Most of the great coaches in college basketball came from down here, below the Red Line. There are plenty of old friends in the national polls. Bill Self got his head coaching start at the Badlands Conference's very own Oral Roberts. Jay Wright got his current Villanova gig because he was so good leading Hofstra. There's Matt Painter at Purdue, another in the great line of Southern Ilinois graduates. And, of course, Michael William "Mike" Krzyzewski started his illustrious coaching career at his alma mater, the United States Military Academy. The hoops media perpetuates the idea that this ladder is somehow endlessly fascinating, some sort of stairway to basketball heaven. Being a "national writer"requires full coverage of the coaching carousel, hot rumors, and speculation. Who's going to be the next to make the big climb over the Line? How long will Fran McCaffery stay at Siena? And Brad Stevens... how long can Butler hold on to that guy? Will this be the summer Steve Donahue leaves Cornell behind and goes for the big money? He does have a lot of talent graduating, this would be the right time! The iron is hot! For every Self and Wright, there are a dozen who found the going rough when they made it to the Bigs. Greg McDermott, predecessor of current hot property Ben Jacobson at Northern Iowa, has struggled to keep Iowa State relevant in a state currently run by a team that wears gold and purple. It's certainly not the gold