LamarCheeks

You just hope that Archie is as happy to be at IU as we are to have him. I hope that deep down in the back of his mind, he's not thinking, "Damn. I wish I had waited for that Ohio State gig." ... I'm guessing (hoping) he is happy in B-town, though. ... Because many automatically assumed that since he went to N.C. State, he'd want that job when it opened. He didn't. And since he was a Matta assistant, many automatically assumed that he'd want to coach at OSU. And it's possible he didn't want a return there.

Here's my scenario -- which I totally made up and upon which there is no basis of fact: Brad Brownell to Butler. He's from Indiana (was a high school teammate of Calbert Cheaney) and went to DePauw. He's stuck at a football school that only pretends to be interested in basketball. There was even some question about whether he'd be back next season. Perhaps he wants to get Back Home Again and be top banana at a basketball school. The only thing: I don't know how much Butler was paying Holtmann, so I don't know what they'd be willing to pay. Brownell is making somewhere between $1.2 and $2 million a year (he signed an extension a couple years back that takes him to $2 mil -- just don't know when). ... Then Crean goes to Clemson, where they don't care about basketball and he doesn't have to worry about being top dog. He can make the NCAAs once every four or five seasons and everybody's happy. LOL!

Really sad story. I didn't necessarily think he would be an NFL star, but I thought he had all the tools to be a good receiver for a good while. I remember one game at IU, the QB way underthrew the ball. The eyes of the DB just lit up -- he was sure he was gonna get the pick. Hardy, right behind him, just reached over the top of him and snagged the ball for a TD -- an amazing play by an amazing talent. RIP, James.

So, why is this happening?

According to the OSU website, Matta is finished as of now. He won't even coach next season.

Hmmm. I thought deadline was 5 p.m. Eastern. I could be wrong, though.

Swanigan's down to his final 35 minutes. Crazy there's been no announcement yet.

Yep. Pretty much spot on. Since I'm originally from the Region, I was excited to see IU finally get a kid from that area again -- I believe Nover was the last one -- but then I saw who else was in the mix: UIC, Iona, IUPUI and Western Michigan. Seriously, we should not be recruiting kids who are getting that level of interest. Give Crean credit for finding diamonds in the rough in Oladipo and Sheehey, but this was a HUGE reach. I think Crean's arrogance got the best of him this time. ... Hope Grant finds a place where he can play and contribute.

The deadline is 5 p.m. today and Swanigan STILL hasn't made up his mind? Or has he made up his mind and just hasn't made it public? I don't recall many players actually waiting until the final hours. (I did see that Edwards will be back with the Toiletmakers -- no surprise there).

Can bank it or perhaps see if there's a capable grad transfer -- that's only for a year anyway. It's not likely at this point, but we could end up with another Max Bielfeldt.

Was there a tweet or report something that I'm missing? I thought with RoJo coming back, we were right where we needed to be -- at 13 schollys.

The last thing heard from RoJo was the non-denial denial of all the reports, right? Wonder if he's ever planning to actually say that he's coming back?

If you're going to start defending folks who get roasted here, you will have an awfully long list.

Might not agree with what was written -- and that's fine. But this is a pretty childish and sophomoric comment, IMO.

Then why not do what OG did and say immediately that he wasn't coming back? Seems kinda silly to me to keep everybody waiting if he already knew what his decision was.

OK. Now that I've read a boatload on Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Paul Pierce, LeBron James, Vince Carter, Kevin Garnett, etc., does anybody know what's going on with Robert Johnson -- the IU guy who may or may not be back in B-Town next season?

There already isn't room on the roster for Blackmon, let alone a grad transfer. If Blackmon comes back, somebody else loses a scholarship or transfers. If Blackmon comes back and they add a grad transfer, two fellas lose scholarships or would have to transfer.

I think he may have gotten at least 6 inches off the ground!

Couple things: For one, if true, would this surprise anybody? I would think not. Second, sorry to admit -- I'm not familiar with Brennan Champion. Is he a legitimate/reliable reporter? Or just another Justin Albers?

Even Yogi had a tussle with the law one of those years -- think it was underage drinking.

Can't help but wonder if CAM's comments about DeRon Davis yesterday -- "“He’s going to be a major, major league player for us next year. The opportunity is there.” -- were, in part, a foreshadowing of TB's departure.

I don't disagree. I've thought all along that JBJ and TB likely would leave. And I think Archie had some indication of that. Otherwise, he could've just let any of the three signees out of their LOIs. I don't think he wants to get his IU career started by telling two players they'd have to give up their scholarships, so he had to have a really, really good idea of what would happen. As far as losing stars -- those stars got us to 18-16, 7-11 last season. So I say let's get the roster set, and let's get going on 2017-18. Archie's still got some good material to work with and almost certainly can do better than 18-16 and 7-11.

http://iuhoosiers.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1767&path=mbball

According to IU's website, Fraschilla is currently on staff as a "graduate manager" -- whatever that is. But he is listed as a member of the 2017-18 staff. Perhaps that was Blackmon's way of biding adieu to IU.

Geez, I'd been offline for a few hours and came here to see if there were any updates/inside poop on Robert Johnson, James Blackmon Jr., and/or Thomas Bryant and I'm seeing a couple pages about quarters vs. halves, resetting fouls, free throws, commercials and officiating. How'd it get this far off track??? LOL!