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I feel better about Michigan than Penn State. A lot better. Maybe that's foolish. Don't feel great about either, truth be told.

People talk a lot about if we got Knecht, despite him not really having been very realistic. There was an awful lot of veritable smoke around Reeves, including him taking glasses at SIU to try and graduate early. If we had him on this year's roster, boy, would things look different. Here's to hoping for portal season...

I don't doubt they're a real person; I just think they actually are not adding any insight and find the timing of them turning up here curious. For someone who does not defend nor criticize the approach, they certainly don't find any blame whatsoever assignable to it; according to Cathy, first it was Glass's fault... then it was Dolson's fault... now it's Dolson's fault. All I ask is that if someone wants to join / start a conversation, they do so in good faith.

Curious what people would think about Aden Holloway - if I recall he lit us up pretty good against Auburn. My understanding is the quality of his play dropped off fairly sharply in the second half of the season, though he was strong in the non-con. Trilly said he most likely would be looking to go somewhere that he could have more of an impact. Not necessarily "down a level" as in still P5, but different style of play than SEC. I think that certainly applies to us. Only 6'1 from Charlotte, doesn't seem like an immediate fit. But I would love to see a few speedy guards on next year's roster. Ideally a couple inches taller.

I think there is absolutely merit in looking "closer to home" first as a program. It just makes sense - that's what non-athletes do for all of those non-sport "real life" reasons. As fans I think it makes sense that you'd value players you've seen/followed in HS more highly than other fans in other parts of the country may. Just more familiar with their game/history and of course that connection absolutely means something. I have been rooting my butt off for Mack all year - he's only the 3rd player from Jersey to play for IU (the 2nd was Geronimo lol). He was off to a rough start but showed glimpses and man, if he is here next year... will get some serious buckets. That said... I certainly hope the coaches will evaluate all options and prioritize based on other factors. IMO, could Booker and Essegian contribute here. Sure. I'm not familiar enough with the portal to say they're our best options. If they are, I'd be very underwhelmed. I actually find Booker more interesting than Essegian, despite Essegian having a more productive history. But I tend to overweight those 7-foot types, even if it's just on potential alone. Can't teach height. We did have success getting Ware's motor going. Essegian... if you're not good enough to be a starter at Wisconsin, I don't think it's a recipe for success to go after him hard. Wouldn't hate him as a mop up rotation player I suppose. But I'd prefer a lot more speed at this point based on what the team needs roster wise right now.

Ware is such a player. Having him and TJD in back to back years was such a treat. I do not expect we will see a third year with such rim protection and scoring capability. That does not mean we can't find success, but Woody does value that role a lot. Curious who we land for that slot. Guards, guards, guards please... and a wing too.

Well, we were going to pay McNeeley $700k per Trilly. So that part of the budget is free again. Lol

I actually like Trey's speech a lot after watching back. I am happy to see him growing more comfortable as a leader/being vocal. If we can take some of the load off him next year backcourt wise, I am excited to watch his 6th year. Whether I like him or not I am happy the players are seemingly rallying behind Woody. I hope we retain a core and build a monster in the portal (color me skeptical for now). These "better portal contacts" really need to translate to a couple early backcourt commits in the transfer portal.

I heard Grand Canyon U is interested in offering him a lifetime contract but only if @AZ Hoosier gets the BOT to approve.

Indiana University will be my favorite G-League team next year. Hope we finish top 6 in the conference.

If I didn't know any better, I'd think Mike was a fan himself. Seems blowing hot air is a personal strength.

This program kinda sucks now :(

Quinn and the BoT can all do me a favor and **** in their hand today.

I'm way hotter at the BS spouted off by Kathy with a C yesterday than anything Mike Woodson has said all year actually lol. These people are laughing at us. They are looking down their nose at you and scoffing

Between Mike Woodson and KathywithaC, I don't love the way "important" people at IU have been speaking to/about fans recently... all year from Woody really. He will be here next year. I will hope Indiana wins basketball games despite the inherent challenges that exist at IU. That's all I got right now.

Us: Okay, so who hires and fires coaches? Do we have a process for that? Cathy: "Some in this discussion think this should be a linear journey, with a rigid, proscribed set of waypoints leading, without exception, to a logical and predictable conclusion" Us: Wait that doesn't really make sense Cathy: "Did you go to IU? Have you ever played any sports? Were you involved with the IUF? Know anyone actually in the athletic department? You ever conduct a coaching search? Probably a good thing fans don't try to do this job, I know you'd like it all to be so complex but it's not. Just hard to understand if you're not familiar with IU beyond your time as a student... or watching it make decisions for the past 30+ years. Plus my friends on the BOT at SEC schools have way more involvement in football than we do, so. But no I'm not criticizing or defending. BTW, Scott Dolson is unqualified and the BOT has nothing to do with the sh*t show before you" EDIT: For the record ... the above is all literally an amalgamation of her posts, using actual quotes throughout. Really no exaggeration.

Thought that was obvious with the birdie ref

"[Scott] If you want to hire Mike Woodson, you come to Mike Woodson." "I am the coach here, understand that [Scott]." Quinn, Cooks, and Simons have my back. Stay in the corner [Scott], you're in timeout. Mike's gotta get his 4.

I can buy that premise 100% At the same time given this year's performance and these sorts of comments, safe to say unless the portal is absolutely amazing, excitement for next year will be very muted. Next year's team will really have to earn back the excitement of a lot of fans who feel alienated by comments, low effort, and too little too late as the peak product this year. Hope these competitors are up for the challenge. Tough to say for sure because we are going to have basically another brand new team next year. We heard a lot about that this year too.

And does not change the fact our only commit asked out of his LOI after it was announced the head coach is coming back. Not much more to say than that, lol. Hope we hit 3-4 home runs and 2-3 doubles in the portal. No plan B (or other contraceptives for getting absolutely ****ed next year)

I apologize in advance to be combative. But It's like a puzzle because it's a bunch of mealy mouth corporate speak that amounts to a whole lot of nothing. I've not found much insight into the 'how' or the 'why' in the course of neither defending nor criticizing this approach. Yawn.

Woodson tonight:

Dolson if I had to venture a guess.

"If you want to hire Mike Woodson, you come to Mike Woodson." "I'm not going anywhere guys." "I am the coach here, understand that." Gee, I wonder who he is speaking to in each of these instances. Disillusioned may not be a strong enough word tonight. Hopefully we buy a good enough roster next year to be competitive despite the built in challenges that exist at Indiana. Season sucked, next year is very much up in the air, and skeptical fans are getting told off for not smiling and nodding along. I'll always hope they win but IUBB is just not must-see/appointment television anymore.

If the point of Woodson's speech was to get people on his train, he failed miserably in that.