Magisterium

if 1) the money is there for the buyout and 2) no change is made, my conclusion would be either there's no one out there w/ sincere interest whom Dolson regards as an improvement, or there is someone but he's CURRENTLY unavailable for some reason. not sure I can think of anyone who truly fits in the latter category (except perhaps the "dream-world" candidates) so I could see IU ending up now or in a year w/ someone like Fife--or another "up-and-comer" like A. Miller (Gates, Kelsey, etc). Even if the preference would be for an "established P5 coach" who theoretically would come to IU for more $$$ than his current gig. This time around, I fear even those guys will be considerably harder to get.

so here's the "skunk at garden party" take: Allen given raise by Dolson means, in addition to rewarding CTA for his good work, Miller is being retained for Year 5 (thereby saving $7 mil, even though donors are now willing to pay it anyway) here's the "optimist's" take on the "skunk at garden party" take: Dolson has a promising, maybe even elite, replacement in mind who is 1) interested but 2) unavailable, for whatever reason, until 2022 here's the "2nd skunk at garden party" take on the "skunk at garden party" take: Dolson can afford the Allen raise because he's 1) pulling the plug on AM but 2) going with a cheaper replacement

my man Huggy Bear is now sportin' a sweet goatee....

swept Cronin? hmm..

his biggest "foe" at USC is fan apathy (most are WAY more concerned about Helton than the BB program); he'd have, if anything, the opposite issue in Bloomington not sure how good a recruiter he himself is, but his offensive style would definitely be more attractive to recruits than Archie's suspect his defenses wouldn't be as good as Archie's, but decent defense the past 4 years hasn't accomplished much without shooters I'd probably be lukewarm at best w/ an Enfield hire, but FWIW I suspect his personality might go over better in B-town than Archie's and, if Dolson DOES intend to make a move now, Enfield might be doable financially kinda hard to believe that's where this program is now, but......

same here; that was one of the more enjoyable (NBA-style) offenses and teams in recent NCAA memory IMO hasn't set the world on fire at USC, but FWIW Southern Cal is 1) still a football school in 2) a shaky part of LA with 3) mediocre facilities I do suspect, if nothing else, Enfield's offense would be easier to recruit blue-chip players for than Archie's offense (whatever that actually is at this point)--not sure they'd play good enough defense to consistently challenge for B1G 10 titles or deep tournament runs, but I could see Enfield's teams being AT LEAST as successful as Miller's IU teams have been to date, and a good deal more entertaining to watch

Drew didn't just get the program in trouble with the NCAA for the Morefield/Perea situation, he was cited for "failure to monitor" the program and was even suspended for some games at the start of the Big 12 conference season. The school issued some recruiting restrictions and scholarship reductions on Drew as a result. The whole thing was about more than just Morefield's conduct.

"wants the job, he's a good recruiter, he's learned from a great coach (Izzo)...." also basically described (at the time) Tom Crean. FWIW, at least Dane probably wouldn't be as "idiosyncratic" as CTC was. hiring Fife would to me amount to the IU Admin saying "we know the current situation is intolerable, but we've so egregiously and repeatedly mis-managed the BB program for the last two decades that this is now our only way out" it would also be to me a confirmation that, when Glass spoke about the "high expectations" IU had for the program upon Miller's hiring, he was basically blowing smoke. Like he was when he foolishly gave Miller that 7-year contract. I wouldn't be particularly bearish OR bullish about Fife's prospects, but it would be so IU-ish to be able to scrounge up the money for the buyout and then not be able to also afford the cost of hiring an established "name" coach. I wonder if Dane knows Kenya Hunter (maybe via Michael Lewis)?

wonder if he and Dolson have already had "the talk"

I want no part of Pearl UNLESS he signs a stipulation within his contract promising never, EVER to take off his shirt and paint his body red

well, he did get us those shiny new International Studies buildings and....and....well, he did get us those shiny new International Studies buildings

usually the position is posted nationally (Chronicle of Higher Ed, etc) and an expensive search firm is utilized I'd expect the new Pres to probably be a woman....hope her attitude towards college athletics is a tad more positive than McRobbie's was

I'd think SD would have little trouble raising money for a buyout and new hire if the new guy was Brad; I also suspect the fundraising would be more difficult if the new guy was someone else

w/ Dolson I tend to worry less about his own decision-making abilities than I do about potential restrictions (financial and otherwise) that he might have to be operating with

Don't know Dolson at all, so I guess I could envision him trying to "re-create" some history by hiring someone like Fife, OR wanting to go in a completely different direction, depending on how much $$$ he'd have to pursue some "name" w/ a proven track record in the latter case, it potentially could also require waiting another year (not only for financial reasons, but perhaps due to "availability factors" related to certain specific candidates)

I dunno, I've been told I'm rather good....at being mediocre.

Of course he didn't repeat them since he was STILL AT THE SAME SCHOOL. In that regard the situations aren't totally analogous. And, for the 3,768th time: I'm not "pro-Drew" or "anti-Drew" I'm simply trying to anticipate how the Admin and BOT would react to a potential Drew candidacy. Especially the ones who were around (if not actively involved in) the hiring and subsequent firing of Sampson. I seriously doubt if they'd have any appetite for conducting that experiment a 2nd time. Maybe there aren't enough of those people involved any more for Drew's past to be an issue; it would definitely be interesting to know Dolson's take, not only on Drew, but also on the entire Sampson debacle itself.

to reiterate, I'm personally agnostic re: Drew's past behavior, but I also don't have a vote on who Miller's potential replacement might be. If any of the people involved, directly or otherwise, in the Sampson debacle are still involved now, I'd be surprised if Drew got any serious consideration.

Morefield may not have been suspended, but Drew himself was.

It's not just "recruiting issues" with Drew. He basically did the same thing IU fired Sampson for FWIW. In the end, he was actually suspended (briefly). Now, perhaps the people most in favor of Sampson's dismissal are no longer within the decision-making circle, in which case Drew might get a pass. But if they are still there, I'd doubt if Drew would even get an interview.

wonder what their student section is nicknamed, if anything---"the Tinklers"? "Tinkle town"? "the Rest Room"?

I think the harder part may be discovering who the people are that are truly available as replacements--it may be a real wakeup call

"players love him" is debatable at this point

actually, a lot of people have seen the contract since, as a public university employee, Miller's contract falls under FOIA access