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Tarmac this fool. Lol

I'm concerned that unless Dolson is really on top of things behind the scenes, we don't have a hire before the portal opens and the coach has a tough time building his year 1 roster.

You are much more optimistic than me my friend! I like it.

Weird scene

Agree. Don’t read my post as a defense of Woody… people are coloring Cronin’s calling out fans (in a reasonable situation to do so) based on Woody’s true fan remarks.

Jaybob, I love your posts, so my response is not meant to be combative… just an attempt to talk about a different topic. Like many here I was turned off by the true fan comments. I think Woody has been horrible to the fanbase because he is insecure and has a big ego. Cronin’s team yesterday led for 37 minutes and blew it at the end. Fans were booing the team as they were fighting through adversity rather than rallying around them to win… at home. Most coaches would be annoyed with that IMO. Obviously college is a completely different level than HS ball, but fans would probably not do that to a HS team for a few reasons. One of the big ones is the idea that you are “in community” with the players and staff who represent your HS team. Yes they are paid big in D1/P5, but the same concept exists in college - that this is a team you support because you’re in community with them. A good leader knows how to build rapport with fans and get the best out of them. Pagoda made a great post about the coach having to be a coach for the fans too… Doesn’t seem Cronin has done that at UCLA, but my point is basically that fans are not above accountability either, as much as we call for it. Fans need to do our part and uphold their part of the pact with their program. That means cheering through good times and bad in the stadium. I was okay with Woody being booed relentlessly because he earned it. Hopefully in the same situation as UCLA last night, with a new coach in their first season or two, IU fans wouldn’t be booing. If they were, I’d hope they’d be receptive to constructive criticism if the coach thinks it’s necessary for the health of the program. There are better ways to do it than Cronin yesterday but I don’t think it’s comparable to Woody’s behavior.

Cronin is about to be the youngest active coach to 500 career wins but he’s not good enough for IU lmfao

Woody traumatized so many IU fans with the “true fans” senior day comments a good portion of the fan base wants a coach who will “just do whatever it takes to win” and kiss fans butts even when it’s not warranted. Good luck finding a winner willing to do that. It’s like fans think they are the coach’s boss or something lol

Who will make IU great? Assume Stevens and May say no Not my money, but definitely something that Dolson needs to consider. Do you pay up for him vs take a shot on a younger, “higher upside” coach for cheaper? Does that fit where IU is right now after the last 8 years? I see what you’re saying, I just don’t think it matters that much. They’ve accomplished similar things, the brand recognition of where they did it at is moot. Bottom line IMO, he’s shown he’s capable of making a F4 only a few years ago and he goes dancing every season. I think that’s worth IUBB considering at this point. Bob Knight reincarnated isn’t walking through those doors any time soon.

That has been stated by Old Fart at least, possibly other mods. I’m not trying to delve into the discourse (again) people have their views and it won’t change. To me it makes no sense to put a gag order on Beard’s off court conduct since it can affect what happens on the court and we discuss anything and everything about all other candidates. You can’t really separate the two IMO. Anytime he comes up, his coaching ability and history off the court will come up. That’s the full picture of the candidate.

I’m not a Cronin “fan” for the record. Just think those turning their noses up at him should prepare to be thoroughly disappointed with whoever the next hire ends up being. You said he hadn’t done anything as impressive as going to a F4, I didn’t realize going to a F4 was different than going to a F4. Sorry!

Misremembered. So you think a Final Four is different from a Final Four?

Yes because this isn’t John Wooden’s UCLA. You said he hadn’t done anything that impressive. He did the same exact thing, lol. Sampson had Blake Griffin on that team.

Great post. Fully agree. We need a coach who can be a leader for the players and the fans. Admin too, probably. A guy who earns respect and knows when to command authority.

Yep he is 4th or 5th on my list. I could see us getting that far down the list. Maybe more. Bringing the optimism this morning lol

Cronin took UCLA to a final four in 2020-2021. Cronin has won .684 of his games.

I didn’t get a chance to watch. Thanks for the answer. My understanding is they led for 37 minutes then blew it down the stretch. I get a coach being frustrated that fans were booing in that scenario rather than supporting the team through adversity and trying to rally them to a win. That’s unhelpful and would aggravate most coaches IMO. There’s kind of a pact between fans and their teams. I don’t think his comments after the game were an example of going about that battle in the right way though.

Thanks for the response. Unless that’s a regular occurrence or indirectly related off court circumstances frustrating the fanbase, don’t think your home fans should be booing in that scenario. I’ll have the unpopular take here lol. It is on the coach to make sure the home environment is an advantage. That means doing your part to win… but fans have to do their part too. A coach holding the fanbase accountable is not inherently a dealbreaker for me. The way he said it was not good, but I get the sense some people don’t want a coach who will ever say anything to fans other than thank you.

Why were UCLA fans booing vs Minnesota?

I know you’re just brainstorming and speculating, but in a scenario where Dusty knew the IU job would be open in one more year (everyone could see that was likely) him taking the Michigan job at all, even with the lower buyout, makes me think he’s not coming to IU. I see very little reason for him to move after 1 year unless it’s that important to him to be so close to family that he can see them every day if he wants. Maybe he does. Think he’d be a great hire. Just wish the timing worked out last cycle. Hoping we didn’t miss the boat, but think we did.

Right on schedule this morning, I see…

The operative phrase there was "over the top" As in, your constant need to pick fights on here, and rack up pages in doing so, is over the top and tiresome. People are also giving you a hard time for having remarkably similar behavior patterns to AH1971. Talking about coaching candidates would be great. You spend most of your time talking smack lol. Takes a lot of effort to do that rather than ignore the stuff you find silly and just have conversations you find worthwhile.

You're reading way too far into people having fun on a message board. Way overestimating the amount of faith people place in burners/insiders. It's just fun to talk on this board, usually. And what's it to you if people want to have a little hope or take things with a grain of salt during a terrible season? Are you jealous of their likes or something? Lol... People called to ban him when his obvious trolling became over the top. People called to ban you because your incessant combativeness was over the top the moment you showed up. That's the story you're telling yourself in your head, but it's not reality man.

Horrifying. Thanks for the nightmares

I was hopeful for the Archie hire because he was a hot name and from a coaching family. Him and Sean are a different version of the Hurley brothers, we unfortunately just got probably the worst of them all (Bobby at ASU is giving Archie a run for his money though). Not trying to nitpick but I'd say that Archie's resume was far from perfect, maybe that's easier said now with the benefit of hindsight. He was only a HC for 6 years before IU hired him... that's not a long enough track record for me and why I would favor someone like McCollum over a candidate with a similar resume to Archie. Not trying to diminish what Miller did at Dayton but they took a step back in his 2nd year, in his 3rd year where they went to the E8 they were 26-11, 10-6 in conference (T-5th place). Fluke run? Maybe... His last 3 years at Dayton were good. Followed up E8 with R32 and T-2 with 27 wins. Last two years went 25-8 T-1st in conference then 24-8, 1st outright. Bounced in the first round both times. Those are very good, not great years IMO. Not so good that I'd say it's a slam dunk hire for IU and a downtrend trend that the AD should probably have recognized. Of course, he also should have identified the obvious personality misfit for a place like IU. His years on the bench as an assistant for big time programs clearly didn't translate to leading as a HC. To your point in the characteristics thread, he hadn't really overcome much adversity yet. And for the record URI is 17-8 this year, Archie is in his 13th year as a HC... I'm glad to see him have some success, clearly still learning and getting better as a HC. Compare that with Dan Hurley - he was a HC for 8 years in D1 before UConn hired him but had 9 years as a HC at St. Benedicts, an elite prep school, for a total of 17 years experience as a HC before UConn hired him. It wasn't until his 22nd year as a HC that he won the first of his back to back titles. That's also why Mick Cronin's reputed lack of success in March doesn't bother me so much. He's shown he can make a F4 and he's been a HC for 22 years. He goes dancing every year. That's a HC who can give you a shot. Sorry for the rant, but unpacking a bit of why D2 HC experience > P5 / D1 assistant experience for me. Staying on topic since this is the Ben McCollum thread... this is his 16th year as a HC. It's more of a risk than I prefer to take with this hire but I would be personally excited, albeit slightly anxious. I think that would all fade away after the first 10 games or so though. Biggest question mark for him with me is ability to recruit at a high level. I'd take that bet, especially with IU's NIL. As has been said though, this is likely all moot.