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Preseason story line No 12: New coaches.

Preseason story line No 12: New coaches. In some cases there are big-time faces in new places such as Tom Crean at Indiana, Mike Montgomery at California and Trent Johnson at LSU. Others schools hired high-profile assistants and are giving them their first shots such as Johnny Dawkins at Stanford, Derek Kellogg at UMass and Ken McDonald at Western Kentucky.

Some found young head coaches on the way up such as Travis Ford at Oklahoma State, Darrin Horn at South Carolina and Keno Davis at Providence. Still others opted to hire coaches who had been fired at major programs, including John Brady (LSU) to Arkansas State and Ben Braun (California) to Rice.

Arizona and Southeast Missouri State have interim coaches in place as the season nears. Lute Olsons abrupt retirement has put Russ Pennell in the spotlight. The Redhawks, meanwhile, dismissed their AD and placed coach Scott Edgar on leave after being notified of potential major violations by the NCAA. Assistant Zac Roman will be the acting basketball coach for the Redhawks.

One school even hired a coach who, by the time the season starts, could be the brother-in-law of the president of the United States.

No one may have more pressure than Buzz Williams at Marquette. Not only does the one-year Golden Eagles assistant have the unenviable task of replacing Crean, but he also inherits a senior-laden team with Sweet 16 potential.

Is that enough uproar for you?

Over the summer Rivals.com caught up with many of the new coaches. Heres a sample of some of the more interesting things they told us:

Montgomery on why he came back to the collegiate coaching ranks: I didnt necessarily miss coaching at first, but the last year I really felt something was missing. I really missed working with young people. But I knew that I didnt want to take over a team that was going to be rebuilding. I didnt want to start over from scratch again. I wanted a chance to compete and win immediately. This Cal team was right on the verge last year. They were hurt by some injuries and some bad breaks. Ben did a good job here, and there is a lot of experience coming back.

Dawkins on leaving Duke after 11 seasons as an assistant to Mike Krzyzewski to take over at Stanford: No one expected me to take this, of course. Ive had other opportunities, but never felt like it was the right fit. It was a difficult decision. You are always going to have mixed emotions. I loved my experience at Duke and I will miss a lot of people there and they will miss me. But I think everyone understood that I was preparing to be a head coach someday. That was always the dream. I cant think of a better institution to do that than Stanford. I really love the standard of excellence they have here. Their combination of athletics and academics is one of the best in the country.

Ford on leaving UMass for Oklahoma State: Having to walk into a room and tell them I was leaving was probably the hardest thing Ive ever had to do. I loved those guys and still think about them every day. I said my goal is to win a national championship, and when I looked at my team, I said, I think I can do that at Oklahoma State.

Williams on the challenge of being the new guy in the Big East: I think if you were to study all of the coaches in the league, every single head coach has won more games in their career than I have. Nothing I will do will surprise them. Its an unbelievable league. So many good teams, so much depth on those teams. Its so populated with great players and Hall of Fame coaches every time you turn around. You have to give your absolute best every day in preparation, in practice, for each and every game.

Johnson on what attracted him to Baton Rouge from Stanford: Ive always thought it had unbelievable tradition. LSU has had three of the top 50 players of all time Shaquille (ONeal), Pistol Pete (Maravich) and Bob Pettit. Its had Chris Jackson and Jerry Reynolds. The list just goes on and on. The tradition and history is awesome. Look at the players over the years whove come out of this state Robert Parish, Karl Malone, Bill Russell. This area has always had good players, and well be trying to find the next ones.

Davis on not being Providences first choice after it courted George Mason coach Jim Larranaga : It really doesnt matter. When you look at the great coaches around the country its important that you dont worry if you were the first choice, only the right choice.