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Yeah I don't disagree. Tucker is a top-30 guy though, so going by this distinction, the original point IndyHoops was making about IU's staff not having the track record for a guy like Tucker, is just incorrect. I agree you'd probably have a longer list of the lower rated guys we brought in who have not developed here. I think that has a lot to do with A) scouting/evaluating them incorrectly B) not setting them up for success in our system or giving them a fair opportunity to earn time/play through mistakes C) having the NBA-philosophy of trying to just land the most talent you can and figure the rest out later... leading to guys playing out of position, awkward rotations, etc. We have an identity in terms of how we play, but we don't really recruit to it very well IMO. To be clear, I am not suggesting Indiana is a great developmental basketball program right now in any way. For top players trying to make the NBA ASAP, I think it can be an appealing destination, which was the point with respect to Tucker.

I agree there is a difference between winning CBB games and developing guys into pros but... that is a totally different conversation than your statements that IU does not develop players or have the track record for a kid like Tucker.

If anything I'd argue UConn and Purdue are successful because they run systems that fit their players well (hide weaknesses too)... not that they're so far and away better at developing players into pros.

Can you show me the deal they signed and full terms? I'm going to guess if he felt that this staff did not have a credible chance of developing him/getting him to the pros, he would have gone somewhere else, even if they were paying less. 500-600k vs 750k is not such a huge difference that it negates all other considerations. Still a ton of money especially at that age. Would you take a job at a company you knew you had no growth potential in AND was also a sinking ship in its market for just a slightly higher salary?

Idk... not one to defend Woodson or his system. But, JHS was a one and done (wasn't projected that way coming in to my knowledge)... I think they score from similar spots on the court. You may say that him exceeding expectations has nothing to do with Woody's ability to develop talent and everything to do with the fact he was forced to play big minutes early. You may be right about that. But he was still playing in Woodson's system, which enabled him to showcase enough to go in the first round. He also coached Melo with the Knicks, another player you may say Tucker could resemble. And that system worked pretty well for Melo. In any case, Bryson Tucker clearly does not agree with the sentiment of your post or he wouldn't have signed on. He could've been paid a lot at plenty of places. IMO a 4/5 star like Tucker is not going to set himself up for failure/willingly go into what he perceives as a "bad situation" for him just for a big NIL deal...

Absolutely fantastic game. Two teams that deserved to be in the big dance. Two great seasons regardless of tonight's outcome. Nice to see Shaheen pick Avila's chin up at the end there in the handshake line.

Yeah, totally agree. I get that it's their offense but you've got to have better situational awareness/discipline as a player to understand with a 3 point lead and 22 seconds on the shot clock with a 1:20 left in the game, that the clock is your friend, and work for a better look (manufactured two ideally) or at least get the same shot with less time on the clock by moving the ball. It could have been a dagger but it also completely flipped the game on it's head. 6 point swing. You could see the disappointment on his face at the end sadly

Dawes from SHU is what we thought/wished we were getting in Xavier Johnson.

Dumb shot by Avila there.

Those projections seem pretty spot on with what I'd expect. Thanks for sharing, cool formula... I'll have to check out PC Stellar some time

He's just a sophomore and this was his first season starting. I think based on the improvement he made last offseason, you can assume a similar amount of progress heading into his junior year. I agree that passing out of the post/having better awareness in general is something he will need to be working on. That said, I'm not concerned that he will get there... sometimes we talk about wanting 4 year players, but are quick to call them a problem if they're not a totally well rounded player after 2 seasons. I don't see how you can view Reneau as anything other than a huge net positive considering he is maybe elite at his primary skillset (post scoring) and still has potential in other important areas. Far from a perfect player, got a long way to go... hate watching him muscle it up in the trees and force shots instead of passing out... but still recognize/appreciate how valuable he is, especially to our program right now.

Both of these teams would have been soooo much more worthy of getting to the NCAA tournament than UVA for example. Probably a handful of others. But UVA for sure.

You were too busy paddling the older boys right? (JK obviously)

Time and time again... he proves to be what a friend of mine would call, an a$$ clown

I got a little carried away with this question because I love it so much. I checked this ESPN list of coaching changes this cycle so far and looked up the wikipedia pages for all the new hires and made a short list of the ones I consider good candidates/hires OR a case to make for "best coach" of the cycle so far. I instantly eliminated first time HCs (including promoted assistants), those who are already known quantities (Cuonzo Martin, Enfield, Chris Mack, etc.), and those with underwhelming success/a small amount of success over a long sample size in D1). Here is my school report that nobody asked for: Ben McCollum (Drake): 394-91 (.812) HC at: Northwest Missouri State 25 years in D2, 4 championships. Umpteen awards. Top tier. He is coming into a good situation and I imagine has a local recruiting pipeline that will let him keep building in the right direction. Maybe a few bumps at first but expect a lot of success. Danny Sprinkle (Washington) 109-50 (.686) HC at: Montana State, Utah State Turned around Montana State quickly, one great year at Utah State with a team largely built from the portal. Washington wasn’t great this year but his track record indicates he should be able to recruit the region well and use the portal to his advantage. 1 or 2 year turnaround is probably the expectation/hope. Only 6 years as a HC is normally a negative in my book but he is an exception for now based on the portal success he had and regional ties. He seems ambitious having left his alma mater, then 1 year at Ut.St. Pat Kelsey (Louisville): 261-122 (.681) HC at: Winthrop, Charleston Big improvements at both schools… time will tell. Could be dangerous… really dangerous… but will take time to turnaround UL… who knows how it will work out. I am annoyed by how good of a hire I think this could be, so I'm trying to talk myself out of it. Scott Nagy (Southern Illinois) 577-332 (.635) HC at: SDakotaSU, Wright State Was with SDSU from 1995-2016, transition from D2 to D1 and got it rolling. Had it rolling at Wright State for a while but last two years were disappointing in comparison. SIU will be the best situation he’s been in yet. Jerrod Calhoun (Utah State): 242-143 (.629) HC at: Fairmont St., Youngstown St. Won at a high level at Fairmont State in D2. Turned YSU around slowly but surely over 7 years, last two were pretty good by their standards. Will depend on his recruiting chops IMO because he is moving from West Virginia/Ohio to Utah. Coming in at a good time though, could end up being a great hire to sustain the momentum. We should hire Utah State’s AD. Dave Smart (Pacific): 591-48 (.925) HC at: Carleton (Canada) A flip switched in 2000 based on what Wikipedia shows as their record… going to look into him more. Appears top tier but HUGE grain of salt with the transition. This will be a big turnaround job but I assume he has a local recruiting pipeline that gives him confidence to make the switch now. Potential for huge success or disaster IMO. Justin Gray (Coastal Carolina): 51-47 (.520) HC at: Western Carolina Going to recruit the **** out of NC. Played at Oak Hill and Wake Forest. One of WF’s all time greats, and had a long pro career overseas. Impressive three year turn around at Western Carolina. Will have more resources at Coastal Carolina. I think it’s more likely than not he will get it rolling here and pretty quickly. Could be fair to have him over Dave Smart on this list IMO. Paul Corsaro (IUI) 79-37 (.681) HC at: UIndy Football and basketball guy. Seems like the type that can lead a locker room pretty darn well. Turned around Uindy in 4 years, and the last two were pretty good. Worth keeping an eye on…mostly listed for the local appeal.

The original for anyone unfortunate enough to have never seen Dazed & Confused

Yeah... almost shocking! Hardly anything can surprise me with this staff anymore... But geez, you'd like to think fielding a full roster is tablestakes

Yep. By all accounts he seems great in the "locker room presence" older guy role who can be surprisingly solid on the floor in a pinch. Expecting him to contribute in a significant way on a winning B10 team is just asking too much of him IMO.

So today is the start of the dead period, which runs until the 11th. I assume no commits this week. When the dead period is over, we'll be coming up on 4 weeks that the portal has been open. Nothing to show for it yet. Deadline for undergrads to enter of May 1, so after the dead period, 2.5 weeks left for any late entries that can be convinced to portal. Then another dead period from May 16-24. From there, it would be only graduates entering the portal + whoever remains uncommitted. You'd hope we land some commitments during that 2.5 weeks before the May 1 undergrad entry deadline, since "we have better connection$ thi$ year in the portal" and what not. I'd personally like to have at least 11 slots filled before that May 16 dead period starts, maybe 10, if the staff truly has someone on another team's roster they're trying to lure into the portal (other than Conwell, I doubt it). Round out the roster with a graduate and a project. Field a full 13. I've seen talk about them likely only using 12 again... if so, would be almost shocking to me the staff hasn't learned that lesson based on this past year. I really don't want us to end up in a situation where we've got multiple guys coming in later than the rest of the group/after summer classes wrap up at other schools.

I think a few could be... But some of them are big-ish accounts that have been around for years. Funny to me because a few were not as optimistic as they are now, during the season. As you've said before... some people tend to forget how bad it was when they're not actively watching it. We may not be as bad as this year... but I don't think that makes them "right" in any way, especially if our ceiling is what we all suspect (R32, big loss)... just makes it hard to be excited right now. Hope they prove me wrong... tired of saying that Edit: to clarify, I kinda doubt Woodson and the IU staff are paying for any bots (or necessarily aware they exist). I think he's got loud supporters and twitter is a cesspool of bots programmed to mimic sentiment, be combative, etc.

Yeah, I see more of them popping up on my twitter feed too. They do seem like younger guys, obviously with different expectations... I try not to engage anymore, leads to nothing except outrage which is just playing into the platform's formula to drive engagement. @BleedCubbieBlue may have some interesting insight about how that all works (or did during his time there... go figure he leaves and the whole company goes to ****!)

If this means something, wonder if that says anything about our chances with Conwell.

They played AAU with DJ Wagner

That's not really the fault of Reneau or the stretch big he was paired with, though. Just a product of Woody's offense. Like it or not (I don't) that's the system. The bigger concern than spacing, for me, in this consideration with Reneau, is rebounding. Rim protection to a lesser degree. Then spacing. Most of this year, we saw the typical bad spacing and clogged lane/post. Toward the end of the year we saw some better action between Ware and Reneau. If that's carried over into next season and Reneau learns how to pass effectively. Reneau also showed he could step outside and get hot... if that part of his game continues progressing this conversation is moot, to a large degree

Since I don't think Woodson is going to change his offensive system much (at all?), yeah I'm okay with paying him 700k because I think we'll pay some big guy roughly that much money. Williams looks to fit the role well... as much as I don't care for the role (as designed) in the first place. With the caveat that this assumes we've got sufficient money to bring in 2 starting quality backcourt players too.