Loyola messed everything up. That was our deep run, I also what a deep run there would have done for recruiting?
Coaching Carousel (Basketball)
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Thanks. That’s great to hear.
OrangeBlue98
- Des Moines, IA
Here is the history of the last three coaches who have left Illinois voluntarily besides retirement.
Gene Bartow - Left to replace John Wooden at UCLA
Lon Kruger - Left to coach in the NBA
Bill Self - Left to coach Kansas (the school where Self started his coaching career and taking the job after Kansas' previous coach left after 15+ years to return to North Carolina, another blue blood that happened to be his alma mater)
I'll let people draw their own conclusions about what that means for Illinois' place in the order of college basketball.
Gene Bartow - Left to replace John Wooden at UCLA
Lon Kruger - Left to coach in the NBA
Bill Self - Left to coach Kansas (the school where Self started his coaching career and taking the job after Kansas' previous coach left after 15+ years to return to North Carolina, another blue blood that happened to be his alma mater)
I'll let people draw their own conclusions about what that means for Illinois' place in the order of college basketball.
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Ok. But then what happened?
IL is trending up & needs to show results this year...but pretending Self leaving didnt start a downturn in the program is silly.
Hopefully Brad will be our generation's Lou and continue the success.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Yep, in the modern era, we’ve lost coaches to the NBA (which takes from every school, even Kentucky) and ONE school (a Blue Blood where Self started his career). In the same timeframe, we have swiped coaches from programs like Florida and Oklahoma State. So there aren’t many jobs (possibly only 4…) that could pry a coach away from here if we match the money.
UConn has a better all-time pedigree than us now, but could they swipe a coach from us? What about Arizona? Villanova? I guess maybe, but I doubt it. Being in the Power Two will mean more financially each year, and we stack up against the field quite favorably when it comes to NIL, recruiting footprint, fan support and facilities. It would be extremely helpful if Underwood could break through with a Tourney run this year, as our great regular season success the last 5 years has not translated to March Madness.
May doesn’t feel like the ultimate home run hire for me for Indiana that most people seem to think he is…
Totally agree ... I think he got super lucky and should've lost to Memphis in round 1 a year ago ...
And if he did ... No one would be talking about him like they are ...
I'm not saying he is a bad coach ... But if I was Josh Whitman and I was in search mode ... He wouldn't crack the top 20 of calls I'd make ...
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Which is exactly why we should all hope that he’s Archie Miller 2.0! Every mediocre tenure there more fully cements them as just another program.
UNC, Duke, UK and Kansas are the only no brainers. You could make an argument that UCLA, AZ, TX and Louisville could swipe a coach from us.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Yeah, Texas is the total wild card here ... the money and potential are through the roof, and they can likely punch way above their weight as far as historical prestige goes. While Texas' basketball history isn't anything special, I would have no trouble believing they could swipe a coach from a Villanova or a UConn even... UCLA is a mystery to me, but I would bet we could fend off Arizona. Their history is only marginally better than ours, and we compare quite favorably in most other categories (including the huge advantage of being in the Big Ten = $$$$).
I think the real goal for Illinois as a job is just to be in the position where we have a fighting chance by matching the salary vs. anyone. Whether or not KU is a better job isn't as relevant as whether or not we can match any salary and at least make our coach think twice about uprooting his family and starting over with a new boss in a new place. KU is a much better job than Michigan, for example, but I am sure Michigan fans would be cautiously optimistic they could throw money at their guy and hope he'd stay if things were going well. And I think we have reached that point. We might lose a coach to a Kansas again, but I think it's clear that with Whitman we will have an infinitely better chance to fend off suitors like that than we did in 2003. JMO.
I posed a similar question back around the beginning of Feb. and Poe's Law responded thusly
"I only found 4 coaches that have had more than one stop in the big ten as a head coach.
Ozzie Cowles
Dana Evans
Ralph Jones
Maurice Kent
Kent and Evan’s both had a gap between jobs. Ralph Jones went from Purdue to Illinois for the 1912-1913 season… but it wasn’t technically the big ten yet (Western Conference).
The only example I could find in the Big Ten was Ozzie Cowles going from Michigan (1947-1948) to Minnesota (1948-1949)."
Not to mention all the earthquakes they have there now. Yes, I didn't believe it at first either but apparently OK had around 500 earthquakes last year. Actually, I just looked it up and apparently, they had over 2300 earthquakes in 2023. The cause has not definitively determined but the general consensus is high-pressure injection of wastewater (due to oil drilling) that activates ancient faults deep within the earth's crust. Wild, eh?
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Yeah, I did not have any data to back it up but I remember Illini fans floating the idea that if Groce were super successful here (hey ... things appeared REALLY different when we won at Gonzaga and climbed into the top 10 in December 2012, okay!!), he might leave for Ohio State. Not only was this annoying that our fans would have that kind of insecurity - we are in the same tier as Ohio State below the Blue Bloods, and we should not lose coaches to those programs - but I also remember thinking that coaches just do NOT seem to move from one Big Ten school to another.
Hearing McDermott planning to stick around at Creighton …
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Honestly seems like a great gig. While the recruiting footprint is pretty meh, I do feel like that impacts private schools less than state flagship programs. Additionally, I will hand it to Creighton ... amazing fan support. Omaha is not that big of a city, and while I know Nebraska basketball has been really bad historically, they still do compete with them for at least SOME fans in their own backyard. And yet they pack a big arena all the time. It also doesn't seem like the fan base expects outrageous results and will have his back.
Who do you think Buckeyes turn to?
Well I haven’t coached anyone but 8 and 9 year olds, but I’ll be happy to listen. They’d save on moving costs since I’m local.
I wonder if this will impact any 'potential' transfers that insiders have hinted at BU being 'potentially' interested in
Interesting. Thanks for the info. So none after 1960.
Ron Guenther and Mike Thomas
OrangeBlue98
- Des Moines, IA
One AD was scared to hire the best candidate because he didn't want to risk losing a good coach to another blue blood or the NBA. No one wanted to work for the other AD after he fired the previous coach because that AD was a first-class jerk and idiot.
It really wasn't any more complicated than that.
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Always a safe bet, but I've heard his son can't hit a curveball. So...maybe not a sports family
Or were you referring to God Shammgod?
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Also why would a coach that's pushing 69 wanna pick up and go set down roots and rebuild another program?
It would have to be an absurd pay raise or jump in program to make it worthwhile imo.
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