HoosierHuddle

Hope that's reality...I have heard the same and yes, I forgot about Sturtz.

Is it your belief (no one will know for sure until it's public, we get that) that the three recruiting assistants will be: Drew Adams, Achoki Moikobu and Preston Murphy then Nick Norton will be a player development/non-recruiting assistant and then one additional name would be listed similarly (assistant but not one of the three recruiters)?

I'm not sure where to put this but Maryland seems to be having a bad time. They got dominated on the glass by Florida, Kevin Willard attempted to burn the place to the ground publicly and is clearly on his way to Villanova and the lead candidate for the job is...Buzz Williams? It's impossible to say "their fans" and encompass all opinions but in general, the mood of that fanbase is quite dark right now. I still think a guy like Skinn from George Mason gets the job and I bet Chester Frazier ends up an assistant on the new coach's staff, whoever it ends up being.

Preston Murphy is included on a list of coaches that are getting approved by Alabama's Board of Regents/Trustees for a raise and new contract. I'd guess that means he will not be an assistant. That is a bummer. Barnett off the board after getting the head coaching job at ORU and Murphy staying at Alabama (certainly understandable). Of the speculated guys, here is who is left: -Chester Frazier (I think there could be dominoes that fall at Maryland that lead him to College Park...he's from Baltimore so that would make sense) -Achoki Moikobu at Texas Tech -Ostrom (keep seeing "he's going to Minnesota" but it hasn't been announced so...) -Rod Clark at Tennessee (both Clark and Moikobu were at Sunrise Christian, just an interesting side note) -Drew Adams (in-state connections, got two high four stars to Cincy in their incoming class including a top 40 guy, international scouting and recruiting connections) -Mitch Ballock (Creighton GA...I'd guess he would not be one of the main assistants) I'm sure there are other options that we just don't know about and we know Nick Norton is coming, assuming as one of the assistants. I'd be thrilled with Frazier, Adams, Clark and Moikobu and I could certainly understand the rationale of bringing Ostrom back to IU. Anxious to see the actual hires and then the dominoes to start falling with portal targets.

DeVries and Dolson spoke to the Indy Star: He anticipates everything will "come together pretty quickly," but IU will likely hold off on any official announcements until the staff is completed. "The pieces are aligned, it's just a matter of time to get things done and finalize everything," DeVries said. DeVries also told the Star he would be hiring a General Manager of sorts but that position would not be announced with the rest of the staff: "We are looking into that like everybody in college sports," DeVries said. "Everybody is trying to figure out how to best utilize that position. It's becoming more and more common, but what does that job description really look like? What's their role for us? And how do we want to best utilize that position." So...he knows who he is hiring for his staff and this would indicate the people he is hiring have agreed to it but they are waiting until everyone is free/done playing. My guess on the staff (based on reading between the lines, a bit of sourced information that makes me guess and just plain guessing): Nick Norton, Drew Adams, Chester Frazier, Preston Murphy, Mitch Blalock from Creighton. I do think it is very likely many of those guys are already working on recruiting and the dominoes will start to fall very shortly after April 1 (Cincinnati plays in the Crown on April 1 against DePaul and I think Alabama loses to Duke and will be done this weekend). The big question immediately after that is: who do those assistants bring with them? Cincinnati has two really good incoming recruits, West Virginia had three good ones and there are indications guys like Sencire Harris and Hansberry are likely following Frazier, Alabama has a top five class and a bunch of really good young players. This feels like a calm before the storm period.

I just checked the 247Sports portal rankings: Reneau is 12th, Mgbako is 31st, Gabe Cupps has slid down to 84th but is still ranked as top 100. I certainly don't agree with the rankings but Reneau, Mgbako and Rice are going to be coveted by high-major programs. I had not looked at rankings since the initial top ten list I saw that had both Malik and Mgbako in the top ten so my apologies on not looking at updated rankings and overstating it initially. My overall point of the transfer rankings not being much of a guidance on eventual impact stands.

Myles Rice into the portal. The portal rankings are going to be really interesting to look at. Mgbako and Rice will probably be top ten on most lists, Cupps will be top 75 or something, Carlyle will be up there if he goes and Bryson Tucker will probably be top 20 or so....yet, few IU fans will be particularly sad to see them go and will view them as necessary departures. Just something I'll be keeping in mind as the new roster is assembled.

I'd be curious on your thoughts on Odih when you watch him. I really like him as a bulldog of a guard that would (in time) help the shooters that would be surrounding thrive and not get picked on defensively.

A few predictions (most of these are reading between the lines or speculating and a couple are sourced but still speculation until they happen): 1. I don't see any staff shakeup coming imminently at Illinois so Chester Frazier comes with Coach DeVries to Bloomington. I think WVU will pay a bunch to keep Hawthorne "home" and he stays but I think Kelvin Odih and MacLean come to IU. Odih is a really intriguing physical guard. He's developing as a shooter but he's a great athlete and already known as a really top-notch defender. I was told he's the type of player Jakai Newton could have been if he was healthy. MacLean is a really good shooter but I have not seen much of him and don't want to talk blindly about what type of player he could be. Similar size to Trent Sisley though. 2. The Villanova job is really interesting. Their fans and 247Sports site seems to think they have a good shot to get Willard from Maryland. Of course, Willard battled quite publicly with the AD at Maryland and it appears helped push him out the door to SMU. Willard wants more resources devoted to basketball and less to football and if he gets his way, he'll stay. If not, he'll take Villanova. If he stays at Maryland, I think they'll turn to Chris Collins quickly and he'd take the job. That domino would then probably open up the recruitment of Tre Singleton at Jeffersonville. He's a four-star forward that has developed nicely since committing to the Wildcats. He plays in the semi-state this Saturday and it would not be surprising to see DeVries watch him play. So...maybe those dominoes fall and Singleton is receptive to switching to IU? If so, maybe a four-man high school recruiting class? It'd be a bit heavy on 6'8" forwards but the three of those guys would have differing skill sets so I don't see that as a problem. 3. Josh Dix is possible but I'd be very surprised if he did not end up at Creighton. He'd be a great get but I think Creighton is the choice. It's a good basketball fit and a fit for the non-basketball reasons previously mentioned. A player from Iowa I think IU could get if they really wanted him: Cooper Koch. He's originally from Peoria and is, yet another, skilled 6'8" guy. He didn't play much as a freshman but his efficiency numbers were very promising. 4. If Kory Barnett comes with DeVries, IU will be the leader for Davidson from Nevada. That'd be a huge piece of the roster puzzle. 5. The targets I've listed out are forwards...if that comes to fruition, that position (plus Tucker DeVries) probably secures us for the 3 and 4 spots in the lineup. Who emerges as targets at guard (minus Conor Enright)? Sorry for the length...excited for how this continues to unfold!

To the original question of "can he play the 3"? The short answer is "he could" but I'd be pretty concerned about the defensive end if he was guarding quick players on the perimeter. WVU's defensive numbers were a bit better this season than they would have been if Tucker DeVries had been in the lineup all season. He's definitely best suited as a 4 but COULD play the 3, particularly if we had a good rim protector and a couple of other plus defenders in the lineup. It's going to be fascinating to see the puzzle get pieced together!

Very pleased with Darian DeVries as the hire. The next month or so should be exciting to see his staff get built and assemble a roster. Establishing the culture he wants to build starts immediately and will be absolutely to his success (or failure).

It was not the best conference in the country but there were still four teams in the top 15 in KenPom and 7 in the top 30. That's not terrible, particularly when navigating it with zero returning players from the season before (minus one player that redshirted) and without your best/second best player.

I just don't agree with you. I'm not saying DeVries is the best coach in the country but he's really quite good. He was an assistant at Creighton for a long time (both Altman and McDermott). West Virginia was dreadful before DeVries arrived and then went 10-10 in the very tough Big 12 this season and that was without Tucker DeVries playing a conference game. Without his son, WVU still beat Kansas at Phog Allen and Iowa State (when they were #2). With Tucker DeVries, they beat Gonzaga and Arizona in Atlantis and took Louisville to overtime. That's pretty darn good for a first-year in a power conference and a first year of a major rebuild. In addition, he landed three four-star recruits at West Virginia...not bad at all.

If the dream is dead and we move to the acceptance part of grief...I think Ben McCollum would be a really interesting hire. There would certainly be some questions but I'd be really excited for it and I think he could turn Indiana into a consistent pain in the neck for other teams to play. Beyond him: Chris Collins? Brad Brownell if he does not sign the extension with Clemson? No one cares but I'm going to write up some detailed thoughts on McCollum and hope to manifest it into existence.

I'm not telling anyone how to feel about Brad Brownell. Minds are already made up on this forum and that is totally fine. I don't expect anyone to remember but I've mentioned before that I live near Clemson and follow the program pretty closely. I don't know Brad Brownell personally but I do know people at my church that work for Clemson and have a personal relationship with him. To a person, people really like Brownell. He has grown a lot as an offensive coach and has adjusted the way his teams play in the past two years. He has a whole lot of connections in the state of Indiana and I believe he'd hire a staff that would help recruit in the state very successfully. If he's the choice, I wouldn't blame anyone for being underwhelmed but I hope he'd get a chance. Anyway, this podcast conversation was before this season began and he explains why he cares about basketball and how much he loves coaching...he's a true college basketball and coaching grinder and lifer: Rising Coaches Podcast Ep 81 - Brad Brownell

That actually sounds like a hilarious thing to watch. If the tournament occurs, it won't be nearly that much fun ha.

I appreciate everyone's information and the sharing that goes on here. I don't know who the hire will be. Neither does anyone else reading this board...except for you Scott Dolson, you probably know. That written, I watch a lot of college basketball but didn't allow myself to begin researching and diving into coaches and potential candidates until Mike Woodson was actually confirmed as being gone. Once that occurred, I have spent way too much time researching a whole lot of candidates, some of them were part of the search, others were almost certainly not. I've listened to interviews with a lot of the candidates, podcasts, read articles, watched games, looked at records/efficiency numbers/potential recruiting connections, thought about potential staffers, potential drawbacks for each candidate, etc. The more research I have done, the more guys I find that I am 100% convinced would be major upgrades and much more enjoyable to root for and follow than Mike Woodson has been. I do not know how many coaches have "championship ceilings" at IU but there are a whole lot of coaches that would significantly raise the bar year and year out at IU, if hired. I know that is not particularly insightful and I'd be happy to share my thoughts on particular guys if anyone cared to read them or was interested but I felt like sharing that. College basketball is fun and it has not been particularly fun for me to cheer for a Mike Woodson led team knowing what I know. Also, ESPN just showed the Notre Dame leprechaun for a solid 30 seconds and I had a visceral reaction. Notre Dame makes me irrationally angry.

Is Brad wearing the white ND quarter-zip and sitting two or three rows behind the ND bench? I hope he doesn't take too many ideas from what Shrewsberry is running at Notre Dame because they still look terrible and completely outclassed ha.

My post is not meant to denigrate Darian DeVries...he's a good coach. I do want to dive into a few things on his resume. 2018-2019 - Drake was 135th in KenPom - 137th offense/139th defense and 94th tempo 2019-2020 - 163rd overall - 189 O/155 D and 204 tempo 2020-2021 - 55th overall - 33rd O/101 D and 271 tempo 2021-2022 - 84th overall - 73rd O/113 D and 228 tempo 2022-2023 - 69th overall - 108 O/40 D and 220 tempo 2023-2024 - 53 overall - 40 O/73 D and 148 tempo Drake this season is 57 overall - 77th offense and 47th defense and 364 tempo West Virginia this season is 51 - 127 offense and 13 defense and 325 tempo In summary, DeVries has the benefit of a fantastic talent as his son and has not had a top 30 offense in seven seasons. He's had no teams that finished in the top 50 in KenPom. There might be stories of other coaches (guys like Shaka Smart, Grant McCasland, Buzz Williams) holding him in extremely high-regard but I have not seen them for DeVries as I have for a coach like McCollum. Now, he was an assistant at Creighton and does have one year of high-major experience and I do believe he is a good coach...I would personally give the edge to McCollum but it's all subjective. I just wanted to point out those numbers for a bit of context (albeit certainly not determinative).

I don't know if today will be quiet, full of "leaks" that don't illuminate or really tell us anything at all or just the continuation of the contentious debates on the general merits of various mid-major coaches but I appreciate any Danny DeVito GIFs...the man is a national treasure.

Who is DF? Also, are you saying Dan Dakich is publicly saying that Dr. Rink has pushed for Brad Brownell to be hired and has been doing so since Kelvin Sampson was the coach?

Among the things that stood out...a response to interviewing for jobs previously and not taking them and considering a piece of advice: "Only take a job that will let you be yourself." To paraphrase, do not take a job that will not let you run the program the way you want to run it. Would Ben McCollum think that IU, in its current situation, is a place he could be himself and run the program the way he wants to run it? Obviously, only he knows how to answer that question (if he was offered).

Losing the majority of his players? -MO Valley player of the year Bennett Stirtz - JR -2nd and 3rd leading scorers will both be gone -4th leading scorer Tavion Banks - JR -5th leading scorer Cam Manyawu - SO -6th leading scorer Isaia Howard - FR -7th leading scorer Kael Combs - SO So, of the top 7 scorers...two will be out of eligibility. Your questions are good ones but it's not accurate to say the majority of his players will be done.

I don't know how he would recruit high-end players. I don't know how he would deal with agents/handlers/player circles/etc. I don't know how much his preferred tempo would increase with better athletes and personnel...I just know that I really like watching basketball and I watch a lot of it and I DO know that I really enjoy watching Drake play and watching Ben McCollum coach.

Well, we can't say for certain what Dolson or anyone in power is thinking about Brownell (a man I like quite a bit) and what makes him a candidate but in direct comparison to Alford and looking in the NIL era: Brownell had a strong season in 2023-2024 and then a great tournament run. He is having Clemson's best ACC season in the history of the program after losing PJ Hall and Joe Girard. He also does not have the "former great IU player" tag that could be a detriment in this particular coaching cycle. Compare that to Steve Alford...he has not been past the round of 64 since 2016-2017, Nevada is 15-10 and 7-7 in the Mountain West. You could argue that one is on the ascendancy and the other is on the decline. In addition, I know many AAU coaches and high school coaches in the state of Indiana (certainly cannot speak for all of them) like and respect Brad Brownell and do not feel the same way about Steve Alford. I'll close with...I do not believe either will be offered the job and this conversation is likely moot.