Stromboli

Good point, Buzz Killington!

I hear you. I'll point out one difference. Last season, as the losses mounted, I stopped watching because I'd given up hope. At least right now I can hang onto this line that these new recruits and this new coach are going to be better. I can dream that our program will look and play like Virginia, because we've installed the right coach. And finally, having all of these Indiana kids committed and interested makes it better. I can follow Phinisee and Anderson with new interest. Same with Romeo and Brooks and TJD. Last year was terrible. I started with such high hopes, and it ended up being humiliating and deflating.

Good news!!

WOW. That's impressive. This was done on an indoor track, which is typically harder to get fast times because the 200m track results in tighter turns. Also sometimes the raised track makes it bouncy, and so again not as fast. Finally, to run a time like that this early in the season is insane. Thanks for the update, Old Fart! I was a miler myself. Enjoy seeing stuff like this.

I saw that too. It's a little embarrassing. IU wasn't even competitive against OSU. A mere two hours later IU fans are trolling Drew for losing a close one to a similarly ranked Kentucky at Rupp. This schadenfreude schtick is getting a little old.

Yep. I think it goes under appreciated that we are stripped of talent because they were pro- ready. We're weak inside, but don't forget Bryant, Anunoby, and De'Ron were recruited to be in those spots now. We have no scoring, but CuJo and JBJ were expected to pan out. Yes, I'm making excuses. But they are legit reasons that we don't have the depth and talent of the teams beating us. Indiana isn't dead. Fourteen months ago we were soaring. Beating top teams. Top 5 rank. Coach Miller is still likely to be an upgrade, so let's be a smidge patient.

Jake is kind of the forgotten man here. He may be very important for us. Sure love seeing things like this, though! https://twitter.com/begreatjake/status/958185227305869312

Yep. Brooks get to control the narrative because Keion is the celebrity. It does appear that Keion remains committed to his team, which is good. Also Keion is ranked waaaay up there in the new 247. I haven't personally seen it, but I'll concede these people are better talent scouts than I will ever be.

That would be one spicy stromboli.

In 2017 the average attendance was 16,363. We're always in the top ten, even in down years. (For those not wanting to go back and check the numbers, Vandy is under 9,000 per game now.) Edit to add: The all game attendance for 2017 (including home, road, neutral) has IU at 9th. Kansas is at 6. Vanderbilt didn't make the top 30 so theirs isn't reflected. DIVISION I ALL GAMES ATTENDANCE (HOME, ROAD, NEUTRAL) Rk. School Attendance 1. Kentucky 706,331 2. North Carolina 700,038 3. Syracuse 611,607 4. Wisconsin 556,252 5. Louisville 554,803 6. Kansas 546,985 7. South Carolina 534,975 8. Arkansas 506,604 9. Indiana 501,269 10. Purdue 478,834 Rk. School Attendance 11. Creighton 475,768 12. Duke 473,751 13. Oregon 473,462 14. Virginia 467,900 15. Michigan St. 466,183 16. Michigan 465,026 17. Maryland 459,839 18. Arizona 453,908 19. West Virginia 445,664 20. Iowa St. 443,105 Rk. School Attendance 21. UCLA 425,698 22. Gonzaga 423,351 23. Villanova 415,840 24. Xavier 414,748 25. North Carolina St. 410,154 26. Ohio St. 409,493 27. Nebraska 405,829 28. Iowa 405,278 29. Marquette 401,919 30. Kansas St. 397,749 2nd Edit: The Big Ten leads all conferences in attendance. Both total attendance and average per game.

Here, a current look at the power of Vanderbilt's AWESOME fanbase. They are at their lowest home attendance in over 50 years, back when their attendance was lower because their gym capacity was lower. And it's not just an issue this season, they've seen declining attendance before Bryce was hired to totally tank the program. From: https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/college/vanderbilt/2018/01/12/kentucky-basketball-fans-wildcats-vanderbilt-memorial-gym-john-calipari-bryce-drew-big-blue-nation/1015262001/ VANDERBILT BASKETBALL HOME ATTENDANCE SINCE 1999 (Average per game each year) Bryce Drew tenure (2016-present) 2017-18: 8,734* 2016-17: 9,636 Kevin Stallings tenure (1999-2016) 2015-16: 11,135 2014-15: 8,862 2013-14: 9,534 2012-13: 10,637 2011-12: 13,698 2010-11: 13,802 2009-10: 13,623 2008-09: 13,276 2007-08: 13,418 2006-07: 12,030 2005-06: 12,197 2004-05: 10,088 2003-04: 11,312 2002-03: 9,570 2001-02: 8,843 2000-01: 9,814 1999-00: 10,987

That was rich. Circular reasoning is circular. Total inconsistency. Seems like his biggest argument is that he'll get the most exposure at Vanderbilt. That's the easiest point to disprove! By the time he said Memorial Hall can equal the atmosphere at Assembly Hall or Phog Allen, he was done. Dude, Romeo has already heard 14,000 Hoosiers cheer his name at HH, and then again during the Northwestern game. He sees greater fanbases at his high school games than what Vandy brings. The whole article was written like a freshman's two page essay. Vanderbilt is going to be in for a rude awakening next year. Two or three poorly coached freshmen--even talented ones--can't do much against a well coached Power 5 team.

A thought so nice he said it twice! It is a good point. I agree.

I think what I'm feeling is love.

It's just his writing style. I understand everything he is saying. It's just some creative license. He even provides a key at the bottom! So he gets it. It's not otherwise terrible writing. I don't normally read him, but it's been pointed out that his insight is usually on point. Not a good look for Keion. Bailing on teammates? I have to assume his beef is that he's not more of a focal point. Easy to create a narrative here. His star isn't shining as bright as it was. Getting exposed by top talent. And obviously not feeling like he owes his high school team much loyalty. So he bails to a prep school. I've seen him play twice. He's not a dominant player. As others have noted, his listed height is deceptive. He does not look 4" taller than Romeo. Maybe one inch taller, but overall a smaller human. Last time I saw him, twice he managed a monstrous dunk... After the ref blew the whistle to stop play. Well after the whistle, even. Like running start for an uncontested dunk while he should have handed the ball to the ref. For some reason that's stuck out to me. Concerned with Keion looking good. Agree with others that IU is not in a position to turn away a kid like Keion.

Hey hey!! Good to hear from you, Chris007! Always appreciate the nuggets of info, too. Thread quality has been...erm... down recently.

That incredulous whiny face as he works the refs.

Agreed. I've been letting it marinate to see if I was just over-reacting. But the more I think about it, the worse it gets.

Lol. Abandonment issues.

I like the optimism, but there's a well established pecking order. IU is still a very, very good job. Somewhere 5-10. Duke and UNC are very clearly above us. We all know how UNC will behave when Roy retires. Remember he came from Kansas, a fellow top 4 program. And so for UNC to try to poach a coach from another Blueblood is not unprecedented. No one knows how Duke will behave. They weren't a Blueblood until K, and now he's paid over $11m. Speculation is they will try to stay in the Duke family. But make no mistake, they can get who they want. At this point, Archie isn't worth more than we are paying him. If he takes the Fightin' Phinisees to a Final Four in the next couple years, he'll be in a very strong negotiating position. I'm sure Glass would get him paid. So really it comes down to prestige and other intangibles. Here, I think we stack up well. There's going to be more patience here given what we've been through. We are salt of the earth, basketball loving people, which I think is how Archie self-identifies. And we have serious history, while also giving Archie everything he needs to write his own legacy. He won't be in the shadow of anyone, and has massive resources available. Remember, Archie stayed in Dayton for years turning down offers from other schools. He waited for the situation he wanted. He never treated Dayton as a stepping stone the way Holtmann treated Butler. Archie could see that these other opportunities were going to be opening soonish. He took our offer. I hope he's our guy for 25 years, becomes synonymous with the program.

Ipso facto, Stuhoo!! Under our noses the whole time! Cleverly hidden in plain view.

Oh yeah totally agree USPS. I should have said just the wins aren't showing up yet. They've been in the games, though.

Thanks for posting. I'm glad we're part of the upswing. Huge coaching turnover in the B1G last year, too, with 3 big coaching upgrades (although Underwood hasn't really shown up yet). Still stings when IU's blueblood status is put in the past tense.

^^^^ Says he's not implicating Romeo in Drew being dirty. Then implicates Romeo in Drew being dirty. Well done. Don't play stupid. And certainly don't imply that I'm the one that can't get the distinction. There would be no reason for the pages and pages of talk of Drew being dirty in the Romeo Langford thread if you weren't implying that the only reason Romeo is interested in Vandy is because there is something extra being offered. In your thousands of daily posts you've never made the distinction until you got called on it. And if you (and others) have been so obviously clear that Drew's dirty tactics have nothing to do with Romeo, then why is this thread so focused on Drew's dirty tactics? Because the obvious implication is that Romeo's interest are related to the dirty tactics.

Four or five times I've typed out long responses similar to yours and deleted them. I tend to think like you. Obviously a lot of people on here think differently. Who am I to get in the way of a good witch hunt. This thread is trash anyway. Since the mob has decided that this recruitment is dirty, I hope I get to see the backpedaling if Romeo picks IU. I really, really like the kid, and maybe that's why I get defensive when you guys make the clear implication that Romeo is playing in the mud here as it relates to Vandy. He is classy to fans. Handles the pressure cooker of Indiana basketball. Handles the best shot of every team he plays against. Also plays a little nasty. It's hard to see sometimes because his demeanor is so calm. But I swear I see him playing headgames, going straight at guys out there. I've said before I think he has that same competitive streak Jordan had. Watch what Romeo has to say about Indiana basketball here.