kreigh8

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't this based essentially on his lack of recruiting from his past 4 years sitting out for his health? I know you would have been ok with Stevens, he hasn't recruited in 8 seasons now. I'd rather we go after Beard and have him say no first, but Matta as a 5th option or whatever it would be, wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

He can coach, no doubt. But can he recruit? If he brings Damezi with him, would that make him an "IU guy"

McConaughey needs all that money for his presidential bid.

Based on their website they have two associate head coaches with him and Dwayne Stephens. Not sure if that implies one of them being the eventual successor, but I just assumed if he'd leave Michigan St it would be for a head coaching job. Leaving for his alma mater may entice him, and I would love it, but just figured it would be a hard sell for him to take an assistant role under Beilein for example. Time will tell I guess, and I'm so glad I'm not Dolson.

I've heard that a lot and I would personally would love it for Fife to be a coach in waiting type of thing, but wouldn't that be a lateral move, if not a step backward, for him going from Michigan St and possible coach in waiting there to IU? IU probably has the history over Michigan St, but in terms of the last 20 years I don't think it's a stretch to say Michigan St would be the better job based on the short term history

And Steve Alford isn’t a Tom Crean or Archie Miller? There’s a reason he’s not coaching at UCLA or Iowa any longer. It’s been pretty clear that’s who you think the hire should be. And take away the phone call thing Kelvin Sampson would be a fantastic hire, that dude can coach ball

Dolson certainly has a tough decision to make now then, doesn't he? Would have been quite the perfect storm if Stevens said yes, but he didn't so honestly not sure who IU goes after now. Would appear their is quite the drop off from Stevens if he was the "perfect" candidate.

I know this isn't the coaching candidate thread, but for this reason I wouldn't have had Bennett on the level I would have had Stevens or Beard and possibly Stevens is on his own level for a multitude of reasons. In summary I don't think Bennett would step in and be the "homerun" hire we all wanted unless he got a whole lot more talent on the transfer market in year 1. These 20-21 Hoosiers were god awful on the offensive end and I'm not sure Bennett would step in and cure all that, or get enough talent enthused to jump on board for the 21-22 season like Stevens would. In terms of tiers I, personally, would have had Bennett further down my wish list just because I've seen the 4 years of Archie ball and it wouldn't seem much of a departure from that from a play style.

Fair enough, just the play style seems so similar to me. This isn't football and you're not going to shut a team out so you better put the ball in the hole and from what I've seen Bennett's teams don't do that enough.

Probably correct and maybe I'm just a bit jaded after watching 4 years of Archie and even having to sweat through the precious victories Archie did achieve, but I have a hunch that we'd have the same anxiety watching a Bennett led IU squad. Just the margin for error doesn't seem very high for Bennett and that was a complaint I had for Archie. Might not be so bad though if Bennett could get IU to hit FTs and a solid % from 3PT which cost Archie in his 4 years here.

Bennett is Archie Miller to me, the only difference being one has a national title and the other an elite 8. After watching 4 years of IU not scoring Bennett doesn't seem much of an upgrade from that. Improvement over Archie? Likely, but how much?

I wish I could like this a second time! If we're getting to the likes of Tonagel, Becky Hammond and even Fife, we've struck out on nearly every major target and we have major problems. Hate to be a pessimist, but I'm not sure IU can recruit on brand recognition after 20+ years of mediocrity and I'm not sure Tonagel entering a player's home would get someone that excited to commit. While I'm certain that the offense would at least have more freedom after seeing personally several games when I was an IWU student, I'm not sure he'd bring in the talent that would be necessary. I'd rather strike out on Beard, Oats, Musselman, etc. before we start talking about Tonagel, Hammond, Fife and (gulp) Alford.

I get what you're saying, but this isn't a great analogy. Fernando Tatis Jr only played 88 games at AA and before that was in A ball and he was pretty damn good his rookie year and now is one of the top 5 players in all of baseball in only his 2nd full season. Andrew Vaughn is likely to go from A ball in 2019 to the starting White Sox DH on opening day unless the Sox manipulate his service time for a few weeks when they break camp. Different sports and I totally get what you're aiming at, but just sayin' it's not completely unheard of in baseball.

This wishful thinking or a final verdict from his time at Louisville? Read this earlier and wasn't aware of anything that he'd done at Iona

I'm far more concerned with Dolson having to convince whoever else to take the job knowing they are at best the 2nd choice. And judging by this thread's reaction some of us will likely be disappointed with whoever the hire will be, no matter how good it is. That's unfortunate, but likely the reality in today's social media and 24 hour news cycle world.

Avery Johnson "and he's left handed". Replay shows Reese V shooting with his right hand. He's worn thin on my ears these past two nights. Going to be a long tourney...

I get that sentiment, but in a year with free agency of transfers allowed and IU needing serious upgrades on the roster, I'm not sure IU could afford to do any option but to let him go. I've been around long enough to know you're the Archie guy as Walking Boot of Doom was the Crean guy, despite the evidence not being on either of your side's. Waiting for Brad and the NBA season to conclude didn't seem feasible to me either due to the transfer rules this season. Likely all the big fish would be gone for roster upgrades by the time Brad would have been able to hop on board and it wouldn't be fair to Archie and his family to hunt for another job at that time either.

Wanting Archie back isn't a troll?

Don't feed the troll @hoosierbannerd

Maybe, but probably more likely if they aren't a 1 and done in the tourney, no? Torn - I don't want to face him next year or any years after, but I wouldn't hate a PU loss after today's bad news.

Someone who hasn't flamed out at his two P5 stops. The recruits parents are the only people who can recall that Alford went to IU so I'm not convinced he would suddenly have far more success coaching his alma mater. Even ignoring the Pierre Pierce situation at Iowa, his resume doesn't scream "we need that guy". You are certainly not alone, I just can't get behind the Alford push.

Well, welcome to the board. You won't get banned from me - I had a post get deleted today so attempting to keep a low profile. I've heard people who say they get Crean and Archie vibes from Beard, but he'd be my second choice behind Stevens. I'm not sure who we get, I just don't want to be as disappointed as I was today. And really only Alford would leave me at that level of disappointment from the candidates being discussed.

I agree, fyi, just curious who Whoozers feels it needs to be if it needs to be an Indiana guy. The alumni doesn’t exactly have a deep pool to choose from or at least of the caliber we’d hope for

The state or the university? As none of the alumni seem very qualified to me. Alford is not the guy and Dane doesn’t seem ready for this level. Drew would be from the state but strike me as a meh hire at best. I’ve heard it a lot so a bit curious what your stance is

Hopefully the mods will allow me add a little humor to the board after today’s news and subsequent toxicity. I’d love Beard but figured that was a longer shot than Stevens was