skhoosier2

US is the underdog in the next one. Belgium beat them 5-2 in I think March. I am just a bandwagon soccer fan for the US during this world cup. But as far as I've heard, nobody expects them to beat Belgium. Maybe I'm listening to the wrong experts though lol

It’s very sad the state of the fandom for the basketball program. This year after the natty I really couldn’t have cared less about basketball. I watched but these last probably 10 years my desire to get invested in IUBB has waned to apathy. It’s unfortunate that our once blue blood championship caliber program has been reduced to hoping to hear our name called on selection Sunday but that’s exactly what I’m willing to accept right now because I don’t have confidence we can achieve much more than that sadly.

Kelvin Sampson was always going to fail at IU because Knight disciples didn’t want him there. He made mistakes ofcourse but there’s not one doubt the man can coach, and he above all others we hired could have won at the level IUBB was looking for. Woodson was a terrible hire that got lucky he was buddies with QB and had TJD to make him look a little bit successful.

Would agree with 99% of this with the exception of Crean who I think was the only willing decent coach at the time to want to take the job. He had been to a final 4 and developed some talent so while I agree Miller was definitely meh, I would argue Crean was above him but a tier below Sampson. Crean had deficiencies that were exposed at IU. He was good for what we needed him for but he was never the championship level coach those that hired him hoped he would be. Sampson can coach and would have won here. Until the old guard gets out of its own way, we will always be on the hunt for the next Bob Knight. Sampson wasn’t squeaky clean enough for the masses. He was never going to succeed because many just flat out didn’t want him coaching IUBB. We’ve made so many mistakes in hiring since firing BK. Davis being the biggest then Miller and Woodson closely to follow. CDD remains to be seen. Last year didn’t invoke a lot of confidence but time will tell.

The basketball program has been on life support. So for me yes, I’d take a few big 10 championships and a couple sweet 16 appearances. It’s been dead so long all I really hope for at this point is a tournament team yearly lol Tom Allen needed to go just as Crean needed to go when he went. Cig is a unicorn. Football is a cash cow for universities and if I had gun to head choose basketball or football I’m choosing football all day long. Hopefully CDD turns the program in a positive direction. But I am under no illusion anyone is doing what Cig did anytime soon.

Crean was what we needed at the time. Considering what we've had since, I think we would take anything remotely like that success now. He really had run out of steam recruiting when he was fired. He's a good guy, supports and talks highly of IU, and is good on tv. Would I want him coaching my team now? No. I think he's very knowledgeable but has deficiencies that showed when he was at IU. I've been so apathetic to the basketball program that nothing really gets me down especially with IUFB's rise from the ashes. My hope is we turn the corner as a tournament team and CDD can build something consistent. ETA: or Dusty fails in the NBA and comes back to IU to revive our dead basketball program LOL

That seems to be the rumor going around. How do you pay a hs guy you aren't POSITIVE won't sit your bench for a year learning. You can theorize all you want this is a day 1 guy, but sh*t happens and they get in, don't pick up the system, have some type of injury, aren't quite as advertised, et al. Now granted Cig is a master evaluator so likely it wouldn't but that's money wrapped up in potential over production. I can't blame the kids for chasing the money. Nothing is guaranteed. But also if you see the vision and the role you will have on the team and are willing to put in the work/compete then you could end up with a bigger payday in the future from IU and/or the NFL.

I am not surprised. They have money to pay, and he's probably gotten more than initially offered. They will be good in the Big 12. I don't see them winning a natty (their coaching staff doesn't impress me as much as other staffs), but they will play in the CFP with no other competition in the Big 12 to prevent them from getting there. ETA: maybe we get him in the portal in a few years...

For sure. and who knows there may be some type of long term plan in place for Haines to take over. I do think maybe he thinks about the NFL D coordinator position. I feel like Cig mentioned something in an interview I saw once about who knows if the NFL came calling regarding Bryant. It will be interesting to see if/when we lose other assistants. Wouldn't think Bostad would be looking to go anywhere unless the NFL comes around again and he's tired of recruiting. But how long can we keep Grant Cain/John Miller/Pat Kuntz et al We've got some good young guys in the program under them so hopefully they are sponges soaking up everything so they can move into those positions should be lose some of the guys. It says ALOT for Cig that he's been able to keep his staff together as long as he has with losing just this year his S/C guy (which will be interesting to see if that loss hurts the team and helps UT).

I got that impression as well. Both are younger guys and Bryant has a baby. I think the fact that Bryant can spend time with his family plus do what he loves which is head coach the defense is keeping him here. Not to mention they see what happened with Tino. It’s a risk to leave. I’d venture to guess Bryant would be ok if he failed as a hc…he’d likely get a D coordinator position quickly. But how much would he like working with the next guy. He’s been with Cig forever. I think the comfort level he has coupled with his success and his family time may just keep him here a while unless the NFL comes calling for D coordinator. Not convinced Shannahan would be as successful. Cig has a lot to do with the offense coupled with Bostad. I think it’s a collective and they are all pieces of that puzzle for success. While I know Haines has all of his coaches as well, I do believe he is the reason that D is as successful as it is. We continue to be lucky Cig can retain his staff. Have to enjoy the ride while they are all around.

Maybe a decommit coming we aren't aware of... Good flip. In Haines we trust!

I guess we should be glad he didn't come to IU then if his aspiration was always going to lead to the NBA. But I said it in the other thread, he would be top of my list in the next coaching search (should we need one) if he's not loving or succeeding in the NBA. Wishing him all the best. Really loved watching his UM team play this season.

My first thought was if it doesn't work out for IUBB with CDD and Dusty isn't loving the NBA we can go after him in a few years LOL. All of those thoughts aside, not sorry to see him leave UM and wish him the best in the NBA.

They are good at identifying talent and jumping on them. We need some more OL in the class. Bostad doing good work.

Really great get. Gotta keep him until signing day. Can’t like that quote enough ‘nobody does like Indiana.’