The_RumMan

Well, if you listen to Doug Gottleib, then it's Alford 100%, right? :) I think Bennett is 0%. Once his sister Kathy started struggling coaching the women's team, she and Greenspan had a falling out and she was treated fairly badly, and that's the main reason she left, according to what I heard. And you wouldn't want to work for someone who dumped on a family member, would you? Unless blood isn't thicker than money... And I think the Mack hire would not sit well with the Evansville corner of the state (not that anyone else in the state cares about that). Him leaving the Purple Aces for then conference rival Xavier incensed the masses in the Land of Arad McCutchan and that bad taste in the mouth still lingers. Still, I give Mack 50% and Archie Miller and Holtmann 25 each. I'm fairly convinced, with no sources whatsoever, that no current NBA coach is coming to Bloomington. Sorry.

Good then. As a former sports and news reporter, I sympathize with fellow media members who have their access to people important to their stories limited. Hopefully the new coach will be more receptive in this area.

I love the Alabama/Notre Dame analogy, as I see the same with IU and Kentucky. Now, why their timelines aren't as parallel, Kentucky was in the crapper with a bad coach (Gillespie) they knew at the time they shouldn't have hired, after a mediocre run with a mediocre coach (Tubby). Then they decided they had to go for broke and hire the best damn coach available and did what they had to do to hire Calipari (interestingly, another college to pro back to college guy). And now it's IU's turn, if we truly feel we are among that top 5 tier and not just a strong, very good program. Hate to use a hackneyed phrase, but we, like Kentucky before us, need to go big or go home. I'm tired of hearing about Bennett, Miller, et al. All chips in on Donovan. This is a monumental opportunity.

Totally with you, Redanadyz. Nearly lifelong resident of Evansville who worked and lived for a while in the Bluegrass State, and I can tell you folks at least in the western part of Kentucky absolutely do not want any part of Indiana, just as us from Evanspatch want nothing to do with KY. There are several transplants from Kentucky hamlets such as Sturgis, Hartford, Fredonia, et al, who move north h to the "big city" of Evansville and bring their very strong and loyal allegiance with them. Local media recognizes the strong UK presence and adjusted their coverage accordingly decades ago. Rivalry between IU and UK very heated and hated down here, about on par or even more than with Purdue.