GnarlyTimGarl

Something to keep in mind... Metaphorically speaking, the transfer portal is not an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet with unlimited lobster and filet mignon. There appear to be some lobster and filet on the line but they are limited in number. There may be some more put out on the buffet soon... and we may have been tipped off by the cooks that we can expect some more! Maybe. But nothing is guaranteed and IU is not the only customer at this establishment. There are many others crashing the buffet hoping to grab a piece of lobster or filet. We are not guaranteed anything. IU is going to have a sizable plate to fill at this buffet. Of course, it would be nice to have a plate full of lobster, but again, there's only so much lobster and there are a lot of customers fighting for it. That being said, there is nothing wrong with grabbing some potatoes or a nice salad as a compliment to the main meal... especially if you KNOW you can get it. Personally, I wouldn't have a problem at all with a piece of filet, a piece of lobster, some potatoes and a nice dinner salad for my meal. Also to note, just because we said last week we are cutting down on carbohydrates or red meat doesn't mean we won't be picking up any potatoes or steak on the buffet today. Times change. And sometimes people say one thing and do another when they realize what is available on the menu.

Agreed. USPS posted this Borzello tweet in another thread... We're gonna get some good dudes in the transfer portal. They'll be out there and we'll offer plenty of PT, NIL, exposure and tradition. Every bit as important will be having two NBA draft picks after this year. We're gonna get some good dudes. Now... will they all mesh together? Will all the pieces fit? Will there be some holes on the roster? That remains to be seen. But I have a hard time believing our roster is in danger of being as bad as some fear it could be. I get that the unknown isn't as comfortable for fans like us, but the unknown doesn't mean we're in trouble. For that reason, my focus is on the finish of this season. We have potential to make some noise in the postseason and I am going to enjoy the legitimate possibility.

Funny you say that because I remember the year after he graduated he returned to Assembly Hall with Athletes in Action and looked like a completely different player. Scored 20 points against us and nearly won the game... https://iuhoosiers.com/news/1998/11/4/HOOSIERS_BEAT_AIA_IN_OVERTIME_97_95 . I remember a young GnarlyTimGarl asking his dad where this new Robbie Eggers came from because we never saw that performance in an IU uniform. Although the link infers we lost the prior year (which would have been Robbie's Senior Year). I remember when we lost to AIA, though, whenever it was. They actually had some competitive squads and were probably extremely valuable to play in the preseason exhibitions. The old exhibition days in the 90's of AIA, Marathon Oil, Melbourne All-Stars, etc.. Anyway, beat Iowa. Decisively.

Here's the problem: Zach Edey: 21.5 PPG, 13.2 RPG as a dominant force for #1-ranked Purdue. I think he's pretty much the clear frontrunner at the moment. As good as Trayce has been, Edey and Purdue have been consistently great all year long. That being said, Trayce is on a torrid pace right now and the Hoosiers are on a roll. 19.4 PPG and 10.1 RPG along with 3.5 APG and 3.1 BPG puts him squarely in the conversation. What we need is for Trayce to keep up this pace and the Hoosiers have to keep winning AND Purdue will need to start losing and Edey start struggling a bit. As Hova said above, it would really help if Trayce gets the better of Edey when they play this year. If that happens and IU and Purdue are battling it out at the top of the league at the end of the season then I think Trayce has a chance. But I believe it's an uphill battle at the moment. Kinda reminds me of the Big Ten Players of the Year in 2013 and 2016. As good as Victor and Yogi played those years, Trey Burke and Denzel Valentine were just a little bit better.

I seem to recall a few folks saying they heard "things" about Beard during our last coaching search which led them to believe he would not be considered an option for IU. But no one would give specifics. Most people just assumed he was a lock for Texas and that was that but now I am wondering if this was the sort of "thing" they were talking about. I don't know... I just find it interesting. I always thought it was a little weird that it appeared IU had no interest in Beard as coach because he seemed to be a good fit on several fronts. However, with this news, I am very glad we went with Woody. If the IU search committee uncovered a few potential "red flags" that caused us to go in another direction then good on them. IU certainly doesn't need someone like that as the head basketball coach.

In my opinion, Matta's inclusion to the IU program was weird from the start. He was mentioned as an addition to the program the very same day Woodson was hired which gave the general public a reasonable expectation that he would be an active member of the program from the public's perspective. But yet we hardly ever heard anything about his contributions to the program throughout his year at IU. Was there ever even an interview issued for public consumption? Does anyone really know what he actually did? I know he was in administration but that is very vague. And again, his hire was mentioned the SAME DAY as Woodson's hire. I doubt that was a coincidence. The more I think about it, the more I feel that the inclusion of Matta (and even Fife later on) was a tactical move by the Athletic Department to pacify some of the fanbase/media who had concerns about bringing in an older NBA guy/alum as head coach who didn't have any college coaching experience. Perhaps they thought adding the Big Ten pedigrees of Matta and Fife would lessen the skepticism of a Woodson hire. If that is true then I am left disappointed. If Woodson was/is your guy... he's your guy. Let him build the program HIS way and stay out of the way. Don't force marriages on him. If the athletic department felt that he needed specialized help like a Matta (or Fife) to make the Woodson era work then I don't believe they should have picked Woodson in the first place. But I could be way off base. I don't care. Let's just win games.

A few thoughts on Payton Sparks: - He averaged 13.5 PPG and 8.5 RPG as a freshman. As the season progressed, so did his numbers. He clearly looks like a player who is "on the rise" as opposed to a potential 5th year senior who has basically maximized his ability. Do those numbers translate to the Big Ten? Maybe, maybe not. But considering that he was labeled a late-bloomer and showed significant growth in his first year of college ball it's reasonable to project that he has potential to be a pretty good college basketball player. The MAC isn't the Big Ten, but it's also leaps ahead of the MEAC or Ohio Valley. - No, he doesn't shoot three's well. But there aren't an abundance of post players who do. And there are even fewer who are available in the transfer portal at this time. If we're hanging our hopes on solving our shooting woes by bringing in a "5" who can drain 3's at a high rate we're going to be disappointed. There just aren't many out there. Some may disagree, but at 6'9-240 he is big enough to play the "5" at IU. He won't be the biggest dude on the court most nights but he has enough size where he won't be a liability unless going against aberrations like the bigs at Purdue. Most nights he'll be fine size-wise. Especially if he has a knack for rebounding. He would be our post. Our shooting will need to be upgraded at the guard/wing positions. - His addition makes the most sense should we lose TJD and Race. If either return, it makes this a bit more complicated as you're likely seeing a starting lineup containing two post players (I doubt Sparks comes here if he isn't going to start) who are unable to hit three pointers with any regularity. That means we'll likely have at least two non-shooters on the floor at all times which can severely hamper the offense. However, if TJD and Race leave, you can slot Sparks in at the "5" and Geronimo (who is a developing 3 point shooter) at the "4" which allows the offense to open up a bit more. Would I like the Sparks addition to IU? Probably, because he's still young and is on a good trajectory of improvement right now. He would have three years of eligibility left which could help solidify our post for years to come. However, if Race and/or Trayce returns it clutters up the team with yet another non-shooter. I doubt Sparks would come to sit the bench anyway.

If there was serious bad blood between Coach McCullough and Coach Allen I would find it very hard to believe that his sons would continue to play for Allen. Then again, college football can be a weird sport...

RE: Allen's Coaching Acumen This year has been a disaster. We had a lot of momentum from two of our best years in program history and started the season ranked 17th in the nation. Fan enthusiasm was as high as it has been in a LONG time and the poor performance this year has washed so much of it away and it's very sad to see. It's clear the team was not prepared for the adversity they would face this year and the coaches bear plenty of responsibility in that. You can tell the staff is searching for answers which is never good to see. Significant changes need to be made around the program because the approach this year was massively unsuccessful. However, Tom Allen was the leader who built up all of that momentum and excitement that had our hopes high at the start of the season. He had our program in our biggest bowl games since the early 90's. He's had more success overall in the Big Ten than his FIVE predecessors. In my book, he deserves credit for that and can withstand a stinker of a season or two. He's worked up enough credit for that. IU Football is a very difficult job. Years of history has proven we'll always have an uphill battle against programs like Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State. That's not being defeatist, it's understanding the challenges IU faces. More often than not, those teams are going to be really good. And when some teams win, some teams have to lose. Twenty-five years ago this university fired Bill Mallory because we felt he ran his course and there weren't in any good days remaining in his future at IU. So be it... but we needed to make sure we would replace him with a winner. We followed him with Cam Cameron, Gerry Dinardo, Terry Hoeppner, Bill Lynch and Kevin Wilson. Those are the types of coaches IU Football attracts. NOT ONE of those coaches had any success that matched what Bill Mallory accomplished or what Tom Allen would accomplish. Wanting to part ways with Allen so quickly after having the successes we've recently experienced would be a huge gamble. We'd be praying for a shot-in-the-dark candidate to be the next shiny thing at IU. And he'd be cast aside by many if he didn't start making waves in the Big Ten by Year 2. Has Allen run out of gas at IU? Maybe. I'll admit I'm not sure we win another game this year. I thought that after the WKU game. We're that bad right now. There's no doubt that our sharp decline in play is very alarming. Allen may very well have three straight 3-win seasons and fizzle out. But Allen has shown that he can win at IU. How many other coaches (that IU could reasonably attract) can say the same? Allen has done it before. It's possible he can do it again. Do I expect it? Not necessarily. But I think he stands as good of a chance vs. most of the other coaches we would attract. If we have another couple of 3-9, 2-10 stinker of seasons then I'll agree that he has done all he can at IU. But right now? Too early to tell. I feel Allen deserves an opportunity to right the ship.

Does anyone know of any contact information or an email address where I can communicate with someone from the athletic department or football administration where we can explain concerns about spectator experience inside Memorial Stadium? I witnessed/experienced some very inappropriate and dangerous behavior from A LOT of spectators (many of which were our guests to the East but some Hoosiers as well) that made me consider my personal safety and whether or not I want to attend many more games in the future. Did anyone else experience something similar? I have attended nearly 100 IU football games over the years and Saturday night was BY FAR the worst experience I ever had and it had nothing to do with the weather or poor play. I understand alcohol is now permitted inside the stadium but the amount of drunken, obscene and profanity-laced behavior exhibited by so many resembled something more like a middle-aged frat party instead of a sporting event. I'm all for playful banter between fans of opposing schools, but I would have been absolutely embarrassed to bring a child to that game and sit in my designated seat. My elderly father and I were recipients of unprovoked obscenities and had several intoxicated individuals almost fall on us on multiple occasions. We didn't notify the stadium attendants because there were so many people we wouldn't even know where to begin.So we just left before halftime. I'm hoping this was simply an aberration, but if this is going to be permitted in the future then I'll stay at home. If an IU Football game is more for folks aged 21 and over... please don't advertise it as a family event.

Agreed. Michael Penix isn't the All Big-Ten QB we were hoping he would be right now. He's off. It's possible he'll eventually round into form and get to that point. But right now? He's out of sync for the most part. Save for a couple of nice throws he looked unimpressive against Idaho. Was it rust? Confidence? Offensive play-calling? A combination of all three? I don't know. I was hoping Idaho would be his "get right" game that would allow him round back into shape. 11/16 for 68 yards and 2 TDs in three quarters against an FCS team wasn't exactly putting the Big Ten on notice. Am I saying bench him? Not necessarily. But I guess I would say that if you trot Penix out there the next game and we have 3-4 series of unspectacular offense then I wouldn't hesitate to give Tuttle a shot for a change of pace. That's not to say Tuttle will be much better... but it at least looks like he has more confidence than Penix right now. Being QB1 in the spring probably played a role in that. He's made a couple of nice throws in limited playing time and it seemed like the offense ran a little more smoothly with Tuttle taking the snaps. And that doesn't mean if you bench Penix midway thorugh a game that he's no longer your starter. I just wouldn't force him if it seems like he doesn't have "it" for the day. I suppose the counter-argument is that he may need more snaps to get back into the rhythm of game play but as you said his current level of QB play probably gets you a 1-4 record over the next five games. Penix clearly has a higher ceiling, but if Tuttle is playing better right now... I don't see how we don't give him PT for the betterment of the team.

I will mention that The Daily Hoosier reported back in April that Rosemond trained Clowney before he took the IU assistant job. It's mentioned at the very end of the article linked below. https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/iu-basketball-recruiting-hoosiers-offer-emerging-2022-south-carolina-forward-noah-clowney/ So it seems there was a prior connection between the two parties before Clowney was offered by IU. But as you mentioned... who knows how long Rosemond trained him before then and how deep that connection is? That could make a difference. I've always kinda viewed Banks and Clowney as two guys we had a really good chance of landing in the end with the Rosemond connection and I still feel that way. I have no inside information but just reading the recruiting tea leaves I'd agree with you and say we're in a good spot with this one.

Plaid Stevens?

To say that Pete Thamel is an unbiased reporter for this particular story may be a bit of a stretch. Judging from what I have seen he seemed to have a pretty good relationship with Tom Crean. He's even hosted a podcast with Crean labeling him as a "premier college hoops coach." While his assertions about the IU Administration may be correct, I am not convinced he's unbiased in this situation. https://www.si.com/college/2017/03/21/tom-crean-indiana-hoosiers-fired https://puntjohnpunt.com/2017/03/20/urban-meyer-doesnt-know-who-tom-allen-is-and-other-pete-thamel-jokes/ https://twitter.com/petethamel/status/974306747656622080 https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-yahoo-sports-college-podcast/episode/tom-creans-football-life-56154389 Just seems to me Mr. Thamel is a bit partial to Tom Crean so it doesn't surprise me he views IU in a relatively negative light.

RE: The Age Issue I know we'd all love to hire a younger coach who could be successful here for the next 20-25 years but I'm honestly not sure how realistic that actually is? We tried that with Archie and it didn't work. We tried it with Crean and it didn't work. We tried it with Davis and it didn't work. I just want us to get the best coach for Indiana that we can possibly get... regardless of age. Just get a good coach. I understand the hesitation for someone like Beilein and that's fair. But we've missed the tournament so much in the last 20 years that we need to make sure we can get someone in here to right the ship and put us on the right course of success once again. I'm afraid that trying to pick the next hot coaching prospect is a bit of a crap shoot and presents a high risk of experiencing the same thing we have just experienced. I know some folks are reserved about picking a guy like Beilein or Matta for health/age reasons... but we know they can coach in the Big Ten. They have had MANY years of high-level success. Even if they were only here for 5-10 years they would most likely put us on the right track for success... at least becoming a perennial tournament team again. People seem intrigued by guys like Musselman and Oats. And they may end up great coaches. But each of them have had exactly ONE year of Power 5 success. That's risky.