mickey one

Sad to say, college athletics is a professional league now, so we probably need to drop the supposed designations of "Freshman, Sophomore, etc." (just say how much eligibility they have left) and why should people list their majors (isn't that pretty fake)? In fact, why should academic eligibility even be required? The next lawsuit will probably be to terminate eligibility limitations--why 4 years, when the players are not really students, freely move from school to school, have no imperative to graduate, etc.

Really good point. CTM championed the cause of Garzon and Caffey, and got stabbed in the back by both of them.

I agree that is what is needed now + structured contracts for multiple years. In the pro's, not everyone is a free agent every year (the essence of the portal). That would be chaos . . . . which we are beginning to see at IU and elsewhere.

Don't know if it's true, but indications are KK Arnold from UConn (starter on national championship team; defensive stopper) is getting like $150,000. How could Caffey be worth more than that?

This is truly insane. Noyan and now Caffey. There must be some fundamental institutional or money issue--like they all think they are being underpaid, or they really dislike the coaching staff. Caffey leaving is just the bottom falling out.

Berube has been sort of a magician at Tufts and Princeton. But, keep in mind that she made it to 2 championship games with Tufts in DIII and lost both of them. She is now heading into the Big 10, which is, essentially, a buzzsaw. She and Shea Ralph (Vanderbilt) are testing whether Geno, long-term, will have created any kind of enduring coaching dynasty. Other Geno products have flopped big time in the coaching ranks.

Arek Angui looks like too much of a risk. Had miniscule numbers last year. I don't understand how some teams manage to scoop up great foreign players--Blanca Quinonez at UConn being most recent example. We end up with Kadlecova, Sandvik, & Ondineme. If you are looking for change-making bigs in the portal, you probably need to be a Texas (Breya Cunningham) or Oklahoma (Beers), which is looking for the last piece to make it to the top. IU, at the moment, is looking to be rescued from mediocrity . . . and that's not a big sales pitch. There is MOMENTUM in recruiting. IU lost it badly, and is trying to get it back.

As I recall, she played pretty well against IU last year. 12 pts, 7 rebounds.

What happened to Emely Rodriguez? Could have used her last year.

Yeah. That's not good. The way IU has missed on the bigs--1/3 of the squads at South Carolina, LSU, USC, and Reagan Beers . . . don't see it getting better with the formula of wishing and hoping for top 10 recruits. Maybe need to be more discerning on recognizing and attracting sleepers and overachievers? Like Mack Holmes, for instance.

Against UCLA (& the Betts sisters), Zaja (Wisconsin) got 16 points and 4 rebounds. Against UCLA, Noyan got 1 point and 2 rebounds; Ondineme got 0 points and 1 rebound; Wiseman got 0 points and 1 rebound. Yeah, it would be great to get a super-athletic center like Okeke, but we seem to miss on them all the time. When we've gone into the European market (Sandvik, Ondineme, Kadlecova), it's been mainly a bust. Garzon?

Be nice to make a find like this:

No WNIT? Isn't that a little high & mighty? This team/program needs to earn its way back to respect. At the moment, it doesn't have much room to say "that is beneath me". The consensus on this board seemed to be that CTM has done good things, and deserves another chance, after a whole bunch of recruiting misses. She is going to have to go in the portal and make some surprising catches to assure that IU is viable. And no more Ciezki next year.

a "number of reasons"? Like what? I don't think IU is heading to the Final 4 (or for that matter a Big 10 championship) until they get an inside banger like Etute.

Aside from the fact that the refs refused to call charging on certain Oregon players, it would be nice if IU was able to get an inside player like Etude--27 points, 17 rebounds. Seems like we are constantly running into dynamos like that, and have no such arrow in our quiver, so to speak. Etude has a sister who is apparently going to UCLA next year. Good grief--an Etude + the Betts sisters. That's ridiculous.

If you want to be a "player", one of the most disturbing things to this demolition was that 3 centers (Noyan, Wiseman, Ondineme) achieved almost nothing while racking up major fouls. At the moment, this team seems better suited to win (or at least compete in) the MAC or Mountain West, than the Big 10.

Beaumont needs an intervention: no more 1-on-1 "go to the basket" moves against McDonalds All-Americans like Kennedy Smith. Beau got it stuffed back in her face for the umpteenth time. Passing? great; 3-point shooting? great; Mid-range jumper? great; Bring the ball up and run offense? great; go 1-on-1 to the hoop with Kennedy Smith? NO! That is just not a strong suite for Beaumont, but she keeps on coming back with it, with minimal effectiveness. It probably made Kennedy Smith's highlight reel; not a good place to be.

Don't understand Beaumont's game. It seems very 1-on-1, but much of the time she ends up charging, losing the ball out of bounds, or getting it blocked.

Check out UConn Boneyard for their fans. 0-10 in the conference, they are going to be having LONG discussions as to who needs to be hired to replace Geno. Also, CTM is being paid over $1 m. a year. Like all sports, if you don't win as the coach, then you're out. That's just a fact of life. You think the Jets, Giants, Browns, et al. are going to keep their coaches, out of a sense of loyalty?

If Geno Auriemma, Dawn Staley, Kim Mulkey, Vic Shaeffer, Brenda Frese, Lindsey Gottlieb, Shauna Green, et al, had whiffed on recruiting for several years, and stood at 0-10 in their conference . . . . all of their fan base, some in anger, some in regret, would be calling for a coaching change. Yes, even Geno. Fans would not be saying "well, he won 12 national championships!" It would be: "That was a great run. Thank you. It's time for a change". People are looking for a way out of the cellar, and, hopefully, a pathway back to competing for Big 10 (dare I say "national") championships. I think that's what it is about. It's not about being mean or ungrateful to CTM. It's about seeking hope. As Sheryl Crow would say:

You should rename this "Time for Moren to move on?" What if it turns out she has cancer or some illness? She has been a great coach for a long time; it's just that the consensus seems to be that she is burned out, and cannot bounce back--for the benefit of IU, the fans, or herself. Mack Holmes said that CTM was the most competitive person she ever knew, so these recent failures must really bother CTM. If CTM could bounce back, we would all be thrilled, but at this point, it just seems extremely, extremely unlikely, and the whole thing has become a painful ordeal for all involved. Just a thought.

So true. Innovation or experimentation does not seem to be CTM's strong suite. If you're losing big time, why not try something different? What do we have to lose at this point? We'll never know the details, but this locker room must be witnessing one of the greatest morale crashes of all time.

The whole seems to be lesser than the parts. Supposed to be the other way around. Last year, Noyan & Stotijn contributed to their teams. This year they seem invisible.