General Coach Candidate News

[Shoes_N_Shorts 134]

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 by Shoes_N_Shorts
correction: 2-0 vs Q1, 3-0 vs P4

[RoadToZion 921]

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 52,621]

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 11,814]

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 3,741]

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 87,395]

54 minutes ago, kottke said:

Why Philadelphia?

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

[OldBuddy67 301]

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 4,609]

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 1,483]

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 52,621]

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 4,666]

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

[jimsorgi 310]

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 87,395]

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 84,774]

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 3,741]

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!

[JSHoosier 21,415]

I'm not sure those flights mean much, unless I'm missing something (very possible). Looks like the one from Hanscom is arriving in Philly about the time Pfau's is departing Philly.

[ib4iu 443]

54 minutes ago, jeffincol said:

Have no idea

If you look at the Boston airport (Bedford) that is close to Stevens home and where the C’s fly out of there is also a flight to Philadelphia scheduled for later today. 

[OKHOOSIER 4,609]

6 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

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

I’d be fine with McCollum, I just think we all believe it’s a risk we can’t take. We need a proven commodity, which is why I don’t hate the idea of a Cronin or Brownell (yuck) or Buzz as much as the general consensus. They’d come and get us back in the tournament every year, and even if they got canned after 4 years and we did this again, I’m convinced the program would be in a better spot than today. I don’t think we can project that with certainty around BC (though I think he probably will be successful). 

[Home Jersey 11,814]

3 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

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 win/loss record, Schertz has much more D1experience 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?

 

This is not my position, but my honest responses to your questions: 

1. Because he won 4 D2 national titles 
2. Because people think he has the upside to win national titles and those coaches, while having higher floors, also have lower ceilings.

I'm willing to take a higher floor with some upside after the last 8 years, but I will be jealous if someone else hits the lotto big time. 

[kottke 896]

29 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).

You are 100% correct and have reminded me that I've completely forgotten about Schertz! Screw McCollum, let's get Schertz!

In fact, last year at this time, I was desperately hoping they'd fire Woody so we wouldn't miss out on May or Schertz as potential replacements. 

I now remember posting this last year: