Hoosierinbham

And we have a winner!

He was our high school coach at Mountain Brook and turned a stagnant, affluent school into a juggernaut. He had offers last season, but won't go somewhere that doesn't have competitive NIL. He's a math savant, and takes advantage of analytics. Plays a 4 out offense, and attacking defense. I'm admittedly biased, but I would LOVE to have him at IU.

Give me a young, aggressive coach that plays modern college offense. If you haven't watched Bucky McMillan at Samford, he puts a great product on the floor. Follow the coach Cig recruiting model, production over potential.

While I'm on a Birmingham roll, I'll be interested to see who finally gives Bucky McMillan at Samford a shot at a major job. We've watched "Buckyball" for years, and he has a great chance to be successful with the right opportunity. He's already turned down some jobs that lack administrative support and NIL resources. I don't think he's quite ready for a job like Kentucky, but I also think he would win big there.

Living in Birmingham, I'm friends with several former Bama players, and some other VERY connected people. Oats was contacted at least twice. There was an initial "no", and a follow-up attempt as they were rebuffed by their other targets.

I wonder what his buyout will be after next year?

I honestly knew nothing about him until a couple months ago. The more I learn, the more he sounds like a younger Oats in style and competitiveness. I haven't seen them play more than highlights, so how would his defensive philosophy be described? I love the aggressiveness of Bucky McMillan at Samford, so I hope he likes to pressure the ball and 3 point shooters.

His style seems similar to Nate Oats. I really like their offense and spacing.

This is where I was heading with my question. Could it get so bad in the next few weeks that the boosters pivot and give Dolson a blank check to go get Pearl or another willing proven coach? Doubtful, but otherwise I fear between Woodson's incompetence, and our fans level of toxicity towards him, next season will crater our program even further than I ever would've imagined possible.

That's the big question, do those in power have the ability to admit the Woodson situation isn't salvageable, and make the necessary change now? If our top targeted guards in the portal can't be enticed with a starting position AND hefty NIL, will they allow next season to be a complete failure just to save face? I guess my question would be, is there a line of absolute failure at which they would finally pull the plug on the Woodson tenure? (ie, 0-2024 recruits, strike out with in-state 2025 recruits, can't sign decent portal players, little to no effort recruiting by Woodson, etc)

Sadly, that could be true. Hopefully his competitive nature would lead him to believe he could make it work. We have everything else you could want.

Bucky has everything to be a major success down the road. Incredibly cerebral, ultra competitive, lives and breaths basketball, and knows how to recruit and develop players for his system. He's very disciplined and demands that from his players. His dream is to coach a blue blood program or Bama. Mutual friends of his have told me he won't take just any job. His next step will need to be a good situation with strong administration and NIL support. Vandy was interested in him, but their NIL is terrible. Gonna be interesting to see what his next move will be, and how it might lead to his ultimate goal.

SEC-ya later!!

He's probably one job away from being ready, but I know for a fact Samford's coach Bucky McMillan wants to coach a blue blood program and would take the IU job in a heartbeat. He plays a fun brand of attacking basketball on offense and defense, and can really coach and recruit. He also won numerous large school state titles at a high school that had never been very good in basketball. Just a flat out winner. If they pull a couple upsets, he could become a hot name.

And the B1G was much worse as a conference this year as well.

Underwood adapted his system after it flopped at first in the B1G. Huh. Imagine that!

May's best players, plus our best minus Ware, and a couple from the portal would have us in the tournament next year. Plus we would be good with the 2025 guys and primed for the future. Alas...

He could, although I feel making that statement the day after we lose our final game would be more impactful. If he and several other players announce they will be entering the portal without a change of leadership, Dolson's leverage skyrockets.

Good quote. Someone needs to tell QB that applies to him as well. He'll never win us another game. Bruce Pearl would.

If Samford makes a run in the tourney, that would help. There are a few mega donors to Bama that might be ready to turn the keys over to Samford coach Bucky McMillan if Oats bolts. Not sure he's quite ready yet, but he's one of the brightest young minds in cbb, and has serious connections in the state. He coached Trendon Watford and Colby Jones of Xavier/NBA in high school, where he won numerous state titles.

Trust me, I feel like it some days!

48. Attended camp in the 80s. His son David was older at that point, but still VERY energetic. Wokes us up loudly singing, "Roll out the barrels...

Outstanding comparison! I attended the McCracken basketball camp on Lake James multiple years. His son was great. Bring back the "Hurryin Hoosiers"!

I was told last night by someone very connected to the Bama program there is a decent chance Oates moves north after this season. They were thinking more Michigan or Ohio State, but sounds like he's open to a change of scenery. I'd take him in a heartbeat. Guess we'll see.

Great post, and that's similar to where I'm at right now. I do think if they make a bowl game, he's back for the final year of his contract with a chance to show we're headed in the right direction. That being said he'll need a HUGE off-season in recruiting, the portal, and retaining our best players. The fact the players haven't quit shows they still believe in CTA. He has struggled with hiring solid assistants, but with Carey/Fuente and Bostad, has solidified the offense to be respectable. We have a good core of young qb's, receivers, tight ends, and offensive linemen. We need better running backs depth, but the portal can help. Special teams needs to change, but our defense is always solid under Allen. Gotta finish these last three strong, or it probably won't matter.