Futures unknown, Arizona, Pennell live in the here and now

The search for Lute Olson's successor is progressing, slowly but surely, with various intermediaries gauging the interest of an array of candidates in an attempt to determine who's realistic and who isn't so that Arizona will be ready to offer someone the job within a week of the Final Four, if not sooner.

According to sources, multiple coaches have been contacted.

According to Russ Pennell, he's not one of them.

Hey! Have you heard? Russ Pennell's Arizona team is building a postseason resume. (Getty Images)

"No, not at all," Pennell answered Wednesday night when I asked whether he had spoken with Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood about the job he currently holds, if only on an interim basis. "All I'm trying to do is make 2008-09 the best it can be, and whatever happens after that, happens."

So what will happen after that?

Actually, I have a better question: Why should anybody care right now?

To be clear, I know, there's no single thing more important to the future of Arizona's athletic department than the hiring of its next basketball coach, which is why I understand the need for constant speculation among the school's fan base. This is important business; I get that. But those spending their days wondering whether Tom Izzo is a possibility while debating the pros and cons of Jamie Dixon and Mark Few are doing themselves a disservice, because what they could be doing instead is enjoying one of the great turnaround stories of this season.

You know how Notre Dame and Baylor are tanking?

Arizona is doing the opposite.

These same Wildcats who were 11-8 three weeks ago and mostly forgotten are now 16-8 heading into Thursday night's game with Southern California, where a win will advance their Pac-10 record to 7-5 and put them in position to make the NCAA tournament for the 25th consecutive season. It's insane, really. Despite every unfortunate thing the Wildcats have experienced -- the abrupt retirement of Olson in October, the departure of a key freshman, the I-can't-believe-that-happened loss to UAB that cost Arizona a trip to New York City, etc., -- they've still managed to piece things together enough to where they're playing a meaningful game in the middle of February.

And much of the credit should go to Pennell.

He took on this challenge under less-than-ideal circumstances, and, be honest, you wrote him off completely when he dropped his fifth game in seven outings last month, didn't you? Of course, you did. And you know what? You were right to do so, because when things turn terrible for an interim coach, they nearly always get worse. The players tend to quit, either literally or figuratively, and it's difficult to get them back because they know the guy barking orders isn't going to be around come the middle of March, which limits his effectiveness and by extension ability to succeed.

But that didn't happen at Arizona.

"They're a close-knit bunch and they want to do well, and it seems to me that they thrive most when people don't think they're relevant anymore, so that's been kind of a neat thing," Pennell said. "We've tried to be closed-mouthed and stay to ourselves, and I think right now we're kind of still flying under the radar. But we're playing pretty well."

Indeed, they are.

It started with a dramatic, unlikely comeback victory against Houston last month, and what followed were wins against Washington, Washington State, Oregon and Oregon State, the latter two coming on the road. Before the Houston game, the Wildcats' RPI ranking was 82; now it's 53. And though that's not great by any means -- it's actually sixth in the Pac-10 -- it is a notable improvement that has helped Arizona enhance its body of work, one that features three one-point losses, which should be noted by anybody trying to accurately gauge this team. In other words, Arizona is that close to being 19-5.

Or 18-6.

Or whatever.

The point is that Pennell took an early lump (the loss to UAB), another final-minute loss (at Texas A&M), four double-digit defeats (to UNLV, California, Stanford and UCLA), his third one-point heartbreaker (at USC) and a home loss to an instate rival (Arizona State) in his opening 19 games, and yet still somehow managed to hold this thing together and turn it around, against all odds.

Will it help him get the Arizona job full time?

Almost certainly not, barring some Steve Fisher-like run.

But what it could do -- in fact, what it should do -- is open the eyes of an athletic director elsewhere and help Pennell land a job at a less-prestigious university, just like Andy Kennedy used his interim season at Cincinnati to get the gig at Ole Miss. That's where this is headed, I predict, though Pennell swore he hasn't concerned himself with anything that doesn't fall under the umbrella of coaching this team, and he promised it'll stay that way until he's coached his final game of the season, whenever that might come.

"I know people think I must be sitting around at home thinking about what's next, but I've purposely not done that," Pennell said. "I just watch more film or do something basketball-related, anything to stay focused on this season. And when we get done, whatever happens will happen. But I think if I start worrying about that now it'll take away from what's going on here."

"I think there's a proper time for all that," Pennell added. "But I don't think it's right now."

No, it's not.

Because right now is about right now.

And right now Arizona has a huge game with USC on tap.