Old Friend

Because you know more than he does and you've got all the information he does, right? How about we don't act like children who don't get what they want, and trust the guy that just a year ago hit a bases empty grand slam?

Scott Dolson should be fired if he doesn't hire who I want him to hire! I know he's done his diligence and knows how important this is. I know he's more invested than me or anyone I know and I know he's a former manager, absolutely understands where he is, and just hit a home run across the parking lot. I know he knows WAY more than I do and I know he's been in it for months. I know he's vetted candidates and I know he understands his career will be defined by THIS hire. But dammit, I manage TWO Jersey Mike's sub shoppes, and if he hires a guy I don't like because I assume I know more than I do....and because I know more than Scott Dolson....he should be fired!! How incredibly ridiculous.

Brownell gets a bad rap, I think. He's not my first choice, but Clemson doesn't exactly support basketball down there. His NIL budget is about the same as Northwestern's, so I'm told. Goins is a complete clown. How he was given that gig is an indication to anyone paying attention that just because someone has the ability to hire doesn't mean a whole lot in terms of how smart they are. Someone decided to give him that gig.

I have and he's the best I've heard. So many of these guys pretend they know and just LOVE having their press credential. Tom Brew knows nothing, doesn't understand sports, has no idea that people are on to him and know more than he does; and he's an arrogant jack*ss. Jacob Goins is another absolute disaster with his fake voice and uneducated opinions based on whoever he decides to parrot on a given day. Talk about a guy who doesn't know anything. Just bblleechhh.

No sh*t. That dude is a clown. So is every podcaster I've seen. It's like literally none of them understand anything and don't actually dig past the very easy first layer. Tom Brew is painfully obtuse and un- necessarily arrogant

He "won" what? His last 3 seasons there with his own team were 21-10, 19-10, 22-11. He's made it past the round of 32 once in his career. Won what?? Where are the standards?? I'm seeing people in huge support of some very mediocre coaches who haven't ever done a damned thing. Why do we want another guy who, save a single season, had records similar to Woodson in what was then an either equal or inferior league? Cignett's not an a$$hole. Watch the documentary. And you don't think fans here would be unhappy with similar results????? Come on.

Watch the documentary. Not at all the same. Cignetti's arrogant. Wade's an a$$hole.

That would be catastrophic. Will Wade would be the antithesis of Curt Cignetti. Unlikable and just not a good guy. Watch "The Scheme." He comes across as a complete a$$hole and not a guy IU would support....at all. No thank you.

How does anyone know who Scott Dolson's top targets are beyond Stevens? I'm sorry, but I just don't think Dusty May was a clear #2. He had 6 seasons at Florida Atlantic, only one anything special and his first 4 were.....not very good at all. This season his team completely pee'd down their proverbial legs late and lost a championship which was theirs to lose. Yet somehow he's a better candidate than McCollium who has by far the best resume of any coach in college basketball save Danny Hurley or maybe Tom Izzo? I don't buy that for a second. I don't think guys like Buzz Williams or Mick Cronin fit Indiana at all, but I'm not about to believe we settled regardless of who we get unless it DOES happen to be a retread like that who's never won anything. Hell....I'd take Dane Fife with a great staff over Cronin or Williams.

IU 68' OU 63

Unless he has a perfect roster, this will have to be adjusted for in the Big Ten. Every player at every position is bigger, faster, and more athletic than he deals with now. I think he would acknowledge that. His current style at Drake with that kind of player would likely have a record similar to Northwestern in the Big Ten. You're spot on re: recruits and as I said above, unless he wins big, the slow style would drive people crazy very quickly.

I guess we won't know until we know but McCollum has won everywhere and at a high level for many years. I'm not as inclined to compare him to Wes Miller. Miller was at UNC Greensboro for 10 seasons, and won just 58% of his games and his first 5 years were dog sh*t (60-82 in a bad league). My concern about McCollum is whether or not he can adapt to and recruit to a bigger, more athletic league. His deliberate style and slow pace would drive people crazy VERY quickly if he didn't win, and I don't mean win like Woodson. I mean win 23-25+ games and be in the conversation for conference title every season.

He just went 30-3 and won both conference and conf tournament with 4 D2 kids on his roster, won 12 straight conference titles and 4 national championships at the D2 level. But you'd rather hire a far less successful guy because he has more experience at a given level? Why? Personally? I want Greg McDermott. But I think McCollum would win. I'd take 30-3. I don't know about anyone else.

Disagree 100%. I've got no interest in doing this again in 4-5 years nor am I interested in a quick, temporary fix.

Nobody except Brad Stevens or someone like Tom Izzo, Rick Pitino, or Jay Wright would avoid this category. There are no "no brainer" hires who are obviously available and you're going to have to peel back more than one layer to find answers. Ben McCollum would not be, for example a truly underwhelming hire. Nor would a few others.

I'd take that. Under Ryan, Wisconsin was in the conversation every year. Good comparison

I was with you the first time. They ALL were.

I caught that and corrected it above. Habit....Thanks!

We did so on purpose. That's my point

Here's the story about the history. It's not that simple and I don't mean that as a shot at you, but if you don't know, you don't know. 2000 - IU fires Knight and players demand the new head coach be either Mike Davis or John Treloar. Not because they were good coaches...but because the kids on that team liked them and it was ~ 45 days prior to the start of the season so the IU administration acquiesced. IU makes the final of the BTT, and foolishly hires Mike Davis permanently. He proceeded to put the car in neutral down a steep hill and we know how that ended. Help was...NOT on the way. 2006 - Davis "steps down," and IU has a choice to make. Rick Pitino called IU (this happened. 100% confident in that answer and I'll explain in a direct message if anyone wants to know, but this is fact) and was told Indiana didn't want another basketball coach to be the face of the University....and Pitino was a national brand of his own at that time. I guess I understand why academes would feel that way, but I also know without men's basketball, Duke would be ..Elon. Men's basketball was then and is now IU's most visible and marketable entity and academic folks just hate that. Anyway.... Instead, IU's AD at the time, Rick Greenspan interviewed many candidates, one of whom (may or may not have been Kevin Stallings) was verbally offered a contract. Not so fast says then President Adam Herbert...who dealt with lots of pressure from the NAACP, Jesse Jackson, etc about firing Mike Davis and demanded Greenspan hire a black coach. Herbert (nicknamed the Velvet Fog because he was rarely publicly visible and wore velvet leisure suits) was such an idiot, he thought Kelvin Sampson was black. It was he who overlooked things at the time and HE who hired Kelvin Sampson, We know what happened w Sampson....Dakich is hired as an interim and not retained. Rick Pitino contacts IU again....and gets same answer. 2008 - IU hires Tom Crean. Had one big year at Marquette when he had 3 NBA guys on his roster; but wasn't yet a national name anywhere near the level of Pitino. An uneven but sometimes successful 9 years; and lack of consistency along with his wearing high school coaches and people in the athletic department out, he's released and.... 2017 - Archie Miller is hired. IU missed its shot at Brad Stevens before then, and again settled for a one hit wonder over a bigger name...and did so intentionally. Again. Then president Michael McRobbie was far more interested in IU being known worldwide for the Kelley School and one of his pets was the Kinsey Institute on Human Sexuality. He also spent $hundreds of millions on new student housing, and recruited the east coast and big cities more than "Indiana." That, along with then AD Fred Glass' "student athlete code of conduct" set IU athletics back 10 years. Archie didn't fit, was WAY over his head , and was let go. Brings us to 2021 - Mike Woodson. Scott Dolson was told who to hire. I don't know if he had an opportunity to hire someone prior to being told, but Quinn Buckner, Steve Ferguson, and others were responsible for hiring "an IU guy." Forget he had no experience recruiting, no history of working in the college game, a reputation of being relatively lazy as a coach, and not a lot of energy...he was alleged to finally be that guy IU had been missing. Scott Dolson arranged for Dane Fife and Thad Matta to be on IU's bench; but Woodson didn't even know who Fife was, and viewed him as a threat. So long Dane Fife. Matta leaves for Butler and Woodson stacks his bench with yes men along with Hulls and Cheaney - because he wanted to appease fans and give them the smoke screen. Woodson demands an un-deserved $1M annual raise, speaks about himself in the 3rd person, wins nothing, and has all sorts of allegations of laziness and entitlement. Now he's out and here we are. I have written before this is the first unobstructed men's basketball hire since 1971. Indiana can, and Scott Dolson can go get whoever he thinks is the right guy. I for one trust him to do exactly that. He will make this decision and their search firm will vet his candidates. As long as Pamela Whitten (who I really like) signs off? This is Dolson's call and he has - in my opinion - more than earned IU fans' trust. Ben McCollum. The guy has won 12 straight conference titles. He won 4 national titles at D2. He has won > 81% of his games over his career. The guy can coach. And his Drake team is 28-3. Anyone who things his hire would be "insanity" is going to have to explain how his resume is even the slightest bit comparable to others before him. Who has IU hired who had anything close to this pedigree? Insanity would be hiring Mick Cronin or Buzz Williams. I'm not saying McCollum's the guy and I'm not saying he isn't. But I AM saying his lack of D1 experience doesn't scare me one bit. Lots of bad coaches have more D1 experience than he does. Does that somehow make them more qualified? The defense rests, your honor.

No. Stop.

OSU 76 IU 67 I think Oregon showed the formula and OSU has enough depth in the front court to execute it

No sh*t. One of my favorite things about the Knight era was you pretty much knew what you were going to get. Some nights other teams were better but the ebbs and flows and the massive coaching disparity was never there. Indiana didn't shoot 12 fewer FT's than their opponent or miss them as consistently as they do now. They generally had point guards. Knight knew which 5 kids played well together and didn't keep trying to succeed with kids who didn't. Woodson showed tonight why he was fir.....I mean why he felt it was best he retire. He got abused tonight.

IU 77 OU 71

I hope beating that school at anything is never the bar at Indiana. Gotta' do more than beat a team that has a local following (regional at best), an ag school who's never won anything, and a fan base that chants we suck at every kickoff, even when they're playing Southern New Mexico.