Stevens wouldn't take the job this month. Bennett and Few ain't going nowhere. Isn't Beard a TX guy? Why would Drew leave a school that has money and no rules? I'm guessing there is a massive buyout for Oats' contract extension he signed less than a month ago.
Beilein may be too old.
Just like Wake's job, I think IU's may be Matta's to take or leave.
Very weird. I think most people thought it was gonna be the St. Bonaventure coach, who played at BC.
as someone who doesn't follow college hoops that closely any more, the Grant hire doesn't look that weird to me
maybe I'm underrating the type of coach BC can pull these days -- they seem like a complete mess
You’re not, it’s the dead-est end job in the conference by a large margin. Downhill since Skinner and no real end in sight. They are just going to have to hope they strike gold unexpectedly at some point.Originally Posted by JuiceCrewAllStar
Good Lord. At one point they were in the conversation with Kentucky, UNC, Duke, Kansas, etc. for the top NCAA programs. But they aren't anymore. They are like UCLA- once elite but no more. They are still top tier but Stevens, Bennett, Few and maybe even Oats are the elite coaches. Only one of those who might listen is Oats.
Two things...
The assumption is that IU wouldn’t have fired Miller (with his $10mil buyout) without having a new coach in place. That tells me it isn’t someone currently coaching in the NCAA Tournament. Matta or Beilein?
Earl Grant doesn’t strike me as a terrible hire. He’s definitely been discussed on these boards over the years.
Indiana needs to send a plane to New Rochelle, NY.
Any Questions?
Same here. People in Goodman's thread seem to be asking the same thing.
From today's John Feinstein article in the Washington Past (looks like he still harbors a grudge against WF with a gratuitous dig at the decision to hire Forbes):
Young coach to watch: UNC Greensboro’s Wes Miller. He’s 38, played on North Carolina’s national championship team in 2005 and has built an excellent program. Wake Forest probably should have hired him a year ago. The committee did the Spartans no favors with a first-round game against Florida State, but Miller is a name to remember.
Matta is fifteen years younger than Beilein. He has deep regional ties, lives in the area and is itching to get back into coaching.
While IU is still an attractive job (great recruiting base, huge fan base, good facilities and great tradition), it's pretty clear that you can win a title at many, if not most, power 5 schools if you have the right coach. Chris Beard and Scott Drew are both more than capable of winning a title with a program in rural Texas and don't need the scrutiny that comes with coaching IU to get paid and win championships.
Of course there will be a segment of the fan base that deludes itself into thinking that Brad Stevens or Scott Drew will want to come home, or that Chris Beard, who was once a Bob Knight assistant, will want to follow in his mentor's footsteps. My view is that IU's AD should find it out if these types of candidates are interested, even if a long shot, but then turn to the hard work of finding a great coach. I don't care about resume or about pedigree. Just find the right guy. My pick is Musselman.
Earl Grant is an interesting hire for BC. Like Forbes, he coached under Gregg Marshall, but at different times. Grant assisted under Marshall at both Winthrop and Wichita State from 2004 to 2010. Forbes worked under Marshall from 2013-2015.
Grant is only 44. At Charleston, they struggled in year 1 - 2015 - (9-24), but then went:
2016: 17-14 (8-10)
2017: 25-10 (14-4)
2018: 26-8 (14-4) NCAA team almost upset Auburn in the opening round
2019: 24-9 (12-6)
2020: 17-14 (11-7)
2021: 9-10 (6-4)
This past year, Charleston lost their best player, Brevin Galloway to a knee injury, and they struggled initially, but did win 6 of their last 9 before losing to conference champ Drexel in the CAA Tourney.
Seems like a decent hire. There may be not be better coached team in the country than St. Bonaventure, and their coach Mark Schmidt played for BC under Dr. Tom Davis and Gary Williams. Schmidt seemed like the most logical hire. That said, Schmidt is 58; so, maybe age was a factor. Regardless of who the Eagles hired, the BC job is a complete rebuild. They roster was weak, and now at least a few and maybe more of their decent players already entered the portal. Grant has a long and difficult road ahead.
Last edited by Pilchard; 03-15-2021 at 02:34 PM.
DePaul has fired Dave Leitao. Only COVID saved his job last season. 6 years as a coach: DFL in the Big East the last 5 years. 21-85 conference record. ugly.
If I were handicapping the IU job. it would look like:
Matta 4/5
Beilein 7/1
Moser 10/1
Pope 12/1
Kelsey 15/1 (if he wins an NCAA game or 20-1 if he doesn't)
HOF Wes 25-1 (unless he wins in The NCAAT, then 12-1)
Believe it or not Moser is only one year younger than Matta.
If something crazy happens in Boston over the next days or if IU wants to offer Stevens $100M/10 years, these odds could change.
DePaul will go after Porter Moser from Loyola.
Any Questions?
Instead we hired the guy who won that conference last year.
Forbes over Wes every day of the week
When you really hate your head basketball coach.
Every school has boosters with stupid money and nothing better to spend it on. IU is desperate, they are going to make a ridiculous offers to big names. Maybe they get shot down. Maybe not.
FWIW, IU has one current 2021 HS Commit: Logan Duncomb #74 overall. He is a 6-9 235 Center from Ohio. Guessing schools are contacting Logan to see if he is wavering on that commitment. The finalists for Duncomb the first time around were Wisconsin, Iowa and Cincy.
It remains to be seen whether Forbes was the right hire, but he had a stronger resume than Wes Miller. Aside from Matta or Beline, it was hard to argue that Forbes was not the best hire Wake could make, especially given that we have not been relevant for over a decade. Hopefully, in time, Forbes can start to bring in better talent that we are historically used to bringing in.
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