DChoosier

It will be interesting as it will be a barometer as to how easy or difficult it is to get an already successful “big-name” coach to switch jobs. In any case a new hire is always a crapshoot. UCLA fans were disappointed in landing their 81st or so choice, and getting rejected by coach after coach was embarrassing, but in no time here they are in the Final Four.

I work with a UNC grad in his early 60’s, lives in Chapel Hill, fanatic, gets good freebie tickets due to connections, respects IU program (he grew up when we were good) etc etc. When I told him we had a shot at Brad he said that was their dream candidate to take over for Roy. I was shocked to hear him say that. I highly doubt it will happen, as I think Brad has proven to be a NBA guy, but I found it interesting/surprising. EDIT: when I said Brad was “their” dream candidate I was referring to him and his fellow UNC grad buddies....not “insiders” tied in with the UNC athletic department.

Yes And I’m sure Arizona, LSU, UNC and Kansas are trembling. NCAA is.a joke.

You won’t get disagreement as that sentiment would have applied to anyone and everyone we would have hired.

I’m an old dude that sees a lot of tough minded kids still playing in the tourney .The “tougher” ‘70’s, 80’s” mentality is romanticized these days as there were plenty of screw ups back then, hard partiers, they didn’t have to deal with constant social media scrutiny and many of them didn’t do squat in the off-season.

Sarcasm and giving Woody a reminder of IU fandom :)

It’s called.......sarcasm.

Yep, A little while ago I mentioned that if, in the next two years, Illinois, PU and IU all made the elite 8 both years it would be a “nice” story for IL and PU but in IU’s case the national media would be running “they are back” stories, we would have prime time ESPN games and BT/ACC matchups, it would just be a much bigger deal, etc etc. And if we hang another banner.......

Great photo. Am I the only one concerned that Woodson has not signed a portal transfer yet?

Only one guy would have made 99.99% of the fan base happy. It sounds like Dolson did all he could but it did not happen. Instead we are treading into the unknown with Woodson. Let’s see how it plays out. I do know, 110%, that I’m thrilled we are not going into next season with the known...Archie. For those hesitant about a change we knew what we were getting with Archie as he had many of the same issues in year four that he had in year one, we came in 10th (again), lost the last six games of the year and did not make a basket in the last 10 minutes of his last game. There was ZERO momentum in the program. The coaching change has me exponentially more excited/interested for next year than a 5th with Archie.

A lot of boarding schools give scholarships to b-ball players (to be clear....I have ZERO idea if that was the case with Geronimo).

It’s hard for nearly everyone to argue with Duke and UNC. Would be nice for that to change. If you haven’t yet....grab a dinner at Littler. Very good.

Thanks Good read and I hope he is right.

But you didn’t necessarily want IU to fire the guy that finished 6th, 9th, 10th, 10th.

I agree and am surprised by those that assume, in spite of all his NBA experience, that he is in dire need of x/o help. Maybe they are concerned Woody doesn’t know the “4 years to learn” pack line?

I’m curious why you assume a former NBA head coach doesn’t know his x and o’s.

Fife is far from a sure thing (many think he is second choice) to follow Izzo. If Fife wants to become a Power 5 head coach I think his best chances are to first get a mid-major type HC job or, if it’s available to him, an IU “coach in waiting” assistant arrangement.

Google is a wonderful thing :)

Coaching style and players to target should 100% be Woodsons (or any head coach) decision. Matta will be helpful in various respects but some (not saying you) seem to think Matta was hired to be a puppeteer.

I’m thinking we might see a possible “ coach in waiting” when the assistants are hired. Don’t think it’s Matta .

If Texas gets Beard it’s not a direct comparison, or reflection, on our coaching search. Beard is a hot college coach that also happens to be a “Texas guy” and a Texas alum.

I don’t think the Woodson/Matta relationship will be the same as the Howard/Martelli combo. Howard had never been a head coach while Woody was a NBA head coach for years. I just don’t think an experienced NBA head coach could be sold on having his hand held when it comes to coaching. Help in other areas...yes.

He is a longtime NBA head coach. I would be surprised if Dolson told him he was going to bring in Matta to help game plan. This isn’t a home run (ie Brad) but when looking at his NBA record don’t forget he was the head coach of 2 of the most mis-managed, crappy organizations in the NBA. Phil Jackson, as an example, couldn’t do squat with the Knicks and Woody was not exactly put in an ideal situation there. We should schedule our home opener against ISU. If we can stay within 10 points it will already show improvement over Archies results...LOL

I’m not sure but I doubt an associate AD (Matt) will be a recruiter, Looking forward to seeing the entire staff as the assistants will be critical, especially because Woody has never recruited. Who knows....it may become apparent that one of the assistants is a coach in waiting and this may be a longer term plan than we currently realize.

Yes...and/or it could be the assistant saying we have put a lot of work into our tourney success and I would prefer to delay the announcement as long as we are still in the tourney