General Coach Candidate News

[JustWinBaby 666]

Just now, rcbowla said:

People automatically disregard Donovan, yet think Stevens is a real possibility. I don't think it'll be either but Donovan is actually more realistic imo. He is not going to be coaching the Bulls or likely any NBA team next season. Also there were reports (Aaron Torres) that Donovan was willing to listen and possibly take the UK job last year had UK been willing to wait. Don't know how true that is and it doesn't completely add up but I think Torres does know some stuff. Is Donovan just going to be done coaching at age 59? Who knows but I'd say he's much more attainable at this point in time than Brad Stevens.

All fair points.

By no means do I believe I’m absolutely correct in my theorizing. I’m simply presenting the arguments. I realize that I don’t actually know anything and it’s likely that I’m wrong. I more or less am just trying to put together enough contextual evidence to justify not being considered delusional for thinking Stevens may be coming.

[rcbowla 7,791]

I'll also add that I thought it to be telling that when the search began that Thamel mentioned Dolson's decision not being affected by timing. Essentially said that he'd wait as long as needed to get the right guy. That would actually coalesce with Torres' "wait" and UK report. Again, I'm not suggesting Donovan to be a real possibility but he's not as far fetched as he has been in years past.

[Silat Player 1,257]

39 minutes ago, 12345Brad said:

ItsBillyDonovan?!

Yeah, this is the name that popped into my head too...

[JustWinBaby 666]

2 hours ago, rcbowla said:

People automatically disregard Donovan, yet think Stevens is a real possibility. I don't think it'll be either but Donovan is actually more realistic imo. He is not going to be coaching the Bulls or likely any NBA team next season. Also there were reports (Aaron Torres) that Donovan was willing to listen and possibly take the UK job last year had UK been willing to wait. Don't know how true that is and it doesn't completely add up but I think Torres does know some stuff. Is Donovan just going to be done coaching at age 59? Who knows but I'd say he's much more attainable at this point in time than Brad Stevens.

For the record I haven't discounted Donovan, or really anyone for that matter. I welcome a Billy D discussion. I just haven't seen much chatter or rumors about him so there's just not a lot of material to work with. But I can certainly see the vision. Would be an astounding hire for Dolson to pull out of his back pocket. If Donovan is the guy, I will be shocked, impressed, and thrilled.

[HoosierInParadise 1,107]

Hamilton was absolutely persuaded to step down and retire. They’ve been awful the last three years and he’s currently being sued by nearly a dozen former players over NIL issues. Obviously he earned a lot more grace than Woodson, but he was absolutely told his time was up.
Either way, it’s all irrelevant. A coach hasn’t been announced because one hasn’t been hired, not because IU is doing Woodson a favor. 

A coach hasn't been announced because one was hired and said that he doesn't want it to get out until IU's season is over, not because IU is doing Woodson a favor. Well that was easy....anyone else care to make another version of this statement where you have no idea one way or the other if it's true, but act as though it's 100% fact.

[IUBtown 425]

5 hours ago, AH1971 said:

Who cares? Leonard Hamilton, who has been at Florida State a hell of a lot longer than Woodson has at IU, announced his retirement a month ago and Florida State hired and announced their new coach within 2 weeks. The reason nobody has been announced is because nobody has been hired. 

FSU is also not making the tournament.  A bit of a different situation. 

[hoosierbannerd 2,747]

7 hours ago, JustWinBaby said:

I realize I’m quoting my own post but bear with me.

This search has objectively been very strange and made little to no sense by most metrics. By this point, we generally would have heard a lot of noise about which coaches had been contacted, with most such info coming via the agent world. Instead we have heard almost nothing.

What little chatter there has been does not add up either. We apparently vetted Beard and moved on. And we apparently have looked at McCollum and Brownell. There are rumors that we spoke with Drew and Otzelberger, but again those rumors are without substantiation.

The belief from those adjacent to the program (donors and such) is that Dolson has his guy (some have named him – Stevens – and others have not). And Rabjohns has confirmed that he has a donor source that has repeatedly told him that IU has their guy (Stevens, specifically). But Rabjohns does not believe it to be true. What he’s basing that on is not clear.

To sum up, what leads me to personally believe that Dolson does in fact have his guy (that guy being Brad Stevens) is the following:

1) We seem to have not made any strong pushes for other coaches. Perhaps McCollum, but even then if that’s the only coach we’ve truly pursued, then that simply doesn’t add up. Why wouldn’t we even give someone like Will Wade a look, for instance? Compare this to other schools’ recent coaching searches, such as NC State – where it became very evident early on that they were pursuing Ryan Odom and Will Wade. As far as we know, Indiana is not currently pursuing anyone.

2) I don’t believe Dolson would have been able to force out Woodson if he did not have a clear path to a significantly better replacement already in place. If it is true that we are getting Brad Stevens, he would’ve had to have been working that angle for months if not years and have some sort of understanding between the two of them in place long before now. And he would’ve had to have had something concrete to show the decision-makers and administrators that he had something in the works.

3) Those connected to donors are hearing that we have our guy, and have had him from the beginning. Dolson would’ve had to rally together funding for a major hire of this magnitude, so it makes perfect sense that a certain group of donors are in the know. This does not prove anything, but it’s merely another data point.

4) The Cody Zeller thing is interesting as well; there was a rumor not long ago that he was joining IU in a sort of GM/front office capacity, as part of a deal to bring Stevens here. If anyone recalls, Brad recruited Cody heavily out of high school, and nearly landed him. The two have maintained a good relationship over the course of their NBA careers, so this rumor makes perfect sense. And then Zeller starts showing up at HS games and then is seated behind the bench at the IU-Washington game. Then it comes out the next day that Houston waived him. And the rumors swirl that he’s being hired by IU. And it all begins to add up that maybe, just maybe the Brad Stevens and Cody Zeller rumor was true? I realize this one is a bit of a stretch, but again I’m just trying to pool together data points.

5) Add in everything I mentioned in the above quoted comment, and I think we have a fairly compelling case to believe that there really is something in the works behind the scenes with Brad Stevens. I could be completely wrong and look stupid whenever our new coach is announced. But I do think that there are a lot of genuine reasons to believe there’s something happening here. The general silence around this coaching search only fuels the speculation further, and in my opinion points towards Stevens.

Sorry for the super long post!

I like the cut of your jib mister...

[str8baller 6,745]

6 hours ago, rcbowla said:

People automatically disregard Donovan, yet think Stevens is a real possibility. I don't think it'll be either but Donovan is actually more realistic imo. He is not going to be coaching the Bulls or likely any NBA team next season. Also there were reports (Aaron Torres) that Donovan was willing to listen and possibly take the UK job last year had UK been willing to wait. Don't know how true that is and it doesn't completely add up but I think Torres does know some stuff. Is Donovan just going to be done coaching at age 59? Who knows but I'd say he's much more attainable at this point in time than Brad Stevens.

I put him in the Tony Bennett category of “would be a home run but the timing is awful.” Also, like Bennett, who knows if he is even coming back to college ball. If he wasn’t willing to step down early for the UK job it means he likely wants to still pursue opportunities in the NBA. If he’s anything like his mentor, Donovan has another ten years of championship level coaching left. 

 

Stevens (to the extent anyone credibly believes he’s a candidate) has the same issue. Up and leaving the Celtics job in the middle of a title run is a bit of a black mark for when he wants to return to the NBA. IU can’t wait until June. Just one of the many reasons it isn’t happening.