Someone at Binghamton Doesn’t Understand What “Interim” Actually Means

↵↵Binghamton basketball is officially fascinating to me and it’s for all the wrong reasons. We’ve posted a fair amount about the tumult surrounding the program, but at some point, the program had to move on, hire a coach and begin to build a new future. I’m not sure this news qualifies as that strong next step.↵

↵↵⇥[Mark] Macon, who took over the head coaching duties on an interim basis in October after [Kevin] Broadus was placed on paid leave, confirmed Tuesday that he has signed a two-year contract extension to remain as interim coach.↵↵I think Binghamton interim athletic director Jim Norris (no, I’m not making that up, he’s got the interim title, too) might be a bit confused about what the word interim means.↵↵⇥a temporary or provisional arrangement; stopgap; makeshift.↵↵As Jerry Palm wrote on Twitter, Binghamton is redefining “interim.”↵↵Now, to be fair, dictionary.com also says it can be “an intervening time; interval; meantime,” but for the sake of sports examples, it rarely extends beyond a portion of a season, let alone what will wind up being three seasons if Macon finishes out his interim time. Perhaps there’s a plan at play here that none of us are seeing, but if you’re really going to get into a mess where you’re labeling someone with a multi-year interim tag, it might be time to close the gym doors on your hoops program.↵

↵↵Again, perhaps we don’t know something, but from the outside-looking-in, how can Macon recruit at all? If you read the link at the top of this post, even his own current players aren’t sure if Broadus is returning at some point despite Macon’s deal. (By the way, that could be the hang-up on the interim tag. Perhaps Broadus’ potential return scuttles giving the job to Macon without the interim tag.) Junior Greer Wright has even made visits to UConn and South Florida. If you can’t even keep a firm grip on your current players, what do you do with potential incoming players? Will there be NCAA penalties? Who will be your coach when you arrive on campus? Who will be your teammates, considering everyone is a flight risk at this point?↵

↵