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IMO we should root for whoever the next coach is to have an early exit in the tournament. March 23 is the last day of the second round and on March 24 the portal is open. The sooner the better it’s announced. Need to get to work on a staff and roster for next year ASAP.

What is happening in two weeks? I don’t expect any announcement until well into March pending how long the next coach lasts in the tournament.

Can’t two things be true at the same time?

And better than Crean. Better than Sampson at IU since he didn’t make it two full years. And better than Davis. As unexciting as he is, Cronin would be the best hire since Sampson and probably have the best tenure since Knight. That’s not high praise for Cronin. I think it applies to many potential candidates this cycle.

I think he’s a good / decent coach. Just think the bravado comes off kind of performative there lol

This sounds like a jolly pudgy guy trying to do a Dan Hurley impression after their Nova loss in one of his first seasons at UConn when he said “you better get us now” lol

Happy Presidents’ Day to everyone but especially to the President of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics

Buckner will block Dusty. We’re getting Head Coach Randy Wittman… his turn for four years. Lol

I was disappointed to find John Chaney passed away a few years back. He maybe took tough a little too far at times…

Yep that is where my IU rooting interests and support will have to primarily go. I’ll support football NIL and go to an away / home game a year instead of basketball until they start winning. There’s too much good CBB out there to let IU’s suckage ruin the sport for me. I’ve had a blast following UConn closely as a Hurley fan the past few years. Got season tickets to Princeton after their sweet 16 run for $39 lol. I like watching Duke and SHU with Holloway. It’s fun to cheer for / follow some secondary schools in basketball for me since chef Woody has been serving total slop the past two seasons. I hope to watch IUBB with some excitement again soon.

And somehow it almost worse (pending how successful he is when it’s all said and done) because he’s a friggin alum and basketball manager for Bobby Knight for Christmas sake. In ANY normal performance driven workplace Woodson would’ve been exited last year and we’d be probably sitting in first place in the conference right now basking in the glory of our new HC. They need to win me back at this rate

Missing out on Dusty may end up being the thing that put my apathy for IUBB over the edge. They need to make a great hire.

That he is doing all this in a pretty good conference with essentially a D2 team makes this year’s performance very impressive to me.

It’s likely the greatest sin associated with Woodson’s fourth year. One that will probably haunt the program for years to come if it’s not remedied this offseason… which IMO, it won’t…

I hope my bank randomly accidentally direct deposits $10M into my account tomorrow morning.

Two thoughts on that 1) The Drews are comfortable in Waco by all accounts and enjoy practicing their faith there. They didn’t bite on the UK offer and I’m sure he’s had other chances over the years. Perhaps he covets the IU job enough to go at this stage in his career, but I just don’t see it. Definitely call him, sure. 2) It ain’t the UCLA of old

There’s no way we pull Drew from Baylor IMO and I don’t see us hiring Beard. Of the “realistic” candidates there is a lot to like about Cronin. I would be pretty happy with the hire. He’s still 53, consistently in the tournament, and shown upside at UCLA recently. Give him our NIL and I think he has a very good run here. Biggest drawback is probably the contract buyout - I don’t put much stock in the idea of there being a “loophole” that would make it $0 which I’ve seen in a few outlets. It’s not my money so if our better candidates say no thanks I have no problem with them spending what it takes to become a top half of the B10 team again that has a chance in March more often than not. That definitely looks different to different people but that’s what Mick Cronin looks like to me. Lol. Guess I’ll be president of his fan club. And his grumpy demeanor is just an added bonus for me.

I'd say expectation for the next coach should be ranked in the top 25 most every year and competing for the conference title more often than not. Wouldn't say top 3, top 4, etc. Too many variables to be that prescriptive IMO. Understand there will be good years - where you win the conference and make a run in March - and other years where you're building or "down" and maybe bounce early in March or underachieve in B10 play. With as big of an NIL budget as IU provides, etc. fans should expect to see results quickly from the next coach IMO. Year 1 or year 2 need to be good as in competing for the B10 title and ideally a second weekend in March... then you give yourself a shot. If you see obvious red flags by year 3 that aren't getting fixed, cut bait. 

Genuinely asking, how many coaches regularly make it past the S16? What do you consider regularly?

Respectfully disagree, but I get being un-excited for Cronin. On paper, the similarities between him and Crean largely begin and end with both having made 4 S16s, with 1 turning into a F4 trip. However: Cronin: 21 seasons, has made the tournament 14 times. Other than the COVID year where tournament was cancelled, Cronin made the tournament every year from 2010- the year before last. And this year he has UCLA back rolling. Career record 498-230 (.684) Crean: 22 seasons, made the tournament 9 times. From 2005-2008 he made 3 consecutive NCAA tourneys, the rest of his career he went to back to back tourneys 3 times. So he could not sustain success. Career record 403-306 (.568) Cronin is 53, Crean is 58. There is a reason one is still coaching and the other isn't. Cronin is a markedly better coach IMO, albeit not the most exciting by a longshot.

I admire your conviction, truly. Because I do love McCollum. I just don't know enough about him to say he could withstand the obviously wonky environment at IU. He certainly could be worth the learning curve if time is afforded to him. And he certainly could be a Kelsey like, 1 year turnaround hire. I would personally like the hire, but I would be more apprehensive about it than May, McDermott, McCasland, Buzz and Cronin. Suppose that's the trade off you take for the potential home run hire. We desperately need to win again... looking forward to the next coach being one who can do that for us.

100% this. People seem to put a lot of weight on success in March and I think it should be considered in part. But it's single elimination, like you said, anything can happen. That's what I mean when I say hiring a consistent winner gives you a shot and there's upside there. If he can build a team that's regularly going to the Sweet 16, every now and then you've got the ability to make a run. All you can ask for as a fan. Being able to sustain success and do it at multiple schools is what I want to see.

I don't care for list-style rankings of coaches... I think of them in tiers for the most part. Idk where Dusty ranks, but I know hiring him would be the coup of the century in the B10 if they somehow pull it off

Sometimes you're better off getting on base than swinging and missing. We're down 0-2 on the last two hires... 3 strikes, you're out. Hire a consistent winner and give yourself a shot, IMO. Swing for the fences when we're coming from a position of strength. NIL is opening the door for us to have a 1 year turnaround with a proven winner coach. I'd like to roll with that and see what they can do with IU's resources. There is upside there, why write them off entirely? Flaming out on 3rd straight hire could be the nail in the coffin. I'd take Cronin over guys like Calhoun or Bucky McMillan right now 100x over. I'd have to think hard about him vs. McCollum if it came down to that (not that we'll ever know). If you think Cronin is mediocre you're not looking hard enough at the rest of the CBB landscape.

We should ban you both for being annoying AF if it were up to me, but it’s not, so on you go…