Wasn't it Pullen who had the transcript issues? Or was that Beverly?
Biggest Recruiting Mistake
Wasn't it Pullen who had the transcript issues? Or was that Beverly?
Shidler was a heavily recruited All-American that went to Kentucky and then averaged 6 ppg. He wasn't a recruiting mistake.
Beverly definitely had academic issues. I thought Pullen did too.
I was told Coach Henson hitched a ride on a helicopter and it landed on the Eldorado football field. Not sure if there was a game to see or just practice.
And even more of a reason why it hurt because at that time we had already missed on DJax...
Yea, he got into some trouble along with a couple other players on the team and paid the consequences .....but at the time many were disappointed that he chose Kentucky and thought that it was a mistake....I made a mistake once, but later found out I was actually correct
Peoria Illini
- Peoria, IL
Sure he didn't come here, but I'm not sure what Illinois did incorrectly on it. From everything I've read, he was set to come here but was scared away by the bogus investigation.
Same with Juwon Howard. Horton sounds like they slow played because they already had Hamilton and were waiting on Benji Wilson.
Not sure how much of Ellis was the Illini's fault.
Peoria Illini
- Peoria, IL
Yep. Sorry, my mistake. Digger and Shumate.
Sometimes I feel like the Thomas-blamers versus the Guenther-blamers is the clean line of demarcation between Illini keyboard warriors that all the rest of our takes flow downhill from.
Epsilon
M tipping over
- Pdx
Interesting point. I went to school during the Guenther era, but didn't follow sports as closely as afterwards. So I can't speak to too much about the Guenther era other than how backwards and slow progress seemed to be in the DIA (and this is mostly in retrospect). My beef is specifically with the use of those consulting firms to recruit coaches, whose sole interest is claiming a commission from the transaction, as quickly as possible. This process is what resulted in Beckman and Groce. And well, we know the rest...
Peoria Illini
- Peoria, IL
I'll blame Thomas more than Guenther, but I'm an older poster. Guenther had some problems near the end of his tenure, but I think he did okay earlier on. At least with hiring of coaches, etc. Didn't follow too much regarding fundraising, etc.
Jerry Sloan got homesick and Evansville was near his home in McLeansboro. Sloan wasn't the best player on the Illini freshman team that year. Darius Cunningham from Carver was. He scored 92 points in a CPL game and his freshman team beat the varsity. Cunningham flunked out his 1st year.
The last half-dozen years of Guenther were bad. He had an inflated sense of his abilities, IMO. Hiring Weber instead of at least trying to throw the bank at Self was a huge mistake but typical of his decisions. If a coach had a flaw, the pendulum swung the other way on selecting the next one. Turner could no longer recruit so he brought in the master recruiter Ron Zook. But all of the top-tier talent from Zook's first few years started leaving the program. Still, Guenther left Zook and his brain-damaged coaching in place until the cupboard was completely empty. I contend that had Guenther made a move after 2009, there was enough talent to attract a coach who could have built upon that. And I also agree that Mac Thomas, however, took things to a whole new level. Hiring Tim Beckman? John Groce?
Hard to believe that a dartboard and a blindfold wouldn't have yielded as good of decisions since 2005 from our prior two ADs.
We can argue about those two but one thing I do know is this -- if it wasn't for the B1G Network, we'd be in twice the world of hurt we currently find ourselves. As bad as it is, it could have been death-penalty like.
Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
I blame both, but more importantly I blame those that hired them and/or didn't dismiss them in a timely fashion. Unfortunately for us keyboard warriors, those tend to be faceless, nameless people in the shadows.
But Guenther...ugh
He had one issue in college.....Joe B. Hall. He did win a national title as a reserve on the '78 team, but he could've been a real star at Illinois.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
I fully endorse these last 2 points.
The issues that plagued Guenther toward the end of his career was similar to that of Thomas, though some more exaggerated than others. At least in RG's defense, ignoring the hiring portion, keeping Weber and Zook on for as long has he did had some precedent based on prior success. A finals and rose bowl appearance surely earned them both a few extra years, but I think the trajectory of both programs should've been scrutinized more heavily, namely football (though sustained success is rare in our history).
Weber was a decent looking hire, and TBH I'd argue to anyone he deserves to be a P6 coach. He wasn't a fit for the type of recruiting expected (at the time) at UI, nor did his personality connect well with the expectation of the fan base (though I doubt many fans anywhere enjoy his quarks).
As for Zook, his deal has already been laid out here. Both hires were done for different reasons, neither being correct.
Thomas' hires were, in my mind, either a) inability to land top talent or b) Too much confidence in finding young(ish) and rising coaches that he could parlay into proof of his AD abilities (it was probably a combo of both). His Cincy career was extremely promising. Cronin is an alltime great and the duo of Kelly/Jones probably gave Cincy their best football half decade ever. Blame it on luck, but his model just didn't work here.
RG was a better AD, but hurt the programs more than Thomas did. If I had to pick one of their tenures to remain in UI history, it is without a doubt RG.
Weber was a decent looking hire, and TBH I'd argue to anyone he deserves to be a P6 coach. He wasn't a fit for the type of recruiting expected (at the time) at UI, nor did his personality connect well with the expectation of the fan base (though I doubt many fans anywhere enjoy his quarks).
As for Zook, his deal has already been laid out here. Both hires were done for different reasons, neither being correct.
Thomas' hires were, in my mind, either a) inability to land top talent or b) Too much confidence in finding young(ish) and rising coaches that he could parlay into proof of his AD abilities (it was probably a combo of both). His Cincy career was extremely promising. Cronin is an alltime great and the duo of Kelly/Jones probably gave Cincy their best football half decade ever. Blame it on luck, but his model just didn't work here.
RG was a better AD, but hurt the programs more than Thomas did. If I had to pick one of their tenures to remain in UI history, it is without a doubt RG.
Guenther started the decline and Thomas stepped on the gas.
BananaShampoo
Captain 'Paign
- Phoenix, AZ
Bill Cole came from Richwoods, so we have gotten some guys (well at least one) from Peoria who didn't go to Manual.
Richwoods: Mark Smith, Derek Holcomb, Doug Altenberger, Jamar Smith
Peoria High / Central: Tony Wysinger, Jerrance Howard, D.J. Richardson
Notre Dame: Brian Randle
Canton: Dave Downey
Morton: Kevin Bontemps
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