Oh I agree FF matters more than where you finished in the conference. The tourney is really all that matters. That being said, which coach seems more likely to maintain a successful program:

Coach A: Wins his conference almost every year, hasn't made final four yet.
Coach B: Never wins his conference and doesn't even make the tourney half the time but did make a FF one year.

I'd love to see him interested in UI, but until I hear otherwise, I think he's going to politely say no thanks if he gets that call from MT. Not sure why, but he seems to be holding out hope for a pie in the sky position that probably won't happen for a long time.

Get what you're saying, but SS seems to have VCU trending upward with the FF run followed by a 2nd-place 23-win season so far. Wouldn't be surprised if he wins the CAA next year since they have a young squad this year, provided he stays, of course.

Plus, I don't want UI to become like PU was under Keady: 6 B1G titles in 25 years or so but no FF appearances.

+1. Extremely well stated.

Sean Miller.

That would be a get, if it is possible at all.

You cant be trending upward when your first NCAA is a FF followed by, as of right now, not making the Tournament. As you said tournament success is what matters.

Uh, if you expect him to reach the FF each year, then sure, he and every other coach in America will fail to trend upward. But he's certainly trending upward in the CAA this year with a 2nd-place team that's one of the youngest in the league. I wish we could say the same about our team.

never said you have to make FF every year but to follow up a FF run with an NIT bid is a step back.

RW and UNC won a national title in 2009 and then made the NIT (and won that) in 2010.

They didnt win that, Dayton did.

UNC made the finals but lost to Dayton in the 2010 NIT.

I am still holding out hope for a miracle run and Weber being retained, but if he is let go, Howard must be retained, the new coach should want to keep him and Thomas should strongly encourage the new coach to do so. Thomas needs to reach out to Howard when Weber is let go and told how important he is and we want to keep him, I know coaches want to pick their own staff but Howard should stay and the new coach brings in the rest of his staff. I see absolutely no positive to letting him go and the new coach bring in his own recruiter who may have no relationships with the 13 and 14 recruits. I know it might be a turnoff to tell the new coach Jerrance is staying but I would make that part of the deal.

weber had to or agreed to keep Mcclain.. the next coach would be a fool not to agree with keeping jhoward on the staff.. its more the case of jhoward having all the snakes come after him with big money if weber is fired.. you can expect his phone to be ringing off the hook from some bigtime / elite schools..kentucky for one

I would lose a lot of respect for Howard if he goes and joins Calapari's staff.

I don't think that's possible at all. Arizona's a good place to be. And he's got 2 five star recruits coming in along with two 4 stars. He's doing just fine where he's at.

At best, Arizona to Illinois is a lateral move

• Per Sagarin, VCU and Illinois are roughly equal this year.
• VCU is even younger than Illinois.
• Illinois generally signs more "sought after" recruits given our tradition and membership in the Big 10.

Take as a whole, Smart has done an impressive job this year. Though he hasn't landed highly ranked classes at VCU, he seems to know how to identify the guys he needs to be successful (something Weber never mastered). While fans tend to overvalue a tournament run, they might undervalue the kind of season VCU has had this year if Smart doesn't make another run in the tournament.

He's at VCU. Making the NIT should be a positive step for them...making the final four was probably an unreal feeling.

And it's not like he's struggled this year either. His team is 25-6. 15-3 in conference. Drexel's having a great season or else they'd be a shoe into the tournament.

And oh yeah, Smart lost 4 starters from last year's final four team. One returning starter. I'd say doing what he did this year is one hell of an accomplishment.

This guy can coach. The players buy into his system and love him. He's young, charismatic and smart. Instead of feeling sorry for himself and crying to the media after the game he seems to know what to do to solve team issues. Something Weber can't seem to grasp.

jw, does any midmajor coach land highly ranked classes? Few for the Zags has had some nice classes iirc. but not as high as webers last few that is forsure.. not to mention most believe Zags are the highest midmajor in terms of exposure, winning, and in general name recognition..
with chicago and the resources SS would have (conference and $$) recruiting would not be not much of a worry..imho.. that said, he would have to work hard, maybe retain JH, and get the job done going against elite schools coming in and raping the state for players

Grant was reportedly a better recruiter than Smart. But I'm not pointing out low recruiting rankings to denigrate Smart. Rather, I'm pointing out that he has done more with less than Weber at Illinois.

good point!!!!sad but probably true..

Oops. I thought they won the NIT. I am absolutely playing devil's advocate here. I believe SS is a good coach but am not sold that he is the coach for us. My list goes:

1. Jay Wright
2. Buzz Williams
3. Shaka Smart

Its really just personal preference but I would prefer a proven commodity over a relative unknown, however, if I can't get jay or buzz to leave the failing Big LEast then I want SS.

Anthony Grant made it 2 out of 3 years and Smart was just in the FF. So I really doubt the NIT would be considered a positive step for them.

Based on the thread here

Possibly Jay Wright &/or Ben Howland might be in play for the Illini.

I wasn't on message boards at the time of BW's hiring, was it this twisty and turny?

What precisely has Buzz Williams proven to date in your estimation? Never won the Big east (5th, 5th and 9th his first three years). Never made it past the Sweet Sixteen.

I'm not seeing what makes him a proven commodity at this point.

No offense HoC but if MT is letting it be known who he has reached out to or what their responses were, I'd have to question his sanity. Why on earth would he tell anyone that? He was so tight lipped about the football search that it seems unlikely that solid information is available on this.

I hesitate to say that because your info about practice has been so spot on and valuable. I just find it hard to believe that anyone with access to practice would also have access to what MT is talking about with coaches under contract to other institutions.

Any chance that the info is less that ideally knowledgeable? Or are you confident with this source?