Old Friend

Depending on who you believe, either he or Kevin Stallings had a deal done when Adam Herbert made Greenspan hire Kelvin Sampson because he was a minority. That's a long, convoluted story, but I have heard it from too many people who would know.

Check your PM's

Listen....Romeo himself may not know yet. I would venture to say he doesn't. James Blackmon said he changed his mind twice walking up the stage steps to his announcement press conference. A coach can only be one place every night, and New Albany wasn't losing tonight; Romeo isn't the only important recruit; and if I were Archie, I would have told Romeo "I have every faith in the world you can beat Seymour, and I need to go see Keion so you can play with great players if you decide to stick around; and I'll see you down the road." He can only be at one place at one time; and at some point, you've reached critical mass and there's not much more you can do.

I agree with you, which is why it's so frustrating. McRobbie being who he is doesn't understand or care about the value of having a successful athletics program. All you need to do is talk to the guy. He's interested in research grants, publicity for the SCHOOL (his version of the brand, not the athletic version), and bringing in east coast and international students. Gone are the days of John Ryan, I'm sorry to say.

Image of the school is just fine. They do not care about the image of Men's Basketball. Cindy does. Fred sorta does. McRobbie does not care one bit. Not at all. Not some. I happen to know one of Rick Pitino's closest friends who happens to e very close within Indiana University (this will be story with horrible timing, but you'll get the point). When Mike Davis resigned AND when Kelvin Sampson was fired; Pitino called IU both times and said he wanted the job. He was told both times that Indiana University did not want another coach who would define the University or be bigger than the program itself. That's truth. 100%. So I'm here to tell you winning is not the absolute end all be all for which Fred Glass is held accountable; and the talk of "Fire Glass" is falling on completely deaf ears.

If he were, how do you explain him still having his job? He runs an entire department; not just men's basketball; and with IU Sports Properties; Indiana is awash in cash. His job is to maintain the brand; not "win in men's basketball." Listen, nobody has to like this or believe I know what I'm talking about; I'm just telling you how it is. The trustees of Indiana University and president of the University are not as concerned with winning as they are image and "the school." There are now "enhanced dorms" on IUB's campus to attract east coast students and the money that comes with them. NYC and Washington DC are in the top 5 hubs for IU alums. If it were all about winning in Men's Basketball; Fred Glass would have been gone a long time ago. It's NOT all about that.

See above.

He (Glass) does not make them unilaterally. I don't think most AD's do; but especially not on the head coach for Indiana Men's Basketball. Everyone from Michael McRobbie to Cindy Simon Skjodt have a voice down there; and Glass' job is to run a clean department and operate in the black. His administration cares more about image and profitability than winning. He is not at all solely responsible for hiring and firing, nor is he solely responsible for the criteria used for doing so.

I like this, however I'd say it's more the way it happened than "that it happened" which has me concerned.

The people who would fire him don't agree with you relative to the criteria for firing him; and many are just fine with the BTT being in NYC. He (Glass) is not being held accountable for winning. He is being held accountable for finances. Never forget that. He is doing his job very well according to his given job description.

Lolligaggers!

I really want to believe in Archie Miller. I really, truly do. 1) With the offense I saw last night, I find it challenging to put 100% faith in him. We moved like Crean's offense, and sometimes worse. The high hand off accomplishes nothing; and starting our best driver/rim attacker on the block against 7' guys was idiotic. 2) How many times do we let their post guys catch the ball and score over us? No fronting; just let them do what they want and hope they miss. Last night, they didn't, and we never adjusted. 3) McRoberts is a complete offensive liability and played way too many minutes last night because he was crap on defense, too. 28 minutes, 1 shot. only 2 rebounds, and 1 assist. That's just awful, and I don't care what he does from other perspectives; you cannot play a guy 70% of the minutes if he's not going to produce at all. That Justin Smith played just 15 minutes is comical to me. 4) Why is a guy who's shot is clearly off (Johnson) getting 16 shots and allowed to shoot 4-16? Why?? Morgan only got 9 shots and made 5 of them, playing the same number of minutes as McRobers; and finishing with just 2 fouls. Good Lord, we make 25-29 FT's, and score just 69 points. 19 FG's for the game. With an offense that didn't move. Archie, I wanna' believe. I really do. But damn. That was an embarrassing loss.

Oooh...I like "sassy." That's a compliment. Thank you.

A reachh at best and very different context. But keep trying. It's cute.

With the benefit of Hindsight, Maybe. You can't tell me what any of those guys would have done in Indiana's system, and I promise you I left out A couple hundred kids. there are really good basketball players all over Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Southern Indiana, And Southern Illinois. if you add an hour or two, You will find even more. every year. Tom crean spent more money on recruiting than any coach in the Big Ten when he was here. His penchant for spending other people's money was a large part of the reason he was fired. That is a fact.

What you think? Absolutely not. If I did, I wouldn't have the history of posting things I do. Again, you can think whatever you want.

I don't care one bit what you think. I've been around high school and AAU basketball for 20 years and my opinions are formed based on experience with that. It's not like I'm making things up based on nothing. Sheehey made solid contributions. I never said he didn't. I said we didn't have to go to Florida to find a kid who would make solid contributions, and it's an example (whether you like it or not) of Crean recruiting in areas he never needed to. He was fired in no small part because he spent wildly on recruiting and didn't produce results. That's fact. Not arrogant. Think whatever you want. I couldn't care less.

You're talking rankings. I'm not. There are players every season around here who would or could have given us what Sheehey did over 4 years. i also didn't limit it to in-state. But for giggles and examples..., Terone Johnson was a combo guard from Indy; Aaron Craft was from Findley, OH (maybe 2:45); Russell Byrd from Ft. Wayne; James Siakam from Carbondale, IL (went to Vanderbilt), Donnie Hale from New Albany, Josh Sewell from Louisville..plus a couple dozen kids from the Indy metro area who are 6'5"ish who can play a whole bunch. Sheehey was fine; but he wasn't someone we needed to go to Florida to find.

Feel free to leave old business 7 years in the rear view mirror there, Boogaloo. Not sure who you're trying to impress with this, however I'm quite sure my reputation here can stand on its own merit save 2-3 guys.

You are most welcome. Curtsey.

Whatever, dude. That's un-necessary, and I will very happily provide you with several years of evidence to the contrary on this board. That's a cheap shot at best and says a lot more about you than it does me. My point had nothing to do with rankings. If yours did, good for you. You compared a Mr. Basketball to Crean's looking for a diamond in the rough, which is nuts; but if pointing that out means I'm upholding a reputation, that's what it means.

Jordan Hulls was Mr. Basketball. Come on... OG had a terrific AAU season between junior and senior year. He was a 4* recruit in some services. So was Morgan. Sheehey was nobody he couldn't have found within 2 hours of Bloomington. Devin Davis was also highly rated. None of the players on your list other than maybe Anunoby have out-performed their ranking. Oladipo was a 3^ who became the college basketball player of the year and #2 draft pick. Can't agree with any "if's." If my aunt had a sack, she'd be my uncle.

I would argue he found one. In 9 years. And that kid was at DeMatha (not exactly hidden) with a better work ethic than most of the world. Lot of others wore jerseys and made contributions of one kind or another; but most flamed miserably.

Clifton Moore is another in a long line of kids that fit "Tom Crean out thinks the room and searches for next diamond in the rough" mold. If were capable of truly helping Indiana, even in the longer term, he'd have seen at least a decent number of minutes by now. He is marginally better than Tim Priller.