KO had to go, that much is pretty clear. If he was still coaching in Tucson then Lute would've been fired while the top 8 scorers and 2008/2009 recruiting classes likely all would have gone NBA, transfer, or de-committed. Not to mention a career failure in KO would be steering the UA Hoops program. That inevitable disaster scenario is what Livengood was pushing for, but once word started to spread of his intentions and the fallout of firing Lute become clear then he backed off. Of course they still don't get along which is part of the reason Lute probably only has one year left.
Simon was almost useless other than serving as the minority on the staff which every program needs to prevent the abhorrent practice of race recruiting. I don't think anybody is losing any sleep over this, except Lute who probably isn't happy about Livengood firing the guy who won him his National Title.
Pastner is the biggest loss. While his talent evaluation skills weren't keen, he did provide a great service in being the mediator between Lute and whoever tells these kids where to go. I personally don't think it's as big of loss as others are making it out to be because in my opinion Lute's run is very close to it's end anyways so whoever we recruit in 2009 and 2010 would probably de-commit regardless.
The staff to replace these guys is pretty solid as well. Pennell was known as pretty much the sole reason Rob Evans had any success at all, ASU went down the crapper once Pennell was demoted behind Tony Benford. And Mike Dunlap had a great run at d D-II school before jumping to the NBA. It's not like Lute is replacing Roz, KO, and Pastner with Chris Rodgers, Mustafa Shakur, and Rick Anderson. That being said, it's probably not the best time to create the perception of a program in turmoil.
I've already resigned myself to the reality that UA probably won't ever be an elite team under Lute again. Pastner, Kevin O'Neill, Rosborough, and Miles Simon or whoever else couldn't change that. What's important is that the program treads water until Lute retires which at the latest is the end of the 2010-2011 season which is three full years away so that we have a stable program and a boatload of money (UA is still a top 5 program in revenue despite their recent mediocrity) to throw at his successor. I think Dunlap and Pennell have enough experience and connections to make such happen.
