General Coach Candidate News

[Golfman25]

4 minutes ago, Hornsby said:

I don't see any world where Woodson ever gets fired with his best buddy protecting him. Best case is they pay Woodson tons of money to step down.

 

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I would agree.  He's not going to get "fired" per se and lead out of the building.  He'll retire to "spend more time with his family."  The point though is not is the time to "encourage" that retirement.  If Quinn is the gatekeeper he needs to step up for the good of the program.  

[Hoosierfan2017]

I’m approaching “anyone but Woodson” territory. We can’t go through another year of this. 

[Stuhoo]

5 minutes ago, Truthhurts said:

Schertz should be the guy. He’s an Xs and Os savant a la Stevens. And in the NIL era, at IU, you don’t have to be a great recruiter to get great recruits. 
 

If IU retains Woodson (and my guess is we will), someone else is going to pick up Schertz this offseason and IU will be miserable watching him take a lesser program to the final four within 4-6 years. Watch. 
 

This is the chance to finally get things right. Don’t hire to win the press conference (Cream, Archie, Woodson); hire to win games. Schertz wins, period. And his scheme is mathematically/ analytically aligned with modern basketball. 

Welcome to the board!

[IndyResident16]

Not really sure this job requires you to be a X's and O's basketball savant to succeed. Really just need a guy who can identify and develop talent and recruit guys who play not only hard, but smart basketball for 40 minutes. I watch guys like Pearl, Beard, or Sampson and they aren't out-scheming anybody. But their dudes are the biggest and baddest on the court and have the willpower to get it done. 

[DChoosier]

12 hours ago, Golfman25 said:

I just hope the Trio of Dolson, Witten and Buckner learned something from the Cig hire.  

Cig has a process and talks about following that process which leads to success.  We need the same from a basketball coach.  

I agree with you, and am fired-up about Cig, but let’s not forget that Cig hasn’t won a single BT game yet.

[str8baller]

14 hours ago, Hoosier987 said:

Yup. There would be no five year show clause if we didn’t tell on ourselves and did what 99.9% (us being the .01) of other programs did…go on their merry way and keep winning. Of course many of those programs were doing far worse…like paying players, fake classes, hiring prostitutes, etc. regarding personnel, those could’ve easily been fixed…but hey, at least we didn’t have an arrest. 

I’m sure this makes sense to some people until they remember he was caught at Oklahoma for the same thing. Remember the part where he came in on probation?  
 

I guess I will listen to your argument about how Oklahoma is the paragon of virtue like IU, and he wouldn’t have been caught there if Oklahoma didn’t run a squeaky clean program too.  But I doubt I’ll buy it.  
 

If he got caught at OU he was destined to get caught at IU. It was a stupid hire made by the same administration that made all our other stupid hires. The suggestion that we could just cheat our way out of stupidity is…well, you know…

[go iu bb]

9 minutes ago, DChoosier said:

I agree with you, and am fired-up about Cig, but let’s not forget that Cig hasn’t won a single BT game yet.

He hasn't lost one yet, either!

[str8baller]

22 hours ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

Calipari at 8.5.

Surprised people don’t want Cal. He’s always on thin ice at UK with fans calling for his head. The slimy parts about him (paying players) are now legal. And if things go south, he’s contractually obligated to show up to Assembly Hall to get heckled. 

[Banksyrules]

What do we know about Danny Sprinkle? Utah States coach.  They're ranked in the top 20.  I've been there and that's real hard to do considering it's primarily a Mormon school (attendance wise) and obviously doesn't have the resources we do.  Pretty campus but that's about it. 

[Golfman25]

59 minutes ago, DChoosier said:

I agree with you, and am fired-up about Cig, but let’s not forget that Cig hasn’t won a single BT game yet.

Way to crush my dreams.  Thanks.  :) 

[str8baller]

1 hour ago, IndyResident16 said:

I watch guys like Pearl, Beard, or Sampson and they aren't out-scheming anybody. But their dudes are the biggest and baddest on the court and have the willpower to get it done. 

I agree with this. I don’t really agree you can have a mediocre to XOs guy. I think you have to have an above average guy, at least.  
 

Putting their baggage aside, those guys have combined 4 FF’s in 62 seasons of coaching (by my count) and most of those seasons are in a major conference.  One FF every 10-15 years isn’t going to cut it. The problem with not being good at XOs is that by the S16, E8, FF, etc… you inevitably run into some coaches who are really good at X&Os. 

[IndyResident16]

46 minutes ago, str8baller said:

I agree with this. I don’t really agree you can have a mediocre to XOs guy. I think you have to have an above average guy, at least.  
 

Putting their baggage aside, those guys have combined 4 FF’s in 62 seasons of coaching (by my count) and most of those seasons are in a major conference.  One FF every 10-15 years isn’t going to cut it. The problem with not being good at XOs is that by the S16, E8, FF, etc… you inevitably run into some coaches who are really good at X&Os. 

Beard has been a D1 head coach for 8 seasons and is about to take his 4th program to the tournament. It’ll be #5 next year whoever hires him. He was a national runner-up at Texas Tech for crying out loud. Sampson has taken multiple schools to the F4 and Houston is now in a big boy conference. Houston is a top 5 program in the country the last 5-6 seasons after being irrelevant for the last 40. Pearl has lead two football schools to #1 rankings.

All three of those guys are top 5 coaches in today’s game (along with Few and Self). Anybody IU hires is going to be underwhelming compared to those 3. We’ve already had one of them and the other 2 would come here in a second. We won’t even pick up the phone. It’s sad honestly.

[Magnanimous]

Reviving my tradition in these threads to throw Ben McCollum’s name back in the candidate hat :). He’s gone 82-12 since Woody’s first season and won another D2 national championship.

[SamIam]

Alright I have some thoughts after reading this thread. Feel free to respond.

First, Woodson isn't going anywhere. I do think things will be a little better next year. The shooting problem is so obvious that he will be forced to go out and find someone. Unfortunately the biggest problem is the system. I still haven't seen anything to suggest that he will go away from playing 2 bigs, and until that happens we aren't going to be good. Defense getting worse every year is very worrying. Luckily any coach could come in and keep all our recruiting progress just by retaining Walsh. 

The good news is we have 3 good candidates: Shertz, Shrews, and May. 

Anyone who says Pearl or Beard is not serious. Pearl is a known scumbag. Its not just cheating the NCAA - which apparently this board no longer cares about - Chuck Person caught a federal charge. I get the people who want Beard. His brand of basketball is modern Bob Knight, and he's one of the best coaches in the game. But there are things bigger than basketball and I don't want my alma mater hiring him. Go read the police report. There were bite marks. 

Shertz is great. I love his ISU teams, but I worry that his teams sometimes drop games when they cannot hit their 3's. That being said his offense is a layup line, and an absolute treat to watch, and he is one of the best talent evaluators in the game right now. He's lost damn near every recruiting battle he's had in the last 3 years and he still got Avila and Conwell because no one else was looking. Imagine him with a real recruiting apparatus. If you think he is the guy, you prob need to go get him now, no connections to Indiana so he will be hard to lure away from any other good job.

Shrews is a bit of the same, but more proven. He's my top choice atm. He should not be judged by this year at ND, he would lock down the state, and we would be fun. He has some of the best relationships in the state and especially at La Lu. Mullins, Sisley would commit immediately and Haralson wouldn't be far behind. Also important to note that Shrews' rosters at PSU played small because those were the only guys he could get (and he still won). When he was OC at Purdue they were able to play through Trevion Williams so he can play that way as well.  If you give him our budget I have no doubt we would be a monster.  Protege of Stevens and Painter, Indiana native. Young guy. Family man. Loves this state more than anyone. Knows the portal, knows recruiting. Plays a good brand and is by all accounts an incredible man. 

May is an IU guy, he's young, he plays a modern brand like the other two but one thing I love about his teams is that he can win in every way. Not hitting threes? They will drive on you. They can beat you through the post. Last year they proved they could lock you down. It's never one guy with him, he develops everyone to defend, shoot, and drive so they are crazy versatile. That is what wins in the tourney, you have to be able to win in different ways. He is NOT CAM. FAU was nothing before him and they have successfully jumped to the American with a starting lineup with the following heights: 6-0. 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, 7-0. Dayton succeeded before Archie and after him. The people shitting on him don't know him. FAU's gym holds less than a third as much as ISU's. The fact that they went to a F4 is a freaking miracle and we may just need a miracle worker. 

I think any one of these guys would be a success. The good news is I am 99% sure Shrews and May would leave almost any job for the IU opening. May will likely take L'Ville, OSU, or UM next year but I don't think he would have a problem leaving any of those to take IU. Shrews will 1000% leave ND for us. Next year the picture will begin to take shape, May will get a shot at the Power 5 level and we will see if he is up to it. Shrews will have all his young guys for another year. 

This season sucks but we have honestly good options for the post-Woodson world. I get we have been hurt in the past but there is so much opportunity to get this next hire right. 

[Home Jersey]

5 minutes ago, SamIam said:

The good news is we have 3 good candidates: Shertz, Shrews, and May. 

I like these 3 as a short list of reasonable candidates. Think all would be able to put a better product on the floor than we're seeing.

[str8baller]

2 minutes ago, IndyResident16 said:

Bears has been a D1 head coach for 8 seasons and is about to take his 4th program to the tournament. It’ll be #5 next year whoever hires him. He was a nationally runner-up at Texas Tech for crying out loud. Sampson has taken multiple schools to the F4 and Houston is now in a big boy conference. Houston is a top 5 program in the country the last 5-6 seasons after being irrelevant for the last 40. Pearl has lead two football schools to #1 rankings.

All three of those guys are top 5 coaches in today’s game (along with Few and Self). Anybody IU hires is going to be underwhelming compared to those 3. We’ve already had one of them and the other 2 would come here in a second. We won’t even pick up the phone. It’s sad honestly.

Beard may be the exception given he’s coached the least, but he lost the title game to a better coach. And Bennett and Sampson coached at the same place so you could compare their records there to see who is the better coach.  
 

There’s also a reason those guys coach at basketball backwaters—the aforementioned baggage. Some guys aren’t made for the spotlight and are better off lurking in the shadows. Sampson proved he didn’t have the personality for a job like IU when he cracked under the pressure and immediately reverted to his old ways that landed him on probation. I suspect Beard would face a similar obstacle when confronted with the pressure of coaching at a place like IU. Morality aside, he couldn’t navigate the pressures of a much smaller job at Texas. 

[Golfman25]

18 minutes ago, SamIam said:

Alright I have some thoughts after reading this thread. Feel free to respond.

 Luckily any coach could come in and keep all our recruiting progress just by retaining Walsh. 



Most a good, well thought out post.  But how do you call one signee for the 2024 class after 3 years on the job, "recruiting progress." 

[HoosierTrav]

4 hours ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

I’m approaching “anyone but Woodson” territory. We can’t go through another year of this. 

Honestly, I think we’re going to have to. 

[SamIam]

36 minutes ago, Golfman25 said:

Most a good, well thought out post.  But how do you call one signee for the 2024 class after 3 years on the job, "recruiting progress." 

I don't, but what inroads we do have in 25 are all from Walsh and our one signee is also a Walsh recruit.

[HoosierTrav]

37 minutes ago, Golfman25 said:

Most a good, well thought out post.  But how do you call one signee for the 2024 class after 3 years on the job, "recruiting progress." 

He can correct me if I’m wrong I think trying to get across here, is that Walsh primarily the reason for any of our recruiting success we’ve had recently. Personally, I agree with this. If the new staff comes in, I think one of the most important first steps, they would need to take, would be retaining Walsh somehow..