I think this is all related to Internet speculation. Nothing more. Nothing less. Lots of names bandied about, but I don't think anyone knows anything ATM. I doubt Whitman is tipping his hand at this point.
2017 Coaching Carousel
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Regarding NBA names, the only one (including Hoiberg) that has been mentioned that has really interested me is Monty Williams. Hoiberg is a decent candidate, but I can't shake the belief that he won't be able to recruit Chicago and a lot of the state after how terrible his NBA tenure was, at least until he's established winning here, and you need IL talent for that.
Sounds like Stephen Silas is letting agents and search firms know he is available and eager for any and all head coaching jobs. Good for him, I hope he lands something somewhere. Not here.
Besides J Howard being high risk, does it bother anyone else that JH has been poaching Illini recruits ever since he left? I know it's his job, but it's like he would wait until we were onto a player, then swoop in and pull out the Kansas is WAY better than Illinois card.....
Something about that really frosts my cookies!!
The mess of his NBA tenure won't hurt Hoiberg's ability to recruit in Chicago whatsoever. Having been the coach of the Bulls never hurts. What hurts is that Hoiberg doesn't like recruiting high school kids and if his Iowa State tenure is any indication he will pursue avenues around doing that.
The competition in the transfer market has heated up like crazy since Hoiberg started dipping into that. Illinois might not be able to get Jucos in like Hoiberg could at Iowa State. All reasons for concern. But he's an excellent coach, would that make up for it?
I suspect we won't get to find out. Hoiberg is a non-starter for us until the Bulls fire him, and I'll eat my hat if Jerry Reinsdorf pays a coach $15 million to go away. Especially before the end of the season.
John Whitman was certainly young, but definitely had AD experience. He was not on A+ list of names, but was not an assistant AD. JW had served as the AD at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse for 4 years and at Washington University for another 2 years. That's the equivalent of a mid-major hire with some HC experience.
Actually, the 2 previous AD's (before MT) where a lot riskier. John Mackovic had zero AD experience and really did not do much as an AD, other than drawing an additional salary to justify the expense, and even our own Ron Guenther had zero head AD experience other than serving as assistant to Neale Stoner.
What about Ben Jacobson from Northern Iowa? Not sure about his recruiting skills but he is a good coach for sure. I know they are down this year but two years before that he was a combined 54-17 and 27-9 in conference. He seems to always get the most out of his talent too unlike Groce. Any takers?
lol i cant stop chuckling like the town drunk. but honestly if the big boys don't want the players, neither do I.
I like Silas, Keatts, and Monty as candidates. I particularly like Williams' association with Team USA.
That's the equivalent of a DIII hire, an analogy made somewhat easier by the fact that those are DIII schools.
Josh Whitman was the Jerrance Howard of the AD search process. He was also the person who stood out as the right guy after being carefully vetted.
I am all for Jerrance being involved in our search process, at the very least because it would help and alum advance his own career just by interviewing and getting feedback and being a part of it. If he's the Josh Whitman of basketball coaches, great. Based on what I've heard and read, my suspicion is that that isn't the case. I put my trust in Whitman on that question.
I think he'd be a great choice. Lo and behold after I left them for dead UNI is peeling themselves up off the mat.
Not the direction I want to see the Illini go -- nor the direction I think they will go -- but pretty high on my list if they went that route would be Dennis Gates at FSU. Great recruiter, works with FSU's guards, was a skill development coach in the NBA, and was an associate head coach at NIU. Oh, yeah, he also graduated from Whitney Young.
Love Dennis Gates. I was hoping we could land him as an associate head coach under the new staff. He's a really intelligent guy as he finished his degree at Cal in 3 years.
IlliniFan12
- Cedar Falls, IA
Lol, you're right. Started Missouri Valley play 0-5...five games later we're 5-5. Jacobson has them playing with more cohesiveness.
Jerrance works for KU and so does Self. They are expected to do the best for the school they work for. That is exactly what we expect our coaches to do, including Groce and any future coaches.
Kansas recruits top players from Illinois. Guess what? That's what every other major program does, especially big name programs. Kansas does not recruit many sleepers, so unless a player is highly ranked, or projected to be highly ranked, or starts getting into POY or Mr. Basketball discussions, they will not receive much interest. They need not recruit sleepers early in the process.
Some posters make it sound that we are doing poorly, yet we have that super recruiting radar that Kansas and other schools depend on, our HC and assistants are killing it on the recruiting trail, and all other head coaches, including Bill Self and Jerrance are following our every move to steal recruits from almighty Illinois.
Trying to figure out if I would want this person as a coach....
With the Warriors, he concentrated on the development of perimeter players as well as game preparation and managing the team's offensive and defensive playbook. One of these perimeter players included two time MVP Stephen Curry.
With the Warriors, he concentrated on the development of perimeter players as well as game preparation and managing the team's offensive and defensive playbook. One of these perimeter players included two time MVP Stephen Curry.
mattcoldagelli
- Script Illinois Enthusiast
I'd hire Dell Curry first. He has had more to do developing Steph Curry and his skills than any other coach.
I hadn't checked lately, was going to do an update for the spreadsheet next week for 2016-17 (update record/conf record/recruiting), he really has gotten that ship righted, wow. If they can knock off ISU on Wednesday, that'd be a heck of a turnaround.
skyIdub
"I can't tell you. Secret."
hahahahaha
Ok! Blow it up!
A question for all you Groce supporters......
Do you think we could hang with Bradley this year??
I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.
It's annoying but he has to recruit to his strengths and that is the Illinois area. If he's out negatively recruiting and bad mouthing Illinois, then that is a different topic. I don't know that is happening but I wonder since he is a Self guy and a Weber guy and things didn't end with either of them on great notes relationship-wise. In addition, Howard wanted to stay on at Illinois and was never really considered for the head coaching job despite being named interim when Weber got fired. Then Groce came in and didn't retain him. I'm not saying it's happening but there would be more than one reason he has an axe to grind.
The Pontiff
- Chicago, IL
Funny, I was starting to pull the data that showed this very thing. Quite often, the new guy pulls in some very highly-rated prospects right away, often because of spots vacated (think Orris at Illinois.) Howland, Wojo, Smart, Pearl, CMartin and Alford are some coaches that come to mind who had excellent hauls within 1-2 years of being on the job. A new coaching staff is like that new car smell - all fresh and full of promise.
mattcoldagelli
- Script Illinois Enthusiast
Would prefer not to, ever again.
ILL in IA
- Iowa City
Are we playing them at home or on the road?
I know Jerrance and he is very active on the recruiting trail, but you can ask any coach and he will tell you how positively he still talks about UI. He was the heart and soul of the teams he played for, despite not getting playing time. He is still very close with ex-teammates and players he coached and really likes to interact with Illini fans at AAU events.
Jerrance was not a "Self guy" or "Weber guy." He has coached under both and is appreciative of their help in their career, but he has always been an "Illinois guy." We have had better players, but I have honestly never met anyone who loved UI more than Jerrance. The entire UI experience.
As far as recruits, it is laughable. Some posters try to make it sound that KU regularly steals our valued "sleepers" but the truth is that KU just recruits the top Illinois players like most other schools do. In five years, KU has stole a total of ONE (1) recruit from UI, Cliff Alexander, who miraculously happened to be a top-5 recruit nationwide. KU has always recruited top-players in the state of Illinois, even before Jerrance, and will continue long after Jerrance is gone.
Maybe we should be more mad at Cuonzo for stealing Moore.
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