Mike Woodson to be next IUBB coach. Thad Matta to be associate AD

[BGleas 7,903]

5 minutes ago, FrenchConnection said:

The more I think about it, I think that your probably right.  My initial thought was that Stevens got cold feet because Ainge told him that if he does that, no NBA team will hire him and if he fails he’ll have to go back to mid-major coaching. And given our recent past, the chance of failure is pretty high.

Thats not something Ainge would say to him. Ainge and Wyc (the owner) don't operate that way, and they love and respect Stevens too much. 

[pumpfake 3,935]

Could it be like Andrew Luck's contract with the Colts? No, you can't prevent an employee from leaving for a job outside the league, but you can "own" their rights in that league.  Luck can't decide to come back and play for a team of his choice - he would still be under the terms of his previous contract.  Maybe Stevens' contract is set up so that if he left for a college job, he would effectively be unable to return to the NBA.

[Ephul 31]

4 minutes ago, pumpfake said:

Could it be like Andrew Luck's contract with the Colts? No, you can't prevent an employee from leaving for a job outside the league, but you can "own" their rights in that league.  Luck can't decide to come back and play for a team of his choice - he would still be under the terms of his previous contract.  Maybe Stevens' contract is set up so that if he left for a college job, he would effectively be unable to return to the NBA.

That is any contract in any league. You can't "quit" or "retire", and just come back into the league the next year and go where you want. When you sign any contract in professional sports, you can't leave and come back with any team you want. The team you signed a contract with has to release you, trade the rights to you, etc.

[Chris007 44,058]

33 minutes ago, BGleas said:

That can't be accurate. Stevens could resign. Boston can't stop him from coaching in college, only for another NBA team. 

I was told from someone who would know that he told us yes, then told Boston and was told he was under contract. That they were unwilling to let him out of his contract. Either way I think it worked out for the best.

[Hoosier1984 1,571]

4 minutes ago, Chris007 said:

I was told from someone who would know that he told us yes, then told Boston and was told he was under contract. That they were unwilling to let him out of his contract. Either way I think it worked out for the best.

If so, sounds like that relationship between him and Celtics will end well.

[Hoosierfan1901 6,252]

A few players are still in town...

 

[Hoosierfan1901 6,252]

 

[OKHOOSIER 2,256]

9 hours ago, Hardwood83 said:

In short I can't get excited about this because I think IU hired the wrong guy. I wouldn't say "it can't work" because it can.  I still have to agree with Wayne though, I don't see it working. 

Has nothing to do with optimism either since I really, REALLY want it to work too. Still this hire seems like a mess. We hired an old NBA hand just because he played at IU and wanted the job more than anyone else. That is nice, but not exactly prime qualifications. 

We then pulled in an (apparently) broken-down Matta to help fix all the blind spots that some pretend Woodson doesn't even have in the first place. Winning in the NCAA/B1G isn't easy obviously and MW has several hurdles. No doubt he has passion for IU, that will help buy him some time. He also obviously knows basketball. So have the last several IU coaches, including Bobby. Btw, Knight was younger when he was fired than Woodson is now (60 v 63). 

Can Woodson recruit? can he build a cohesive staff? Will he work well with Matta? Will the off the court demands get old? Will he have the energy to maintain this for 5+yrs? Will his NBA experience translate to the B1G?  Lot's of questions. There have been many reasonable arguments to answer each of these questions on this very site. But we don't know. There are plenty of other guys that we do know the answers, because they have already done it. I think this is the primary reason that Woodson wasn't on many people's top 10 list. He's an unknown that might work....now many on here state "I was hesitant, but he's enthusiastic so now I am too!" Ok, good. But that isn't what it takes to win.  My enthusiasm or your excitement means squat toward beating Purdue, Wisconsin and Northwestern.  We need a capable coach that can pull it all together in a short amount of time. I don't believe Mike Woodson is that guy. 

I appreciate the nostalgia, familiarity and comfort of having one of our own running the show. I don't believe that outweighs having the right coach though. To me the best guy is a proven winner (particularly in college) and is young enough to build and maintain that. Woodson is none of those things. So that is why I am not confident in his success. My hopes were dashed with Woodson's hiring, so I'll deal with it and hope for the best. Still, I have very low expectations and think we'll be in this painful position as a program again in 3-5yrs. I will relish being proven wrong and am not an "I told you so" @sshole, so won't appreciate it if I am right. 

 

I will tell you why I am excited and happy with the change in direction. I WAS NOT, a hire an IU guy guy (apologies). Brad was as close to an "IU guy" as I was interested in, until I really started digging into MW and the staffing possibilities. The MAJOR thing that sticks out here, is the general disdain for the hire among the brilliant all knowing media types. Some of the vitriol is almost laughable when talking about a guy who coached 30 years in the NBA. Second major thing to me, is the massive out pouring of support from NBA PLAYERS and the IU basketball alumni base. Not even being tepid, or staying silent, basically every Hoosier of note who either had major impact in college and  in the NBA has had nothing but glowing sentiment towards the hire. I remember Archie being a "slam dunk" wunderkind hire according to the all knowing media types. I remember TC being the guy who "made D-Wade" and generally loved by the media. What I don't remember was this level of support from IU alumni or players. I have to believe that if a bunch of former players now feel they can be part of the program, and expect success, they probably know better than I do. 

Soo, swinging back to my original statement about not wanting an IU guy. The reason I have changed my stance is 1. Not IU guy hasn't worked, 2. Maybe all this time, instead of actively ignoring or running away from the shadow of RMK, we should have been embracing it. Maybe this experiment doesn't work, but I can say I haven't been this excited about a hire at IU ever. Bring the family back together, run this ship like an NBA team and lets see what happens. I said before the shine needs to be brought back to this job before we can seriously consider it "elite" and attract the non IU type uber successful coach. Sorry for the wall of text, just wanted to share my thoughts as a convert. 

[IU Scott 2,375]

1 minute ago, Hooserfan1901 said:

A few players are still in town...

 

Nice seeing Race in this picture

[BGleas 7,903]

6 minutes ago, Chris007 said:

I was told from someone who would know that he told us yes, then told Boston and was told he was under contract. That they were unwilling to let him out of his contract. Either way I think it worked out for the best.

I'm not questioning you, I believe you were told that of course, but I still don't believe that happened. 

The Celtics can't prevent him from resigning and going to coach at a different level. 

As @pumpfake said, I believe they would still hold his NBA rights. Maybe that is what they were unwilling to give up? 

That I could believe, though that shouldn't stop Stevens from taking the IU job. If he ever came back to the NBA his team could just negotiate a 2nd round pick or something. 

[Bankshot 544]

1 minute ago, Hooserfan1901 said:

A few players are still in town...

 

Love this photo...I imagine CMW saying something like  "I was here...we were elite...best of the best...let me tell you what it was like...let me tell you what this is REALLY all about! We won championships!"

[Hoosierfan1901 6,252]

[IU Scott 2,375]

2 minutes ago, Hooserfan1901 said:

Don't see Franklin or Hunter

[OKHOOSIER 2,256]

3 minutes ago, Hooserfan1901 said:

Looks like he just told them some bad news lol. "You guys have not lived up to the standard, that changes today. BASELINE GO." For real though, they look defeated. Hoping Coach Woody can bring the confidence back that has sorely been missing.

[Justin Kotter 18]

7 minutes ago, Hooserfan1901 said:

 

Looks like Coach is given the boys a little history lesson!

[Hoosierfan1901 6,252]

2 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

Don't see Franklin or Hunter

Hunter is in the first picture I posted, in the black jacket. I think Franklin is somewhere in the back of the 2nd pict

[Hoosierfan222 734]

I expect Lander will be the next one we see return 

[LamarCheeks 18,822]

16 minutes ago, Hooserfan1901 said:

 

13 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

Don't see Franklin or Hunter

Isn't that Armaan next to Matta (in the black T-shirt with the red script  "Indiana"?

[IU Scott 2,375]

1 minute ago, LamarCheeks said:

 

Isn't that Armaan next to Matta (in the black T-shirt with the red script  "Indiana"?

I think that is Geronimo

[IU1988girl 43]

Great news.  

Personal note - Registered several years ago but haven't posted much.  Really liked Archie as a hire but hated the way things turned out for him but it was time for a change (once again).  Was hoping for Stevens like most everyone else but over the past few days I'm on board with Coach Woodson.  He is one of my favorite IU players.  I'm from Richmond, 1988 IU grad, and spent 24 years in Lexington/Frankfort before moving back to Indiana.  I'm proud to say that I never became an UK or Louisville fan.