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

[NOLA Hoosier 1,267]

5 minutes ago, southernindianahoosier2 said:

Any inside info? Or is that a gut feeling? I mean the practice facility is nice but you have to compare to the rest of Big10 a few years ago they ranked the b10 jobs and IU was like 6th in facilities. I’m excited for this hire.... but IU needs a serious refresh. I’d go as far to see we need to bring the bison mascot back, etc.


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No inside info, just gut. The key will be if Thad stays for a couple years to set the program up, and if homerun assistants come in to help with recruiting. Dolson seemed like he wanted Arch out, welcome back the former players, get a guy with a good media personality to be a face for the program, and start to bring IU into the modern game with an NBA style.

The thing that’s got me most excited is we now have a lot of “IU guys” not there just because they’re IU guys, but because they’re passionate about where the program is going. That’s already far better than just a couple years ago. 

[OKHOOSIER 1,955]

22 minutes ago, Hardwood83 said:

This wasn't directed to me, but since I'm of a similar opinion I'll respond. It's not that I think Woodson can't______________. Who knows? He's never done ________________. He's spent his entire career in the NBA. That knowledge might translate, it might not. Spin it however you want his HC record is not stellar (.463). Oh, yeah, he's old too. My primary disappointment is not that I hate Woodson, it's that I think there were so many better options. Guys that are currently coaching in the NCAA. Guys that have a proven record of doing what we want them to do. Not hoping and wishing- but past performance indicating they will continue to succeed. Why didn't we hire an assistant from the Phoenix Suns or T-Wolves, surely one of their guys knows b-ball! We all know why, Woodson got the job because he's an IU letterman. Now we HOPE that "passion" and "understanding" magically turns into wins. I find that to be a 3rd grade mentality, pure fantasy. Hire someone that has shown they can do the job, not who you want it to be. I don't care if this is Woodson's "dream job." I wanna be an astronaut. Neither of us is qualified. Tell me he's the best guy for the job? Top 3? No, no one believes that. Definition of settling. Hugely disappointing. 

Guys keep bringing up his winning percentage in the NBA, and maybe it is because people don't understand or watch the NBA, but .463 is far from terrible. In fact it it about average all time, including the ABA. People love this one around here, so if you throw out his first two seasons a la crean, in Atlanta where the team he inherited was hot trash, even though the win total improved, his coaching record becomes .557 and right on about the top 50 NBA coaches of all time. Also, it takes him .002, 2 thousandths of a point off the current head coach at Boston's career average which stands at a blistering .559. Winning in the NBA is hard. Very hard. Rick Pitino is considered "not a failure in the NBA" and his lifetime record is .466, and he, despite his misgivings, was/is a pretty decent college basketball coach. The numbers are easy to point to, but they don't mean near as much in the NBA as they do in college, and are not a real accurate barometer of whether or not a guy would/could be successful in college.

[Shoes_N_Shorts 99]

1 hour ago, str8baller said:

With a loaded roster left by his buddy Dean. (I mean...Davis took Knights players to a FF.) Then what? He never recruited and bolted on the job leaving nothing for Doherty. Who ironically recruited the national championship team for ol’ Roy. 
 

Those were still two bad hires that nobody else would’ve made. To unc’s credit they corrected them quickly... unlike IU. 

Not directing this at you personally, but I see this take everywhere. 
1. Davis took those players farther than Knight himself ever did. There is a lot to be said for letting players play and grow in confidence. 
 

2. Davis recruited the hell out of those guys, especially Newton and Moye among others. They were just as much his guys as Knight’s, maybe moreso. 
 

I encourage anyone who hasn’t yet to listen to A.J. Guyton’s interview with him. Those players loved Mike Davis.

*end rant
 

[OGIUAndy 759]

8 minutes ago, BadgerVol said:

Not gonna go that road with you. I’ll name names “NOT Stevens” and then you’ll just say they wouldn’t come regardless of the money we thru at them. So you. Can take your “win.” Woodson is the best candidate we could have gotten and we should all be thrilled at such a great hire.

Kudos.

No one has to be happy with any hire, but the deed has been done. IMHO the assistant staff will be as important if not more so than ever before. So let's hope we get a good group. Hunter would be a steal if they kept him. 

[mdiu28 1,752]

5 minutes ago, BadgerVol said:

Not gonna go that road with you. I’ll name names “NOT Stevens” and then you’ll just say they wouldn’t come regardless of the money we thru at them. So you. Can take your “win.” Woodson is the best candidate we could have gotten and we should all be thrilled at such a great hire.

Kudos.

I have no idea what you're talking about. You'll never see me tell anyone what they should feel about anything. 

Before you just assume I'm trying to "win" something, I'm not thrilled with the hire either but like most, I'll get behind him and give him a shot. Just asked a question. 

[BadgerVol 23]

1 minute ago, OGIUAndy said:

No one has to be happy with any hire, but the deed has been done. IMHO the assistant staff will be as important if not more so than ever before. So let's hope we get a good group. Hunter would be a steal if they kept him. 

I agree. SOOO hoping to have a GREAT staff. Not even one guy that fans say “who the heck is this dude and why is he coaching college hoops??” 

[Magisterium 377]

42 minutes ago, southernindianahoosier2 said:

My only worry is that IU needs some serious refreshing. Uniforms, Facilities, some traditions, etc.. can he himself or can he bring someone on to make those changes? 

not sure what can be done in regard to facilities, except maybe renovate/expand Cook Hall somehow?

[southernindianahoosier2 902]

No inside info, just gut. The key will be if Thad stays for a couple years to set the program up, and if homerun assistants come in to help with recruiting. Dolson seemed like he wanted Arch out, welcome back the former players, get a guy with a good media personality to be a face for the program, and start to bring IU into the modern game with an NBA style.
The thing that’s got me most excited is we now have a lot of “IU guys” not there just because they’re IU guys, but because they’re passionate about where the program is going. That’s already far better than just a couple years ago. 

I mean there were big complaints with Tom Creans program of playing a ton of cupcakes. The fans pointed it out and Archie solved that problem. I feel like the fans are pointing out the issues of a refresh so I’m hopeful the same happens.

I want to hire anyone for a role who says it’s their Dream Job. I’m exited.


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[BadgerVol 23]

1 minute ago, mdiu28 said:

I have no idea what you're talking about. You'll never see me tell anyone what they should feel about anything. 

Before you just assume I'm trying to "win" something, I'm not thrilled with the hire either but like most, I'll get behind him and give him a shot. Just asked a question. 

If you couldn’t see the condescending tone in your own post so be it. I’m not dipping my foot into it. If all you did was “ask a question” then just ask it. But whatever.

I’ll get behind out coach. I hated Crean a lot more. I eventually closed my eyes, plugged my nose and took the medicine. Eventually bought my “Crimson and Crean” shirt I eventually pitched. I’ll do it again with Woodson.

Would be nice to hire a coach FOR ONCE that we aren’t all arguing about why we need to “give the guy a chance”because instead we are all flipping out with excitement. 

[mdiu28 1,752]

1 minute ago, BadgerVol said:

If you couldn’t see the condescending tone in your own post so be it. I’m not dipping my foot into it. If all you did was “ask a question” then just ask it. But whatever.

 I’ll get behind out coach. I hated Crean a lot more. I eventually closed my eyes, plugged my nose and took the medicine. Eventually bought my “Crimson and Crean” shirt I eventually pitched. I’ll do it again with Woodson.

Would be nice to hire a coach FOR ONCE that we aren’t all arguing about why we need to “give the guy a chance”because instead we are all flipping out with excitement. 

I did ask it. 

But you apparently know more about my intentions than I do. Done with this stupid argument. 

Go Hoosiers. 

[southernindianahoosier2 902]

not sure what can be done in regard to facilities, except maybe renovate/expand Cook Hall somehow?

Uniforms, (Nike sponsorship, names on back, adding mascot (the Arkansas Razorback uniforms were so cool, we could do the same with a bison)) that’s an easy fix, same with a few of the other complaints.

Facilities, I would assume you would need to expand cook hall. Maybe double the size and add a lot of amenities.

My dream would be we turn the Hyper back into a Hinkle Fieldhouse arena where IU would play for like 9,000 fans while they rebuild assembly hall into something awesome.


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[Bowhunter 2,693]

I’m still shocked by this hire. I will support Woodson and Dolson, but I am baffled that Woodson was chosen before the other active college coaches , that were considered great hires.

 

I personally would have went after One of the bigger name college coaches and put Woodson as a high paid assistant. But what do I know

.

 

I liked the idea of Oats, Musselman, Beard, Drew , Enfield etc.. bringing guys with them from the school they leave. Covid year making it possible.

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[Magisterium 377]

28 minutes ago, southernindianahoosier2 said:

Uniforms, (Nike sponsorship, names on back, adding mascot (the Arkansas Razorback uniforms were so cool, we could do the same with a bison)) that’s an easy fix, same with a few of the other complaints.

Facilities, I would assume you would need to expand cook hall. Maybe double the size and add a lot of amenities.

My dream would be we turn the Hyper back into a Hinkle Fieldhouse arena where IU would play for like 9,000 fans while they rebuild assembly hall into something awesome.


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IIRC it would cost almost as much (unfortunately) to meaningfully rebuild SSAH as it would to build a new arena altogether (or so the planning committees were told)

if Wildermuth/Gladstein is left as is, I guess the only ways expanding Cook Hall might be feasible would be to the west and/or vertically somehow

[IUBBx5Banners 227]

Ah screw it I don’t care. I’m happy. Maybe I’m just a sucker for some of these “coming home” posts and quotes on social media (and the amazing photos IU has put out). But I’m tired of being negative about the program, which I’ve been for 10+ years..

[ray 1,563]

I will admit, when I learned of the hire from my brother I was far from excited. Even with him telling me of Matta becoming staff, I wondered if Matta would be able to involve himself in the ways he’s most capable and in ways most beneficial to the program. I’ve warmed up to it since. With the right assistant hires combined with the experience and connections of Matta and Woodson, this could bode well. I’m skeptical and worried we might be back in this same boat a half a decade later, but I prefer to be optimistic and float with this choice until the on-court performance gives me better judgment. Besides, I can’t change a thing in my position anyways  

With all that said, what excites me most about this hire is the fact he loves Indiana. It truly is his dream job. Crean, and I know many of you hate to even read his name, came to Indiana raving about how Indiana basketball was the greatest coaching job on the planet. When he arrived, I could tell he meant that with sincerity. His enthusiasm for the history of IU basketball swept across much of the state like a virus. It brought in a slew of great in-state players including Cody Zeller and Yogi Ferrell. Some didn’t pan out like most hoped, but he made Indiana high schoolers rethink Indiana basketball and made many jump at the chance to bring it back to prominence. It even led to a pre-season #1 ranking that lasted much of the season. I’m not saying IU will have a preseason ranking to match anytime soon, nor am I saying they’ll have stud players like Zeller and Yogi jump onboard. But, with Woodson’s love of the game...and more importantly, his love for IU...I tend to believe anything is possible. Couple that possibility with a talented coaching staff of assistants capable of player-development and recruiting along with some luck with the portal and/or key returning players, and I think theres a chance for a momentum which leads to short-term improvement and potentially long-term success. What I’m much more certain of is there’s little chance (and hardly any room) for a backslide resulting in a worse scenario than where Indiana has been in recent memory.

It wasn’t my choice, but I’m onboard. Like I said, what choice do I have anyways? It’s not like I’ll ever quit watching IU basketball like some others have suggested they might. I’m a lifer. I was here for the Colts when they moved to town and I was here for IU basketball all along. I know how to root for the underdog and weather the ugliness of loss, but I’m also old enough to remember watching Indiana in its glory years, as well as the Colts. Sometimes many years of loss makes it that much sweeter to experience victories

Welcome, Woodson and staff. I’m rooting for you!

[KoB2011 40]

I've thought about this a lot today, mostly while painting my daughter's room, so haven't had a ton of time to read other opinions, hot takes, and absorb outside info....

But I've gone from pretty underwhelmed to cautiously optimistic. Woodson is a good coach. He took two terrible NBA franchises to the playoffs. He showed he could win consistently in the NBA. Matta can help him adjust to managing a college program, I hope he keeps Hunter for recruiting and brings in Lewis or Fife, preferably Lewis. Not sure who I'd like to see for the last assistant. 

From and X and I perspective, he's going to be one of the best coaches in the Big Ten. The NBA is far more advanced schematically than college basketball is. His past players have talked a lot about his development and how much they love playing for him. He needs help getting talent, that's a real question mark, but I think he has a lot of other positives if he can get that part. 

[akumanina 313]

2 hours ago, Treesh said:

Gosh this picture would be amazing with Brad ****** Stevens!

You gotta close the chapter and start chanting MIKE ******* WOODSON!!

[mdiu28 1,752]

great take on both Woodson & Thad

 

[iuthruandthru 110]

2 hours ago, Indiana8585 said:

Underneath Memorial 

I may be wrong but thought his was the underground parking accesss to SSAH.  Entrance is on the North East corner.  No?

[ALASKA HOOSIER 11,256]

I gotta tell ya, this is friggin' intriguing! I think all the coaches in the big10 just collectively puckered their booty holes. I gotta give Scott D. some serious kudos here because this is such a bold-@$$ move. I honestly think this can work. Matta supporting Woodson with planning on who to recruit, scouting teams. Woodson in the trenches with the players. Wow!

I think i just went all in.