2026-27 Roster/Portal/how to fix the roster?

[Asha’man]

14 hours ago, Golfman25 said:

Right.  Is it really that hard to figure out when you’re a freaking college coach?   

Evidently so. Boy wonder, Dusty May, said he underestimated the physicality in conference at the end of last year. 

[Home Jersey]

I don't think it's worth reading much into the whole "surprised by the Big Ten" quote... just a boilerplate thing coaches say when they underachieve IMO.

We're fully staffed and should have a lot of cash on hand with the seniors leaving. We should already have some irons in the fire with the portal. Would like to see us lock up 2 studs early, see if we can avoid a prolonged bidding war. 

[EasyEJay]

19 minutes ago, Asha’man said:

Evidently so. Boy wonder, Dusty May, said he underestimated the physicality in conference at the end of last year. 

Yes correct he had to figure out how to get from (*checks notes*) 27 wins, 2nd in the Big 10, a BTT title, and a sweet 16 in year 1 to 29 wins and counting, a big 10 title and arguably the national title favorite in year 2 . 

Apples to Oranges.

Dusty May is an ELITE coach I get it he will never be the HC at IU I've accepted that timing was a b**ch. 

DD is the guy for the foreseeable future but he aint touching what Dusty did this year in his year 2 no matter what he says he's "learned". Honestly my gut tells me he might get a little more talent next year. If he can finish inside the top 7 in the Big Ten next year that's a win IMO. But right now I'm not sure I've seen enough to believe that's possible. Hope I'm wrong! 

 

 

[Golfman25]

1 hour ago, Asha’man said:

Evidently so. Boy wonder, Dusty May, said he underestimated the physicality in conference at the end of last year. 

Well if finishing tied for 2nd in the conference and wining the BTT, I'll take "underestimating" all day, every day.  :)  

Dusty was just talking.  He knew exactly what he was facing, and upped the anti this year to leave no doubt.  

[skhoosier2]

6 hours ago, Kentuckysucks said:

I think DeVries built this team more for the NCAA tournament where games typically turn into track meets and lack of size is less of an issue.  But he forgot that you have to go through the Big Ten gauntlet to make the tournament first.

This is my thought too although I don't think they exactly executed the way he envisioned it.  Hopefully he adapts with some athletic bigs that can bang plus a quick point guard that can penetrate, score, and push the ball at a quick pace.  I think he thought he could negate the bigs of the B1G with quickness and 3-point shooting.  Clearly not but as history has shown, the B1G style doesn't translate in March.  How long has it been since B1G has had a basketball champion?  CDD would do well to hybrid the conference approach with his own to try and be more successful during March IMO.  But definitely has to win in conference first or no march to adapt to...

[Stuhoo]

FWIW, Brian Evans, who tends to be very much an IU cynic on podcasts, says he personally knows Ryan Carr well and speaks to him regularly, and also says that Carr is absolutely excellent in pretty much every way that matters.

[WayneFleekHoosier]

31 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

FWIW, Brian Evans, who tends to be very much an IU cynic on podcasts, says he personally knows Ryan Carr well and speaks to him regularly, and also says that Carr is absolutely excellent in pretty much every way that matters.

So, I’m not likely to get the job?  Hope they are pissed and really swing for the fences for next year. 

[Pagoda]

3 hours ago, Home Jersey said:

Would like to see us lock up 2 studs early, see if we can avoid a prolonged bidding war. 

It would be a great sign to do this -- as it would show we successfully did the recruiting legwork early.  In a perfect world our targets enter the portal with a "do not contact" designation and just go to IU, but I'll be happy if we hit on our initial targets however it goes.

If we miss on our early targets that would suck for obvious reasons, as it could start the downward spiral we're so accustomed to at this point.

[WayneFleekHoosier]

2 minutes ago, Pagoda said:

It would be a great sign to do this -- as it would show we did successfully did the recruiting legwork early.  In a perfect world our targets enter the portal with a "do not contact" designation and just go to IU, but I'll be happy if we hit on our initial targets however it goes.

If we miss on our early targets that would suck for obvious reasons, as it could start the downward spiral we're so accustomed to at this point.

Indeed.  The dreaded A target, to B target, to C target, etc.  same with HS recruiting.  We have a budgeted amount so we will definitely get guys.  Hopefullly that money goes to the top of the tier list guys.  

[str8baller]

20 hours ago, AH1971 said:

Wisconsin and Nebraska don’t have first year coaches who threw together rosters in a 2-3 week span. Thats a pretty glaring omission you’re conveniently leaving out.

I didn’t mention it because this point has been discussed and refuted to death. The people that want to cling to it can go ahead and latch on like a safety blanket, and I’m just going to stop posting all the other coaches who had the same or less time in year 1 to rebuild their rosters and still made the tourney. 
 

Maybe I can have AI make a snazzy graphic or something for future reference. Hey Claude….

 

[str8baller]

3 hours ago, Pagoda said:

It would be a great sign to do this -- as it would show we successfully did the recruiting legwork early.  In a perfect world our targets enter the portal with a "do not contact" designation and just go to IU, but I'll be happy if we hit on our initial targets however it goes.

If we miss on our early targets that would suck for obvious reasons, as it could start the downward spiral we're so accustomed to at this point.

You usually have a pretty good read on Dolson.  what did you make of the public comments yesterday? Had to be aimed at NIL donors and the upcoming portal, right? Maybe squeeze out another million or so. 
 

Otherwise it’s kind of odd timing to come out with the coach and throw your current roster under the bus right before you need them to make a run in the BTT. He didn’t do it last year for obvious reasons but I recall the year before. 

[Pagoda]

1 hour ago, str8baller said:

You usually have a pretty good read on Dolson.  what did you make of the public comments yesterday? Had to be aimed at NIL donors and the upcoming portal, right? Maybe squeeze out another million or so. 

Otherwise it’s kind of odd timing to come out with the coach and throw your current roster under the bus right before you need them to make a run in the BTT. He didn’t do it last year for obvious reasons but I recall the year before. 

Ha, I just try to give him credit when the athletic dept does something well., because I spent a lot of years complaining when they didn’t.  I doubt my read is any better than yours.

I only read a summary of what he said.  I thought it was directed at the fans who are generally underwhelmed with this season and want to hear what the AD thinks of the state of IUBB.  I suppose he did sort of knock the current team in the process of explaining why we are where we are, but then again the team can't be too offended given their mid record and fairly slim chance to make the dance.  I don't think they'll take much offense and I don't care if they do -- if you don't like it prove 'em wrong then.

I think the key donor discussions are mostly one on one and our roster budget is set for next season.  I don't know what the budget is.  I hope it's the rumored $12.5M.  That seems possible -- football has generated so many AD donations, some of which are general and not football specific, it's quite possible some of that was pushed over to IUBB.  Just a guess.

I think Scott is on our side, which I like.  He's connected to IUBB as much as anyone, we all know he was a manager and has been a mega fan all his life.  He went through hell to fire Woody midseason, and I'm pretty sure he would have canned him earlier after season three if he was in control.  I'd also wager he didn't find this season to be very good.  But obviously he is going to publicly support CDD at this stage.

Of course, the big question is if he hired the right guy.  Like many here, season one created more concerns than anything.  The excuse that he inherited a tire fire from Woody and had to assemble a program in six weeks seems like a legitimate one, and we have to pray it is.  The other issue of course is even if you excuse the roster construction, there are other concerns which we've discussed.  There is way more to explain away than I'd like.  I'm pretty worried, but I could be wrong and perhaps CDD figures it out.

 

[Stuhoo]

39 minutes ago, Pagoda said:

Ha, I just try to give him credit when the athletic dept does something well., because I spent a lot of years complaining when they didn’t.  I doubt my read is any better than yours.

I only read a summary of what he said.  I thought it was directed at the fans who are generally underwhelmed with this season and want to hear what the AD thinks of the state of IUBB.  I suppose he did sort of knock the current team in the process of explaining why we are where we are, but then again the team can't be too offended given their mid record and fairly slim chance to make the dance.  I don't think they'll take much offense and I don't care if they do -- if you don't like it prove 'em wrong then.

I think the key donor discussions are mostly one on one and our roster budget is set for next season.  I don't know what the budget is.  I hope it's the rumored $12.5M.  That seems possible -- football has generated so many AD donations, some of which are general and not football specific, it's quite possible some of that was pushed over to IUBB.  Just a guess.

I think Scott is on our side, which I like.  He's connected to IUBB as much as anyone, we all know he was a manager and has been a mega fan all his life.  He went through hell to fire Woody midseason, and I'm pretty sure he would have canned him earlier after season three if he was in control.  I'd also wager he didn't find this season to be very good.  But obviously he is going to publicly support CDD at this stage.

Of course, the big question is if he hired the right guy.  Like many here, season one created more concerns than anything.  The excuse that he inherited a tire fire from Woody and had to assemble a program in six weeks seems like a legitimate one, and we have to pray it is.  The other issue of course is even if you excuse the roster construction, there are other concerns which we've discussed.  There is way more to explain away than I'd like.  I'm pretty worried, but I could be wrong and perhaps CDD figures it out.

 

I’m not into “excuses” why this year didn’t go especially well; I’m interested in reasons.

The primary reason I can identify is that Devries miscalculated what a winning B1G roster looks like.

And believe it or not, even though that’s on Devries, I’m hoping that’s the reason, because unlike crappy  player development and coaching, that can be fixed.

[8bucks]

Reading Dolsons comments about how we struggled to land top portal guys was because by the time we hired DD (one of the early coaching hires) most top targets had made decisions weeks and months ago. So, doesn’t that suggest we should now who we are getting for next year already?

[spe317]

1 hour ago, 8bucks said:

Reading Dolsons comments about how we struggled to land top portal guys was because by the time we hired DD (one of the early coaching hires) most top targets had made decisions weeks and months ago. So, doesn’t that suggest we should now who we are getting for next year already?

We can’t possibly know who our targets are since guys aren’t in the portal yet…that being said yeah I can’t imagine they haven’t identified at least a few top targets. 
 

Personally, if the fan base/admin has the stomach for it, I’d prefer long term sustained success over flash in the pan. I can’t handle another senior transfer heavy team year after year. 

[ziggyiu]

1 hour ago, spe317 said:

We can’t possibly know who our targets are since guys aren’t in the portal yet…that being said yeah I can’t imagine they haven’t identified at least a few top targets. 
 

Personally, if the fan base/admin has the stomach for it, I’d prefer long term sustained success over flash in the pan. I can’t handle another senior transfer heavy team year after year. 

We, and many high major programs, know some of our targets. Backchanneling begins as early as the new year when kids are unhappy enough. There are agent who work diligently for their clients. And kids--and their agents--have preexisting relationships with coaches from the recruiting process. Coaches backchannel through high school and aau coaches. 

 

New targets emerge for sure. You won't necessarily get the targets you know of early. But things are becoming clear behind the scenes. 

[str8baller]

7 hours ago, spe317 said:

Personally, if the fan base/admin has the stomach for it, I’d prefer long term sustained success over flash in the pan. I can’t handle another senior transfer heavy team year after year. 

Keeping Sisley plus 3 new recruits should help.
 

We actually have the chance to keep a bunch of guys this year and run it back with only a couple of transfers, but nobody wants to do that either. 

[Stuhoo]

26 minutes ago, str8baller said:

Keeping Sisley plus 3 new recruits should help.
 

We actually have the chance to keep a bunch of guys this year and run it back with only a couple of transfers, but nobody wants to do that either. 

I want the coaches that see Dorn, Sisley, Miles, Drake, Harris, Ristic, and Acimovich every day to make smart decisions about whether they are potential winning pieces for next year.

Continuity is a very good thing so I’m hoping many of them are worth keeping.

[AH1971]

11 hours ago, str8baller said:

I didn’t mention it because this point has been discussed and refuted to death. The people that want to cling to it can go ahead and latch on like a safety blanket, and I’m just going to stop posting all the other coaches who had the same or less time in year 1 to rebuild their rosters and still made the tourney. 
 

Maybe I can have AI make a snazzy graphic or something for future reference. Hey Claude….

 

But not every situation can be looked at in a vacuum. If three teams have similar talent levels, but two of them have continuity, a fostered culture, and a familiarity with the coach/system while the other was thrown together in a 2-3 week period playing for a coach for the first time....who would you expect to fare better over the course of a 20 game conference slate? 

 

[Jeff Flabjohns]

Two of our starters have extensive familiarity with the coach/system.