Coaching Carousel

Status
Not open for further replies.
#1,826      
This thread recently has got me singing "On a Carrousel" (or carousel) by the Hollies. Great song, makes me happy despite recent basketball upheaval..

GO ILLINI!
 
#1,828      
Mike...Mike, will you kindly remove your hand from my person.

large960_blur-9ff77f648537ac11de90975d560c0d65.jpg
"That is an elite watch."
 
#1,829      

Deleted member 747916

D
Guest
I just read it on this site too!* I also heard that Bret Bielema and the entire Mechanical Engineering department are going too.

* It was actually in a post from louisvilleillini, who I'm assuming is close to the discussions, so I believe it.

Re Mechanical Engineering.....Absent a family reason, no academic would choose Kin Tuk ee over Illinois. Nor would UK have any money to pay the ME department because they spend it all on athletics. Which one is happier?
 
#1,830      
I dont think the optics will be good if Josh throws a bunch of money at assistant coaches this year. They fired several executive staff and asked everyone who could retire early to do so. DIA is not sitting well financially at the moment.
And they took in $0 in ticket sales since March 2020.
 
#1,831      
If we hire Roger Powell, that puts us in an advantage to land AJ Casey.
How is Powell's recruiting? Can he be Illinois' national recruiter, like OA was? I'm all for bringing Roger home (if he really wants to come home, that is), but I'd really hope Underwood brings in someone that can recruit nationally.
 
#1,833      
The Five Stages of emotion to losing an important Assistant Basketball Coach and Recruiter:

Denial - “No way he’d leave a place as special as Illinois.”

Anger - “What!? WHHAAATTT? You mean he’s REALLY thinking of leaving a place as special as Illinois?”

Bargaining - “Maybe we can throw a bunch of money at him and he’ll want to stay!”

Depression - “So it’s official, huh? He’s gone? That just sucks big time! Man, what a downer. All is lost...”

Acceptance - “We’ll be fine without him. We don’t need him. He’s making a mistake to leave a place as special as Illinois.”

Joining a program like Kentucky that is legacy roundball royalty is sort of taking the easy way out. Duke. Gonzaga. Michigan State... Blah, blah, blah. It’s like Alabama or Clemson or Ohio State in football. Easy road to success. Always bag the top players. Always grab the national media attention. Always tilting the table in your favor every single year and thereafter and making things that much tougher for everybody else. Where winning is seen as a boring divine right of obligation and not winning a championship is seen as abject failure and unworthiness.

Blessed is the man or woman who takes on the challenge of building up a program that does not feast on the spoils of entitlement and generational wealth. Blessed is a man like Coach Underwood who took on a struggling program with the goal of re-elevating it to an elite level. Who sets the bar at the highest level and challenges those around him to raise a proud State’s profile and successfully compete with anyone regardless of the challenges faced and how they may have stacked the deck against you.
 
#1,834      
Honestly, what are people supposed to say? "I don't care if North Carolina offers me a trillion-dollar contract tattooed on Charlize Theron's butt, I'll never leave this job"? People leave jobs for better ones.
In fairness, that contract doesn't sound like it would be legally binding.
 
#1,835      
Underwood is all about building a culture. How about starting with having former Illini players as assistant coaches? Roger Powell, an awesome candidate, has been mentioned. What about Brain Randle? He's coaching now (Phoenix Suns), with a prior stint with Minnesota Timberwolves. Adding professional credentials to the coaching staff would be huge. It might be a big ask for Randle to leave sunny Phoenix, Arizona. But he is from Peoria and I believe his wife is from Urbana. Who knows, he may be up for a return to his alma mater to help to continue the rebuilding of the basketball program. Doesn't hurt to inquire. Adding Powell and Randle to the staff, assuming the rumors are true, would be a net gain in my opinion.
 
#1,836      
Unfortunately it sounds like the first de-commit will occur tonight. With possibly another one next week.
 
#1,837      
How is Powell's recruiting? Can he be Illinois' national recruiter, like OA was? I'm all for bringing Roger home (if he really wants to come home, that is), but I'd really hope Underwood brings in someone that can recruit nationally.
Well I would think since there will be two possible positions open that would be the goal. Who would you rather have than?
 
#1,838      

chrisRunner7

Spokane, WA
I don't pay for insider stuff but that's the first time I've seen Chin and Kansas talked about from a news source...

Another name mentioned as a possible replacement is fellow Illinois assistant Ron "Chin" Coleman, sources told Borzello, but it's believed that pursuit is not as far along as Antigua. Coleman could decide to return to Champaign and has also been linked to the assistant coach vacancy at Kansas, sources said.

 
#1,839      
Who do we steal from? If we can’t pay our coaches enough to stay away from the big boys, how can we pay enough to steal assistants from the big boys? Are we going to hire up and comers and prove to be a steppingstone to the big boys or are we going to be big boys?

One question I haven’t seen asked, is this all about money or was there also issues amongst BU and the staff?
LOL same exact way we hired OA and Chin?
Just thought I'd add one more question to your question pile.
 
Last edited:
#1,841      
Why is it some people on this forum say we don't want a player who doesn't want to be here but want a coach to stay who doesn't want to be here?
 
#1,847      
According to records Antigua made more at Illinois than Joel Justice at UK. He surely is not leaving for less. ???
 
#1,850      
Underwood is all about building a culture. How about starting with having former Illini players as assistant coaches? Roger Powell, an awesome candidate, has been mentioned. What about Brain Randle? He's coaching now (Phoenix Suns), with a prior stint with Minnesota Timberwolves. Adding professional credentials to the coaching staff would be huge. It might be a big ask for Randle to leave sunny Phoenix, Arizona. But he is from Peoria and I believe his wife is from Urbana. Who knows, he may be up for a return to his alma mater to help to continue the rebuilding of the basketball program. Doesn't hurt to inquire. Adding Powell and Randle to the staff, assuming the rumors are true, would be a net gain in my opinion.
Losing Antigua is big net loss to anyone who come in here. He seems to have contacts everywhere and besides that seems to be a good coach.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.