AH1971

You’re definitely misinterpreting my comments regarding Dusty May. He could absolutely kill it here. But at the same time he could absolutely bomb and do it quickly. I don’t think he’s the guaranteed grand slam that you think he is.

Archie’s aggregate KenPom rankings are much better than May at FAU. Not comparable. FAU’s Def efficiency numbers have plummeted since last season, all the way down to 100. That’s very concerning for an experienced team who brought back nearly their entire team. Look, I don’t mind Dusty May. Like Archie, May checks a bunch of the on paper boxes. I’m more concerned with how a coach like Dusty May handles adversity at this level on top of managing enormous program expectations. To me that’s a bigger draw than X’s and O’s. Admittedly I didn’t know much about Archie prior to him being hired, but it was apparent very quickly that his personality and reserved demeanor was always going to make him a tough fit. I get a little sense of that with Dusty May.

“Everybody wins at Dayton” is a lot different than what Archie did at Dayton. 4 straight NCAAT appearances as an AT-LARGE. I think that’s a fact that shouldn’t be glossed over. Dayton has historically been a good program, but rarely if ever were they at-large good. Obviously Anthony Grant has had some good years since, but Archie had the Flyers rolling for a long time and proved it was no fluke.

Anyone else think Chris Mack could be a viable candidate? Would anyone be in favor of him? I'm not going to pretend to know why it didn't work out at Louisville, but his record at Xavier speaks for itself. He was actually my preferred candidate to replace Crean.

So because it took him a whopping 3 years to be ranked in the top 10, at Auburn of all places, he's a no go? Wow. Now do USI, Milwaukee, and Tennessee.

Student-athletes are now allowed to sign and work with agents, so the need for some under the table funny business no longer exists.

I'd have to say you're naive if you don't think IU has skirted the rules as it pertains to NIL and how it's presented to prospective recruits. Is it really a big deal if EVERYBODY is doing it?

This has been echoed to me in the past by Knight's first ever recruit at Indiana.

Could be a perfect time to leave Auburn (while they're on top) and allow his son to get his feet wet. A 6 to 8 year window of Pearl leading IU, only to hand it off to Dusty May who by that time has hopefully had multiple years of experience coaching P5 basketball seems like a transition everyone could get on board with.

But none of that points to Pearl being a scumbag. Ratting out a rival team (40 years ago) or hosting a recruit at a family bbq or having a rogue assistant accepting bribes to influence current players to a certain agency upon graduation doesn't warrant the scumbag slander.

IU can (and probably will) do a lot worse than Pearl, all things considered. I understand the hesitation with someone like Pearl, most likely due to age, but some of these character assassinations of Pearl are not only wild, just outright untrue. I get that Dusty May is the likely and preferred candidate, and while I would agree he has a ton of upside and could do great things at this university, he's nowhere near the sure thing that Bruce Pearl would be. Given IU's current position and mere treading of water for the last two decades, I'm not sure IU can afford anything but a sure thing at this point. 6 to 8 solid years of Pearl is the remedy this program needs in my honest opinion. You need a guy who can come in and be competitive from day 1. You need a guy who can change the culture of the program and do it almost overnight. You need somebody to build a foundation that IU hasn't had since Knight was fired almost 25 years ago. I trust Pearl to do that over May.

Can you elaborate more on point 4 please? As someone who lived in Evansville during the Pearl/USI years and has personally engaged with Pearl on multiple occasions, "bad person" wouldn't even be in the top 10,000 words used to describe Bruce Pearl. He's a genuine, passionate guy who cares deeply for his craft.

Here's what I want to know from an administrative standpoint: Are they simply keeping Woodson for a 4th year because the optics of firing an alum after 3 years signal too quick of a trigger and are simply delaying the inevitable? OR Do they actually think Woodson not only deserves a 4th year, but actually think he's the guy going forward? Obviously I don't have a voice or the money to make a difference, but if I'm one that does, I don't give a single dime to the athletic department until that question is answered.

Ryan went to back to back final 4’s a few short years after. He lived.

If it weeds out the kids who aren’t fully committed even after they are signed and committed I can live with it.

She’d have to get there first…

I can think of a lot worse things than not releasing a kid who not only pledged (but signed) a letter of intent because he had a change of heart at the 11th hour. Fully onboard with releasing a kid due to a coaching change or sanctions being imposed on a program.

Because 3 or 4 guys came back last year who weren't supposed too and losing MM but getting KF and Mitchell back was a net win for Duke. IU is under no obligation to let Liam out of his LOI unless there is a coaching change.

IU would have to release McNeeley as he is already signed. IU isn't going to release McNeeley unless there is a coaching change.

If that many things need to happen, why not just eliminate the root of the problem?

Guess that’s why they call it a theory

Pretty telling that a leak of Queen’s recruitment (assuming the rumor is true) happens within 24 hours of Woodson publicly declaring that he’s not going anywhere. Not saying it’s 100% the case, but I can see it coming off that way. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Sisley come off the board here in the next couple weeks at the conclusion of their season and not to IU. This is going to get way worse before it gets better.

Yeah Reneau ought to stay here forever if he could. Not a team in America who likes to play through the post more than Woodson. He'd be silly to leave.

Completely understandable. I will say that I felt more confident going into Archie's 4th year than I do going into Woodson's 4th year and I was over Archie after year 2 lol. Archie at least had TJD and Franklin who showed some promise as freshman. Next year could get ugly and very quickly too.

I’ve heard Musselman’s buyout is a joke which probably makes him the most likely candidate. Cronin’s is huge if I recall so he most likely would have to be fired, which it seems like he’s actively trying to do, for it to make sense for Louisville. But I don’t think Louisville can afford to mess around this time after the Kenny Payne debacle.