Welcome to the Final Four-ring circus

Like everything else about John Wooden, his retirement is the envy of coaches everywhere.

In 1975, in the aftermath of the Bruins' 10th national championship in 12 seasons, a UCLA booster sidled over to Wooden and said, "This makes up for you letting us down last year." The remark so disgusted the Wizard of Westwood that he resigned within days.

More than a few of the men who followed him into the profession would love to have as much control over their destiny. That's how much of a cutthroat business it's become.

"It's shakier now than it's ever been," Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said Thursday, on the eve of Final Four. And consider this: Sampson is one of the better-paid, most admired, successful and secure members of the fraternity.

It's hard to say whether college basketball sunk to a new low earlier this week by firing Matt Doherty at North Carolina at the behest of his players and their parents. That's only because no one can say for sure where the bottom is anymore.

Just two weeks earlier, UCLA fired Steve Lavin after the school's first losing season in 55 years, even though Lavin went 145-78 in seven years and took the Bruins to the Sweet 16 five times in six years, a feat matched only by Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Because of the revenue big-time programs generate, few people would dispute that the pressure from the administration to win games and fill seats is greater than ever. The scrutiny was tough enough when it was limited to the newspapers and TV. Now the Internet has become a haven for disgruntled fans and a clearinghouse for half-baked rumors.

"There's no silent majority anymore," Sampson said.

Stanford coach Mike Montgomery concurred: "Before, the business within the program stayed within the program. It's like a family; you have disagreements and spats. Only now everybody knows about it."

There have been worse years for coaches, from a numbers standpoint.

Five years ago, 63 jobs changed hands. This year, with 327 Division I programs up and running, the total will be less than half that.

But when marquee schools like UCLA and North Carolina are part of the mix, and two Final Four coaches -- Kansas' Roy Williams and Marquette's Tom Crean -- spend part of every day being grilled about their plans, it makes the game's showcase event feel more unsettled than usual.

"I don't really let it be a distraction," Crean said. "When your name is recognized for doing a good job, anybody who would say that that isn't flattering is not telling you the truth. You'd rather be known for that than for being on a hot seat."

Williams would endorse that last statement, but not the first one. Perhaps Crean feels the way he does because he's a rising star in the business and in just his fourth season at Marquette.

Williams, meanwhile, is in his 15th season at Kansas, and in terms of timing, the distraction couldn't be worse. The former Dean Smith assistant needs a national title to fill the remaining gap on his resume.

He turned down the job at his alma mater three seasons ago and UNC devotees tried to coax him back every time Doherty stumbled. Williams' name was attached almost as firmly to the UCLA job that went to former Pitt coach Ben Howland. He's left dozens of questions and a string of non-denial denials in his wake.

"I haven't spent one second thinking about it, except that nobody can understand English enough to take an answer that my team deserves me to be focused on what I am," Williams said. "I didn't think this decision would come up again, but it has and it's already been a pain."

Speculation has run rampant about the timing of Doherty's firing. In one theory, the purpose was to wreck Williams' week as payback for leaving Carolina at the altar the last time the job came open.

A second holds that it was necessary to unload Doherty immediately to hang on to several of his recruits. A third is simply that he couldn't beat Duke.

If any of those theories turn out to be right, coaches might be coming by their paranoia honestly.

One of the most touching moments of the season came when Mount St. Mary coach Jim Phelan retired after 49 years -- all at the same place -- and a number of his colleagues wore bow ties the way Phelan did.

But the way things are going nowadays, you wonder how many of them felt as if they were trying on a noose.

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Jim Litke is the national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org