2017 Coaching Carousel

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#4,703      
Lots of people have mentioned this, but do you have any reason to believe Walker would stay?

The big reason would be that most of his coaching experience is with Groce. He worked briefly at Arizona prior to joining Groce at Ohio U, but I don't think it's likely he'd get a gig at Arizona, so if he had an offer to stay here and not uproot his family, etc, it could be possible he'd be interested in doing so rather than joining a staff with a coach he doesn't have previous experience with. I don't anticipate Groce having a P5 gig next year, so that's why I think it'd be in play. Best job available, don't have to test the market.

That said, I'm not totally in love with the idea of a staff holdover who is as heavily tied to the guy getting fired as Walker is.
 
#4,705      
Lots of people have mentioned this, but do you have any reason to believe Walker would stay?

If a university fires the whole coaching staff and offers you a raise to stay what would you do? It also gives the appearance that you are so valuable that they don't want to lose you, so if you are released in 1-2 years your job prospects have improved. Unless a better gig is offered, he stays IMHO.

On a side note, Walker was the only coach I ever saw doing drills with our players. I'm sure they all did, but Walker was the only one I would see and he was pretty intense about it. Also has been called our best recruiter. Our Canadian connection never seemed to develop.
 
#4,707      

BananaShampoo

Captain 'Paign
Phoenix, AZ
We know Martin can do it to UT and Cal ;) (I kid, that certainly projects well for Martin, although 4* talent isn't really new to us)

Keatts was lead recruiter on plenty of guys at UL that would've been great lands for us (Quentin Snider!), I think that's pretty projectable, unless you don't give Tilmon credit for Walker because he's an assistant.
Snyder is not a good example. He was going to jump at a UL offer as soon as he got one. It was his dream school and he grew up there.
 
#4,708      

Rad

Nashville, TN
Nailed it. They can't keep anyone in front of them on D and they can't beat anyone off the dribble offensively. How do you coach that up?

These are the players/teams that most need a good coach.
 
#4,714      
I do not understand the appeal for Cuonzo Martin on here, and I don't see the appeal with the guy. I do not think he is warranted enough for a head coaching job at Illinois.

His resume speaks for itself. He has never dominated conference play, never has had much post-season success, plus he's never took a basketball program to new heights.

I don't know about the majority of you, but pencil me in as a guy who believes Cuonzo Martin should not be a coach in any capacity at Illinois.

I think C Martin will get us from point A to point B the fastest. He will improve our recruiting in Chicago, St Louis, and occasionally land a national top 25 guy. He will also keep our class together IMHO and possibly land Smith as well. One thing I remember from Martin as a player was he was a winner. Did he dominate his conference? Well he coached at Tennessee and not Kentucky and coached at Cal and not Arizona. He upgraded the programs and hasn't stayed long enough to see what he can do long-term. I'm not interested in an Iowa or Indiana rebuilt from 8-10 years ago which saw them no where competitive.
 
#4,716      
The coach we hire comes from either P5 or NBA we are not hiring small school coach.

Most of the successful P5 coaches have secured jobs, and since they are successful, their programs are in much better shape. Quite a few of the potential "hot" names are not in P5 (e.g., Archie, Mack, Keatts). It would be hard enough to secure any of those, let alone be able to steal a successful head coach from a P5 in much better shape than we are.

Whitman is not going to just fire Groce without all of this vetted and figured out first.

Unless the coach is from the NBA or a coach without a job (i.e., opportunistic hire), I seriously doubt that we will be able to secure our next coach via back channels before we actually fire Groce and start negotiating. If that was easy, schools with larger networks, connections, and resources (e.g., UCLA, Oregon, Ok. State) would have avoided embarrassing searches. And JW will not burn any bridges in the AD profession, he is young enough and smart enough not to do that. JMO.
 
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#4,717      

Bailey

Los Angeles
As it pertains to recruits recognizing Monty's name, I think folks (from what seems like 10 pages ago) are hugely underestimating the impact ties to Team USA bball have.

Also, personally, I think the fact the Spurs organization would give a job to Monty lays to rest any questions about his aptitude.
 
#4,718      
I do not understand the appeal for Cuonzo Martin on here, and I don't see the appeal with the guy. I do not think he is warranted enough for a head coaching job at Illinois.

His resume speaks for itself. He has never dominated conference play, never has had much post-season success, plus he's never took a basketball program to new heights.

I don't know about the majority of you, but pencil me in as a guy who believes Cuonzo Martin should not be a coach in any capacity at Illinois.

Just like I don't see the appeal for Keatts, a guy who mans a defense rated 240th in the country in PPG for the opposition and 193rd in adjusted defensive rating.
 
#4,719      
What I've heard is it's likely not going to be Keatts unless Whitman fails to secure a bunch of preferred candidates. Some connections who are familiar with Keatts don't think he's ready for a B1G gig yet.

If your sources are accurate, then thank you Josh Whitman for not settling for an unproven coach.
 
#4,720      
Just like I don't see the appeal for Keatts, a guy who mans a defense rated 240th in the country in PPG for the opposition and 193rd in adjusted defensive rating.

Keatts weaknesses will get found out soon enough by opposing conference coaches as soon as he jumps to P5.
 
#4,721      

Illwinsagain

Cary, IL
I see what you're saying, good recruiters are good recruiters, but do you think Keatts would recruit a better 2018 class at Illinois than Counzo?

I would give Counzo the edge for '18 due to current connections, however, not a lot of rides for '18 unless there are losses from the class or transfers, which is completely possible. Can he coach/develop the team better? I don't know.
 
#4,722      
Keatts weaknesses will get found out soon enough by opposing conference coaches as soon as he jumps to P5.

Or not. There is nothing that says that Keatts could not be a very successful coach at a P5 school.
 
#4,723      

haasi

New York
Question for enterprising researchers or very informed college ball fans-
how have midmajor coaches with similar backgrounds to Keatts (a short track record of exceptional performance as HC at small school, legit recruiting background as assistant) fared when elevating to P5 conferences?
 
#4,725      
Or not. There is nothing that says that Keatts could not be a very successful coach at a P5 school.

It makes me scratch my head when people talk about a coach they know nothing about. Keatts is a Tier 3 candidate, plain and simple.
 
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