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This part is more interesting actually. If a big exit is coming, and it is known amongst the players, it has to impact play down the stretch. Plus, if a big exit is coming, I cannot see how the AD would not have some idea of this. I would not keep an older coach knowing a big roster turnover is going to occur.

It does not have to be a complete rebuild. IF Woody has as great a relationship with the players as it had seemed prior to this year then you may not need a complete rebuild if, of the primary players, you lose only Ware and Leal. If say MM, MR, Gallo, Cupps and Liam stays committed then we are really short on the PG role. If we bring in Queen that only helps. Now, if we lose a couple of guys amongst the MM, MR, Gallo and Liam group plus Leal and Ware then we are into a rebuild and a change would make sense. Hopefully we have a good handle on what the players are thinking.

Never saw Chris mention anything about us targeting Pearl. Not doubting you as this thread is moving quickly but missed that it appears

Where did you see the targeting Pearl part?

If we end the year poorly and it seems clear he is on the hot seat that should impact the level of recruit we can expect. I think they were close to getting that monster class and things would look so much different if that were the case.

I have a chance to go watch Florida Atlantic on Sunday. For those more familiar with them is there anything I should watch for? They play at South Florida which has been having a pretty good year so it could be a competitive game. I was hoping to get behind the bench and wear my IU gear but those tickets are harder to get and pretty expensive unless someone wants to sponsor me lol

That is a good question. I would not but I grew up and went to school during the golden era of IU athletics. Started watching Bball in the mid 70's and went to school for 87 through 92. We had NCAA BBall championships, 2 FFs, NCAA Soccer championships and regular top 5 rankings, IU Swimming/Diving had 6 time NCAA champ Doc Counsilman's final years - 3 legendary coaches right there. We also had Bill Mallory regularly taking us to bowls, AT Heismann runner up, went to watch Bob Kennedy win the NCAA CC championship in 88 and he went on to win the 1500 and the indoor mile titles later as well. Great time to be at IU. Womens BBall was not good but they had the prior scoring champ Karna Abram, who would have fallen for me if we only had the chance to meet.

Being thinking we need to see how this plays out. We will have a lot more information by year end. How do we play down the stretch? Which of our key players may opt to leave? Will Liam choose to decommit? Can we add some other key players via the portal or HS? Anything else weird happens

Why did OSU fire Holtmann early?

A friends son played for him at Gardner Webb and from their perspective he was a great guy and coach. He seemed to be reluctant to leave Butler and OSU had to up their offer to get him. He probably jumped against his better judgement and hopefully he lands back at the mid major level. No shame in being really good and comfortable at that level (especially if you have $12.8 million in the rainy day fund).

Matta was said to have failed a physical. I remember Goodman had a picture with him and shortly after reporting that he had failed a physical. I think. Not sure if true but I do know Woody had been given the indication he would have the job when this news about Matta broke. I know Woody was pissed but tbh he could have also been mad because Dolson was forcing another person onto the staff.

Did woody or Dolson actually refer to him as the bridge or is that something us fans attached to him?

I think many are on the fence, like me. If you objectively think about it, you can make the argument that Woody was close. We lost last year to a team that went to the FF. That is something to consider when saying Woody had not done well in the NCAA. The latter is true but we did not lose to #16 seeds, but to good teams. Secondly, Woody took a big swing at a Boogie, Queen and Liam class. It seems we were close on Boogie and still may end up with 2 of the 3. If he keeps Liam and gets Queen, then adds some guards from the portal then things look promising. Woody took a big risk going after top 20 kids and while he was close to landing all 3, he did not seem to have relationships established to get to quickly pivot to another PG after boogie chose UK. So he was close but missing on this strategy could be a big part of him having to move on. He was also close on bringing in some guards in the portal and by some accounts even said yes to the staff only to later change thier mind. Third, his style of play did not seem to change this year as he indicated it would. That frustrates many and is not helping his case. The lingering questions are can he learn from his mistakes on recruiting? Many point to his age and say he is not committed to the task required. That could be true. I remember reading about changes in recruiting that Drew and I think Jay Wright changed strategies as well. Woody being older may limit his willingness to change but I am not ready to give up all hope yet. The style of play question is certainly fair but to then just assume he is a bad coach is lazy. Was he a bad coach when he beat Purdue 3 of 4 times the last couple of years? TJD was a big part of that but the first year TJD had foul trouble and barely played. Schifino was the big reason for the win at PU last year and Schif was a guard recruited and developed by Woody's staff. Finally, Woody and staff seem to be doing very well at developing bigs. TJD was already pretty good when he got him but his game took off even more under Woody. Ware is playing better here than Oregon and Malik is much improved from last year. In the end, i think the staff made a few mistakes that may prove fatal. Not bringing in instant impact guards for this year and shooting for the moon for 2024's class without a backup plan in place is costly now and lessons hope we might have for improvement next year. I have been saying you have to let it play out and I stand by that. If we continue to lose games where we are the underdog then we could lose most if not all the remaining games. If that happens, it could be hard to keep the players we have now and need let alone attracting new talent. Woody and staff were close to a different result but at his age he may find that it is too hard to dig out of this hole.

I think many would love to have a guy like Painter but he has had some lean years. I am fine to go with a guy like May (assuming some sure fire guys say no) but we would have to become more patient here if we do. Let him build a program and be patient if/when he has some lean years. Here is Painter's coaching record.

Not complaining about getting a kid or multiple kids from MVA but if you look at their 26 wins, they won 20 by 20+ points. I know that league is considered the best but was just surprised that so many games are not close.

Perhaps. I didn’t say they never played anyone good. I said just about every summary I read is a blowout. Just checked and here is their schedule. https://mvasports.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule/2023-24

Just about every game summary seems to be a blow out win. Clearly the MVA guys we have gotten have been better than other recruits we have gotten but are they really playing better competition? Sure some of these other teams have a good player too but are they great teams?

Uh, I am sure I speak for everyone and suggest you stop watching TV and go listen outside Dolson’s office.

Just on this site he has been called arrogant, lazy, selfish to name a few.

If we get offensive production from our guards we can win. Nice one Gallo. Please do that some more

Come on. Woodys second year we beat Purdue twice, come in 2nd in the BT despite having your starting PG out for the year and we were looking like we had a chance for LM, BF and DQ. The trend line was definitely looking upward that I doubt the staff was the reason they did not commit.

Looks like he brought in a bunch a guards no wonder we could not get any, he took them all.

Another name to add to the "up and comer" list is Paris Lamont. Lamont Paris named South Carolina men’s basketball coach | WBTW. Made some noise with Chattanooga and now has South Carolina ranked #15 with recent wins of UK and at Tennessee. Midwest fella (OH), former assistant at Wisconsin. If you are watching games this spring he might be one to keep an eye out for as another wildcard.

I don't listen to every podcast the Hysterics do but today's mentioned having Jerry Yeagley on (had Sr on recently and am not sure if him again or Jr) so I had on during the drive in today. I admittingly usually skip to when the guest comes on but noticed they were talking about the PSU loss so I kept listening to their intro. Nothing earth shattering but it was notable that they have soured on the season and also made several comments about it falling on Woody. These guys get access to a lot of players, have an NIL collective, run several events for fans to participate in a camp or watch the team play and kind of need that access to the program to continue in order to do what they do. Among their comments were: We are not getting the ROI The sum is not as good as the parts (Ware, Malik having pretty good years and MM getting there too). Even though we finished second last year we were only 12-8. 2 games go the other way and we are a .500 team so even that may not have been as good as we thought Notable people (thinking he was alluding to donors and admin) have taken notice I almost wonder if he got some nudge from the AD office to mention this but no idea Mentioned how we are further from Woody's goals of BT and NCAA titles now than any time back to 2017 The Hysterics have had Woody, Walsh, YA, Hulls, on the podcast as well as most of the players. They kind of need to be wary of biting the hand that feeds you (even though i know they help provide NIL $) but still did not ignore the obvious and were willing to criticize the staff. I did not get to finish it yet so maybe they close the intro by reverting back and supporting Woody but the part I heard was interesting considering their position.

That is pretty cool role and some top notch basketball programs to be involved in. But Didn't Duke and UNC follow the legacy and allowed prior successful Coach heavily influence/control their successors? For UNC it worked for Roy. Maybe too early to tell if it will work for both currently.