General Coach Candidate News

[Jet812]

5 minutes ago, Golfman25 said:

Just a sarcastic comment on the over the top love for Stevens.  There are plenty of guys who could do the job.  
 

My real concern with Stevens his whether he really wants to do it,   2 weeks to decide is too long.  

Agreed.  He has known this day would come, for at least a year, the longer this drags out the more likely it indicates reluctance & that he or others need convincing.  I’m an admitted skeptic & hope I’m wrong, but if he’s coming, I think the deal is already done. This is possible, but imo, unlikely.  The longer it drags on, the less likely. The good news is, that we’ll know well before the season is over, giving plenty of time to pursue other options.

[MrBBall]

14 minutes ago, RoadToZion said:

Buzzed.

What’s the good word on coaching from your end?

[LamarCheeks]

14 minutes ago, TargaFlorio said:

Too often schools and pro teams try to do copycat hires. "Coach Cig was super successful so let's find a basketball version of Cig!" Juwan Howard had a nice start at Michigan, so schools (including IU) said "we need to find our version of Juwan." We didn't set out to hire Woodson but Howard's success gave more credence to his candidacy when other names fell away. Both Howard and Woodson have now flamed out. 

TBH, I don't think Howard's early success had anything to do with what IU did. Quinn Buckner pushed through the hiring of his friend -- that's what IU did. Howard was 42-17 in his first two years. He could've been 17-42 and it wouldn't have had any effect on our decision. That was all about Buckner bullying through the hiring of his old pal. 

[coonhounds]

Just to add more confusion.  Plane going from Bedford, MA to Philly the same time as Pfau's plane. 

Isnt this when one of our insiders should jump in and say. ITS ALL HAPPENING!

Sent from my SM-S926U using Tapatalk

[Dave from Dayton]

9 minutes ago, Jet812 said:

Agreed.  He has known this day would come, for at least a year, the longer this drags out the more likely it indicates reluctance & that he or others need convincing.  I’m an admitted skeptic & hope I’m wrong, but if he’s coming, I think the deal is already done. This is possible, but imo, unlikely.  The longer it drags on, the less likely. The good news is, that we’ll know well before the season is over, giving plenty of time to pursue other options.

What's the hurry?

Just because fans want an answer.  Immediate gratification R us.

Maybe Brad has to get back from his meeting with the Lealtor checking out houses on Lake Monroe.  Maybe Brad's better half is seeking to become the representative of all of the basketball players on the Pacers as well as the Celtics.   Maybe Brad wants two weeks and other coaches are still coaching games.  

Patience grasshopper.

[Shoes_N_Shorts]

20 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Well then...

• McCollum had a 395-91 D2 record - 81% winning. 
• There's another young coach now in D1 that had a 337-69 record in D2 - 83% winning, 
  • AND had a 32 win season in Division 1 last year, in the same conference that McCollum is in
  • And has stepped up a level this year and is 14-10, 7-4 (for a team that was 13-20, 5-13 the year before he got there) in a much tougher conference.

So tell me, why in the hell is Ben McCollum a better candidate than Josh Schertz? (Answer: He's not).

I think this is a great discussion- thanks for the research. 

I'd point out that Indiana St. was 1-4 vs quad 1 in 2024. Drake is 2-0. 

I think McCollum is the real deal, but only time will tell. 

Edited February 14, 2025 by Shoes_N_Shorts
correction: 2-0 vs Q1, 3-0 vs P4

[RoadToZion]

5 minutes ago, MrBBall said:

What’s the good word on coaching from your end?

Just turned my phone on after a few days. Nothing new I don’t think. Besides another 500 pages on this thread. Still Brad or Dusty. Why are people talking about Cronin?
 

65% Brad, 30% Dusty, 5% other. I’ll check back in Sunday. 

[Chris007]

It doesn't look like I missed anything last night. A couple of catfights. Happy Valentine's Day my fellow BTB'ers. I'm only giving out love today to everyone even BKG.

Looks like some promising flights this morning, I'm sure it's nothing :-)

Can't wait to watch UCLA come to town tonight, my first time seeing them in person. 

I think it's going to be a beautiful weekend in Bloomington. Love is in the air. Deep down I think everyone loves Indiana. It just feels like home.

Don't forget chocolate and flowers for the ladies and beer and liquor for ourselves. 

[Home Jersey]

Coaching searches are normally a lot like professional sport league drafts in that much of the time you’re picking based off of projections of future performance, not previous achievement. IU, with the luxury of NIL, can hopefully land a proven P5 commodity this cycle. Archie had a better resume than McCollum on paper but I don’t think he’s a better coach just because he’s spent more time in D1. Probably how highly (or not) you think of D2 ball / P5 assistant vs HC at lower levels, influences how much you like or hate McCollum as a candidate

[Dave from Dayton]

9 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

Coaching searching are normally a lot like professional sport league drafts in that much of the time you’re picking based off of projections of future performance, not previous achievement. IU, with the luxury of NIL, can hopefully land a proven P5 commodity this cycle. Archie had a better resume than McCollum on paper but I don’t think he’s a better coach just because he’s spent more time in D1. Probably how highly (or not) you think of D2 ball / P5 assistant vs HC at lower levels, influences how much you like or hate McCollum as a candidate

Actually, I think that just as important as the other variables are...it is imperative that the coach be given the green light to rid the roster of any and all players deemed to not buy in to the new coach's schemes.

I'm still bothered with the thought that IU administration handcuffed Archie's roster selection process.  I probably am wrong, but I really want any new coach to succeed and be thoroughly enabled by the administration.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

54 minutes ago, kottke said:

Why Philadelphia?

Duh.  It's Valentine's Day and Philly is the City of Brotherly Love.

[OldBuddy67]

10 hours ago, ap2345 said:

Patience is a virtue. It’s been 25 years, so what’s a few more days. Dolson knows what he’s doing

I want to believe this and probably do! With that being said for those with good sources, is Dolson truly being enabled to do his job this time with no outside interference from Buckner and any of the other idiots on the BOT?

[OKHOOSIER]

1 minute ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Duh.  It's Valentine's Day and Philly is the City of Brotherly Love.

Fire up the Jay Wright rumor mill! 

[steubenhoosier]

1 hour ago, jeffincol said:

I'm trying to make sense of this, but Ned Pfau's plane N53HA is on the move again this morning.

Could be as simple as it's Valentine's weekend and someone wants to get out of the cold and crappy NE weather and treat their loved one to a warm vacay.

[Chris007]

Just now, OldBuddy67 said:

I want to believe this and probably do! With that being said for those with good sources, is Dolson truly being enabled to do his job this time with no outside interference from Buckner and any of the other idiots on the BOT?

100%. Everyone has been told to stay out of the way in multiple ways and times. Let Scott do his job. 

[reconmkd]

I think the X'verse is possibly losing it! Lmao!

[jimsorgi]

7 minutes ago, RoadToZion said:

Just turned my phone on after a few days. Nothing new I don’t think. Besides another 500 pages on this thread. Still Brad or Dusty. Why are people talking about Cronin?
 

65% Brad, 30% Dusty, 5% other. I’ll check back in Sunday. 

We just want to trap Cronin to get his pot of gold. 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

8 hours ago, RaceToTheTop said:

I think one thing hidden in all of this is that with IU's NIL, pretty much any coach we are talking about getting will have access to get better players/recruits than at any stop they've been at.  There really hasn't been a shortage of talent under Woodson, just a lack of roster construction DESPITE the fact that the style of play should have discouraged many from coming.

But without a quality coach, a purchased roster won't mean crap.  Woody has proven that.  And if we can't start consistently putting a quality product on the court, that NIL money won't last forever at the current levels. 

[Stuhoo]

23 minutes ago, Shoes_N_Shorts said:

I think this is a great discussion- thanks for the research. 

I'd point out that Indiana St. was 1-4 vs quad 1 in 2024. Drake is 2-0. 

I think McCollum is the real deal, but only time will tell. 

Lots of statistics can be cited to compare Josh Schertz and Ben McCollum. The bottom line? Their resumes are remarkably similar; McCollum has more Division 2 tourney success but a slightly lesser D2 won/loss record, Schertz has much more D1 experience and now experience and success in a better conference. 

Schertz has a much more modern playing style and pace.

If I showed people a blind comparison most would likely choose Schertz, but it's splitting hairs.

So my summary conclusions:

1. Why in the hell are some people so intrigued by the prospect of McCollum but not about Schertz also?
2. Why in the hell would anyone prefer either of them to McDermott, Buzz, McCasland, and many, many others that have substantial Division 1 accomplishments?

My theory? The reason so many are more intrigued by McCollum than Schertz is because

McCollum looks more like this: 

 

Whereas Schertz (and Buzz lol) looks more like this:

[Dave from Dayton]

2 minutes ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Duh.  It's Valentine's Day and Philly is the City of Brotherly Love.

Fish Town...feeling strong now!