BGleas

Haha, no definitely not KathywithaC. They give specific info on what their department thinks of guys like Cronin, Brownell, McCollum, McMillian and other coaches.

Yes, very safe. They give very good insight into the process of how departments operate in these searches, and also how their department views and evaluates certain coaches.

Yeah, I haven't ruled Pearl out in my mind. If Insiders were right that he was locked up last year (if Dolson had been allowed to make a move), then I'm not sure what would have changed so much in 1 year that those same people aren't really discussing him? I get Auburn is having a good year, but they were good last year and Pearl probably knew last year that he had another good Auburn team coming back.

Yes, have read that. He's been a really good, informative poster on HSN.

Just to make my stance clear, I do think Dolson has something up his sleeve. I think there is almost no chance that it's Stevens, but I do think there is a good chance he's got something lined up that we're all going to be happy with. I have hope that we're going to be looking at someone like Pearl, Otz, May, or someone in that range that's off our radar at the moment. I'm not a "we're doomed, it's Brownell or a mid-major coach" guy. With that said, i would still be somewhat excited if it was McCollum or someone like that.

Yup, played D2. I'm not going to say that I wouldn't have reservations about McCollum making a D2 to mid-major to blueblood move in one year. I think it's a valid concern. Coaching D2 and IU are completely different things. But with that said, the guy just seems like a winner. 4 (many people think it would have 5 the Covid year) National Championships and then a historic year in his first year at Drake tells me McCollum has something special and can flat-out coach. Obviously there are proven guys I'd take ahead of him, but I think if you can coach, build identity and culture, and are a winner, then you should be able to win at IU. He's not my #1 choice by any means, but if the top guys aren't interested, I would very much be in favor McCollum over some of the retread (Buzz, Cronin) guys or someone like Brownell. McCollum seems to have an "it" factor.

Maybe. My experience is only one experience. Maybe IU is doing this, and you definitely have more insight into how IU specially operates (i mean that genuinely). Seems like an utter waste of unnecessary time, though. Not sure why people that don't know anything anyways would need to be coordinated to drip misinformation to donors. Just seems silly.

That makes complete sense. It's similar to the big season ticket holders in the NBA having sales executives at the team that they can call and contact for various things, and the ticket holders often try and get info from them. We're probably just talking semantics here, but I don't think those contacts are putting out planned "smokescreens" directed by the organization. Those contacts don't really know anything either. They're just trying to schmooze their season ticket holder (donor in this case) and have polite conversation. I don't think It's like coordinated misinformation.

So then we can safely assume all of the "insider" info we get here is completely false?

Exactly! Beyond it mostly being a waste of time and energy, that's why teams don't need to send out false info or create smokescreens, the system creates it on their own. The vast majority information out there by fans and media is almost always comoletely wrong anyways.

Could be, there are definitely real differences (ie. in the NBA you're not really poaching active head coaches from other teams). Honestly, makes me lose a bit of faith in the process if the athletic department is spending time on those types of things. There's plenty of misinformation out there on its own, without the athletic department spending time on smokescreens and misinformation.

Absolutely!

Again just going off my experience with these things as a PR person in sports, and we never spent an ounce of time or energy on that. Maybe college is different than the NBA, and that's entirely possible, but it's not something we ever did or spent time on in my experience.

Yup. Again, just going off my experience in PR on the NBA side. I've been a part of GM hirings, Coach firings and hirings, trading stars, drafts, etc., etc., I can't recall ever being part of a conversation or any action around putting out false information to get the media or fans off the trail. Maybe college is different, but I think all this smokescreen stuff happens far, far less than fans think.

I think Dolson is spending virtually zero amount of time or energy sending out false flags, trying to fool people or send people in wrong directions. He's doing his job and keeping things as quiet as he can, but he's not wasting time sending out "smokescreens".

In a vacuum I think Wade could do amazing things at IU. He could win big. The problem is, a faction of the IU fanbase and media would never let it happen. They'd never allow him to do his job without noise and interference from day 1. I'm not even necessarily saying that part of the media and fanbase are completely wrong, just saying they'd make Wade's job infinitely more difficult from the jump. It would maybe be a no-win situation.

Yeah, IMO you can spin some inspiring things with just about any legit candidate that's be discussed. I can't find anything inspiring about hiring Brad Brownell. Not saying he couldn't do well, just nothing about it would get me excited at all.

Makes sense. I hear what you, @IUBtown and @IUHoosierJoe are saying. You'd hope donors would give a new coach a great start even if not their preferred choice, but what you guys are saying makes sense too.

That's why I made the distinction between salary and NIL. Of course you're not giving McCollum the same salary as you would Brad Stevens. That's obvious. But regardless of the coach and once the contract is done, you'd want to give that person all of the resources possible to be successful and have the best roster they can acquire. When it comes to NIL, I'd think you either want the program to do well and have resources or you don't?

Why would it change based on the candidate? Like, is a donor giving $5M to NIL if the hire is Stevens, $1M if it's Cronin and $500K if it's McCollum? That seems weird. I get giving different amounts for the salary, but giving to NIL seems like you either want to support the program or you don't.

Seems like a really good hire for Arkansas. Cofield was previously the GM of the Celtics G-League team and played at Penn, so seems like a super smart guy and a strong hire for Arkansas. Not surprised colleges are coming for execs at the Celtics, they're a well run organization. Given the small world in these circles I would venture to guess that Cofield probably did speak with Stevens about the role before taking it, but who knows? I'm just guessing there. @Jet812 won't like this because he's got this idea in his head that im not an IU fan and just a Celtics fan that only posts anti-Stevens stuff, but yeah I don't think this has anything to do with Stevens or IU.

Goodman, Rabjohns, etc., can be correct that Coach X is out for the IU job, and that can be an accurate statement, but it also doesn't mean they were ever actually being considered. If we listed 8 names that aren't going to be the coach, it can be accurate, but doesn't mean Dolson was actually pursuing all 8.

That's what I thought, but wasn't sure. Just one example, but I think it supports the theory that if you can coach, you can coach. The other stuff can be figured out, especially with resources.

Agree! My hope is that IU's NIL, and maybe a newly hired GM, helps with the talent part early on if there is any adjustment period on that front for McCollum. Painter doesn't have the money or history that an IU would bring. It may be lightening in a bottle, but since you mentioned Alabama I don't think Oats had much experience on these fronts before getting to Bama (i could be wrong, don't know a ton about his history). I guess I'm willing to gamble on IU's NIL to carry recruiting for a potentially great culture and team builder, and X's/O's guy.

Completely understand the hesitation and share in some of it, for sure. I'd just be excited to have IU hire a real basketball coach. For his lack of experience at high major recruiting, I think he'd make up for it in short-term with probably being our best coach in terms of identifying talent for his system and team building since Sampson. I just want a winner, a smart coach, a culture builder, etc. There's definitely concerns around McCollum, but I want IU to get back to having the toughest guys. Get back to having the smartest coach in most match-ups, etc., etc., and i think McCollum has a chance to be one of those guys.