Somebody Save Me From The Internet

For the first time during this search I feel like I'm losing my grip on sanity. In general it's been a far less agonizing process than the search five years ago--Debbie Yow has seen to that--but the longer it goes, the longer everyone sits in the dark, the crazier things get. And things got just a tad out of hand yesterday. Joe Ovies recapped yesterday's Billy Donovan craziness:

Much like the "Rick Barnes was at RDU!" rumor that took on a life of its own last week, "Donovan is interviewing with NC State!" went a step further by ensnaring a media outlet. WTSM-FM, an ESPN Radio affiliate in Tallahassee, took to Twitter and reported "source within ESPN tells us Billy Donovan is in Raleigh interviewing." That was followed a blog post filled with similar information by Mike Lederer, a graduate student at Syracuse University.

So a radio station in Tallahassee and a grad student from Syracuse scooped folks in Gainesville, Raleigh and Bristol? Put a little brain power into it and you'll realize that doesn't make much sense. Neither does the idea of Donovan leaving the Gators for the Wolfpack, for a multitude of reasons.

It's been pretty fascinating to watch the Donovan talk explode seemingly out of nothing. It's also been tough not to believe any of it even given all evidence to the contrary, because who could help hoping? This is the stuff that erodes one's sanity. Twitter was pure chaos last night. I couldn't look away. That's not likely to change.

JP Giglio reported this morning that State is waiting on the Final Four and probably won't have a coach until next week at the earliest. Dave Glenn called Shaka Smart the "central figure" in NC State's ongoing search:

According to multiple sources, Wolfpack officials also are considering at least two additional candidates for the job. One of those candidates already has given preliminary approval of the basic framework of an agreement with NCSU.

Meanwhile, more than a dozen sources — including several at Florida and N.C. State — shot down the rumor that Florida coach Billy Donovan has any interest in the Wolfpack job. One source with the Gators said Donovan spent most of Tuesday traveling to and then relaxing at his beach house in Florida. The source said Donovan was "amused but not surprised" at the baseless speculation, which led to an unusual number of texts and phone calls to the coach.

General consensus is that Gregg Marshall is among those additional candidates, much to the chagrin of an increasingly large portion of the fan base. Marshall's Wichita State team plays in the NIT title game Thursday night.

Maybe there's a surprise or two still in store, and if you do spot Billy D or Elvis around campus, please send me the photographs, but public sentiment seems to be in agreement that Yow is waiting to have a chat with Shaka Smart.