lillurk

Yeags if it’s 10/$92M when the FOIAs come back in 6 weeks

If this happens after the football hire and the season we just had, we need to discuss the height of the Scott Dolson statue. The seated Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in DC is 19’ tall, we should start there and work our way up.

Guys…Georgetown handled the end of the Ewing era much worse, if I recall. I think they didn’t say anything and he just coached out the string on a much worse team.

I’m curious about the timeline for all of this. I think we could get some sort of formal release today, but wouldn’t be shocked if this drags into next week as agents and lawyers hash out money and wording. Even beyond that, IU still has a month of the regular season left, and then add at least a week for the B1G tournament, more if they rally or make the NIT or something (I don’t expect it). Woody was hired 13 days after Archie was fired. Cignetti was hired 4(!) days after Allen was fired. With the trade deadline in the past, if it’s Brad, I do wonder if we’d hear formal reporting about meetings or negotiations, unlike last cycle, just from the standpoint that he could theoretically line up the job before mid-March (and surely Dolson’s goal would be sooner is better). Obviously I know that trustworthy folks here will be able to make reference to things that can’t be reported yet, but a long timeline like this is somewhat unusual in general, and at IU in particular, at least in recent years.

Same tail #: it was only very briefly in MA. The C’s charter from that airport, by the way

Yeah Stevens is one of the…idk, ~10 best living and working coaches if he returns to the sidelines? Not just in college, at any level. And he’s 48. Feel like top 10 is even somewhat conservative, and many of the ten if you listed them aren’t in college.

10/10/24. Shrews coached with Brad in BOS and has his son on the team at ND: https://x.com/TheFieldOf68/status/1844426344286793762?mx=2

I think it boils down to a couple things: 1. Lots of credible rumors that he really does have a special place in his heart for IU. How much weight do you give that? (You can include things in this one about proximity to family if you want too.) 2. IU made an offer last time. But how close did they actually get? 3. As explained elsewhere, Celtics are in flux AND he got a ring. They’re being sold, they’re about to get expensive and will probably have to make painful decisions about who to keep, etc. Between all that and the possibility that IU can pay more (and maybe he really wants to coach!), what matters most? How you answer those impacts how you think about his chances to take it.

Where’s @BGleas, does he still have some Celtics connections?

I would guess the leak is not from the coach’s side, all things considered. It doesn’t give him any leverage. I understand the “why is THIS the story?” thought, and I am not an insider, nor an agent/lawyer (though we have some of each group here, so chime in if I’m wrong). I believe the rub is that if he’s fired, he gets the contract, I believe at $1M/year until he’s paid what he’s due. If he retires, he forfeits what he’s owed. My guess is that he DOESN’T want to be fired, DOES want the whole pot of $, and thus wants to have it both ways. So the sorts of delays we’re living with are probably negotiations to amend the terms of the separation such that he gets less than he’s owed but also gets to claim he’s retired. And given his status as “one of our own,” it’s probably best for the program to work with him if the number negotiated is reasonable.

Of course I believe you but was Brad supposed to say “yes I want that job that has a sitting coach?” Cmon goodman

As I reminded yall yesterday, on senior day he said he’d be coach as long as he wanted to be, so he has a vested interest in saving face by retiring (“retiring”)

The piece that doesn’t add up right now to me from a timing perspective is the allusion from People Who Know that part of the reason the dominoes are falling is some indication BS may be up for it. I wouldn’t expect any movement there beyond minor back channel comms until…idk, next week? Feels to close to the trade deadline.

Gonna be funny when Jerry logs on just to post about the women’s game tonight

I was doing my part (driving for 50 min then a meeting at 3 ET)

Yes he Knows.

Yeah, the deadline is 3 ET. C’s dumped Jaden Springer yesterday to save on their luxury tax bill and haven’t figured in the rumor mill much. I’m no insider but I’d be a little surprised if the *Brad* half of this is done this early (though as we’ve litigated previously, other than draft prep and waiver wire playoff roster stuff, the timing makes some sense post-deadline). Also…having someone lined up makes a nice retirement easier to stomach for all sides, I think. CMW gets to keep some of what’s left on the salary as a no-show “program ambassador” or something, etc.

Right, big “if” but you could do it if the timing is right.

I doubt Brad has a lot of time for phone chats this week since today is the trade deadline. But “all” in Jerry’s message seems to me to be a both/and sort of thing: goodbye to one coach but also hello to another. Not to assume there’s pen to paper. But maybe there’s openness to have some serious discussions once the deadline passes.

Not sure I buy that, BUT he did say on Senior Day ‘24 that he’d be the coach as long as he wanted to be. He surely knows more than most about the writing on the wall; if he still believes what he said, maybe he wants to save face and get ahead of it.

On the board, absolutely. If this is about the machinations of changing coaches, interesting — wonder if we could infer a quiet sense of confidence on the horizon for Mr. Dolson.

I agree and aside from “other” as I said above I think he’s #2 in both likelihood and my personal preference. UM has a rep as a lower pressure job, which is true in terms of, like, national and local media coverage, butts in seats, and so on, but I don’t know that the evidence suggests they’d necessarily keep an under performer around much longer than IU would. Crisler is less likely to create the sort of unpleasant tense atmosphere we’re going to see at Assembly this weekend but your support and $ would dry up just about as quickly. That trade off understandably has appeal to some, and maybe May. But it’s not everyone’s preference!

Voted Stevens; if I had to rank likelihood of this group I would probably say Other, Stevens, May, [big gap], McCollum, with the other listed candidates very close to zero% chance combined. This isn’t an invitation for anyone to tell me who they think is great and why.

This and he has high-level experience dealing with the consequences of this kind of roster, as a coach and exec — and even if IU creates some sort of GM position, BS as HC would still be top dog in the org.

Huh. Pack has a little Avery Bradley, Carson Edwards, or Isaiah Thomas (not OUR IT, the more recent guy) in him.