HoosierTrav

Serious program. They know ball.

He makes them the favorite to win it all I believe. Incredible. So jealous of that program.

Respectfully disagree. If they had that attitude, they wouldn’t have fired Sampson over 3 minor and laughable infractions. Was it stupid for him to get caught doing these things? Of course. But he never should have been fired imo. It was a sign of an administration who wasn’t serious about winning and committed to preserving their holier than thou image. Nothing embarrasses me more about being an IU fan than being associated with the IU people who have elitist and sanctimonious attitudes towards other institutions, and more importantly, other people. The truth is that we aren’t morally better than anyone else. At any level. The people at Auburn and Houston are just as good of human beings as those at IU. I’m sure of it. and yes I’m aware of the off court issues. We seem to have those issues regardless of who’s leading the program. All things that could be fixed or improved upon.

My son and daughter are becoming Purdue fans. Their mother and grandparents are Purdue fans, so they’re exposed to them quite a bit. I’m not going to force them to like any team bc I like them. Most of their friends from school are Purdue fans and they are embarrassed to wear any IU gear I buy them. My son today only had his candy stripes clean out of all his sweatpants he has. I made him wear them and he flat out begged me not to wear them. He used to love wearing them around. It’s the height of arrogance to suggest that we will always have the fan support we have been accustomed to. Purdue is exactly who we think we are or should be. Frankly, they’re basically IU of old. They possess all of the traits that IU teams did in the past. It’s only a matter of time before Painter breaks through in the tournament. He's too good and he always has them knocking at the door. Like it or not, Purdue is the new flagship program in the state of Indiana.

I just don’t think this is something that either individual would buy into. Woody has a massive ego. It shows in the way he speaks about himself. I think we can also point to the fact that Thad Matta was there to help Woodson navigate things and he decided to coach again after only one season. Pretty sure I heard rumors that Woodson was being hard headed. I don’t buy the official narrative around that situation at all. Either way, I think this would just be another instance in which Indiana is trying to complicate the hiring process and reinvent the wheel. I think the optics around it would just confirm (as if it isn’t already) to everyone else that there is systemic dysfunction inside the program. I like Woody the person, so it’s frustrating that we even put ourselves in this position with an IU legend. But this is a business. A big one. The admin is treating it like it’s a big country club. Sometimes in business things aren’t able to be handled with a gentle touch or with the political games. The adage “too many chiefs and not enough Indians” applies here. We need a Chief Executive who isn’t afraid to make the difficult decision and have tough and direct conversations. If we’re a serious program, we will let Woodson know what his options are. Give him the option to step down as head coach or let him know that the university is going to be moving in another direction at seasons end. All of his privileges and access to the program as a former player will be extended to him, as usual. We will still value him here. After that we need to put together our absolute best package together for recruiting the next head coach. Highlight every single resource the next coach would have available to him, to have success here. If we can compete with the games biggest programs, then prove it. Go after the games bigger names. Conduct a targeted search, boldly and directly approach the coach or his representatives, gauge interest, and aggressively negotiate with those with a smidgen of interest. If we aren’t able to put a competitive compensation package together, to target that level of a coach, then we need to identify coaches at the lower levels who are bonafide winners. Not guys with barely a .600 winning percentage and an outlier season of postseason success. We need a guy who wins above .700 and has multiple regular season and postseason titles. I don’t care if this guy comes from the NAIA or D2….. he needs to be a person who has a proven CHAMPIONSHIP pedigree. I understand that Scheyer was under K’s wings and they had a succession plan but I think we are seeing that Scheyer is not K. It’s also pretty well known that K is still involved. It explains why Duke still gets who they want even though Scheyer is unproven. With that said, Woody is no Coach K. Not in any measurable way and we aren’t Duke. Anyways….It sounds like May is already handpicked for the job. Which makes sense. Thats exactly the type of move I expect IU to make. Hope I’m wrong but I don’t think he will be anything more than a Tom Crean as far as on court results. I’m more impressed with Josh Shertz. Shertz is a better coach imo.

This is Indiana Basketball. It’s not approaching it. The entirety of college basketball’s followers see IU, and the fans expectations, as a complete joke. We are the only ones who take the program seriously. The time has come where they need to take risks in their next hire. I imagine we are 3-5 years away from not having enough fan support to fill assembly hall. I hope like hell they can fix it. But I seriously doubt it. Does anyone blame me?

He is someone who I think could bring stability to the program. He has northwestern perched near the top of the B1G the last few years. I’d be happy with him.

I’d agree with this but Woody has no clue what he’s doing. He can’t get rid of his assistants bc his Rolodex only consists of nba connections. He doesn’t know how to navigate the college scene without his assistants. This staff had to be built for him. This is a complete disaster. Woodson cannot be the only one held responsible. If he is, we will have the same problems. Is the Indiana brand evergreen? No matter how long we are bad, people will still show up? If so, things will never change. If not, then how long until the fans start to genuinely lose interest?

Interesting. I just went and checked him out. He should definitely be on the radar. Guy wins big everywhere he has been.

"In my 51 years behind this microphone I will say something that I've never said before: I'm embarrassed for this team, and it has nothing to do with the score." - Don Fischer yikes! Dolson’s going to need a horse tranquilizer to get to sleep tonight. We are cursed. I’m officially convinced.

As much as I’m excited about Cig….. he hasn’t proven anything on the field yet. Dolson also hired Woody and gave Tom Allen a huge raise.

I’m right there with ya.

Pearl could build us a winner right away. But we all know that’s not going to happen. We know it. The people making decisions deserve zero benefit of the doubt. I liken Indiana Basketball to Sears. Power brand that was mismanaged and ran into the dirt.

I don’t trust this school to hire a coach capable of getting a winning team built on a short timeline. They are probably going to hire May. I just don’t see him as a guy that’s going come on and build a winner. We are likely looking at a 3-4 year build with him, if the roster is completely blown up.

I know it sounds dramatic and hyperbolic but the fans need to walk away from supporting the program for awhile. Protests can be effective.

I can’t be the only one that is now very concerned about a McNeely decommit…. Right? Bc I’m sure he’s seeing this dumpster fire. As with Queen. Imagine Queen choosing Indiana over Kansas and Houston…. What a blunder that would be. Lots of guys are going to learn from Mbako’s mistake in choosing IU over Kansas.

I like Dolson. I also understand the importance of being a productive fundraiser at this position. But……. At some point the most important KPI needs to become the on court/field results.

I don’t pretend to know the intimate details. I just know that whoever was behind this, either scrambled, bc there was no real contingency, or they have no business making these high level decisions. It’s a clown show at Indiana University. That is an absolute truth.

The more I think about it, the more frustration builds with Dolson. This is really his fault. What was he expecting? Woodson had zero coaching experience at the college level. He had no understanding of any nuances. They pretty much had to build his staff for him. It’s gets more and more embarrassing the further you step back and reflect. This was a house of cards from the onset. We’ve essentially been relying on Archie Miller’s Indiana staff to get our 60+ year old nba coach caught up to speed. What….An….EMBARRASSMENT!! I’ll say this. If I were the owner of a franchise and my general manager botched a hire this badly, there is no scenario in which he would be around to make the next hire. Dolson is either not fit for the job, or the rumors of Brad Stevens leaving us with our pants down, has to be true.

I second that.

We friggin had him folks!

We lose by 15 minimum.

I have a bad feeling that our current issues are going to snowball and this class is going to evaporate for us. Really want Sisley. Bad. But these guys honestly have much better and safer options than Woodson and IU. We are an absolute mess. Zero chance I would advise my son to go to IU right now. The style of play is awful. The fans are pissed. Mess.

The issue is that we haven’t had a single coach that would be able to win with those kids. I think that’s why the fanbase so desperately wants Stevens to coach here. We all know he can win with lower ranked kids from the state. He's proved that already. He has no known personal baggage. He would completely unite the fanbase. I agree. It’s never going to happen. But he’s the only guy that can meet everyone’s expectations. Everyone else is a complete coin flip. Beard wins here immediately but fractures the base beyond repair. I’ll admit that. I have been on the record that I think he would win here and big. I don’t feel like going down that road again bc I don’t have the energy to fight with people and defend my character from assassination by complete strangers. I’ll just agree to disagree. I’ll also admit that he’s not a good fit for the university. They take many issues more seriously than winning. Thats fine. I respect it in some ways (their firm stance on domestic violence). Some ways I don't (their decision to force Sampson out, rather than reprimand or suspend). I think the school wants to win but not as bad as the programs who are winning consistently. I think that fact is really difficult for anyone to dispute. I also think it’s a pill that the fanbase (myself included) needs to finally swallow, so that we can finally adjust our expectations for this program. If the university’s expectations match the fanbases, there would be 40 year gaps between titles and 50% tournament birth rate over a 20 year period. It simply wouldn’t happen. So I think the only rational explanation, is that winning is not a priority. Is what it is. We’d be happier as Purdue fans.