IU Prof

I'd have to think that's a pre-season Top 10 lineup, no? Need to flesh out the rotation, but given what we know of DDV's coaching chops, I'd feel REALLY good heading into next year with that lineup.

I think she's a huge loss, but agree with you on development, and that she tended to struggle against longer/stronger defenders. The lack of development is why I don't think it's crazy she would consider looking elsewhere. If she think her game still has another level or two to unlock, it's clear that that won't happen with one more year at IU.

I thought Galloway and Leal's class was the last to get a COVID year.

What, exactly, are you blaming her for, then? And how do you know if she's heading to a better situation or not? Has her destination been reported?

For what? For deciding that another program might be a better fit or provide her with a better situation for her last year of college competition? You really expect her to put "Certified Sunshine Pumper's" preference ahead of her own best interest?

I don't think he needs to, or could, match TJD, Ware, or Ballo in DDV's offense. Totally different usage than what we've been running.

The theory is that once the settlement in the House case is approved, then NIL deals have to be evaluated for fair market value. That assumes the settlement is, in fact, approved, and that the fair market value assessment is actually enforced with any teeth, both of which may or may not prove correct.

Agree with this. Connell and Tucker DeVries would be great for 25-26, but then we're back to square one. That's part of the reason I was hoping DDV could bring Jonathan Powell with him. I'd love to hear whether he entered the portal when he did for more NIL, to play for a new coach, or because he knew DDV was on the way out. Is Bidunga viewed as a likely NBA guy after next year, or is he a 3-4 year college guy? He could be a nice building block too, if the latter...

Swap UConn and Nova, move Arizona below IU, and bump Texas down to 14, and I think that's pretty reasonable. Maybe swap Arkansas out too with another SEC school (Florida, Alabama?). Edit: I'd probably also move UNC down to 4. UK, Kansas, and Duke are basically a toss up at 1-3 for me.

It's just a 30 day window to announce, not to commit to a new program. There is also thought in some quarters that schools are going to be more stealth in the portal to avoiding publicizing their interest in players, to help with NIL negotiation.

At this point, I think it's fair to say that most portal rankings aren't worth the paper they're written on...

Man, that would be a gut punch and kick to the crotch all at once. Hope it's not true.

Is it just me, or is Sean Miller an underwhelming hire by Texas?

From The Athletic: As a player, he and Cuttino Mobley had the Rams on the brink of the Final Four in 1998. He then coached under Dan Hurley — whose Connecticut team Alabama faces Saturday — at Rhode Island, and helped get Oats his first Division I college gig at Buffalo. Later, at Creighton, Murphy helped Greg McDermott build a Big East title team … only to get caught up in the FBI’s investigation into college basketball. Murphy was never charged, but for meeting with agent Christian Dawkins — one of Murphy’s longtime friends from growing up in Saginaw, Mich. — the NCAA hit him with a two-year show-cause penalty. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5394716/2024/04/06/alabama-preston-murphy-fbi-final-four/

Good find. What does he project to play at the next level? 6'8" is too probably too small for the 5 at IU. Is he quick enough and have the outside game for a modern 4?

Be that as it may, strength coaches can also have a big impact on the overall culture of the program. So for those that thought we needed to clean house, then -- fairly or not -- that would include Cliff.

I'm not assuming things about Brad's character simply from what I've seen in public. I have no reason to believe you know what DeVries was thinking on March 6th, because your sources are clearly not reliable.

I was responding to GP, who said he did back out.

Sorry you took offense, because I think you were just passing along what you heard. It's not a criticism of you, just an objective analysis of the information people are passing along. Again, though, I don't find this plausible. No one mentioned McCollum as being on the short list back in January. The Intel was always Brad 1, Dusty 2. And then literally DeVries wasn't mentioned until a few days ago. Any source claiming that Brad backed out again at the last minute, and now claiming they knew it was him, McCollum, and DeVries all along, is clearly not reliable. This search was buttoned up tighter than Ft Knox. Edit: You were always transparent during the search that the info you were getting could be wrong. I'm not sure why you are getting angry now that someone is observing that the info you said may be unreliable was, in fact, unreliable.

No offense to any insiders, but I don't find this remotely plausible. It goes against everything we've ever heard of Brad's character. Anyone feeding that line is not a credible source, IMO. We are hearing from non-IU sources that Dolson has been in communication with DeVries for weeks, if not since the Battle for Atlantis. That strikes me as much more credible than the idea that Brad was in the bag until Sunday. I don't see how anyone at this point wouldn't be questioning their sources re Brad, after the way the last two searches turned out. Whatever info people were getting clearly wasn't reliable.

Needs a white whale smoking a cig picture on the back...

I would rank Otz ahead of Devries also, just because his track record at the P5 level is longer. But I've seen quite a few people mention metrics as a negative for DeVries. I don't see it that way. He put up both top 40 offenses and defenses at Drake, albeit in different seasons. That's not easy at the mid major level, since strength of schedule factors in to those numbers quite a bit. Add in the fact he had a top 15 defense his first season at WVU, and I think that bodes quite well. He certainly has the ability to build a team here that top 15 both offensively and defensively, which would be a top 5-10, national title contending team.

I would like to believe that. But after the last two coaching searches, I'm just questioning a lot of the conventional wisdom message boards have been taking for granted regarding this program.

Someone posted a while back that the most common trait of Nat'l Championship coaches is that they set a school record for wins at an earlier stop. Devries tied Drake's. He also had 3 NCAA trips in 6 years at a place that had only been there once in the prior 47 years. And during one of those trips, he lost by 7 to a Miami team that drilled IU the next game en route to the final four.

So we're the Brad rumors, allegedly.