JustWinBaby

Seen multiple places that Clif is gone. No confirmation though.

I recall having genuine concerns from Woodson's introductory press conference (calling TJD "Tracy Davis" and speaking in the third person, for instance). Dude just seemed out of touch. DeVries is the polar opposite. He understands this fanbase and this program. Clearly the expectations have been properly laid out for him by Dolson & Co, and he WANTS to be here. He WANTS to meet/exceed those expectations. I know Woodson "wanted" to be here but really he wanted the title, he wanted the prestige. He didn't want to do the work. But Devries seems to truly embrace the job in every way and is excited to get to work immediately. There's going to be hiccups. Things aren't going to be perfect. We'll lose some recruiting battles and some tough games. I believe he'll be able to handle the questions and criticism when that happens. He fielded the media's questions expertly. He knows what he's here to do, and he knows how he's going to do it. I think he'll have no problem getting Hoosier Nation rallied around this program again.

The faculty and students don't like her for reasons we can't get into on the board (politics) but she's extremely committed to athletics, so fans like her

lol we bullied Reneau into re-releasing his transfer portal statement

By all accounts he's a really solid recruiter. In his first year at WVU he had a top 25 incoming freshman class and brought in a top 3 transfer portal class last summer.

As resident BTB sommelier I'll help pick out a few bottles

Have seen from folks in the know that we're looking at around $10M total in NIL + revenue sharing, which puts us squarely in the top 10 nationally -- if not top 5. There will be no shortage of resources to build a top tier roster.

Leal deserved so much better than he got, man.

"We want to score against broken sets... the best time to score is the first 12 seconds... if that doesn't work, we'll wait to get the best shot available." I love this. Demonstrating fundamental ball knowledge. Getting his guys to think this way on offense is so crucial to scoring, and scoring aggressively. We got a ball coach.

This aligns with what the WVU insiders were saying about discussions between IU and DeVries going back over a month. My guess is Dolson reached out to gauge interest before it was announced Woodson was "retiring."

DeVries: "We want to be a very process-oriented program" Uh oh, Kathy already got to him

Correct, it's pronounced like Darren. Not sure why it's spelled/pronounced that way but it is. Darren DeVreeze is phonetically how to say his name.

I don't personally believe this conspiracy theory, but I HOPE this is what happened. Shows we have an AD committed to winning. Dolson's got that dawg in him. Let's ride.

Some really interesting comments made by the 247sports WVU staff in their reaction podcast: They confirmed that DeVries had been in talks with Indiana in some form or another for over a month. They believe (but can't confirm) there was contact between Dolson and DeVries in the Bahamas (one of them even insinuated that DeVries may have known IU was going to open up and he'd be candidate, and that's why he elected to shut down Tucker DeVries for the season to preserve eligibility after just 8 games -- zero proof to this, but interesting he'd even suggest it). DeVries had given Indiana a hard yes last week, and was waiting for tournament results to finalize and sign. Once IU and WVU got snubbed, things were set in motion rapidly Sunday evening, and by Monday Dolson and DeVries met to finalize the contract. This wasn't the expected timeline, but it worked out perfectly for Indiana -- and better for WVU in the long run, since they can get going on their coaching search before the tournament begins. Iowa was never really in the picture; they wanted DeVries, but not only were they way too late to the party, they lacked the firepower to contend with IU. It was also noted that Iowa lacks the NIL support that WVU has, so it would've been a pretty tough sell for Iowa to pry him away regardless; Iowa being "home" for DeVries was likely their main selling point. Once it became clear DeVries wasn't even entertaining an offer from Iowa, they knew he was gone. They felt they could compete with Iowa to keep him, but not Indiana. They also anticipate nearly the entire roster to follow the head coach and/or assistants (wherever they end up). That about sums up the portions relevant to Indiana. They rambled on a bit about what coaches they'll target, the new landscape of college basketball, the future of non-B1G/SEC power conference programs, etc. I'll add this: the tone of the podcast was pure dejection. They had felt like they had their guy for the long haul in Morgantown, and had been extremely excited for the future with DeVries. They sounded incredibly bummed to lose him. I almost felt bad for them lol. I suppose that's how we'd feel if Cignetti packed up and headed out of town to take the Texas job or something after one year.

I don't blame anyone for hoping we'd get a bigger name, but it's more important to get the right guy than win the press conference. College basketball has changed. "Blue blood" programs cannot easily lure big name coaches away from places they're already finding success. Media rights deals and NIL (and soon revenue sharing) have significantly leveled the playing field. Everyone has cash and can use it. Almost any power conference program can become a powerhouse with the right coach, and a good coach can find success at many different programs. Indiana swung for the fences like UK and Louisville did last year, and weren't successful. But they went and got the best guy available, and it worked out perfectly that IU and WVU missed the tourney so we could snag him immediately and get to work on the roster. This honestly couldn't have worked out much better. Also, I've seen it multiple places now that Dolson and DeVries met back in November in the Bahamas. Dolson began researching him and vetting him at that time, and their conversations heated up over the past month. This isn't a hire that occurred spur-of-the-moment. It's been in the works for a while, and this was who Dolson zeroed in on for a number of reasons. Folks want to look at W/L records, and of course those matter - but I believe Dolson is smart enough to look beyond that. He identified the characteristics in a head coach that he believes would fit best at Indiana, and went and got that guy. Everything I hear about DeVries' work ethic, personality, and approach just makes me even more excited about the hire.

Aw man just got caught up on what's been going on the last hour or two and super bummed I missed @BehindTheBench's crashout happen in real time. That was a hysterically funny read though lol

Folks were willing to get excited over rumors about Stevens and others, but I don't think most of us actually thought we'd be getting Stevens. Yes, I got a little rush every time RTZ dropped a gif or Yeagley popped in. It was silly fun. But I didn't assume they were correct, I just figured they were hearing positive things. That's just how rumors work, and rumors end up being A) not true, B) true, or C) true and then something changes. These things can be fluid, and what was true one day can be completely turned on its head the next. It's not fair to call any of those posters trolls. Nor is it fair to put any of your disappointment in the hire on them. You are responsible for your own emotions. And you are responsible for deciphering what is worthy of credibility when there are rumors running rampant during a coaching search. There's always going to be misinformation, misdirection, and unsubstantiated rumors. Unless someone is intentionally pushing falsehoods, as in the case of our friend IsaacTor, I see no reason to blame them. That is, unless you have to pay a monthly fee to hear what they have to say. Then a much greater degree of accuracy in their reporting should be expected.

Jordy and Calbert are extensions of Crean and Knight. I've got no problem with them being here. Same goes for Barnett (Crean).

And now I've heard that apparently Dolson and DeVries got acquainted while in the Bahamas. DeVries has known the IU job was opening this spring and he and Dolson have been in communication since. Turns out Dolson really did get "his guy." I don't have verification of this but it would line up with other things I've heard.

dig the new profile pic lol

I've seen more than one place that Dolson had been in conversations with DeVries for over a month. I don't believe this was a spur-of-the-moment hiring but rather one of fortuitous timing thanks to both teams getting snubbed by the selection committee.

It's not "goodbye," it's "see you later"

#NeverForget

lol wow that's pretty wild if this guy had the scoop and Darian has been "Dolson's guy" all along. I'm willing to believe that this has been in the works for weeks and the events of Selection Sunday accelerated the timeline.

Funny how that happens Just busting your chops @Pagoda lol