You’re Bullish on Tim Who?

Until I heard that Tim Floyd would be the next coach of the Chicago Bulls, I frankly had never heard of the guy.

Now, all of a sudden, I know that Floyd will be coaching the Iowa State Cyclones in this Thursday’s NCAA Sweet 16 game against UCLA. And, if his team loses, the next team Floyd coaches will be the greatest basketball team in the world, if I am to believe the hot gossip blowing out of Chicago.

Timothy Fitzpatrick Floyd, 43, is mum on the subject this St. Patrick’s Day. That is understandable. After all, he is still the Iowa State coach. And, of course, Phil Jackson is still coaching the Bulls.

On the other hand, Jerry Krause, the normally tight-lipped Bulls’ general manager, has been effusive on the subject, speaking of Floyd in the most flattering terms. This is a coach Krause goes fishing with on summer days and clearly covets, even though Floyd has no NBA experience whatsoever, on a sideline or as a player.

With nobody knowing whether Jackson will re-up for another hitch of coaching Michael Jordan and the Bulls, a guessing game has begun as to who would inherit this once-in-a-generation NBA team. These days in Chicago, it is Floyd’s name that keeps cropping up.

It did a year ago, also. Even Krause said: “I am not going to deny that, certainly, if Phil had left last spring, there was that possibility [of Floyd replacing Jackson]. If the time ever comes, he’ll certainly be considered. He has the ability.”

Can this guy coach?

“Coach Floyd is the greatest coach in the world,” says Iowa State guard Kenny Pratt. So there.

Yet, as I said, this coach’s name was new to me.

Floyd has been Iowa State’s coach since 1994. But the way these NCAA coaches come and go, I have trouble keeping track whether Pete Gillen is at Xavier or at Providence, or if Billy Tubbs is at Oklahoma or at Texas Christian, or if Kelvin Sampson is at Washington State or at Oklahoma. Round and round they go. I get dizzy.

Here’s the skinny on Tim Floyd, for those in the same boat as me:

He played ball as a walk-on at Southern Mississippi and later on scholarship at Louisiana Tech, where his father, the late Lee Floyd, was once head coach. (Tim never played in the NBA, but oh, well. Neither did Dick Motta.)

He was the chief recruiter for Don Haskins for nine seasons at UTEP. (Ah, there’s something that never changes . . . Haskins in El Paso.)

Then he was head coach at Idaho for a couple of years, then coach at the University of New Orleans, taking two teams to the NCAA tourney. (Now, I am embarrassed at never having heard of him.)

Steve Lavin, the young UCLA coach, actually grouped Floyd’s name in with Roy Williams, Mike Krzyzewski and other “coaching legends” he has had to coach against since landing the job at UCLA.

I know he was listed among the “Rising Coaching Stars” in ESPN’s college basketball magazine, but obviously he is rising faster than some of us thought.

Crushed by Kansas at the end of the season, the Cyclones came into the tournament on a low note. Floyd’s players immediately declared themselves underdogs and begged everybody not to pick them to win.

“Gosh, I didn’t know my guys thought that much about that kind of stuff,” Floyd said. “I guess I’d rather them say they like being the underdog than come in here and say we’re going to kick their tail.”

Floyd’s record at Iowa State is 69-28. He is winning more than 70% of his games there.

I am not sure which quality, specifically, the Bulls’ GM admires in him. For one thing, Floyd demands that his players not foul. He makes them shout “hands off!” during practice, as a reminder. As a result, the Cyclones committed more than 120 fewer fouls than their opponents did this season.

“He’s got a lot of the qualities that Phil [Jackson] has,” Krause says. “They’re both very bright. They’re both very inquisitive people. . . . Tim would have made a very fine lawyer. He’s always looking for things. He’s come to our training camp a few times. He searches for ways to make himself better.”

Tim Floyd, running the Bulls?

“It’s hard to talk about ‘ifs,’ ” is all Floyd will say. “If it presented itself, you’d be flattered. I think the Bulls have had maybe the No. 1 organization in pro sports over the last eight or nine years.”

First things first, though: UCLA.

For Tim Floyd, all in all, it’s just another brick in the wall.

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THURSDAY

UCLA (23-7) vs. Iowa State (22-8)

Thursday, San Antonio

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TONIGHT

WOMEN’S MIDEAST REGIONAL

USC (20-8) vs. Florida (22-8)

Gainesville, Fla., 5:08 p.m.

Story: C10