Coaching Carousel (Basketball)

[DeonThomas]

“Illinois a yearly big ten contender”

Two years ago we tied for 5th
This year we tied for 7th.
People need to stop acting like we are constantly fighting for Big10 championship cause two out of the last three years we were not even close.

Conferences also are not what they used to be.

The Pac8 used to have 8 teams. The Big 8 used to have 8 teams. The Southwest Conference used to have 8 teams. The Big10 used to have 10 teams. The Big East used to have 9 teams. And the ACC used to have 8 teams. Finishing 5th in 2025 is essentially the same as finishing 2nd in the past.........in other words, competing for the title.

Winning three recent championships as the Illini have under BU is outrageously good!!

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

I'm at the point where I wouldn't push him out, but also wouldn't be too broken up if he takes the KSU job or another opening. I trust Whitman.

This is a fair take considering the options available to us at this point …

Especially with a first round exit …

 

[NarrowJ]

Shaq ain’t walking through that door …

They’re bottom 4 in the SEC in terms of resources for MBB …

Shaq? Shaq never played in a final four

LSU final fours 1981, 1986, 2006

They're a good program, you acting like they're a bottom feeder is just more ridiculous axe grinding. I'm sorry but the 1 in 8 stuff and now this?

Idk man... having trouble following anything you're saying today

 

[BfosterL]

Is that statistic considering across each coaches' entire career record, or just the years when they made the tournament, like how I framed Underwood's failure to meet seed expectations (and even then, only at Illinois) above?

I realize that's a weird and presumably much more difficult statistic to look up, so I assume that we're not exactly making even comparisons.

Your idea of seed expectations as a measure of a coach's success means Bill Self was a complete failure at Illinois.

 

[Illini2010-11]

And that's exactly the group we should be aspiring to join.

We are definitely providing money resources to at least approach that territory. If we were paying Minnesota type money and resources, then I would agree with the unrealistic expectations argument being made by some. It is completely fair that we should expect greater return in the tourney given the plethora of resources available here.

 

[Illiniam1984]

We are definitely providing money resources to at least approach that territory. If we were paying Minnesota type money and resources, then I would agree with the unrealistic expectations argument being made by some. It is completely fair that we should expect greater return in the tourney given the plethora of resources available here.

Disappointing so far. If we lose to a lesser team in the tourney, time to think about other options imo.

 

[the juiceman cometh]

Pretty tough to compare a bottom feeder SEC program to a top 3 Big Ten program right ??? But sure let’s compare …

Will Wade … 0 losing seasons …

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So just to be clear we're going back in time and criticizing BU for his first two seasons when he's won 20+ games six seasons in a row? Shoulda fired him after year 2 then I guess if nothing he did after that matters.

 

[Scoregasm]

I would think with a good coaching staff and the resources UI has in place a S16 every 4 should be expected.

Izzo had a great run of getting to the FF every 4 or 5 years.

 

[Ryllini]

Shaq? Shaq never played in a final four

LSU final fours 1981, 1986, 2006

They're a good program, you acting like they're a bottom feeder is just more ridiculous axe grinding. I'm sorry but the 1 in 8 stuff and now this?

Idk man... having trouble following anything you're saying today

That 06 LSU team with Tyrus Thomas and Big Baby was fun. I think it is a program that can have peak years. Not a bad program, seems like a lightening in a bottle program.

 

[Illini2010-11]

Shaq? Shaq never played in a final four

LSU final fours 1981, 1986, 2006

They're a good program, you acting like they're a bottom feeder is just more ridiculous axe grinding. I'm sorry but the 1 in 8 stuff and now this?

Idk man... having trouble following anything you're saying today

Indy is solely talking about current available resources for men's basketball. Historical success means nothing to what he is talking about. LSU is not that desirous of a basketball program right now.

 

[BashCtIllini]

How what works?

Who is out here firing coaches that have his results/resume?

I think maybe you have no idea 'how it actually works'

Really, you are the pinnacle of authority though, of course. The higher up you get in any profession, the more that is expected of you. Look no farther than John Calipari. His last 3 seasons at Kentucky were 26, 22, and 23 wins. But he wasn't getting to the 2nd weekend, and despite all the wins and tournament success in the past, Kentucky wanted him gone.

When you make a top 10 salary, and you're getting top 10 NIL support, your expectations increase. That is not debatable. Some like to say, well he's performing better than coach X. Well we haven't had any coaches in the past being paid in the top 10 with top 10 NIL. Thus, there are greater expectations. Some are fine with being good every year. Others say, we're paying for great, I want great.

People are allowed to have their own thoughts and expectations. The loudest poster doesn't get to dictate those expectations. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what anyone here says, it is Josh Whitman's decision. So trying to go after any poster who dares to disagree with you or have their own view, is a waste of everyone's time.

 

[NarrowJ]

Indy is solely talking about current available resources for men's basketball. Historical success means nothing to what he is talking about. LSU is not that desirous of a basketball program right now.

Then say that

They're not a "bottom feeder program" that's silly

Edit: not "desirous"... go check out their recruit and transfer rankings lately and get back to me

 

[NarrowJ]

Really, you are the pinnacle of authority though, of course. The higher up you get in any profession, the more that is expected of you. Look no farther than John Calipari. His last 3 seasons at Kentucky were 26, 22, and 23 wins. But he wasn't getting to the 2nd weekend, and despite all the wins and tournament success in the past, Kentucky wanted him gone.

When you make a top 10 salary, and you're getting top 10 NIL support, your expectations increase. That is not debatable. Some like to say, well he's performing better than coach X. Well we haven't had any coaches in the past being paid in the top 10 with top 10 NIL. Thus, there are greater expectations. Some are fine with being good every year. Others say, we're paying for great, I want great.

People are allowed to have their own thoughts and expectations. The loudest poster doesn't get to dictate those expectations. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what anyone here says, it is Josh Whitman's decision. So trying to go after any poster who dares to disagree with you or have their own view, is a waste of everyone's time.

What kind of high horse bs is this?

I never said you couldn't have an opinion, in fact you were the one "telling me how it works" to use your own words

I merely responded in kind, and your response is 3 paragraphs? Lol wow

 

[RabidDawgClassic]

BTCW , has anyone got ANY proof or whatnot that JW or BU are even considering a change in the Illini coach for next year or even any year in the foreseeable future ?????.................this thread has devolved into a clusterf**k of gripes , delusional thoughts and certain coaches being put on pedestals with enough baggage to stagger the minds of reasonable thinking fans...............

I need to avoid these types of threads that take on the attitude of a game thread..............they only grind down into a sludge pond...........

they really really do.................just a little modicum of respect would be appreciated by all sides........JMHO........

 

[sacraig]

This is a fair take considering the options available to us at this point …

Especially with a first round exit …

And, to be fair, I don't have a favorite coach I'd rather have or strong opinion on who is "good enough." I'm just frustrated enough that I'd be willing to gamble on shaking things up and I think the program is in a good enough state and has a good enough AD that we would land a coach that is neutral at worst in terms of results.

 

[BfosterL]

What AD at any P5 school doesn't say that when hiring a coach? JW also knows that is not realistic for any program; however, that is not what you say when you hire any coach.

 

[RabidDawgClassic]

But four out of the last six we were, so…

 

[KC_Illini]

Interesting

 

[FrankNitty30]

But we do. In light of

Whitman’s expectation is competing for big ten and national championships year in and year out …

We don’t have an expectations problem …

But we do. In light of multiple decades worth of evidence, He needs to hire Coach K, Bill Self, John Calipari or Tom Izzo.

Which is unrealistic. Maybe we hit the jackpot when Brad is through and the next guy becomes the equivalent of 4 of the best coaches (all Hall of Famers) of all time.

 

[FrankNitty30]

Go back and read what I said.

 

[Point-Illinois]

What about LSU? Wade's five seasons at LSU vs Brad's last 5 here, which is better?

Pretty tough to compare a bottom feeder SEC program to a top 3 Big Ten program right ??? But sure let’s compare …

Will Wade … 0 losing seasons …

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They asked for a comparison of WW’s first five seasons and BU’s last five. (To avoid using the rebuild/covid years)

And then, to make sure you can hammer home your point, you use the very years they wanted to avoid since BU had to pull our own program out of bottom feeder status.

How many losing seasons has Brad had in the actual range that was asked for?

I know this is a message board…and the internet…but it’s also a community and credibility should be valued. Obvious bias/cherry picking only incites more argument and destroys credibility.

 

[SemperFiIllini]

You left out that he's one of the top ten highest paid coaches in the country: top 10. You also left out that he has some of the best facilities to use to recruit players and assistant coaches to our program and to get his teams ready to play championship level basketball.

Not every Tom, Dick, and Harry of a basketball program offers all of these things to its coach. In return for this creme de la creme of a situation the U of I has given Brad, SOME of our fanbase, including me, expect at least a top sixteen performance yearly and yearly contention for conference titles. While it seems that many here believe that Brad is put-upon for receiving these sorts of expectations from fans like me, others of us believe that this is a reasonable return to expect for the investment our university and alumni have made in our basketball program.

100% agree (not that my opinion matters, lol).

 

[FrankNitty30]

And that's exactly the group we should be aspiring to join.

Sure, but still not a realistic “expectation”. Difference between aspirations and expectations.

 

[CoalCity]

Yep, especially for a top 10-15 paid coach, facilities, etc. changes need to be made to his staff. Experimenting with the staff should be for lower level programs.

Right, just look at the benches of the teams playing today and next week. You won't find 3 20-somethings on any coaching staff. And if you find one, look at where he sits on the bench in relation to the head coach. Not at his elbow I'll wager. And by saying that I dont think tyler is the main issue here

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

Brad Underwood has built back Illinois into a yearly big ten contender. Brad Underwood has underachieved in the NCAAT. Both can be true. Neither alone makes him a great or awful HC.

For better or worse, as long as underwood keeps getting high seeds in the tournament, he should 100% be the HC here.

I agree, my only reservation this year is Brad seeming to not think a change is needed this season. If nothing else, I think he should (1) clearly realize there’s a huge problem with our defense at a systemic level and (2) that there is a huge amount of value in having continuity on our roster. If he made a staff change to focus more on defense and devoted our NIL resources to retaining all of the young talent we already have rather than trying to theoretically upgrade, he’d have my support 100% … regardless of what happens in the Tournament.