robertgoulet
IL Board Resident Crooner
- Austin, TX
2017 Coaching Carousel
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With regards to not being able to convince one of the great mid-major coaches to jump to U of I on our last hire when Thomas had to settle on Groce, there is a BIG difference this time around: Josh Whitman is running the show this time around.
I was one of the few Weber supporters left, so I wasn't happy with his firing, and thought Thomas Eff'd up that whole thing. I believe most coaches know that Bruce Weber is a really good coach and that Mike Thomas messed up too, so there is a good chance no one wanted to come work for Mike Thomas after how he mistreated a very respected Bruce Weber. (Namely, not giving him public support in the middle of the season)
IF Whitman decides to move on from Groce, he'll have much better options. First off, b/c he's a better salesman and more likable man. He also supported Groce through difficult times and gave him a chance to succeed. Whitman may be able to convince a really good basketball coach to come to the University of Illinois and lead us back to greatness. This job has as much potential as any non Blueblood program.
I was one of the few Weber supporters left, so I wasn't happy with his firing, and thought Thomas Eff'd up that whole thing. I believe most coaches know that Bruce Weber is a really good coach and that Mike Thomas messed up too, so there is a good chance no one wanted to come work for Mike Thomas after how he mistreated a very respected Bruce Weber. (Namely, not giving him public support in the middle of the season)
IF Whitman decides to move on from Groce, he'll have much better options. First off, b/c he's a better salesman and more likable man. He also supported Groce through difficult times and gave him a chance to succeed. Whitman may be able to convince a really good basketball coach to come to the University of Illinois and lead us back to greatness. This job has as much potential as any non Blueblood program.
RichBradIllini
- Peoria
Don't think I've seen Chris Holtmann from Butler mentioned. He's buried in a deep contract and might pull a Brad Stevens and turn his nose up at an IL offer but seems like he's at least on par with Archie Miller and other up and coming young coaches.
Joel Goodson
- ties will be resolved
The article is not surprising. Could Hoiberg be relieved? Distinct possibility. If he's available and amenable, Whitman has to consider him, right?
Martin vs. Hoiberg, who you got?
It's high time the bell tolls for GarPax, but that's for another thread.
Worth mentioning here that Hoiberg has a huge buyout. If you're going to be making changes bigger than just the head coach, maybe that's a financial decision you let someone else make after the season.
robertgoulet
IL Board Resident Crooner
- Austin, TX
I'd prefer Mayor over Cuonzo.
That being said, I think we could do much worse than Cuonzo and wouldn't be disappointed if that's where we ended up.
Deleted member 29907
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Guest
Buzz Williams would have been a nice get - he's turned Tech around very quickly and they play with passion and aggression. Moving to coach in the ACC was a step up to a challenge - no easy task at a almost all Football school.
Blacksburg is a very nice area. Oh, and they have a football team, coach, stadium and fans we would kill for.
Huge if right there. In the event that he is, though, don't hold your breath. I highly doubt he comes here. Put your eggs in another basket.
I got the sense that Thomas wasn't exactly the best salesman of Illinois athletics.
homesickalien
- Springfield
I wouldn't mind Hoiberg, but I've never been his biggest fan. Those Iowa St teams had some solid regular seasons, but they underachieved in the postseason.
Martin has had some succesful seasons and has recruited a couple studs, but I still have questions about him. With his connections around the area he will be near the top of the list though.
Martin has had some succesful seasons and has recruited a couple studs, but I still have questions about him. With his connections around the area he will be near the top of the list though.
Postseason? What's that?
FeelYourPaign
- So Cal
I watched Iowa State pretty carefully, as I have a Cyclone alum in the family.
His teams were a blast to watch offensively, but mostly played matador defense.
He wins by outscoring you. And that works most of the time, but when you have that off night offensively, you have no chance. But that offense !
His teams were a blast to watch offensively, but mostly played matador defense.
He wins by outscoring you. And that works most of the time, but when you have that off night offensively, you have no chance. But that offense !
Sal Iacuzzo
- Yonkers, NY
no to King Rice, Monmouth will fall back to being an average MAAC team once Justin Robinson graduates.
Something i could probably check if i wasnt so lazy, but how good of a recruiter is Frank Martin? He would be a guy I wouldn't mind vetting, everywhere he goes they seem to win.
Serious Late
- Peoria via Denver via Ann Arbor via Albuquerque vi
Yeah, but I get the sense that our current standing in the Big Ten, the difficulty recruiting Chicago and the expectations of the fan base are all going to play just as big, if not bigger, a role than the upgrade in salesmanship from Thomas to Whitman. Might I add, while it is fun to pretend we now have the best AD in the country, he is still completely unproven in a high major coaching search.
Thomas' vision of Illinois Basketball was to find the coach who would go into Chicago and win the recruitments for the Jabari Parkers and Jahlil Okafors, to make Illinois the destination school for the best athletes in Illinois (in every sport). It was for Illinois to be in Illinois what Ohio State is in Ohio.
Illinois basketball is a very good job. Its ability to accomplish that task is not why. So there was an asymmetry between the AD's vision and the value coaches and agents saw in the job. Thomas' single mindedness about what he saw as the mission led him to zero in on candidates who fit into the narrow and ill-fitting box he created, regardless of quality.
Whitman is a rookie and a wild card, but he has a lot to sell, he truly understands the school, and if a coaching search is the way it's heading, I trust he'll come up with a fit.
FeelYourPaign
- So Cal
Um, Lovie. I don't think that is completely unproven. Does that guarantee that his next search is awesome? No, but unproven is just wrong, imo.
Serious Late
- Peoria via Denver via Ann Arbor via Albuquerque vi
Lovie wasn't a coaching search. Lovie came with Whitman and was a coach looking for a landing spot every bit as bad as we were looking for a respectable head coach.
Kudos to Whitman for getting Lovie, but that wasn't a coaching search in any way. There wasn't even another program competing for Lovie's services by that point. Let's see how Whitman does when there are 20 other programs competing for the coaches Whitman wants.
True
Not true.
The Lovie hire demonstrated a lot of positive qualities on the part of Whitman, things that can give us confidence that he'll be able to figure this out. But the mechanics of what he'll have to do are just totally different, unless Ron Turner is buddies with an out-of-work NBA coach represented by his son.
Serious Late
- Peoria via Denver via Ann Arbor via Albuquerque vi
And one of the things I said was "Kudos to Whitman for landing Lovie." I am not saying it wasn't a quality hire at all or that there wasn't some work on Whitman's end to make it happen. Simply that his ability to hire Lovie says nothing of his ability to replace Groce after the season.
Now, if Hoiberg gets fired during the NBA season and Whitman has the stones to make a change before the college season concludes (I am not saying he should, just IF) then we probably have a much closer to similar situation as we had with Lovie and my faith in Whitman's ability to get the best guy would go up.
I just don't think things have changed that dramatically from the last time we went through this. Illinois' perception as a program is down, substantially, from what most of us remember it being and what it can be. Is Whitman charismatic enough to overcome that? I hope so, and I am not saying he can't. Just that there isn't this conclusion that can already be drawn about his abilities in this arena, and there are forces bigger than Whitman which will likely keep the Marshall's, Mack's and Miller's from coming here.
Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
Frank Martin's recruiting would be the least objectionable thing about him. He makes Gene Keady appear likeable and is at least flirting with Bobby Knight style player abuse.
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/news/story?id=4811927
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...-frank-martin-after-tuesdays-incident-in-loss
And then there's this.
http://content.usatoday.com/communi...-paying-his-players-in-college/1#.WGbcePkrLb0
Needless to say, I'm not riding the Frank tank.
Tevo
- Wilmette, IL
Maybe Fred sees the writing on the wall and to preserve his good name, and to boost the image of his new employer, he quits mid-season because he "just can't pass up the opportunity to work at a place like Illinois!"
Maybe.
There is nothing so negative about the IL job that the right coach wouldn't take this job. If Wichita St can hire and keep Greg Marshall, SC can hire Frank Martin, and VT can hire Buzz we can get a top tier coach.
Not every guy will jump at the job, but the right guy will grab it in a heartbeat.
Not every guy will jump at the job, but the right guy will grab it in a heartbeat.
They haven't. But there are several coaches with markedly better on-paper qualifications than Groce who would walk over broken glass for our job, then and now.
Take Steve Pikiell at Rutgers. Dumpster fires don't get much bigger than that, and a very credible mid-major coach was right there to take the job. You just have to find the right guy.
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