Coaching Carousel (Basketball)

[CoachHooleyHoo]

So I’m assuming the TA situation where they couldn’t bring in a top tier assistant even without Hamer or Tyler. That’s really the elephant right now. Is he going to be let go? I don’t what they can do until that gets resolved.

And I totally agree…Hamer is not the guy for D Coordinator. The philosophy is bad, in-game is bad. Something’s gotta change there. Tyler is gonna be a sticky deal.

 

[Aillini32]

Yes, he was great at Arizona, but that might as well be ancient history in this transformational era of CBB.

(a) You can't give him credit for the 2021-22 Arizona team and then also give him credit for his first year at Xavier. So go ahead and give him credit for Zona's good run continuing after he left but then you have to say he's done absolutely nothing in his second run at Xavier.
(b) Injuries last year definitely were unfortunate, but the rest of the last 5-6 years aren't out of the ordinary of what every team deals with for health.
(c1) Pointing out his winning percentage is banking on the Sean Miller of 7-15 years ago and ignoring his current performance. Sean Miller was a great coach! Sean Miller has little to show he's good coach right now.
(c2) Sean Miller only finished fifth or worse in conference standings one time from 2004-2018. Since 2018? He's finished t-8th, t-5th, 5th, 2nd, t-9th, currently t-5th. He's currently in a conference that has 11 teams, including Butler, DePaul, Seton Hall, Georgetown, and Providence.
(d) Pointing to recruiting and pros, but ignoring the recent performance makes us sound like Nebraska football fans.
(e) Fran McCaffrey stinks and is going to get run out of Iowa City but has been to more NCAA tournaments since COVID than Sean Miller.

At some point, winning matters. Sean Miller was a top-5 coach from 2004-2018, maybe even top-3, but he's been bad for 7 seasons. He needs to show more success than average Big East play to get a really good job in the Big Ten.

Exactly, his resume might be better than Brad’s but no way does Brad go two years in a row with no tournament bid at Xavier. Big East might have the national champions but night in and night out is much tougher in the Big Ten than in the Big East

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

Exactly, his resume might be better than Brad’s but no way does Brad go two years in a row with no tournament bid at Xavier. Big East might have the national champions but night in and night out is much tougher in the Big Ten than in the Big East

Brad went 2 years with no tournament here and had his full roster … Worst record in program history …

Any team in Power 4 loses 2 starters in July … Tough to overcome …

 

[Illinialldayeveryday]

Brad lost 1 whole conference game at SFA lol

 

[2qtslow]

Here is roughly what our assistants are getting paid …

The staff budget for the assistants is right near $2.5 million not including Fletch, Paul, Bittle, Joey, Ganta, Courtney, and Nicole … There’s some other incentives and stuff that bring to that total but the below figures come out to be right at $2.4 million …

Orlando - $900,000
TA - $660,000
Geoff - $450,000
Hamer - $210,000
Tyler - $125,000
Kwa - $65,000

OK, so we keep OA and GA as they are. TA either returns (which I assume won't happen) or we free up his salary. Hamer and Kwa go away. Tyler keeps getting $125K but is demoted to either Director of scouting or fifth assistant. And we hire two X and O assistants. That all sounds pretty simple to me. And my keyboard is in full agreement. Now if only the rest of the world can get on board.

 

[WyattEarp]

Okay, temporary or not, Kwa is criminally underpaid. If his responsibilities went up, he needs to be compensated.

Yeah…what a joke. That’s like less than Central Illinois JV Coach and Assistant Principal money.

 

[dainjazoner]

indy, was brad told by the university to tone it down in any sorts. Is that a potential reason of the softness this yr.

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

OK, so we keep OA and GA as they are. TA either returns (which I assume won't happen) or we free up his salary. Hamer and Kwa go away. Tyler keeps getting $125K but is demoted to either Director of scouting or fifth assistant.

This is the simple solution …

And we go hire a Luke Yaklich type assistant … Elite X&O … I’m fine with this coach running timeouts honestly … Drawing up OOB, SLOB, and OOTO plays … That actually freaking work and don’t result in contested bullcrap threes …

And then go get a guy who can go get you talented players … That’s offensive minded as well preferably but not a necessity … Adam Cohen, Rod Clark, P Murph are all good examples … Kenya Hunter is a name … If Ben Johnson is let go at Minnesota … He’s a name …

Really think it’s likely Dusty May ends up at IU and convincing Mike Boynton to come to Champaign would be pretty easy I think …

 

[DevILLDawg]

Would you GUESS this to be Josh Whitman's short list?
Obviously, this is speculation, conjecture...no one actually knows..so on, so forth..

 

[ugottabjoshinme]

Beard would take the job if a better job didn’t come calling … Thinking Kansas, UNC, Tennessee, Bama …

And before anyone asks … No … IU is not a better job …

Finally, something we can all agree on.

 

[AirNeazy]

Hol' up....Bama and Tennessee are better jobs than Illinois in basketball now.....?

 

[Heisenbobble]

Damn. Never thought I'd see the day that the Vols had a better hoops program than Illinois, but here we are. Makes sense, I guess.

 

[dainjazoner]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1891596302917443718

 

[TheGreatDebate]

This is the simple solution …

And we go hire a Luke Yaklich type assistant … Elite X&O … I’m fine with this coach running timeouts honestly … Drawing up OOB, SLOB, and OOTO plays … That actually freaking work and don’t result in contested bullcrap threes …

And then go get a guy who can go get you talented players … That’s offensive minded as well preferably but not a necessity … Adam Cohen, Rod Clark, P Murph are all good examples … Kenya Hunter is a name … If Ben Johnson is let go at Minnesota … He’s a name …

Really think it’s likely Dusty May ends up at IU and convincing Mike Boynton to come to Champaign would be pretty easy I think …

Does IU have money for Boynton AND Yaklich?

 

[Point-Illinois]

Yes, he was great at Arizona, but that might as well be ancient history in this transformational era of CBB.

(a) You can't give him credit for the 2021-22 Arizona team and then also give him credit for his first year at Xavier. So go ahead and give him credit for Zona's good run continuing after he left but then you have to say he's done absolutely nothing in his second run at Xavier.
(b) Injuries last year definitely were unfortunate, but the rest of the last 5-6 years aren't out of the ordinary of what every team deals with for health.
(c1) Pointing out his winning percentage is banking on the Sean Miller of 7-15 years ago and ignoring his current performance. Sean Miller was a great coach! Sean Miller has little to show he's good coach right now.
(c2) Sean Miller only finished fifth or worse in conference standings one time from 2004-2018. Since 2018? He's finished t-8th, t-5th, 5th, 2nd, t-9th, currently t-5th. He's currently in a conference that has 11 teams, including Butler, DePaul, Seton Hall, Georgetown, and Providence.
(d) Pointing to recruiting and pros, but ignoring the recent performance makes us sound like Nebraska football fans.
(e) Fran McCaffrey stinks and is going to get run out of Iowa City but has been to more NCAA tournaments since COVID than Sean Miller.

At some point, winning matters. Sean Miller was a top-5 coach from 2004-2018, maybe even top-3, but he's been bad for 7 seasons. He needs to show more success than average Big East play to get a really good job in the Big Ten.

I thought this was a well thought out rebuttal, especially point A.

 

[SampsonRelpenk]

Here is roughly what our assistants are getting paid …

The staff budget for the assistants is right near $2.5 million not including Fletch, Paul, Bittle, Joey, Ganta, Courtney, and Nicole … There’s some other incentives and stuff that bring to that total but the below figures come out to be right at $2.4 million …

Orlando - $900,000
TA - $660,000
Geoff - $450,000
Hamer - $210,000
Tyler - $125,000
Kwa - $65,000

I remain dumbfounded that they're (one of the rare circumstances where I won't use "we") paying TA that much money to not coach.

 

[Idea Gardener]

This … All of this …

I don’t want Brad to leave … I don’t want Brad fired …

But running it back with Tyler, Hamer and Kwa as assistants is flat out unacceptable …

Kwa was always temporary … He can go back to a non-assistant role … But he cannot remain an assistant …

I get he won’t fire Tyler … That’s fine … He can take the demotion, he can find another AC job or he can be our 5th assistant in a LEARNING capacity … No more Offensive Coordinator …

As far as Hamer is concerned … He should’ve never been an assistant … Our defense has been absolutely atrocious in conference and down the stretch the last 2 years … I’ve seen enough … No demotion … He should be fired … Nothing personal …. Just evaluating based on performance …

Funny enough, the leggings could be considered poor performance.

 

[WyattEarp]

I like BU and would much rather we work it out with a shakeup of ACs than replace him. I think outside of UNC, I could see most fanbases of teams that could potentially have openings this offseason being excited about him. Yes, this has been a bad season, and we had another bad season two years ago. But in each of those bad seasons we still will have made the tourney. He would immediately raise the level at places like Indiana and UNC (both of which are likely to miss the tourney for the 2nd time in the 4 years they've had their current coaches). I think it's not crazy to think that Kansas could hire him and the fans be happy about it, if that job were to open up.

I mean, when we plucked up Bielema on the football side, there was plenty in his record to look at critically. But I think the majority of fans were excited about the positive aspects of his resume. I think fans of another team would look at BU with a similar lens.

It’s a little bit crazy…not completely crazy but a little bit crazy…

Maybe if it was Bill Self’s dying wish or something. Kansas would be the one to go for Beard IMO. And if Beard thought ge could get the Kansas gig…forget Indinia…forget us; I’m sure.

 

[DICKnaggie]

Assistant principal is about 40k more than that. 65k is what a teacher with 15 years experience and a master's degree makes in CU.

 

[derrick6]

If you don’t think Sean’s an elite coach … I got nothing for ya …

His resume makes Brad’s look JV … Period …

I like Brad but his resume doesn’t stack up with the other 15-20 coaches I’d say are “elite” … I think the potential is there to get to that point but he’s made 1 run since he’s been here …

With all respect, your view is why elite coaches wouldn’t touch Illinois until recently.

Brad is elite and would have demonstrated it had he gone somewhere that wasn’t Illinois. We were at rock bottom.

Brad needs to rediscover himself though.

 

[Cook]

I like Brad, and I would love to have him succeed with us for the rest of his career. But if he is really interested in finding another job, whether that is a place like UNC or KU, or a lateral at best move where he just thinks the grass is greener, then I won't lose any sleep at night. Same if he refuses to change his coaching staff. It sounds like Josh is ready to go all out to bring in an awesome replacement, and I am all for it. Josh absolutely knows what he is doing, and I am ready to enthusiastically support whoever he thinks is the best man to lead Illinois men's basketball for the rest of the decade. He did very well in hiring Brad, and he has absolutely hit huge home runs with Bret and Shauna. We are in good hands, and that feels absolutely great.

I think JW is pretty much accepted as elite, and I don't disagree. However, he's also let LS and BU hire their kids to critical roles. He shouldn't have to force BU's hand to now make a change, it should have never been allowed in the 1st place.

Thinking about elite AD's, from my casual observation the success going on at Iowa State (FB and BB) seems shockingly exceptional. I mean Iowa State??? How did that happen?

 

[Turn N’ Burn]

I have seen a lot of scenarios about JW giving Brad an ultimatum after the season concludes about coaching changes. What are the chances those conversations don’t even happen? I am not sure Brad’s leash is that short right now….

Also, what if he gets rid of Hamer and brings in a defensive AC to replace him? I think that extends his leash even more and Tyler is still around without a hint of a change being made on the offensive side.

 

[sacraig]

I have seen a lot of scenarios about JW giving Brad an ultimatum after the season concludes about coaching changes. What are the chances those conversations don’t even happen? I am not sure Brad’s leash is that short right now….

Also, what if he gets rid of Hamer and brings in a defensive AC to replace him? I think that extends his leash even more and Tyler is still around without a hint of a change being made on the offensive side.

His leash (and the heat of his seat) is some combination of existing good will he has rightfully earned and donor restlessness. I don't have any idea where it currently stands. I do know that I am personally frustrated and most of the things that are causing it stem from coaching decisions.

 

[Jet Jockey]

With all respect, your view is why elite coaches wouldn’t touch Illinois until recently.

Brad is elite and would have demonstrated it had he gone somewhere that wasn’t Illinois. We were at rock bottom.

Brad needs to rediscover himself though.

I agree with BU needing to re-find himself. Somewhere he has lost the passion and emotion. Don't know if Josh told him to cool it or his boy told him but you can tell it is not him and he is fighting himself. I think he may possibly be a better coach with less talent.

 

[derrick6]

I agree with BU needing to re-find himself. Somewhere he has lost the passion and emotion. Don't know if Josh told him to cool it or his boy told him but you can tell it is not him and he is fighting himself. I think he may possibly be a better coach with less talent.

What’s overlooked is the youth of this team, star or otherwise, all navigating a B1G season for the first time and dealing with injury and reffing discontinuities to the lineup.

At the beginning of the year, many of us felt year 2 would be it.

I would say that most, including Brad, do better with older teams.

History shows this so we aren’t unique in our struggles.