Well, it looks like we missed this one.

Georgetown assistant coach Kevin Broadus is expected to be named Binghamton’s next men’s basketball coach in a Monday afternoon press conference ‘ and none of us saw it coming.

We journalists have been scouring message boards for weeks, trying to dig up any tiny bits of dirt we could find on potential replacements. Names like Mike Hopkins of Syracuse, King Rice of Vanderbilt, and Tom Herrion of, well, TV, surfaced more often than not, but nobody heard anything of this Broadus fellow until late Wednesday night.

Oops. Sorry.

I guess our apparent ineptitude in this matter can be interpreted in several different ways, the most optimistic being that we underestimated Dr. Joel Thirer.

When I brought up Hopkins’ name to my friend Mike, a Binghamton graduate and die-hard Syracuse fan, he laughed; Hopkins ‘would never consider Binghamton,’ since he’s apparently next in line for Jim Boeheim’s job. But lest we remember, the Orange rode the bubble this season ‘ and fell off.

Rice, a Binghamton High School graduate, seemed like the sentimental choice, but nothing seemed especially gripping about his resume, and doubts arose about his recruiting abilities.

Herrion seemed like a shoo-in during the America East tournament (for those who thought Walker was done at that point); speculation swirled about his stream of on-air compliments regarding Binghamton’s campus and environment, while some online-savvy Bearcat fans were already weighing the pros and cons of a coach who’d arrive with some baggage.

Not one journalist mentioned Georgetown ‘ a team still playing in the NCAA tournament as I write this. Not one Pipe Dream staffer suggested Broadus ‘ an assistant ranked No. 6 on hoopscoop.net’s list of top assistant coaches in the country.

Internet geeks are gushing about Broadus’ recruiting abilities, especially in the D.C. area, while Georgetown announced today that head coach John Thompson III ‘ KB’s current boss ‘ is a finalist for the Naismith award for Men’s College Coach of the Year.

I’m writing with this caution, as I’ve yet to meet the guy, but ‘ this seems like a great choice.

As one smiling basketball player told me yesterday, ‘I guess this starts a natural rivalry between Georgetown and Binghamton.’

I don’t necessarily agree with that statement, but then again, perhaps that rivalry will be the second in a long run of pleasantly surprising events for the BU basketball program.