JPCIVOP

Promise this will be my first and last Chris Beard post; with this framing, his career arc - just basketball - warrants said obsession. Pitino - one of the best college coaches of this era - agrees. Taking TT to the Finals is like taking Minnesota to the Finals. You can check the records all the way back to the 70s; they were a decent program, but the success they've had since is built on what Beard did. And before he was fired at Texas (for all the reasons that have been litigated) he had them as literally one of the best teams in the country. On the basketball merits, there is nothing to suggest that he would be anything but excellent. The other things (sizable as they are) are the only things at issue.

There's really nothing like BTB on a Friday during this coaching search. Truly unique...

Seems like things are coming to a head around here...

The golden days of the 2025 Coaching Search...

And Jeff Rabjohns is already hedging; talking about how much of a 'no' he has been. Now saying it's a maybe 20% possibility. This is a fun pastime...

Sounds like Beard is the big reveal from the Hysterics; the plot thickens!

Spent more time in this just now than I should have; someone did mention the low number of returning minutes and the COVID stuff. They also didn't get their freshmen to contribute a bunch that year; not a lot of really productive players on that team. Was also right before the portal opened up in a more meaningful way; the UNLV team the next year was better, but was an almost total roster reshuffle from the 2021 team. Kind of a perfect storm of bad roster makeup/talent acquisition.

Think some of it is the jump in level of play, think some of it is that UNLV hasn't put a lot of resources toward their program; so an interesting mix. It is the one hiccup he's had, so worth noting.

He's waiting on the UNC job to open next cycle...

That sounds true. Still think Self is underrated, with the work he did at Tulsa before Illinois.

Really? Yeah, both would be great. Think Stevens would be one of the four great CBB coaching hires of the last 25 years.

Agent thinking, 'Running out of time to get my client an extension!'

Everyone! We need to fan out, and cover every pizza place in Bloomington!

Time to fly into discussion on Will Wade... who would be great, IMO

This IS a Latin word for site... if that's the reference...

Marty Collins

So, uh... that would be today? Baited breath!

Or a team with ANY interior scoring threat...

It is cruising along nicely... Almost to 1800 pages! Just 400 more pages to comfortably pass the 'Retire Coach Woodson' thread.

This board really is the best kind of cryptic insanity...

If Brad Stevens was actually hired... I don't even know what this board would do.

'It... will... never... be... Brad...'

I've been holding off, and will continue to do so. This might have even been a joke. But, hypothetically; I think his current basketball resume would make him a hire on par with Louisville hiring Pitino in 2001, UNC hiring Roy Williams in 2003 and UK hiring Calipari in 2009 as the three most significant college coaching hires of the last 25 years.