pretty good.

“If you don't push it at all and let them set their defense every time, I think they're pretty good in the half court So I think they can play a lot of different ways, and so it's just a matter of how the flow goes. We gave up a lot of points at both places.

Altman said the key for the Ducks is to play better defensively and get some transition going so that Arizona can’ set up that halfcourt defense all the time.

“But they're a little deeper than us, and we gotta be careful about just getting into a shooting contest with them,” Altman said. “A lot of times you go, `OK, we don't have to play our best. ‘We're going to have to play good. Shoot it good. Have to rebound good. Have to be sharp defensively. We're going to have to play really good. They've proven that two times. Can't sugarcoat it. We're going to have to play really good.”

Dante ranks 25th nationally in two-point shooting (68.0) and is 242nd nationally in fouls drawn per 40 minutes (4.9).

So anytime the Ducks miss an opportunity to get him the ball one way or another, as they often did early in their win over UCLA on Thursday, Altman has a right to cringe.

“We just went brain dead there where we were supposed to throw the ball” to him early Thursday, Altman said. “Dante, he's a good teammate, he didn't say nothing. We gotta throw him the ball. So that's bad coaching. We jack up six 3s before he even touches the ball.

“He’s first-team all-conference for a reason. He's a phenomenal player. I believe in him. He fights through adversity. He's our leader.”