Watch college basketball for any length of time, and you'll hear a lot of overused terms. Many of them are words invented by the folks at ESPN.

Mid-major is, perhaps, the “worldwide leader's” favorite (worldwide leader is right up there too, come to think of it), but another that will either be used, or described in some form, is the term “coaching tree.”

In short, it's used to describe a coach who either played or spent some time assisting under one of the big names in the sport.

The term is most famously used with those who coached under former UNC-Chapel Hill basketball coach Dean Smith.

Current UNC-CH head coach Roy Williams is perhaps his biggest, but good coaches like Larry Brown, Eddie Fogler, Jeff Lebo and of course former Hampden-Sydney head coach Tony Shaver is described as being a branch of the tree.

Then, all their branches, like current H-SC head coach Dee Vick, can lay claim to being a branch of Smith's tree.

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who is in actuality a branch of Bobby Knight's “trunk” has put several former players and assistants into the coaching ranks.

John Wooden and Adolph Rupp are offshoots of Hank Iba. We all come from Adam and Eve.

Having those names like Smith and Krzyzewski on a list of references can move a young and hungry coach to the head of the line when he puts his name into consideration for a coaching job.

It works the same way in women's sports.

The University of Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma and Tennessee's Pat Summitt are like Smith and Krzyzewski in the world of women's basketball.

Up until Monday, Auriemma's tree had a branch in Farmville. That is before Longwood women's coach, Kristin Caruso, was let go following her second suspension in as many years.

Caruso played at UConn from 1986-90, and was an assistant at her alma mater from 1990-93, before working her way up the coaching ranks, and eventually to Longwood in 2007.

Everyone has to start somewhere and learn from somebody, but what's to say that someone who learned under Smith, Krzyzewski, Summitt or Auriemma is any better of a fit than someone who came out of a more modest line?

Longwood is apparently learning that lesson this week. The Lancers relieved Caruso from her coaching duties in the middle of her fourth year for reasons the school isn't going to officially say.

Fair enough. But, between a bunch of “no comments” and carefully-constructed spin, there is some truth accompanied by a whole lot of speculation.

What is for certain, is that Longwood and Caruso wound up not being a good fit – otherwise, Longwood wouldn't have made the decision it just made in the middle of a basketball season.

Dismissing a coach in the middle of a season is unheard of at a program with Longwood's budget. It's rare, even at the win-at-all-costs programs.

What can be asked is if the search committee let Auriemma's aura cloud its judgement back in 2007.

Were there coaches who may not have had the impressive resume contacts, but, instead, had an outstanding track record? Perhaps, instead of coaching and playing for one of the icons in the sport, they had worked their way up the ranks – maybe achieving success at the Division II level?

These are questions that must be answered over the next couple of months. They must be answered before the school opens the job up for another National search.

What kind of a coach best fits Longwood? Who fits a school of low-Division I means that is trying to find its way in the world of big time athletics? What best fits a women's basketball program that was once known for having stable and successful leadership?

Those answers may lie in some big-name coaching tree, but the committee would be wise to investigate a candidate who shares some common roots with the school. A person who has worked his or her way up the chain. One who has been faced with the challenge of doing more with less.

Successful relationships are more about wanting what one gets, and not getting what one wants. Longwood needs to adhere to that principle in its next coaching search.

Maybe instead of trying to get roots to grow from a cutting on a branch, this is an opportunity for Longwood to plant its own coaching tree from seed.

In the long run, that could make for a better and stronger program, and when it comes time to do another search, Longwood and the outgoing coach are in better positions, respectively.