hoosierbgh

I'm guessing he doesn't have it located just above his crack like an actual tramp stamp. Even if he did, since it is a quote, it would be a** antlers not a tramp stamp anyway, lol. Take a look at where Lubbock is located and then tell us you honestly think someone who can convince any talented players to go there would have trouble recruiting to Bloomington instead. Assistant coaches are typically hired for their recruiting connections anyway.

And without considering the talent levels of both teams either.

Let's say you're a wealthy individual looking to make a major purchase, a mansion perhaps. Then you find the exact one you're looking for and agree to the current owner's price. Even though you aren't ready to move in yet and haven't signed all the paperwork wouldn't you likely tell close associates that the deal is done? Things could still fall through at the last minute but you have the cash and you met the seller's terms so you'd be right to be pretty damn confident that you had just purchased the mansion you've been wanting. Conversely, on the seller's side of things you don't take it off the market, announce that it has been sold, and hand over the keys until all the paperwork is completely signed and the cash is in hand.

To me, the more interesting part was Henry gesturing so forcefully in Izzo's face.

Interesting interaction between Henry and Izzo at half time.

It was a statement that says nothing but intended to sound like something. It's what media people say when they don't have confirmation but are hearing enough chatter that they don't want to risk being left out. With all due respect to the guy, I seriously doubt he will be among the first in the national media to be able to quote something concrete and anything concrete he does get will lag considerably behind the info the local insiders get.

Why would you need a worried emoji over this? Of course the choice is up to Brad... just like it has always been. That he seems to be strongly considering the decision is extremely positive. He will make the decision when he is good and ready and it will be announced when everyone else is good and ready.

I can be patient for the announcement whenever it occurs but posts like this are not making it the slightest bit easier!

Disregarding everything else that's been said and speculated on, the fact remains that there was a compelling/attractive enough reason to cause one wealthy donor to pay up to an extra $7 million to buy out Miller a year early and another donor to agree to a "nearly unlimited funds" for the transition costs of a new hire. As good/great as the other options for a new coach are, I just can't see any of them moving the needle to that level. It doesn't mean that it will ultimately work out but it is, IMO, a pretty good indicator that there is a real possibility that it will.

Probably so but it is much, much easier to hide things at Baylor than it would be at IU. If Drew were a better coach and there were strong indications that A) the HP situation was the only shady thing occurring and that B) the shady occurrences were in the past, then it might be worth the risk. As it currently stands Drew has the lowest upside and the highest risk at IU.

If Beard can recruit players to Lubbock F'ing Texas (which puts the a** in the a** end of nowhere) where do people seriously get the idea he couldn't recruit better players to Bloomington? That makes even less sense than loving the Butler offense under Stevens but complaining about Beard's offense. What you saw at Butler and Texas Tech will not be what you would see with either one of them at IU with better players to run their systems. No matter how great any coach's offensive scheme is, the BIG tends to favor teams capable of playing physical, grind it out styles when necessary (such as every game vs. WI, MSU, PU, RU, etc). Of all the coaches mentioned frequently here, Drew is the one who's recruiting and style of play are least likely to translate well to IU.

Oats vs Musselman I haven't followed either one of them closely enough to make an informed call but my gut says Oats would be the better fit/hire but Musselman would be more likely. Beard vs. Drew Beard easily, I think his style of play fits IU and the BIG better and he's accomplished more with less. Drew has had more recruiting success but Waco is a much easier sell than Lubbock and I doubt he would be able to recruit the same way at IU as he does at Baylor... especially if many of the same people are still in the compliance department that were here during the Sampson tenure. I see Drew as Sampson 2.0 and he ranks about as high as Alford on the list of guys I don't want to see coaching at IU. Matta vs. Beilein Beilein's age is the only thing making this much of a decision. IMO, Matta needed more talent to win than Beilein did and while he can probably get that talent easily at IU, I don't like being quite so dependent on getting top tier talent all of the time. I think Beilein is the better coach but Matta, if healthy and committed, would be the better fit.

I probably shouldn't leak this but... you're really close on the plan for the 3rd time. The difference is that instead of the dog being held hostage, someone is going to kidnap him directly and shortly after Brad's mysterious disappearance from Boston, IU is going to announce the completely unknown Brian Smith as the new head coach. Brian will look a lot like Brad but with more facial hair, a large nose and glasses.

I see Drew as a probable Sampson 2.0 situation. I think if Beilein ended up being the hire, there would be contingencies in place to deal with recruiting and other aspects of coaching that might be affected by his age. If Beilein ends up being the best coach willing to come to IU then I certainly hope IU does not make the Majerus mistake again.

I'm guessing that his comments are probably not so much about throwing a parade for making the tournament as they are about throwing tantrums after losses, complaining about coaches not winning big instantly at IU, and constantly clamoring for coaching changes. A possible example is that Holtmann reportedly had absolutely no interest in considering the IU position the last time around. Of course, he could be thinking of entirely different things. There's likely some truth to what he said, this fan base certainly has it's share of entitled people who lack perspective but Bilas is not the best source for those comments nor is his suggestion to hire an IU guy helpful. Expectations are currently low, however, they will almost certainly rebound to irrational levels in short order if an even reasonably decent hire is made.

Lol, recruiting momentum and sustaining strength are not terms that have ever been associated with Texas Tech, that anyone would even consider doing so now even in an effort at dismissal, is a testament to what Coach Beard has accomplished there in a short time. He's basically taken a bottom third or bottom quarter Big 12 program and made it consistently top half of the conference and done so without top tier recruits. A coach that can get 4 and 5 stars to even look at Lubbock should have no problem at all selling Bloomington.

I think the real down side to Musselman is that success at IU could possibly have him looking at a jump back to the NBA. That's a pretty minor concern though and I'd still much rather have him them Drew. It is nice to have much better options this time around and apparently donors willing to provide the funds to make a serious run at the top candidate(s).

With Goodman, his source is likely not any higher up than the backup assistant barista.

I'm not sure you could tell the difference if he were in attendance.

Just to get Morris. When it comes to terrible announcers, I'm pretty sure that is like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.

If it is anger that motivates them, then I'm sure there are at least a couple posters that could provide a pre-game critique guaranteed to leave the team PO'ed.

I don't know, I'm old enough to recall another, much worse win over PSU. One where IU was ranked #1 in the polls and had to have the benefit of an absolutely terrible call to even make it to overtime before escaping with the win. Although, I'm not old enough to remember a lot of that long period of excellence I do remember enough of it to know it wasn't uniformly excellent. Time plays funny tricks on us all, it tends to make us think the past was better than what it actually was and that the present is worse than what it is. Personally, I've seen enough IU teams of several eras lose games that they had no business losing to lose my mind over a closer than expected win.

The discussion is of need vs. talent, even necessity vs. luxury, not of the relative talents of both players. Considering such debates are long running and in nearly every sport, it's fairly obvious that it is a valid discussion. Less obvious is how one manages to see that as a talent comparison or why one would go out of the way to do so.

Figments of the imagination in those that enjoy nothing so much as anticipatory b****ing and moaning?

It's Purdue. Football players, basketball players they all share the same livestock.