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If you are curious as to just how little other parts of the country focus on college basketball, from the South Florida FAU beat reporter I give you the five candidates he has identified to replace Dusty May at FAU, NIL budget next to nothing and arena capacity 2,800:

  1. Juwan Howard
  2. FAU Assistant Todd Abernethy (yes- that one is fairly likely)
  3. Josh Schertz (with the caveat, "But the Sycamores could make a deep run in the NIT, so the question becomes whether FAU would wait for him.)
  4. Donnie Jones - Stetson
  5. Will Wade (with the caveat "Would FAU want to take a chance on a guy with a checkered history like his? If not, former Xavier and Louisville head coach Chris Mack is unemployed.)

Apparently someone oughta let Louisville know that there is competition for their top two candidates.

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I hate viewing the NCAA Tournament this way because it means IUBB is not in a good place but I must admit that I watched each NCAA Tournament game through the lens of "what about this coach for IU"? My sincere hope is that IU has a good 2024-2025 season, makes the NCAA Tournament and Mike Woodson pulls a Keith Dambrot and announces his retirement in early March. All of that is very unlikely but a man can dream. Anyway, I've put way too much into a decision that will ultimately be made by a few people that clearly have motives much different than just putting forth the best program possible and they are clearly judging things based on different metrics than things like "Wins and Losses" and "Program direction" and "health of recruiting". But, who would be on a list?

I think we can remove the following based on them just taking new jobs (and they may not have been on any list to begin with): Dusty May, Darian DeVries, Mark Byington, Danny Sprinkle. Josh Schertz can probably be crossed off shortly as well, either to St. Louis or Louisville.

Candidates like Will Wade and Chris Beard won't be considered by Indiana. You can believe that's wrong or right but it is reality. The rumors about IU talking to Bruce Pearl might or might not be true but we could have hired him before and have not so I doubt IU changes course and does what makes sense.

Options that I would love to ask and they'd probably say no: Shaka Smart (he's from Wisconsin but not Marquette/Milwaukee), Greg McDermott (he's 59 and if he's going to move, next year could be it), TJ Otzelberger at Iowa State.

They'd say yes and would not be bad options: Mick Cronin...if UCLA is bad next season, we don't even call him but if the Bruins are good and their NIL is still a mess, this could make sense. Micah Shrewsberry...if Notre Dame has a good season next year (as they should if they hold onto their roster), Shrewsberry will be an attractive option. 

Take a swing on unproven options: Amir Abdur-Rahim (USF)...if the Bulls have a strong 2024-2025 season, he'll be moving on somewhere and I have enjoyed listening to him talk when I've heard him interviewed. He is an impressive guy, he's only 43 and he is from the talent-rich area of Georgia. Bucky McMillan (Samford)...he's 40 and from Alabama, Samford was awful his first year and has moved up to 21 wins, 21 wins tied for conference title and then 29-6 and should have beaten Kansas. If they validate that with another strong 2024-2025, he'll be a hot name. There will be others that ascend.

All in all, there will be good options if and when Indiana makes a move at head coach. Do I have any faith that the IU administration, Scott Dolson included, will handle this in a way that most of us would be happy with? Nah. The next 11-12 months are going to be an absolute circus.

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28 minutes ago, JF87 said:

I guess part of Louisville's fanbase thinks that "proven coaches" leave good jobs for rebuilds all the time too.  

Or they wanted someone more qualified to lead a P5 rebuild than Dusty May (and for that I would have to agree although I hate the delivery). Musselman must have turned them down because I don't see his name mentioned much anymore. Wade seems like a no-brainer if you ask me. 

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4 hours ago, Feathery said:

Evidently John Beilein helped the Michigan AD identify 4 candidates: Dusty May, Darian DeVries, Niko Medved, and Amir Abdur-Rahim. All mid- major guys with success.
 

If IU has a similar list next year I bet it’s Abdur-Rahim. He was at Kennesaw State when a certain IU president used to work there. He led them to their first D1 winning record in program history. Hit the ground running in year 1 at South Florida, 25-8 (including post season) and won the AAC regular season. If he backs that up next year, he is our mid major guy imo. 
 

edit: Also beat FAU and Florida State in year 1. 

I wonder what Tom Crean would say about Abdur-Rahim as Indiana's HC. 

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Just now, Feathery said:

Adult-Rahim was a Crean assistant at UGA

Ahh, thanks. Missed that. Thought the post was about Crean being IU's Beilein with how he'd advised Michigan. Dakich at least wasn't given the axe by IU. Poor moment for some sarcasm

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5 minutes ago, Hoosier DaDa said:

I wonder what Tom Crean would say about Abdur-Rahim as Indiana's HC. 

On one hand Crean will tell him the admin issues and fam expectations. But then the IU president can explain what’s changed since Crean has left and the direction the new administration wants to go. 

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Just now, kreigh8 said:

Ahh, thanks. Missed that. Thought the post was about Crean being IU's Beilein with how he'd advised Michigan. Dakich at least wasn't given the axe by IU. Poor moment for some sarcasm

Dakich will tell Dolson to hire Alford. He has been on that train for a long time. 

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4 minutes ago, AH1971 said:

Or they wanted someone more qualified to lead a P5 rebuild than Dusty May (and for that I would have to agree although I hate the delivery). Musselman must have turned them down because I don't see his name mentioned much anymore. Wade seems like a no-brainer if you ask me. 

You're missing the point.  More qualified or proven P5 coaches like Musselman, aren't looking for lateral moves.  Wade can recruit and coach, but Louisville is in this mess because Pitino skirted the rules.  I would think they would be wary of Wade for this reason.  

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5 hours ago, Bowhunter said:

What are the chances we can get Dusty after next season?

Dusty is no longer an option. He will need to fail at UM and if that’s the case, IU won’t be wanting his services anyways. 

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The man himself says the death threat story is fake news.

Tim Sullivan @TimSullivan714

Dusty May told me tonight, “I never received any death threats (from Louisville fans) I’ve never receives any threats at all, period.” He said the passion of Louisville fans did not cause him cold feet; “It was one of the things I was most attracted to.” (Stay tuned for more).

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19 minutes ago, realTomCrean said:

All things seemingly lining up like Shrewsbury is next HC at IUBB

I hope Dolson starts the search as soon as things start going south. If that’s after striking out in the portal this spring, do it.

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