They “Retired” Coach Woodson Thread

[8bucks]

I may not be remembering well but didn’t Beard have success bringing in a lot of portal players?  Admittedly Beard is seemingly a very good coach though.  
 

There is a path here for success next year but that seems more like a 6-9 seed level vs a championship level squad. The path doesn’t have to all be portal guys as Woody has been able to pull in decommitts every year too. 
 

If MR, MM and Gallo are back then he needs 4-5 starter quality pick ups. I could see where it is an easy sell to a center to come here using TJD and Ware as examples. So now we need 3-4 others in an area where he has struggled (guards/wings). If we assume Gallo, MR, MM and new center start we need another guard who can do it all. If the #1 do it all pg is where we throw a lot of this new NIL $ perhaps he can be lured. Maybe as an extra incentive we bring on his coach/advisor as other teams have done. Remember, this is the dream scenario so I get some liberties here. 
 

Now you have your starters set and then you need to get 2-3 others who can give us very productive minutes. Going to be a hard sell if these guys can start elsewhere but these guys can be your younger portal guys who would have 2 more years to play.  
 

The key is keeping guys like MR, MM and Gallo. Lose 2 of them and the chance to succeed is hard to envision. 

[AH1971]

I still want to know what the end game with Woodson is?

I keep coming back to the whole “Archie got 4 years so Woodson gets 4 years” narrative. Is there a legitimate plan? Or are we just simply delaying the inevitable? You have to either fire/force retirement or extend Woodson after the next season. Are we letting Woodson coach in hopes he can step down on a higher note? Are we going to extend him so he actually has a prayer recruiting the class of 25 and beyond? 
 

I think it’s pretty clear the administration has no clue or plan going forward. The further and further Woodson sinks this program the harder it is to climb out of and harder to attract a quality replacement. Dolson needs to say something.

[Stuhoo]

9 minutes ago, Ngw7183 said:

No, there are tons of examples guys. A lot considering this is a new thing that keeps changing and small sample size.

Last year, KSU had 12 of them. UConn’s was loaded with transfers. SD St 4 of 5 top scorers were transfers. Texas and Xavier was 4/5 main starters. Maimi 3/5.  

Irony is majorly of teams who live at top 15 level, are made up of transfers. 

Here is example at Texas Tech when they brought in 9 and when to sweet 16. 

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-basketball/news/texas-tech-transfer-portal-sweet-16/itde2lojxnpfebsjtcuaxny7

Okay, so true; it is possible.

But it’s not likely, especially in light of these portal-ists likely perception of the program.

It also most certainly does not fit Indiana’s brand. Our fan base does not want to root for mercenaries, though I suppose if they’re winning mercenaries people would come around.

Color me extremely skeptical.

[RaceToTheTop]

12 minutes ago, Ngw7183 said:

No, there are tons of examples guys. A lot considering this is a new thing that keeps changing and small sample size.

Last year, KSU had 12 of them. UConn’s was loaded with transfers. SD St 4 of 5 top scorers were transfers. Texas and Xavier was 4/5 main starters. Maimi 3/5.  

Irony is majorly of teams who live at top 15 level, are made up of transfers. 

Here is example at Texas Tech when they brought in 9 and when to sweet 16. 

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-basketball/news/texas-tech-transfer-portal-sweet-16/itde2lojxnpfebsjtcuaxny7

You made a quote about 65% of the sweet sixteen consisting of transfers one year.  I get that teams consist of a lot of transfers and that includes winners but I’m doubting that 65% number.

[ronzo4IU]

It does seem like a really good way to not have to go out on the high school recruiting trail though.

[Hoosier1984]

27 minutes ago, southernindianahoosier2 said:

Posted elsewhere but:

Woodson wants to buy experienced, aging, and expensive players turning IU into the Yankees.

But given his 2 point guards that stylistic couldn’t be further apart, he doesn’t have a strategy on what he’s going to target to plug into his system that has yet to be defined.

And in doing so, we’ll likely miss on Dusty May

What have I missed?

Kathy is spelt with a C

[AZ Hoosier]

19 minutes ago, OKHOOSIER said:

To go in a different direction, and I am just spit balling here, what does everyone think about potential locker room dynamics with the players that stay and the players we purchase? Does it fracture? Really curious how someone like MR or GC would feel about playing with 4-6 new hired hands? Seems awkward, but maybe money is all that matters and as long as everyone is getting theirs it will be fine. Thoughts?

And a twist on your thought... how does the amount of money an MM or MR might get vs what a mercenary might get affect team chemistry? I don't see this scenario working at all... too many variables placed in the hands of a man that can't coach... but I would like to watch a post game press conference or two. :D 

[PartyintheVillas]

I bet the academic support staff is thrilled with bringing in 9 transfers a year.

[Stuhoo]

2 minutes ago, Ngw7183 said:

With all that, not going to keep arguing it. 

Understand most feel it won’t work even when given examples. That is fine. 

Understand - sleepy, forgetful, lazy Woody needs to go. But he isn’t and you might want to look into how this might work because it is the plan. There are more positive examples than you may realize with this bouncing right back to a tourney team. Not going to write a thesis on it and cite every example.

we can agree do disagree and will see how it works. Plenty were wrong on their projections for this year and certain players. Maybe you will be wrong on this and pleasantly surprised. 

Dang, if I was pleasantly surprised and it worked? That’d be fantastic.

I appreciate your caveat that we have to keep enough pieces from the current team. The first hint toward that will be seeing who goes through senior night tomorrow.

[OKHOOSIER]

Just now, Stuhoo said:

Okay, so true; it is possible.

But it’s not likely, especially in light of these portal-ists likely perception of the program.

It also most certainly does not fit Indiana’s brand. Our fan base does not want to root for mercenaries, though I suppose if they’re winning mercenaries people would come around.

Color me extremely skeptical.

Except those examples given other than San Diego State involved what we want here: new coaches. That is the difference. TT is probably the best example for the style, given they have continued to go portal heavy after the Beard exodus. That could also be a side effect of recruiting to Lubbock Texas vs a program decision. UCONN is simply a fabrication. They had 1 transfer portal this year (Cam Spencer) and three the year before. KSU, also new coach, had 2 for this year. Teams basically are not doing this unless they have to. 

[IUCrazy2]

1 minute ago, PartyintheVillas said:

I bet the academic support staff is thrilled with bringing in 9 transfers a year.

School!!!?  We talking about school!!!??

[8bucks]

3 minutes ago, RaceToTheTop said:

You made a quote about 65% of the sweet sixteen consisting of transfers one year.  I get that teams consist of a lot of transfers and that includes winners but I’m doubting that 65% number.

I can’t imagine 65% unless maybe that is just players who play considerably. This article outlines how impactful the portal has been and there were some teams with no transfers and some with a ton. 
 

https://www.on3.com/transfer-portal/news/how-each-team-has-used-the-transfer-portal-to-get-to-the-sweet-16-alabama-houston-kansas-state/

[Muskie for three]

2 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Dang, if I was pleasantly surprised and it worked? That’d be fantastic.

I appreciate your caveat that we have to keep enough pieces from the current team. The first hint toward that will be seeing who goes through senior night tomorrow.

That might be the most important money spent for players .

[JF87]

32 minutes ago, theriverpilot said:

Some interesting points but what insight(s) do you have to label these additions as “probable”? I ask because Woodson already has a reputation for hit-n-miss on the higher level portal players. 
Also, what’s plan B if those probable additions don’t pan out?

My guess is dollar amounts needed have been discussed with the players representative. 

[Uspshoosier]

6 minutes ago, Ngw7183 said:

There are more positive examples than you may realize with this bouncing right back to a tourney team.

That’s not the end result though.   Woody came back to win B1G titles and National Titles.   Sure any coach can turn it around from a non tourney team to a tourney team.  The difference between a bubble team that makes it to a teams that don’t is very small.   Sure Woody can piece together a tourney team there are 36 at large chances to do that but can he piece together a B1G or National title team?   In my opinion he won’t ever sniff either one of those 

[wirenuts]

The hope that I have in all of this is that dusty may covets the IU job enough to wait around a year. If he goes to Ohio state, he will stomp our ***** for the next decade

[Banksyrules]

45 minutes ago, Ngw7183 said:

You can be skeptical but former elite athletes rarely ever lose the will and competitiveness. 
 

His did have a “young” team with Ware, Malik, MM being his best guys. This is why he will get more upper class starters this year. 

My guy they're all competitive. What separates them from each other? Time. Effort. Talent all of which he sorely lacks. 

[Demo]

Since Woody has lost faith in young players, we’ve found the perfect 24-25 Indiana Hoosier. 28 years old and 3 years of eligibility. 

[Shooter]

I think the biggest argument against Woodson being able to build a successful team in the spring, is the fact that he already tried to do it this year and failed.

[IUGRAD06]

1 minute ago, Ngw7183 said:

Agree but many are discounting him wanting to go out like this. The level of will it takes to play at that level, play off back surgery etc doesn’t go away. 

Do I think he thought it would be easier, yep. Now he realizes. 

You can say he doesn’t deserve it, cool. But now that he has it, I think people will be surprised.  

You are the same person last year blowing smoke about getting players last year.  Same thing is going to happen with what happened with Liam.  See our offense and go man that sucks for guards and shooters. 

Edited March 10, 2024 by IUGRAD06