IU Coaching News

[southsider2k5]

I don't think he's even worth the risk, entirely for his health reasons.  He still isn't exactly what I'd call "Slim", and IU really couldn't afford to risk taking him on, having him start up the season or even play through a season or two and then all of a sudden have him decide that his health concerns are too much or actually have him suffer from a major problem like a heart attack.  The last thing we want is to wind up with Tim Floyd on the bench.

 

Tim Floyd was an excellent college coach...

 

[Balta1701]

Tim Floyd was an excellent college coach...

 

You do realize he's currently a college coach as well right?

[Chisoxfn]

The word on ESPN about Alford last night was that Alford would probably take the job, but only if it was basically offered up to him on a silver platter.  Their report was that Alford didn't want to go through an interview process where he was one of 4 or 5 candidates.

I hope to hell Alford doesn't start interviewing while the season is going on. If he does I'll be totally pissed off. His job is to be loyal to the Hawkeyes and get this team to finish strong.

 

I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt. Afterall, Iowa has given him the benefit of the doubt during his tenure here and gave him a nice extension a few years back (didn't he pretty much turn down the IU job a while back???).

 

I'm one of the few that thinks Alford has figured things out and I want him sticking around Iowa City.

[Chisoxfn]

That's one thing I hate about the Alford situation.  He's finally having a good year, and that lays a lot into the talks.  However, he doesn't have a good past, and there's no real proof that the light's turned on this year, and this is what he can do from here on out.

 

One name that really hasn't been mentioned that could be an interesting one is Rick Barnes at UT.  There's a lot of egos in college sports, and Barnes is basically 3rd fiddle to football and baseball at Texas.  He could be the guy here, if he wanted that.

 

Does anyone know what time the press conference is supposed to take place?  There's like a billion media trucks outside of AH.

Is there baseball team really >>> basketball. I realize they are always loaded, but college basketball in general >>> college baseball (in terms of support). But that could be different at Texas.

 

I mean at Fullerton obviously College Baseball outweighs any other sport (although our fencing team has won a few national championships). But we blow ass at basketball. I'd think if we had a power house basketball team and baseball team, the basketball team would be more popular just because of the greater media exposure college basketball gets.

[Chisoxfn]

If Alford did somehow get the job, recruiting might take a hit. Not necessarily his strong point....

Alford is a good coach and he gets his guys to improve (look at the developments of Brunner/Horner/Hansen/Haluska). Every single one of those guys are a lot better now than they were when they started (especially Hansen and Brunner).

 

Alford has not done a good job recruiting and thats definately his knock. ISU has consistently out-recruited us in state, although Alford's IU ties were able to get us Freeman and that was an exceptional pickup. We've also done a fairly good job getting the player of the year (or at least it seems we have).

[Chisoxfn]

Here's a name: Greg McDermott from Northern Iowa. He's an asshole (at least I think of him as one) But I can see him ending up in Missouri or possibly even Indiana.

If Iowa lost Alford...I could see McDermott jumping to U of I.

[Chisoxfn]

I wonder if Majerus's health issues are rectified?  If so I would have to say he would be my #1 choice for the job.  The guy has won everywhere he has been, and even turned somewhere like Utah into a place to go for NCAA hoops.  Can you imagine what he could do in a place that almost recruits for itself?

There is no way Majerus is gonna be back in coaching unless he seriously drops some pounds. He realizes the mistake he made when he accepted the USC job.

 

That said he's a tremendous coach and person.

[Chisoxfn]

You do realize he's currently a college coach as well right?

He's been doing good things at USC in his first year. I really think he's gonna get USC fixed up. Plus USC will be playing on campus in a new arena in a few years.

 

Floyd is a fantastic college basketball coach.

[WilliamTell]

You do realize he's currently a college coach as well right?

 

Yeah at USC where the priority is football.

[aboz56]

Ryan Gunterman, whom I went to high school with, was the former sports editor of the Indiana Daily Student, now lives in Bloomington, does an IU fan blog for the Courier Journal's website.

 

Found it interesting his list of possible successors and the guys he doesn't want.

 

Here's a link to his full blog:

 

http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/cjhoosierfan/blog.html

 

Who I want:

5. Tubby Smith - I know he has one of the top-five elite head coaching jobs in the country, but Wildcat fans are unrealistically looking at this sub-par season as a referendum on his coaching career (case-in-point: firetubbysmith.com). Fine. We'll take his 77.7 percent winning percentage (don't care that it was in the SEC) and put it to good use in Bloomington. And I personally couldn't think of a better way to spend Christmas than with my family from Lexington talking about Tubby's success at IU.

 

4. Thad Matta - Yes, he just arrived at Ohio State, but the man has Indiana ties as the former Butler head coach. If he wants to be the program and not something to do until football starts, then he needs to come home. While he's at it, bring Greg Oden along.

 

3. Karl Hobbs - In only his fifth year as head coach the man has gotten George Washington University into the top 10 for the first time in school history. That's going to be an improvement to a 22-8 record the previous year. Right now IU should beg to progress like Hobbs' teams rather than regress like they have been.

 

2. Tom Crean - Even in a down year at 16-8, Crean has averaged more than 20 wins a season during his six years there. He led the team to the Final Four for the first time in a quarter century, and has taken little Marquette to the post-season four years in a row. Some Big Ten competition between he and his former boss, Tom Izzo, wouldn't hurt either.

 

1. Mark Few - He made Gonzaga into a national powerhouse. Gonzaga, as in plays-in-a-gym-smaller-than-most-Indiana-high-schools' Gonzaga. He obviously has a sweet thing going on the West Coast, but I'm hoping the scheduling of San Francisco and St. Mary's causing his team to get a five seed in the tournament when it should be a one will drive him straight to Bloomington.

 

Who I don't want:

5. Rick Majerus - I love the big guy, and he kind of reminds me of that jolly uncle who cracks the jokes that make your mom blush and let you have a sip of his beer when dad isn't looking. But with Majerus the "flake" factor will weigh more than him on my shoulders. While he had legit reasons to leave Utah (he and his mom's health concerns), the way he treated USC was brutal. I don't see how I could possibly NOT think of that when seeing him on the IU sideline.

 

4. Bob Huggins - Huggins puts to test what can be ignored as long as the program wins. With a graduation rate of a junior college and a list of DUIs that would make Tara Reid think she doesn't have a problem, Huggins was nothing but trouble at Cincy. How long before he, or one of his recruits, are bouncing from sidewalk to sidewalk in a Buick on Kirkwood Ave.?

 

3. Jim Crews - I want IU to go in a new direction, and how is that going to happen with a coach whose last direction at IU was several decades ago? His program faded at Evansville and his Army team is now 5-19. He deserves a promotion?

 

2. Dane Fife - I have probably severed a friendship with this choice, but the truth must be spoken. If people had problems with Davis because of his inexperience, why would they want the youngest Division-I coach in the country that hasn't even finished his first year in charge of a program? I'm not saying he won't be a decent coach, but not for IU, and not right now.

 

1. Steve Alford - I have probably severed my own head with this one, but Alford is the easy choice here. Besides the fact he would be a legend that couldn't be replaced by any athletics director whether or not he's doing well, he hasn't proven himself as a coach. Great run with SE Missouri State, but his Iowa career has been a disappointment. I would explain more, but Indy Star IU beat writer Terry Hutchens did a great job on his blog breaking down the numbers between Alford and Davis, so I'll let him prove my point:

 

"It's the Big Ten records, however, that set the two coaches apart. Including this year's 7-3 Big Ten record, Alford is 48-58 in conference play, a winning percentage of .453. Davis is 51-38 in Big Ten play, a winning percentage of .573. But there's more. In his first six seasons at Iowa, the most games Alford ever won in any Big Ten season was nine when the Hawkeyes went 9-7 in 2004. In three of his first five seasons coming into this year, Davis won 10 games or more in Big Ten play, including an 11-5 record in 2002.

 

But you say, Davis' teams don't play well on the road in the Big Ten. It's not simply that IU loses on the road but it's how much the Hoosiers lose by. In his Big Ten career, Davis is 14-30 on the road in conference play, a winning percentage of .318. And IU has lost those 30 games by an average of 11.9 points per game. How does Alford compare? Alford's Iowa teams are 16-37 on the road in conference, a winning percentage of .302. And Iowa has lost those 37 games by an average of 11.1 points per game."

[southsider2k5]

tell your buddy it was south WEST mizzou St that Alford coached at.

[IlliniKrush]

If OSU gets sanctions, i could see Matta going there. He's a sleeper right now.

[aboz56]

This press conference could be interesting. There is a possibility of a total meltdown for Davis.

 

I actually like Mike Davis. He's a great person, he's just not the right coach for Indiana University. He's not a good game coach at all. He fails to make adjustments and IU's defense is just abysmal.

 

However, I will say that I think announcing this right now totally kills what was left of IU's chances to get into the NCAA tournament. You'd like to think they could rally, but I just can't imagine it.

 

Best of luck to Coach Davis. He was a class act off of the court and he took IU to a national championship game when I was at the school. It was a thrilling time around the campus, even though I wasn't really an IU fan. The excitement among IU fans was nice to see. Since then, I've taken a liking to IU, after getting over my dislike of the program due to my hatred for Bobby Knight. Hopefully the program can get back to that point eventually. I'll be cheering for them.

[RockRaines]

If OSU gets sanctions, i could see Matta going there. He's a sleeper right now.

Sanctions???

[whitesoxfan99]

Sanctions???

For your former head coach paying players

[aboz56]

For your former head coach paying players

And your current head coach paying to get players.

 

Wait, did I say that?

[thedoctor]

it is doubtful there will be any penalties for ohio state going forward.

 

likely they will have to take down the final four banner and give back a lot of the cash they got. but considering the already gave themselves a self-imposed postseason ban in a year they would have made the tournament, i can not imagine any sanctions going forward.

[RockRaines]

For your former head coach paying players

hahaha, right. Kind of like all those those sanctions from Clarett's acusations.

[RockRaines]

And your current head coach paying to get players.

 

Wait, did I say that?

Yeah, that was a good one!!!!!!

[Kyyle23]

Davis looks like a huge weight has been lifted from his shoulders

[greasywheels121]

Davis looks like a huge weight has been lifted from his shoulders

 

Yep. I'm happy for Davis. He deserves better, and we deserve better. I wish him the best of success in the future.

 

Greenspan does not plan on naming a replacement until after the Final Four, for obvious reasons.

 

Davis felt that it was time for the program to be re-united, alumni, players, fans, etc. to all come together again. Feels the resignation is best for the university, players, team, etc.

 

He knows it feels that it is bad timing, but he thought it was time to move on. He feels it’s time for him to move on, and he wants Indiana to have adequate timing to have a coach replacement. He says this is a great day for basketball, because Indiana deserves better. He said he wants for everyone to be happy in this program, and if that means for him to step aside, he’s for it.

[greasywheels121]

Good speech by Davis. I don't know if the reception at next Wednesday's game will be as bad as expected, now that we have closure.

[whitesoxfan101]

Matta is not going anywhere. He's in a great situation, and the NCAA has their lips stuck too far up tOSU's ass to ever really punish him. I'd love to see Tubby Smith at Indiana, he's just like Mike Davis in that he took a bunch of the last coach's players to the title game (although Tubby won) and then gradually has gone downhill. Mark Few is a very interesting choice, Indiana could offer him way more than Gonzaga pays.

Edited February 16, 2006 by whitesoxfan101

[aboz56]

Good stuff from Davis.

 

He was a class act as always.

 

Thank you, Mike.

[greasywheels121]

Matta is not going anywhere.  He's in a great situation, and the NCAA has their lips stuck too far up tOSU's ass to ever really punish him.  I'd love to see Tubby Smith at Indiana, he's just like Mike Davis in that he took a bunch of the last coach's players to the title game (although Tubby won) and then gradually has gone downhill.  Mark Few is a very interesting choice, Indiana could offer him way more than Gonzaga pays.

 

I know you'd love to see Indiana fail. Good for you.

 

I don't want Few though. Indiana's problem has been defense for most of Davis' tenure, and Few certainly won't know how to cure that.