Ctf9

If we couldn’t get Brad or Otz or someone like this, then I am completely stoked by this hire. He’s got a long track record of winning, he’s got a strong scheme and culture, and he produces point guards—just like Cig produces quarterbacks. Post-Archie trauma seems to be a real thing on this board, but this is an exciting day to be a Hoosier! Let’s hope our NIL money will convince Stirtz to put off the NBA one more year.

How is Mark feeling about his chances?

I appreciate you sharing specifics like this. If I’d heard what you did, I would have posted exactly like you did over the last few weeks.

But this didn’t start with us fans—Dolson has echoed the same points from the beginning. Maybe he didn’t grasp it either? I really don’t know. See his comments here:

So many on here are now claiming big coaches never leave their jobs, not even for NIL, but I want to be very clear—this was not some message board scheme, this was what Dolson said he would do! The only info we have from Dolson are Thamel’s two interviews. Check out the first one, from February 8. Here Thamel summarizes Dolson’s thinking: “the sell is come to Indiana, you will have a championship level budget and be able to compete for final fours. . . . Indiana is going to sell its power two status and that budget and try to lure a big name coach to Bloomington.” Maybe this was a bad or naive plan, but this is what Dolson thought he could do. (Others agreed: Race Davis responded to Thamel, “I’m sure many will be interested.”) So anyone who feels disappointed by a mid major shouldn’t be mocked. Dolson was the one who set our standards at “big name coach.” He thought that was doable. Many believed that revenue sharing and NIL meant previous whiffs (even UK and UL) no longer applied https://x.com/PeteThamel/status/1888333901187490300

Interesting about the terms. Do you remember what they were? McCollum is clearly a choosy guy, given how long he stayed at D2.

Me watching you nice posters teach older members how to do memes and gifs

I meant the one who got away to me isn’t Brad Stevens but Dusty May (thanks to one more year for Woodson). I can see how I wasn’t very clear. My bad!

If it’s McCollum or, to a lesser extent, Huss, I’m nervously optimistic. But man the guy I keep thinking about isn’t Brad but Dusty. Thanks Quinn!

The Curry Hicks guy really likes Huss. He says Huss is respected all around the industry for his offense. Says that High Point is an easy job to win at but also that Huss was smart and desired enough to wait for it.

ESPN’s top draft analyst on Stirtz: https://x.com/DraftExpress/status/1899089210281165292 Some of you wondering if he could hack it in the Big Ten when you should be worrying that he’s going pro before he ever sets foot in btown.

Right—but people thought that NIL and revenue sharing might change that pattern. According to what Dolson told Thamel, Dolson thought it would change the pattern. Resources was the pitch. It’s starting to feel like we and Dolson were wrong in that hope. But maybe not! Time will tell.

Pete Thamel has done two brief ESPN appearances where he described Dolson’s thinking based on talking to Dolson. I really wish we had written articles because, like with the Goodman Brad tweet, it’s hard to know how much you can lean on the language. That said, Thamel said Dolson wants a Cignetti hire, adding that this means: strong confidence, a playing style with identity, a strong culture, embracing the portal, and lots of wins on his record. Thamel never said Division I wins. Honestly the criteria for McCollum pretty closely.

I understand the recent history—it’s hard even for a blue blood to hire a sitting P5 coach. (Let’s not forget that Texas did it by hiring Beard.) The optimist’s take is NIL and revenue sharing have changed the rules. The pessimist’s take is that they haven’t changed the rules that much—and also that Dolson has a fetish for experience and older coaches. This is what worries me the most: if he’s always been set on a “veteran” head coach and misses on the good ones, he might just hire a Brownell because it matches his “criteria” or something. And that is also what makes Goodman’s tweet so concerning. The more good established coaches say no, the higher the odds Dolson will stubbornly hire a mediocre established coach.

But Archie had also recruited All American type players as a top assistant. That’s the part that’s hard to project with McCollum. (Personally I’m willing to risk it.)

Facts matter. They weren’t in the desert. They were on a specially reconstructed TV set!

Agree with this. If you watched his Texas Tech teams, you know what he can do—they were blue collar and tough and really easy to root for. I also really don’t understand everyone pointing to his conference record—he’s had to do the fresh rebuild thing twice in short order (because of his own mistakes). But what Kelsey and May have done this year is a pretty recent phenomenon. A good coach taking a year or two to get up and running used to be normal. Hell look at Pitino’s first year at St. John’s. Anyway, I am as equally confused by the people who question Beard’s ability to coach as by the people who worry Stevens has “been away too long.”

How do you square this with Pete Thamel going on ESPN twice in the last few weeks and summarizing Dolson’s thinking? I think yesterday he even said “I talked to Dolson this week”?

Only if they reintegrate the Beard thread, like a black market organ transplant.

I would do that before Brownell for sure. I worry Dolson does obsess over experience a bit. We will know soon!

He’s put quite a few quality guys in the NBA: Hunter, Murphy, Jerome. They’re all or about to get paid. So he always had horses. I think the pace is the pace.

Listened to the Hysterics space while cleaning the kitchen, as Rabby intended, and I will say Eric shared something I found reassuring. He said that no IU third party has even reached out to Buzz Williams or his circle. Eric also said Cronin is out. If we agree that Williams and Cronin are tier three type hires, and that we aren’t even talking with them, then Dolson must have a pretty good guy already locked up. Anyway, it helped quiet my Friday night case of the Brownells.

Smart move here—the only thing potentially worse than the Beard discourse would be Israel-Palestine discourse, lol.

Good recap of the day here:

Hey @Chris007, after that disappointing spaces, the board needs a cleanser. Are you ready to share your context about Brad and ND? ;)