Hardwood83

Time for a new Camelot, a Golden era when a team that wears red* wins multiple titles and dominates the landscape once again. Make it so! * https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/bracketiq/2018-02-15/march-madness-why-you-should-always-pick-blue-and-orange

Absolutely, Kansas is a victim here and Poor Self, having all that talent forced on him? What a nightmare, when he really wanted scholar-athletes that major in chemistry and accounting. Also, Lamborghinis are very common in Lawrence, KS from what I've heard- they treat them like a Kia or Suzuki. Nothing to see here.

This makes me tingly all over. Get great talent, continue to develop them and win a LOT of games. These are a few of my favorite things.

I agree with that, but could that actually "help" him? I mean, he didn't depend on athleticism anyway, so might not be as negative an impact if he was a high flyer? I dunno, that article is pretty sobering about the outlook. NBA caliber athletes with (you assume) top notch treatment don't have a great track record of full recovery.

Well, that's like your opinion man. According to Illinoisloyalty De La Rosa = David Robinson circa 2001 :)

I was hoping he would take the Pistons job. In a perfect world the B1G would have 5-6 great teams behind IU. Still I want IU to dominate the conference like KU/Big XII, and that is a lot easier without coaches like Beilein. He is old (65) though, so we have that going for us.

You're right, but there is never playing time for everyone- even a 9-10 man rotation leaves a few on the outside. I'm continually amazed how some of the top (paying) programs stock-pile quality depth. Sure they have defections and transfers...but then the next crop comes along. I guess my point is, I would like to have 2-3 deep of legit All-B1G quality players at every position and deal with those issues rather than the other end of the spectrum.

You're right, he's a well-spoken. Let's hope for a quick commit!

I agree with both the football and baseball comments. IU baseball is in an good position, so go out an hire the best option available. Would love to see (and kind of expect) IU to take the next step and become the best B1G program.

I did read some a couple weeks ago (at your recommendation) and it was delicious. The despair, recriminations, back-biting and squabbling were better than cable news!

That is fantastic, they got a slightly shorter Marvin Bagley and now are a Final Four team! Love it. If anyone needed proof that sports fans are completely irrational, may I present exhibit A: https://www.illinoisloyalty.com/Forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3

Well said. B1G isn't likely going to ever be a great baseball conference, but there is no reason IU shouldn't be the premiere program in the conference.

Both of those lists are just minor tweaks of last seasons standings. Safe bet, I suppose. The B1G sucked last year and almost all the top teams lost their best players and look to take a step back. MSU, Mich, Ohio St, Purdue all took hits and should drop off. Nebraska has a lot of pieces back, so I understand thinking highly of them. Can they perform up to expectations though? That hasn't been Miles MO. He's a perpetual underdog. I have no idea about Maryland, I know they have talent, but no clue how to project them. I think Illinois will be awful, not fun to play against, but really bad. Iowa has a ton of talent, but Fran doesn't have a lot of interest in defense. Being as objective as I can, I think IU is clearly a top 5 team, but definitely has some question marks with so many new faces.

Not sure how much can be gleaned from those generic quotes. Odd he mentioned Marquette's "big fan base" when they likely have the smallest of all the school's mentioned.

How often has that EVER been said about IUFB?! I suspect this fall will be exciting for Basketball.

I would not have guessed that the 385th player would still be considered "3 star"

Ugh, that is super disappointing.

No doubt that defensively he's not ideal, but he's an above average low-post scorer. I think he'll get his opportunities (once healthy.)

I love red-shirts for development, especially for big men. If you are the 12th, 13th or even 14th guy (due to McRoberts getting some minutes) then why not save a year of eligibility, improve your game, get stronger and ease into the college game?

I completely agree. However, I would prefer recruits of the level that don't reciprocate the interest in pUKe. Maybe unrealistic, but I think less of players that strongly consider Kentucky. It reveals (lack of) character. It's as simple as, if you want to play for a cheating D-bag.....well, birds of a feather and all that. Call me an idealist.

I'd go with this too. They seem like Archie type guys. Brooks is talented, but I just don't see him in an IU uniform. I do think this creates a log-jam at PG, but hey, I'll take the blue-blood problems. :)

Exactly. "Mega conferences" are stupid. Let's have 20 teams in the same conference....and then not even play each other. Here's a great idea, why not have teams that are in the same geographic region play each other regularly? How innovative is that concept?! We knew conference expansion jumped the shark when West Virginia joined the Big XII....to get it back to 10 teams. West Virginia doesn't even border a state that borders a state in the Big 12. Ridiculous.

I agree about Fitzner starting. My guess: Green, Romeo, Juwan, Smith & Fitzner.

Definitely surprising, but so many successful NCAA coaches in Football and Basketball make the jump, it must be compelling. He's 65, so now or never I guess.

Interesting, he sure doesn't give the vibe of a guy that doesn't expect to play this year, does he?