JPCIVOP

Gotta give him credit; I'll take 4-4 against Purdue the last 4 years.

SLU has shot 38, 29 and 38 three-pointers the last three games. That would be fun. The Hall would love it.

Will say that the last week has gone nicely, comparing the merits of Cronin and Drew and arguing about Chris Beard. Am happy to continue that, and wait to be surprised if someone else emerges. Don't know if I can handle muted optimism leaking from the board into the Twitter-space again.

Went back and looked at my list. Even taking away candidates one might call unrealistic, you're still left with the following coaches who are, IMO, ahead of Brownell. Think even Alford is well ahead of Brownell. 11. Rick Pitino (Think he would listen. I'd be willing to make Jr. the coach-in-waiting) 17. Josh Schertz 21. Eric Musselman 22. Buzz Williams 23. Steve Alford 24. Will Wade 25. Chris Jans 26. Shaka Smart 27. Greg McDermott 28. Darian DeVries 29. Dennis Gates 30. Chris Collins

If we're getting all the way to taking Brad Brownell seriously, I'd say you just hire Schertz from SLU. Him winning like he did with Indiana State was more impressive than anything Brownell's done.

Anything to drive that page count up.

That wouldn't be horrible!

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.