Deserthoozier

Greg Byrne, AD…doesn’t F around! Knows how to manage winning, $$$ on all levels (institutional & NIL), alum/fan support, national image/media pr and 100% gets behind schools programs. Has 100% authority to perform his job - he earned it through experience and success. Does what it takes to set up winning and proactively gets ahead and manages issues - cut his chops via promotions to bigger AD roles progressing to bigger schools/programs. Make’s IU’s operations across the board look like amateur hour. In no way would allow external influences to force the program’s hand to suffer through a Hail Mary by running it back w/Woody. We do this to ourselves - on going administrative malfeasance!!

Too many cooks in the kitchen! (Pun is convenient, if not intended). Major college athletic departments with hugely successful major programs (in both $$$ and winning) have a one way channel, typically between university presidents and their athletic directors. Their objective is 100% aligned - win and maintain/increase major program status. At these places, it is implied in taking a board spot that it requires 100% loyalty to give leadership full leeway to do what is necessary to win (hiring, firing, aggressively fighting alleged NCAA violation charges, recruiting, NIL development, etc.) or in the least, a clear understanding not to get in the way. Many actively help facilitate AD and Prez leadership direction to get things done - implied part of the board role. Places where this unity in commitment to winning and the leadership behind making key decisions is lacking often get dysfunctional (Auburn football, Nebraska football, UCLA bball n football, and sadly, probably IU basketball). Keeping Woody, and not going for a grand slam - or even triple, or double if that’s where we end up - would be a watershed moment - in a no bueno historical way. The batting record v expectations and future prospects are on tape — and that decision would be strike out city!! I have to believe this is common knowledge among a solid amount of the kitchen crew. They just can’t be too outwardly public w/it at this point. Clear the kitchen, with a few elbows if necessary, find a winning vision and execute - damn the torpedoes!

100% conspiracy bs.

Agree, but Brad was and still is a complete masshole!!

That’s poor logic, and completely arbitrary. Woody’s done just as good as Archie, he just got to his ceiling w/out TJD a year quicker. Clearly, fan patience is worn thin for mid/poor results with good talent, and a limited trajectory. Who’s in Buckner’s circle that can give him a healthy dose of truth serum?

Sadly, this fact actually could be suggestive of a pure leverage play…he could easily just be using this to turn up the heat on UA’s administration to give him everything…his son CIW, new, independent BBall practice facility, lifetime type deal. His team’s rolling and he has solid recruits coming in…knows the time to pressure is right now while the iron is as hot as it may ever get at Auburn.

Bad either way, but potentially much better…with something - ANYTHING - for the fan base to have hope about…if it goes one way vs. the other!!

It’s done. Only reasonable explanation could be that Woody’s negotiating his buyout publicly right now…going to play the ‘way out of touch senior citizen’ card…to make certain he gets paid!

So, it sounds like it’s all general term outlines and loose agreements w/out any teeth until a formal deal is actually signed. So, would have to take some substantial risk and rely on ‘faith’ that intentions were true. Anyone know the current rule on incoming players (hs seniors) being released from their commitments to a school if the coach they signed with leaves? My understanding is that the school has discretion to approve the release of their commitments and it’s generally common practice for them to do so when there is a coaching change to avoid ill will/negative perception. Tough to keep up w/all the latest in the portal, Covid year, multiple non-punitive transfer era—beyond their generally being open mobility unless the NCAA has it out for a team or player.

If Woody’s back for year 4, with a pretty bare cupboard, while OSU, UL, UM all load up with hope and potential, getting their pick of the litter of the best of the current crop, it’s clearly mismanagement and a bold signal regarding the admins prioritization of fielding winning men’s basketball. Even Quinn has to see that. A lot of long term fans will internet it as the nail in the coffin it is. I’m on board w/Pearl being a proven commodity and really like that he has signed the #1 PG, and one of the top SG’s coming in next year. He also just hosted another of the top recruits in the country. What are the rules for players being able to decommit and follow their coach when they leave a program? Another, perhaps more important question — what are a school/AD’s ability to ‘lock-up’ another coach, pre-position opening/pre-end of season for the other guy. Can anything contractual be put in place w/penalties to help ensure/force commitments — or is it all just verbal back channeling through agents and others? Seems like we got played during the BS saga, caught with pants down which then stuck us with a long term Woody! How does the admin prevent Pearl from just using IU to get everything he ever wanted, and more from UA…and we end up day late/dollar short with what’s left in the coaching cycle and are forced to keep our Woody, or find another? If it’s just on verbal/back-channels and hopes, then I’m not certain Pearl is realistic, as the risk of getting jilted again might be too great.

What a relief, clearly we picked the best!

It probably would have redirected that extension $$$ Scotty readily signed him up for at the end of last year’s mid performance as well!

Bruce currently has the #1 PG (combo), #22 overall in the nation signed for class of 2024. Also, the #17 SG (#69 overall). Anyone know a high profile program in need of filling some gaps there if he were to leave AU?

Ah! Our winning metric!!! At least we excel at something!!

Sports fandom and its associated buy-in and support relies on two fundamental things: 1) success 2) in absence of it, HOPE ( in the future) Retaining Woody provides scant evidence to point to there being much likelihood of success at all next year or further in the future - portal magic and all. His system doesn’t work and faith in his ability to make adjustments, recruiting energy/strategy, etc. is gone. Thus, the toll lack of success would take on #2…hope! That’s what is really depleting this year…any hope in the relatively near future if we run it back again. The administration has to see this — it’s ultimately what forced their hand — and someone’s wallet on Tom Allen. There’s no way Woody’s back — or it will run off ALOT of long time fans. Gotta find $$$ and go big game hunting. Can’t land a big one, gotta take some risk on something that shows promise…to rebuild hope.

If Woody was pressuring the athletic department, you just tell him he’s done a decent job in yr 1&2…but still needs to meet his personal goals (competing for big 10 and national championships) to be upped…let’s see how yr 3 goes buddy. If we just threw it on as gravy on top…well, that’s kind of complete mismanagement and unthinkable!!

If I was interviewing candidates and/or working with their agents and that question came up, I would just be completely candid… Listen, there was a lot of internal issues/bad decisioning and circumstance that were behind that hire — and now, clearly the pigeons have come home to roost! Stevens soft committed to us, and we thought we had a home run. He nastily leveraged us for the GM assignment in Boston, pulled out late in the process - leaving us with our pants down. Forced to scramble, internal connections played a major role (BOD prez dictated buddy ball)…and we brought in someone historically well esteemed, NBA experience, but semi-retired and w/zero college coaching experience. To support the risk and maintain stability, we kept a lot of our old staff, brought in a very successful former P5 head coach, and a long term assistant from one of the consistently best programs in the B1G the last qtr century. We also let him bring in a stealth strategist to sit and sometimes sleep in chair one on the bench and keep the players relaxed in game. Well, said coach ran off the more experienced support rails, and the rest turned into a dumpster fire. THUS, our reason for moving forward while there’s still any semblance of smoking embers in the program’s fire pit. We need a true winner who has shown success, has the energy and time to be 100% committed, and is ready to leverage the force that IU basketball can be. We think you/you’re client is that guy - and we’re willing to pay to prove it!

We’re still getting to know each other too! That one, after Penn St. was egregious!

Let’s be logical… It would have been negligent for Dolson to NOT have at least lightly back-channeled new coaching interest after the Penn State loss. It would be completely reckless for him NOT to be aggressively back-channeling after tonight. If Quinn’s got Scotty’s wings clipped, there’s a time in everyone’s life where they have to stand up for themselves. Otherwise you lose your dignity and self worth. And, Kroger’s hiring managers!

Mike Woodson says Mike Woodson’s knee is starting to give him trouble again.

AD malpractice…seriously!!

Let me paraphrase…Mike Woodson says Mike Woodson DGAF, and Mike Woodson wants his money!

This, plus the Miller pre-NIL ‘recruiting prowess’…it was assumed Archie could swim in the same ponds as Sean did if at an equally historic program — until the cover came off of that ball for Sean — and all of a sudden, being a bro became a major liability v an asset! But, AZ handled the dysfunction time masterfully…and when they were ready, pre-lined up the sourness on Miller, used his issues to limit buyout liability- and already had their guy (Tommy Lloyd) lined up. That kind of maneuvering requires an AD who can play chess and make big time maneuvers (Greg Byrne - now at Alabama, and then Dave Heeke). Neither were AZ guys, just power brokers in major college athletics. Our athletic department comparatively seems to always be run by in-house guys who can’t get out of their own way.

Sorry folks, circumstance calls for dusting this one off the shelf. Whether he’s made the choices, or just been Quinn’s puppet…there’s certainly some culpability to be owned here! Obvious ‘opportunities’: 1) re-upping Tom Allen especially w/the huge buy-out … and then things collapse when we lose Deboeur, Womack, McCullough and the rest of what’s now Alabama’s staff. - 15 to 20MM. Is his job to know who/what is responsible for driving success…and what isn’t. 2) hiring woody w/zero college experience and out of head coaching in the nba for 10+ yrs. -12.5M 3) agreeing to $1M raise for woody for making the tourney. I hope TJD got some of that b/c clearly he carried the deficiencies for 2 yrs. -$3 M. No one was looking to poach woody. This is big business, and the CEO is clearly failing. Pam needs to show she’s got expectations too, or we’ll continue to wallow in mediocrity.