The Illinois Coaching Search

[Obelix]

I'd be really mad if they hired Martin already

I'd bet that if we had hired Martin, and reports were that he may be bringing the No. 1 recruit in the nation, keeping the recruiting class intact, keeping Walker, etc., ... you'd may be less mad by now.

There will always be the "we did not want him anyway" and the "I think we ended up with the right choice," or the "I think we got a steal in Coach XYZ" posts," no matter who we hire. At the end, results will speak for themselves.

 

[GortTheRobot]

I'm personally a Shelley man, though not opposed to Byron. I worry that Keats wouldn't stay more than three years - could easily see him leaving for a job in Arizona or New Mexico with the quote, "I find I am constitutionally ill-suited for the insalubrious climate of the Middle West." One guy I'm not as high in as others is William Blake. Just don't see him recruiting well in Chicago or St Louis.

I don't know, I see Samuel Coleridge Taylor as our guy...he dreams BIG! The State Farm Center is Xanadu as Kubla Khan decrees!

*Dang...beaten to the punch on a previous page!

 

[Bogey99]

I'd bet that if we had hired Martin, and reports were that he may be bringing the No. 1 recruit in the nation, keeping the recruiting class intact, keeping Walker, etc., ... you'd may be less mad by now.

There will always be the "we did not want him anyway" and the "I think we ended up with the right choice," or the "I think we got a steal in Coach XYZ" posts," no matter who we hire. At the end, results will speak for themselves.

Is moving our campus to Columbia, MO part of the deal too? Porters weren't coming to Champaign.

 

[GoIllini40]

https://twitter.com/dan_bernstein/status/842402654659706880
Not sure what to make of this, but Illini source says Whitman is a big fan of Bryce Drew. Could big $ tempt him after just 1 year at Vandy?

 

[BananaShampoo]

I share those worries, but poaching a winning coach from another Power Five school is not something that just happens. It's a unicorn of an occurrence.

I think coaches who are coaching excellent teams right stinking now are underrated. Prohm. Jankovich. I was there on McDermott for a hot minute but their collapse without Mo Watson worries me.

Indeed. I would not be sad in the least if we ended up with a Prohm, Jankovich, or Keatts even if they aren't going to excite the overall fanbase like a Miller, Bennett, or Marshall would right away. All are going to be a significant upgrade over Groce, especially from an Xs and Os standpoint and any one of them could genuinely be breakout sensations at Illinois. I think they all have substantial upside at a school that is the right fit and right situation. If I had to guess I'd think Jank or Prohm would be the most likely of that group given their midwest connections (especially Jank).

 

[Obelix]

For the purposes of Braggin Rights fodder I sort of like that Martin seems to be making the claim that he chose Mizzou over UI and Whitman is denying an offer was ever made. You think Josh might prioritize that game a bit more after that plays out in the media? I hope so.

It will be irrelevant in the context of the game IMO. Next time we play, it will be two rivals with new coaches going at each other.

Just a clarification, Whitman's own statement denying an offer was made has been time-misrepresented in some media outlets as having been made yesterday. Whitman's own statement was made during the Bolland PC, I assume for other reports (e.g., Monty).

 

[FatGreg]

That much cheddar, you go straight for Shakespeare.

Just sticking with the Romantics. Opening the search to all periods and movements seems like a dangerous idea.

 

[combes]

Indeed. I would not be sad in the least if we ended up with a Prohm, Jankovich, or Keatts even if they aren't going to excite the overall fanbase like a Miller, Bennett, or Marshall would right away. All are going to be a significant upgrade over Groce, especially from an Xs and Os standpoint and any one of them could genuinely be breakout sensations at Illinois. I think they all have substantial upside at a school that is the right fit and right situation. If I had to guess I'd think Jank or Prohm would be the most likely of that group given their midwest connections (especially Jank).

If we end up with Jankovich, I would rather have gotten Martin. At least, we know he will recruit well.

 

[Second and Chalmers]

I watch alot of horizon ball, not all that impressed with him.

Care to expand on that? I only watched his Valpo teams a couple of times.

 

[Deleted member 228346]

In what crazy world is Bryce Drew near your floor? That's insane.

Forgive my ignorance, but why shouldn't he be? He just doesn't have much history to go on at this point. By no means am I saying he wouldn't be successful, just that his resume doesn't seem to indicate he would be a homerun hire.

 

[UofI08]

Not sure the name calling is needed, but I dont see him a good candidate.

Pretty sure I didn't name call. I just don't see how you can state Deon Thomas and Powell as your floor and then say Bryce Drew is barely above it. Thomas and Powell don't have anywhere close to the experience or success that Bryce Drew has. Honestly, if Bryce Drew was our floor, I'd be extremely excited, as I see really only maybe 5 options better than him and that would mean we'd be essentially getting Marshall, Miller, Bennett or Drew. But the way you worded it comparing Drew to Deon is crazy.

 

[Roundball Shaman]

That much cheddar, you go straight for Shakespeare.

Or, maybe the guy who said:

"Here we may reign secure, and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heaven"

By the way, this is spoken by every good coach that ever turned the Illini job down.

 

[UofI08]

Forgive my ignorance, but why shouldn't he be? He just doesn't have much history to go on at this point. By no means am I saying he wouldn't be successful, just that his resume doesn't seem to indicate he would be a homerun hire.

He's basically Kevin Keatts with midwestern ties, and a successful year at a power 5 school. He won the Horizon league 4 out of his 5 years there and put Vandy in the tournament this year. Hes from Indiana, played a little in the NBA. He's the full package.

I honestly think his ceiling has a chance to be higher than anyone on our list.

 

[Obelix]

Porters weren't coming to Champaign.

Must have mentioned that to you at dinner last night.

If Porter Sr. was willing to take a job at Washington, all they way in west coast, and take his sons with him, it is not out of the question that UI, under a certain coach and position on the staff, could have been a distinct possibility.

 

[Jkat00]

The two reporters and the news agencies they work for lend instant credibility. I don't believe every report.

Couple things. Monty and Cuonzo were both not offered by Josh Whitman.
Neither were at the top of his list.

Shannon Ryans source is a BOT member who's a freakin idiot. Same guy that spilled to her a lot of false information on the AD search a year ago.

 

[Adnarel]

So, yesterday we were going to offer Jesus a contract. Today we are considering the greats of British literature.

 

[TownieMatt]

Couple things. Monty and Cuonzo were both not offered by Josh Whitman.
Neither were at the top of his list.

Shannon Ryans source is a BOT member who's a freakin idiot. Same guy that spilled to her a lot of false information on the AD search a year ago.

 

[Bogey99]

Must have mentioned that to you at dinner last night.

If Porter Sr. was willing to take a job at Washington, all they way in west coast, and take his sons with him, it is not out of the question that UI, under a certain coach and position on the staff, could have been a distinct possibility.

If Missouri was off the table, yes, but very likely not UI when Missouri became an option to do just that.

 

[ChiefIllini]

Back to the original avatar pic jkat?

 

[ole 99]

This is Shannon Ryan and the Trib, not sure they would go with that source.

Its ok to admit that we would have hired Martin if there was mutual interest.

In the end, Martin either wanted Missouri more, or their money more, or both.

I'm sure we were interested in Martin in the same way college coaches are interested in many recruits. Doesn't mean we were ready to accept a commitment from Martin at this time. Martin was clearly targeting Mizzou and Illinois as a possible landing spot and probably wanted to play the two off each other for the best possible package. Mizzou clearly targeted Martin as their priority and made sure to get a deal done ASAP.

 

[Obelix]

So, yesterday we were going to offer Jesus a contract. Today we are considering the greats of British literature.

And at the end, we end up with a a UFO landing on campus.

 

[UofIChE06]

Board consensus, March 14 - "Cuonzo just doesn't do it for me - didn't we just have a guy who could recruit but couldn't get results out of the what he reeled in?"

*Mizzou hires Cuonzo March 15*

Board consensus, March 16 - "I just don't know about Gregg Marshall or Tony Bennett. Can those guys recruit Chicago?"

Let me present A.Miller.... The perfect combo platter of recruiting on the area with coaching chops. Also, on the whole don't think of Miller as a candidate because he is going to wait on the OSU job to open eventually when Matta finally leaves, you mean like John Groce was going to do? Coaches don't pass up opportunities like this without a very good reason. I don't see Archie at Dayton next season. He will take the challenge and show people he is just as good at coaching as Sean.

On the whole Martin thing both reports could be true when looked at from different perspectives. There is no doubt contact was made by an intermediary of Whitman to Martin's camp. I also think Whitman likely was slow playing Martin to have him available but not as a pull the trigger now guy. Martin clearly wanted either the UI job or the Mizzou job. He didn't want to get left holding the bag and took the Mizzou job before Whitman had exhausted other options. It happens in recruiting all the time, why wouldn't it happen in a coaching search. The only thing that matters is Whitman gets someone higher on his list than where CM was.

 

[Second and Chalmers]

Must have mentioned that to you at dinner last night.

If Porter Sr. was willing to take a job at Washington, all they way in west coast, and take his sons with him, it is not out of the question that UI, under a certain coach and position on the staff, could have been a distinct possibility.

He's like best friends with Lorenzo Romar. I know they all are, but he is.

 

[MadSeason]

If we end up with Jankovich, I would rather have gotten Martin. At least, we know he will recruit well.

Agreed

Jank is one my least favorite names mentioned

 

[BananaShampoo]

Yeah, Lord Byron would definitely excite the Chicago AAU scene more.

I'm personally a Shelley man, though not opposed to Byron. I worry that Keats wouldn't stay more than three years - could easily see him leaving for a job in Arizona or New Mexico with the quote, "I find I am constitutionally ill-suited for the insalubrious climate of the Middle West." One guy I'm not as high in as others is William Blake. Just don't see him recruiting well in Chicago or St Louis.

Dollars to donuts, Shad Kubla Khan will deliver Coleridge no matter what it takes

In Champaign, did Shad Kubla Khan a State Farm Center decree. Sorry, couldn't resist.

But yeah, I agree with the Marshall, Bennett, or Miller (and then Keatts) camp. Would be nice to have an AA basketball coach one of these days, though.

I didn't even consider Coleridge a possibility, but that would be a grand slam. And there's the obvious Khan connection, which everyone has been overlooking. I like how Coleridge describes his motion offense:

And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,
As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
A mighty fountain momently was forced:
Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail:
And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
It flung up momently the sacred river.
Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
Then reached the caverns measureless to man,
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean

To me, it sounds like he's talking about a free flowing motion offense that sometimes runs on 5-out principles and really emphasizes attacking the glass to create second chance opportunities. I can get behind that.

I mean, with $25 million in the war chest, should we be talking about Wordsworth too?

That much cheddar, you go straight for Shakespeare.

I don't know, I see Samuel Coleridge Taylor as our guy...he dreams BIG! The State Farm Center is Xanadu as Kubla Khan decrees!

*Dang...beaten to the punch on a previous page!

Just sticking with the Romantics. Opening the search to all periods and movements seems like a dangerous idea.

Or, maybe the guy who said:

"Here we may reign secure, and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heaven"

By the way, this is spoken by every good coach that ever turned the Illini job down.

So, yesterday we were going to offer Jesus a contract. Today we are considering the greats of British literature.

You guys are killing it today! Loving the literary undercurrent of this thread.