Those situations aren't comparable though. Stevens and Smart both issued press releases turning down Illinois. This is more comparable to Anthony Grant. The Tribune reported he turned us down last time but no one remembers that because it didn't come from him directly.
The Illinois Coaching Search
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Those situations aren't comparable though. Stevens and Smart both issued press releases turning down Illinois. This is more comparable to Anthony Grant. The Tribune reported he turned us down last time but no one remembers that because it didn't come from him directly.
Mitchell was the Raptors coach when B. Colangelo was running the team.
Yeah, and he fired Mitchell, who he did not hire, barely over a year after he was NBA Coach of the Year.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
I think the program is in better shape than you describe. The team has talent, just needs someone that can whip them in shape. Also, if he were to win in Champaign, he would get more recognition.
The report came from Woj, who is an NBA guy. Odds are he's getting his information from Monty's camp
All this talk of NBA coaches leads me to a good trivia question:
There are three colleges that currently have a former NFL head coach as their head football coach and a former NBA head coach as their head basketball coach. Name them.
There are three colleges that currently have a former NFL head coach as their head football coach and a former NBA head coach as their head basketball coach. Name them.
bredhartmann
- Centralia, IL
Saban and Avery at Bama. Give me a second on the other.
Alabama is one
Alabama is one, correct. And it's three, not two, I said it wrong the first time.
illynifan34
That's a winner!!
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Bama, Louisville,
Louisville is two. One more.
bredhartmann
- Centralia, IL
Bingo. Lane Kiffin and former Pistons coach Michael Curry.
illynifan34
That's a winner!!
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We should definitely hire Van Gundy to get on that list.
bredhartmann
- Centralia, IL
Coach Pop or bust.
I agree that it was meant to generate publicity. Just think you have the relationship backwards. It's publicity for Monty saying I'm ready for an NBA job and I'm desirable, look what Illinois offered me.
IlliniTarHeel
- Topsail, NC
What happens if the coach we are going to hire loses this weekend in the NCAA tourney and we keep winning in the NIT. Do we announce the hire but he can't coach until this season is officially over? Could be an interesting situation.
These tweets on Monty do not even register on the national scale of publicity.
Not an issue. The new coach will start recruiting, and we'll finish the season under Walker. Having the new guy there in New York to cheer on our guys from the stands would be pretty ideal, all things considered.
That happens in football sometimes, where an interim coach coaches a bowl game while a newly hired guy is out there recruiting.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
Guys, we can't have it both ways - either the job is really attractive based on its merits, or someone needs to be yearning to have more cornfields in their life to come coach here.
This board routinely (and - mostly - rightly) talks about the perks of our job that would be appealing to anyone interested in being successful at coaching college basketball. Then we look at anyone suggesting someone from another region of the country like they have lobsters crawling out of their ears.
Eh, everybody in the NBA world follows Woj. That's the audience.
Whitman asked, Monty politely declined, Monty and his agent wanted the world to know how marketable he was, and because they're decent, reasonable people they waited until the Groce firing was official to release the news through Woj.
Now, only waiting like 3 1/2 seconds after Groce was officially canned kinda ruins the desired effect about plausible deniability that no contact occurred while Groce was still employed, but whatever.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
By his theory, they wouldn't need to - they'd just need to register with people in NBA circles.
Which it would.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Meh, wording worked out pretty good for UI, I'd say!
"Illinois WAS PREPARED to make Monty a top ten paid coach," right? (Or something like that?) Sends a message.
Both Martin and Krystowiak's teams were better last year than they were this year, in terms of record.
2011–12 Utah 6–25 3–15 11th
2012–13 Utah 15–18 5–13 10th
2013–14 Utah 21–12 9–9 T–8th NIT First Round
2014–15 Utah 26–9 13–5 T–2nd NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2015–16 Utah 27–9 13–5 2nd NCAA Second Round
2016–17 Utah 20-11 11-7 NIT
2014–15 California 18–15 7–11 T–8th
2015–16 California 23–11 12–6 T–3rd NCAA First Round
2016–17 California 21–12 10–8 5th NIT
Then here's Kevin Keatts
2014–15 UNC Wilmington 18–14 12–6 T–1st CIT First Round
2015–16 UNC Wilmington 25–8 14–4 T–1st NCAA First Round
2016–17 UNC Wilmington 29–5 15–3 1st NCAA
To me, all 3 of these guys are fallback options, and I know that a down year in the middle of a nice few years isn't the biggest concern but I would prefer hiring the guy whose team is currently on the rise if we have to settle on one of these "unproven" guys.
2011–12 Utah 6–25 3–15 11th
2012–13 Utah 15–18 5–13 10th
2013–14 Utah 21–12 9–9 T–8th NIT First Round
2014–15 Utah 26–9 13–5 T–2nd NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2015–16 Utah 27–9 13–5 2nd NCAA Second Round
2016–17 Utah 20-11 11-7 NIT
2014–15 California 18–15 7–11 T–8th
2015–16 California 23–11 12–6 T–3rd NCAA First Round
2016–17 California 21–12 10–8 5th NIT
Then here's Kevin Keatts
2014–15 UNC Wilmington 18–14 12–6 T–1st CIT First Round
2015–16 UNC Wilmington 25–8 14–4 T–1st NCAA First Round
2016–17 UNC Wilmington 29–5 15–3 1st NCAA
To me, all 3 of these guys are fallback options, and I know that a down year in the middle of a nice few years isn't the biggest concern but I would prefer hiring the guy whose team is currently on the rise if we have to settle on one of these "unproven" guys.
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