JPCIVOP

Well now...

*Coping & tongue in cheek because of the massive fall-off from May to Wade*

FWIW, the ball-knowing high schoolers I teach are all of the opinion that Will Wade would be a big win.

I actually wonder whether Beard would even finish out the season with Ole Miss if IU hired him... think he would leap at the job if offered. Tend to agree with folks that the DV allegations make it so that IU won't look at him.

He'll always have that 13-0 start in 2004!

Literally the only outcome that would alleviate doing what absolutely should have been done a year ago... So upsetting.

This is going to be really hard to stomach in almost every scenario... exercising patience. We'll see how this goes.

That's a great comparison.

Not sure Self is a safe move. Am curious whether he can get a team to the level of the teams he had before his health incident. Also am curious as to his roster-building approach in the NIL era. Think he went after too many high-dollar guys the last couple cycles without taking their fit adequately into account (Storr comes to mind).

That's a version of events that would be very pleasant. Otherwise... it would be pretty hard to get over not hiring May this time last year. May could be doing a better version of what he did at Michigan here, because it's easier to get players in here.

Here's the old article: https://www.espn.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=6587669

If we do start talking more seriously about Scott Drew, can we recap what happened with the Jurkin/Perea recruitments from more than a decade ago? I thought I remembered someone on the staff being unhappy with Perea and/or Jurkin tending toward IU, and at least implying that Perea might be deported for choosing the wrong school. I can't find the details. Can someone help me with that? I remember being rubbed the wrong way about how that recruitment was handled on Baylor's part.

Someone else made the point earlier that it would be interesting to know whether Bennett doesn't believe in NIL & Transfers or whether it's a question of UVA's institutional support and its place in the ACC. Not to shade Mike Woodson, but I think Bennett with a GM could be just as successful attracting talent, and would be much more successful coaching up a team.

Exactly. From 2014 to 2019, Bennett was in a class of his own. COVID, new player compensation rules and UVA's lack of institutional support undermined his ability to have continued success. If he's recharged, I'd be happier with hiring him than anyone but Stevens and May.

Do think that a number of younger fans (2020 graduates and later) have a pretty jaded view of Bennett. Also think that view is short-sighted, and doesn't account for landscape changes. In terms of coaching acumen and track record relative to resources, he's superior to candidates like Drew and Cronin. Think he would be a killer with IU's NIL & a general manager. People learn to live with the style of play when it brings wins.

Watched that game in person; it didn't get better than that. Even his Big Ten Championship was that team hanging on for dear life to the end. Just ran out of steam. Unfortunately, he ran his course.

The whole Archie thing was a great example of comparing a coach with other coaches at that same school. It really is the case that everybody wins at Dayton.

I will apologize profusely, and then immediately switch my rooting fandom to Notre Dame for the duration of Turgeon's tenure.

Am coming more around on Drew. I've always been under the impression that they had plenty of resources to work with at Baylor, and that IU wouldn't be a massive step up in that regard, but that has likely changed with realignment. Think all three would do well here, though I'd prefer May because of the program ties.

Yeah... I think I would accept an immediate Tony Bennett hire, if only for the sake of getting the coaching hire over with. Bet IU has the resources to set up the kind of structure where he would only have to tend to the coaching aspects. Seriously; I think he could put in the same hours, doing the same things Woodson did, and win 25-30 games a year here.

Not that Crean would have deserved to be fired. And almost certainly the administration was not of a mind to do something so mercenary. But, in hindsight, two trips to the title game from the Horizon League should have been a clear message; 'No hard feelings, Tom, but we have to do this for the good of the program.'

A great irony is that, had Zeller chosen Butler, that might have given IU the courage to dump Crean after a 12-20 season, in order to hire the generational coaching talent up the road in Indianapolis. If push comes to shove, I am glad that Crean got the chance to win after taking on the coaching job when he did. But Stevens would have certainly made the leap, had he been offered in 2011.

Just took a breath. 90,000 feet sounds like the height from which the program-destroying bomb would be dropped.

I like to imagine Dolson seeing a need to calm down the message boards by floating a Brad Brownell or Mark Turgeon every couple of days. Waiting for Pat Chambers to be floated on Wednesday!

This is where the Cronin psy-op comes in; once the fan base is introduced to the idea of a guy with one Sweet Sixteen in his last 15 years of coaching, Mick Cronin looks like a Dusty May-level grand slam.