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Good evening to all, I assume most of you have been anxiously anticipating my reaction to the hiring of our new coach; Darian DeVries. As you may know, my relationship with Coach Woodson was very strong. He's a great friend of mine. With that being said, I do believe that over the last four years, we witnessed the worst basketball coach in the history of the game.. I love Mike, he's a great man, and his wife makes a frighteningly tasty pot pie; but I can not lie to you all, and that is not what I will do. As for our new coach, DeVries was not my first choice. Archie Miller was, and is the answer. I liked a few candidates.. Andrew Toole from Robert Morris University, Darris Nichols from La Salle University, Brette Tanner from Abilene Christian University, and Doug Gottlieb from the University of Green Bay Phoenix were absolutely scorching at the top of my hot board. The night before the hire was announced, Jeff Rabjohns snuck down the chimney of my Bloomington log cabin home, sh*t in my bed, and I was awoken to his cold hands moisturizing my torso with sugar-free honey. He whispered into the darkness of my bedroom; "Archie's coming home, Ricky.." So to say this hire surprised me, is an unbelievable understatement. Bring back Jordan Geronimo, and my negativity will flee. Bow to me, I am the Barrel. - Barrel Rick, 2025 sponsored by Hormel Chili, Belle Tire, Greenfield Power & Light, and Uncle Michelle's Bait & Tackle of Martinsville

I have nothing against Lewis, Wilkerson, Hulls, Chaney but I'd prefer the bench not be loaded with IU guys. Let's bring in some fresh blood and ideas.

Seeing a handful of tweets about DDV making his rounds at the major Bloomington establishments yesterday. Love it. Being a genuine man of the people will serve him well. It earned Crean a LOT of leash.

A few predictions (most of these are reading between the lines or speculating and a couple are sourced but still speculation until they happen): 1. I don't see any staff shakeup coming imminently at Illinois so Chester Frazier comes with Coach DeVries to Bloomington. I think WVU will pay a bunch to keep Hawthorne "home" and he stays but I think Kelvin Odih and MacLean come to IU. Odih is a really intriguing physical guard. He's developing as a shooter but he's a great athlete and already known as a really top-notch defender. I was told he's the type of player Jakai Newton could have been if he was healthy. MacLean is a really good shooter but I have not seen much of him and don't want to talk blindly about what type of player he could be. Similar size to Trent Sisley though. 2. The Villanova job is really interesting. Their fans and 247Sports site seems to think they have a good shot to get Willard from Maryland. Of course, Willard battled quite publicly with the AD at Maryland and it appears helped push him out the door to SMU. Willard wants more resources devoted to basketball and less to football and if he gets his way, he'll stay. If not, he'll take Villanova. If he stays at Maryland, I think they'll turn to Chris Collins quickly and he'd take the job. That domino would then probably open up the recruitment of Tre Singleton at Jeffersonville. He's a four-star forward that has developed nicely since committing to the Wildcats. He plays in the semi-state this Saturday and it would not be surprising to see DeVries watch him play. So...maybe those dominoes fall and Singleton is receptive to switching to IU? If so, maybe a four-man high school recruiting class? It'd be a bit heavy on 6'8" forwards but the three of those guys would have differing skill sets so I don't see that as a problem. 3. Josh Dix is possible but I'd be very surprised if he did not end up at Creighton. He'd be a great get but I think Creighton is the choice. It's a good basketball fit and a fit for the non-basketball reasons previously mentioned. A player from Iowa I think IU could get if they really wanted him: Cooper Koch. He's originally from Peoria and is, yet another, skilled 6'8" guy. He didn't play much as a freshman but his efficiency numbers were very promising. 4. If Kory Barnett comes with DeVries, IU will be the leader for Davidson from Nevada. That'd be a huge piece of the roster puzzle. 5. The targets I've listed out are forwards...if that comes to fruition, that position (plus Tucker DeVries) probably secures us for the 3 and 4 spots in the lineup. Who emerges as targets at guard (minus Conor Enright)? Sorry for the length...excited for how this continues to unfold!

Good news is we have a coach who is not just chasing stars

Sounds like people are going to get what they want. Cliff Marshall is not expected back.

Jesus Christ. This is going to get old real quick.

Gtfo Mgbako. Probably my least favorite player in 41 years of being a diehard IU fan as a student and alumni. I’d rather have Bud Mackey on the coaching staff than Mgbako on scholarship.

Expect Jordan Hulls to be retained.

I’m ready to root for a dude that wants to be here and put the work in. Devries is that guy

Watch the Florida guards. The Auburn guards. We need some guards like that. Get some dawgs, DeVries. I’ve been calling for this for about 16 years. lol.

SIAP. From The Daily Hoosier - 4-star class of 2025 forward Trent Sisley tells me he spoke to Darian DeVries about 30 minutes after the news of the hire broke. There's no change of plans here, he's a Hoosier. Pretty amazing Trent didn't have to initiate the call! dws

Can you imagine being judged for the rest of your life for minor things you did or said at 20 years old? Sheesh. Let's get past the tribalism.

#1 sign we got a good coach. Some people are outright pissed we got him.

I think we start Monday morning off right with the additions of his son, and Connor Enright. A starter and a solid bench piece.

Quick Mbako story. I took my oldest two kids to the game at the Palestra this season. We had a few hours to kill before our train so hung around in the gym afterwards and were able to work our way down onto the court while the players were coming out postgame. My kids got pics with every player, except I think Carlyle. The guys were so nice, all smiled, said hi and took pics with them. This is a small thing, but I think still shows his character. We get over to Mbako and he agrees to take a pic with my son, but refuses to actually look at the camera. I was waiting to take the pic an awkward amount of seconds and saying, "ok ready?", until I realized he wasn't going to look. We have all these pics of the kids with each players where they're all smiling and engaging, and them this random pic with Mbako where he's refusing to look. Again a small thing, but to me it showed his character.

It is pretty nice for us as fans and for DeVries that he automatically brings a stud with him just by having his son. It's a great start before you even have to do anything as a coach.

Not to make this about Woodson, but the way he conducted himself was a huge reason why the fanbase went so hard against him. At the end of the day you have to win, but like in any setting, people will have more patience and grace for someone they like.

We wanted to get the ball rolling and neither was a bad choice. I think we got the better end of the deal IMO

Yes the Jay Edwards era was amazing. I was at the game also. I remember it being so loud a few times I thought the balcony was going to fall. We’re going to get back to that I hope.

I’ll let DeVries determine who is going to be on his staff. I’m sure he understands the history. Not going to lose sleep over this.

I never missed a Bob Knight IU coached game. Huge fan. But I hope he never breathes the words Bob Knight. Let’s move on, this is his team now!

Can't wait for the moment when Eric Gordon comes back to Assembly Hall to catch a game, so he and Chester Frazier can finally shake hands properly.

I don't mind him and think he's a great guy but I know I'm in the minority. I think DDV just wants to bring his own dude with him.

In fairness I think coaching had by far more to do with it than anything.