I trust we will fire Fox after the season is over and this time (as compared to the more rushed Wyking process) have a plan & direction. Was super pleased to hear about the more active stake donors are taking in this process and hopefully this will manifest itself in a coach that donors will rally around, as well as a basketball-only fund that will not be siphoned off to support other non-rev sports.
The only 'timeline' issue that I think we should think about is in the case that our targets are also desired by other open programs. A few programs that might be playing in our realm that come to mind:
Georgetown, Stanford, Washington (if open)
Texas, ND will be playing for coaches who are probably out of our reach. Georgia Tech will go for a coach who can recruit Atlanta and the southeast I assume. Hurley, with the upset of Arizona, may have saved his job at ASU.
So for three programs I think we might be competing with: Georgetown I think may go with a northeast-based coach. Pitino also a possibility there. Stanford and UW are probably competitors.
Given that neither Haase nor Hopkins are fired (and Hopkins might just not be on the hot seat), I don't think we are at risk of losing out on our targets by not firing Fox before season's end.
I do hope that we do an extensive search, and maybe as a stretch goal, our next coach can get the athletic department to commit to more investment (flights, nutrition) as part of his contract.