College Hoops Coaching Carousel

[Fighter of the Nightman]

I think Miller probably holds out for something bigger. Decent chance Kentucky, Michigan, and Michigan State all open in the next few years. Self won't coach forever either. No inside info, just my hunch that he would hold out for something bigger.

I think it speaks to a really weird insecurity complex as an Illini fan to group Michigan and MSU as clearly bigger jobs. ONE legendary coach transformed MSU, let's not act like they've been having their pick of the litter of coaching candidates ... well, ever. Michigan?? Michigan has quite literally never made a single splash hire to their basketball program that approaches Kruger, Self or Underwood. No Michigan or MSU fan is talking about being an inferior job to Illinois, and our fans shouldn't be doing the same in the other direction. There is as much potential here as either of those places, and you do not have to be an Illini homer to acknowledge that.

 

[DocMorgan]

People with money are trying to tell Brad how to do his job. Brad is hard headed and doesn’t take very kindly to that sort of thing. In the shortest version possible.

That exists in every occupation in every geographic location. If he left for Texas or anywhere else, it would be the same if not worse. Brad needs to get over it and count his dough.

 

[Illini_1105]

Brad had a tough march shakeout these last two years. I can explain away all games except for Loyola - that one is the only real ball buster for me. Last year our team was decimated and Frazier was a shadow of himself since hitting the B10 grind in February. Looked like his injuries caught up to him and we effectively only had 4 scoring options on the floor when DWill was there. This year we were who we thought we were. The team wasn't very good.

I do not want to be in the bottom of the barrel again. I think its a bit knee-jerkey to want Sean Miller after BU has collected the most B10 wins over the last 4 years. It has been so nice to actually be able to watch conference basketball again. Remember how miserable 2016 was?

I want Brad.

 

[ChiefGritty]

ONE legendary coach transformed MSU, let's not act like they've been having their pick of the litter of coaching candidates ... well, ever.

MSU has been coached by one guy and then his handpicked assistant successor since 1976.

 

[uofi7477]

This isn't being said enough IMO. Outside of having Kofi and Ayo to bail out the offense, I haven't seen much. We were in such a bad spot from Weber/Groce, people have set the bar extremely low/settling. I'm not saying he is a bad coach, but I don't think there's any way you can justify his salary with the product we've been getting. Boosters are probably going to be up your cheeks if you get blown out by NW/Mizzou and take back to back early exits from the tournament. His antics don't help him either.

Well stated, and last sentence does it for me - "antics" is a great descriptive word.

 

[dbeverly26]

You know, if Underwood were to stay or go I'd still feel pretty good about this program and think we could likely draw a very good coach, so I'm not sweating that part of this conversation at all. What I'm really not looking forward to is his departure providing a blank screen that folks can use to project their absolute dumbest ideas about why he 'failed' or left onto. I suppose it's never a bad time to take a break from the boards.

 

[AyoDos11]

Reading this thread today:

 

[DocMorgan]

Find a way to get Sean … That’s the answer to both questions …

Ahhh...so Indy Illini Fan is actually Sean Miller!

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

MSU has been coached by one guy and then his handpicked assistant successor since 1976.

Which is very impressive in one regard, but I do not believe it speaks to an inherent high floor or low ceiling there. Say what you want about Illinois, but a LOT of coaches have proven it's not too hard to win here. I would be really curious to hear how many programs have had 3 of their last 4 coaches get a #1 seed and 5 of their last 6 coaches win at least one conference championship. We are a remarkably self-sustaining program in competent hands.

EDIT: And to be clear, I think the success those two guys had HAS transformed the MSU job, as well. It's a very good job, and it might have been viewed similarly to a Kansas State or other "little brother" if not for that success. However, that has not proven to be some program-specific standard, and I could easily see a bit of a drop-off down after Izzo. The point I was making to the poster is the current success of a program (never mind that we have arguably been at least as good or better than those two programs over the last four years, depending on what you are looking at) is not the same to me as how good the job is. Otherwise, Texas wouldn't be talking about taking Arkansas' coach. As another example that doesn't involve rose-tinted glasses, I think Maryland is very clearly a better job than MSU ... and yet the history isn't close, and MSU has been a better program lately.

 

[JJE]

No matter what happens, 2 years from now this thread is gonna be legendary.

 

[WeWillWhen]

I think it speaks to a really weird insecurity complex as an Illini fan to group Michigan and MSU as clearly bigger jobs. ONE legendary coach transformed MSU, let's not act like they've been having their pick of the litter of coaching candidates ... well, ever. Michigan?? Michigan has quite literally never made a single splash hire to their basketball program that approaches Kruger, Self or Underwood. No Michigan or MSU fan is talking about being an inferior job to Illinois, and our fans shouldn't be doing the same in the other direction. There is as much potential here as either of those places, and you do not have to be an Illini homer to acknowledge that.

The insecurity comes mainly from the fact that we HAD one of the top coaches of the current generation, and he bolted right before he maxed out here.

 

[Iloveorangekoolaid]

No matter what happens, 2 years from now this thread is gonna be legendary.

It grows in legend every 2 hours honestly

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

The insecurity comes mainly from the fact that we HAD one of the top coaches of the current generation, and he bolted right before he maxed out here.

Understandable, but that's the only example in modern history and that was specifically the one job I really think he leaves for ... I'm in the camp that believes Self's statements on this, and he has repeatedly praised us as one of the best destinations in the country since and reportedly encouraged coaching candidates to take the gig (thanks again, Mike Thomas!).

Kansas lost Roy Williams to UNC in a similar fashion, but I bet they would never expect to lose a coach to Kentucky, for example.

 

[phats22]

Everything’s gonna be okay

Good to hear. However, it feels really odd that I'm more settled with where the football program is than basketball

 

[Navy_illini]

If BU leaves JW will have his buyout money to get almost any coach he thought could get the job done. As long as we have JW I know he will get the right person

For the insiders it seems from the outside that our athletic department and donors have set up a good NIL program. I don’t think every school has that in place yet. That will let us get the players necessary to win

 

[ChiefGritty]

Yeah he springs to mind. With the meltdown of the Pac 12 media rights situation it seems worth a phone call to Tommy Lloyd. And I don't know how long he plans to go, but Dana Altman would have made a fine Illinois coach in 2004 and he'd do the same now.

Is Andy Enfield sick of a school that's never going to care about basketball?

Brian Dutcher is a grizzled pro with deep Big Ten roots (including as a GA for Henson) who has gotten players across decades and decades, really underrated coach and CEO type figure.

I could see our fanbase developing an annoying parasocial relationship with the bulging biceps of TJ Otzelberger, though I think he's a tad overrated as a coach.

Is Thad Matta back to his old self and capable of the grind again?

There are always good coaches and you've always gotta have a list, no matter how stable the situation might seem.

 

[Illini_1105]

Yeah, I'm not downplaying Xavier as a great job and I will die on the hill that Cincinnati is one of the most criminally underrated cities in America ... but Florida and Oklahoma State aren't exactly chopped liver! Self, while coming from a mid-major, was arguably also the hottest coach on the market when we snagged him. Other than Mike Thomas being a failure and a brief spat of insecurity by RG after Self bolted, Illinois Basketball has more than proven itself as a great destination job and has not had to settle on who we want.

Seriously, the more I think about it, when you look at the other hires ADs have been able to make to our basketball program ... Mike Thomas' multiple strikeouts were a clear indictment on HIM and not us.

Cincinatti really is a cool city

 

[Manual3for4peat]

I’m just not that excited about Greg McDermott. I remember the dumpster fire he created at Iowa state.

 

[lonelytylenol]

I am a huge fan of Brad … But what I’m not a fan of with Brad is the constant flirting with other programs … I got K State last year … He gets a pass for that … But he’s actively looking at every open job every year … After all we’ve done … That’s frustrating to hear

And as far as Sean goes … He’s a major upgrade … And while I’m a fan of Brad, I can’t sit here and say I wouldn’t prefer Miller … I don’t think there’s a single thing Brad does that Miller doesn’t do better

I’m not saying by sharing all this today that Brad is gone and it’s a done deal … I’m just sharing what I’m hearing … Good and bad …

Makes sense ... I have to say that I really admire how well you and some of the other insiders balance transparency and discretion. I could easily see this board being a total nightmare if that were not the case. So, thanks!

 

[Ransom Stoddard]

For those who think Brad's an outlier for yelling and "antics"--how much CBB do you watch outside of Illinois? And more to the point, look at the players who've been in Brad's program who have his back.

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

Good to hear. However, it feels really odd that I'm more settled with where the football program is than basketball

There are obviously other factors here, but part of it is just the expectations. We are all incredibly ecstatic that we might get back-to-back seasons of 6-8 wins. And we should be, given where we've been, and I genuinely believe Bret can take to much better places with time! However, coaches get fired for that at Michigan or Ohio State. Compare that to hoops, where we have a sizable chunk of our fan base up in arms after getting a #1 seed and winning a Big Ten title and then being a #9 seed in the NCAA Tournament in the third year after losing five starters ... because we had the program reputation to pull in top-level transfers and try to reload rather than rebuild. Our expectations for football are to become competitive long-term. Our expectations for basketball, long-term, are to win a National Championship.

If BU leaves JW will have his buyout money to get almost any coach he thought could get the job done. As long as we have JW I know he will get the right person

For the insiders it seems from the outside that our athletic department and donors have set up a good NIL program. I don’t think every school has that in place yet. That will let us get the players necessary to win

If it comes to pass that Brad leaves us and we DO have a replacement in line the caliber of Miller, I hope it's inked and announced IMMEDIATELY after Underwood is announced somewhere else. I know this is selfish and getting caught up in petty details, but I would want it to be a statement that Illini Basketball didn't get left at the altar; we "separated amicably" and actually upgraded to a hotter wife.

 

[IMPE ALL STAR]

Did coach underwood actually get an offer from KSU last year? Or did he remove his name from consideration because Whitman stepped up to the plate for him?

Or i guess maybe KSU may not have offered him the position (or at least not at terms he would have accepted?)

I’m curious how serious it got and how close he actually came to leaving a year ago.

Either way, I don’t think KSU is too upset about how it turned out.

 

[Monticello]

I've tried looking, and forgive me if it's already but been posted today, but what is BU's buyout? Also, I remember Illinois paying Weber's full buyout when he was fired. Would that be the same in this situation (buyout only), or would Illinois need to pay the remaining "guaranteed" years on the contract, regardless of whether he is hired somewhere else?

For example, I get that if TBD hired him, BU's buyout would be paid to the UofI.

If Whitman decided Miller would be an upgrade and let BU go (not condoning or saying it will happen), I believe 4 years were guaranteed on the last contract extension. I'm assuming that would mean UI would be on the hook for about 22mil? Would that number go down if he took a position elsewhere (kind of like MLB)?

Thanks for any info from folks who understand how contracts work.

 

[Ransom Stoddard]

Fire Coach UW, but try to negotiate the buyout due to the threat of bringing "cause" such as player abuse and inappropriate conduct unbecoming an Illini Coach.

 

[Big Jack]

Brad had a tough march shakeout these last two years. I can explain away all games except for Loyola - that one is the only real ball buster for me. Last year our team was decimated and Frazier was a shadow of himself since hitting the B10 grind in February. Looked like his injuries caught up to him and we effectively only had 4 scoring options on the floor when DWill was there. This year we were who we thought we were. The team wasn't very good.

I do not want to be in the bottom of the barrel again. I think its a bit knee-jerkey to want Sean Miller after BU has collected the most B10 wins over the last 4 years. It has been so nice to actually be able to watch conference basketball again. Remember how miserable 2016 was?

I want Brad.

I think all of these issues revolve more around personality, treatment and perception than wins and losses.