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Which is it? Did IU start working back channels in Feb. and secretly land a coach? Or at least start back channels to narrow a pool of quality candidates that are ready to accept the job? Or has IU done so little since early Feb. that they are just now engaging with candidates and having to fight Iowa for McCollum or Devries? I'd be shocked and saddened to learn if it's the latter.

I'm not inclined to support the idea of McCollum as head coach. While he may be a great tactician, there is so much more to the IU job in particular and high-major college basketball in general that he has no experience with. And I am more interested in the number of possible candidates who have proven he can handle all the other responsibilities that are part of running a successful high-major program. McCollum could be great, but I'm not excited about IU being his testing ground.

Easy on the Willard kudos. We'll see if he drops back to his mediocre/less than mediocre Maryland ways after Queen goes pro.

Anyone else listen to the Sleepers podcast talk about the off-court issues with Greg McDermott? They said like Beard, there's a host of issues with Gregg too that the public doesn't know about. (Not the same issue, drinking too much and physically abusing women, but they alluded to different skeletons.) Then there's the awkwardness around what some other coaches have intentionally side-stepped when asked about Greg. One interview recently that comes to mind is with Crean. Then there's the complete inability to even reach .500 in four seasons with Iowa St. when the season before Morgan got them to the tournament and the coaches after him--Hoiberg, Prohm, and TJO were at least able to do that. Plus Creighton has a winning culture. It has for so long. Remember all the success Altman had there. It's kind of like Dayton. Greg probably wouldn't flame out at IU like he did at ISU, but his success at Northern Iowa pales in comparison to what has come after him, he flopped at ISU, then landed in a place that has a structure and a culture that has produced winning coaches previously. Listening to the Xs and Joes podcast about the criteria/formula for finding a successful P4 coach, and he doesn't measure up. Generally speaking his teams have great offensive action--defense, not so much. Again, I'm not saying he is terrible or that he wouldn't do better than Woodson, but I don't think his resume is such that he should be considered an upper tier candidate. Plus, Im really curious what those skeletons could possibly be. And, no, it's not just the "plantation" comment.

I do appreciate that. I've worked in athletics. My curiosity is specific to Brad so as to get excited or not. ; > )

Did Brad do a lot of in-person scouting a conference tournaments last year, year before, etc.?

Why'd he change his answer? I enjoyed watching his OSU teams and obviously he recruited the State of Indiana well. Did he not feel physically up to coaching yet?

The tier 3 coaches, like Huss, still have something to prove. Afford has already proven he can't sustain high-level success at a high-level institution. It's kind of like when IU hired Woodson. Look around. No one else wanted to hire him. Same with Alford. There's a reason he landed at Nevada after UCLA.

Quick clarification on Eric and Mic. Initially Eric stated Mic would have interest and thought we could get him. Recently Eric has stated that Mic isn't even a candidate and despite what we hear at press conferences Mic does like LA.

This is incredibly naive. Jon is benefiting from the instructor Duke has. Coach K didn't walk away from the program. He is overseeing it--helping Jon, making connections to money people, connections to coaches, other influences and recruits.

Monday, March 17 makes a lot of sense from a PR perspective. Announce it after the selection news cycle and before the games begin. That way you aren't stepping on egos during the regular season and aren't distracting the program as they attempt to make the tournament, but then ensure that every one of the NCAA tournament game broadcasts mentions the hire. Obviously the time is good for portal season, lining up NIL funds before the vetting committee is established, etc. I don't know that I believe an announcement will be made March 17, but the timing would be great.

Sorry if this has already been covered, but it doesn't seem logical that Dolson would have McCollum targeted as a backup (or front-runer) if it's known that McCollum would choose Iowa over Indiana. If that's true and the news is known on message boards, then Dolson knows that too. Basically, both of these situations can't be true: 1. IU is targeting McCollum. And 2. McCollum has made it known he doesn't prefer to coach at Indiana.

Just like they did with Sampson? That's a lot of trust in an operation that hasn't necessarily earned it. (Same could be said about Wilson. He was the same person, doing the same things at Oklahoma that IU fired him for.)

Did @normandale97 say to think of it like college football bowl season? Meaning the coaches team could make it to the tourney, but the coach peaces out before to take the IU job, or the coach is announced, but will remain with his currwnt team through the tourney. I'm not saying this is the case, just that I thought that's something the poster mentioned as a possibility.

@normandale97 - So you don't know who it will be, but you know it won't be a "big name." Am I understanding you correctly?

Everyone saying that Creighton is in the Big East now so things are harder. That's true. But it's not like Creighton internally is still operating like it's in the MVC. The university/program did things to help it be competitive at the next level. GM is a good coach, but it's not like he is doing more with a lot less compared to other Big East schools.

Anyone have a beat on any more intriguing flights out of and into the Bloomington area? I didnt put a lot of stock in the Brad to IU talk, but the one thing that piqued my interest in the possibility was the flights around Boston and Bloomington in early February. Since then has anyone been tracking flights? Not necessarily connected to Brad, but any interesting patterns anywhere else in the country? (I know with a search firm we wouldn't necessarily see flights into/out of Bloomington. And I know we may not be at the point where folks need to meet in person, but the fact that it seemed we had so many seemingly connected flights around Bloomington and Boston early and nothing anywhere of late seems interesting.) I understand these flights don't necessarily portend anything, but they are good message board fodder.

Any reason for renewed optimism? Or just trying to manifest it on a slow Friday night?

Unforgiven because the storytelling is so taut. Not a wasted scene or line. True Grit (Cohen Bros remake) because it's rich with diverse characters. For a Few Dollars More because Lee Van Cleef. Have you seen The Great Silence? Duck, You Sucker? Death Rides a Horse? Day of Anger? My Name is Nobody? Don't sleep on Randolph Scott, Lee Van Cleef, Henry Fonda, T. J. Otzelberger, James Coburn, Kirk Douglas, and Robert Duvall. There are a lot of great ones with more experience--having proven themselves across different eras, working with a different casts, and being the star of big productions. ; )

IU's senior day is March 8 against OSU. BTT starts March 12.

Interesting strategy to announce the new coach a day or two before senior night.

Years ago I would have been in favor of Tony, but his style is much less attractive to high-end talent and he had so many really bad flame outs in the tournament toward the end.

And a bunch of us aren't qualified to select the next coach. ; )

Brad is offended

If Cronin is hired, how about a student section named something like: "We wish May or Stevens or Drew or a lot of other people were our coach"? It's not totally refined, but I can support the sentiment.