pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
my ex had both procedures and she drank a lot more after the femoral one..........
College Hoops Coaching Carousel
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I tend to disagree that we will see this trend going forward. It takes a unique person to become a head coach at one of these gigs, and these people are passionate and dynamic. The money is great, but the experience is even better. Is it stressful? Yes. Can it cause friction within your family? Absolutely. Can it negatively impact your health? I wouldn't be surprised, but the money will also buy you the best doctors and treatments available.
I think coaching, just like playing, is like a drug, and it's very difficult to break the addiction.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Put me in the camp that was kind of nervous about Texas for BU but not nearly as nervous about other opportunities. I mean, Kentucky, Kansas and literally everyone should be at least KIND OF nervous about Texas ... with NIL and a seemingly MUCH bigger focus on hoops in Austin than ever before, they simply can outspend every single program in the nation, period. Apparently the AD is tough to work with, but money talks for some people (also, despite the narrative here, Texas hoops fans still have much lower expectations than, say, Kentucky fans).
However, Arkansas? Kansas State? I actually remain pretty confident that Underwood sees his potential to win here as just as high (if not higher) than those places. The ceiling has always been high at Illinois, and multiple coaches have proven that. 4 of our last 5 coaches have gotten a #1 seed ... that is impressive by itself, but also 3 of those 4 have reached at least the Elite Eight, with 2 reaching the Final Four. Yes, BU choked a bit in 2021, but you could actually even argue we were due for a letdown as a #1 seed, as 5 of the last 6 Tournaments have had one lose in the Second Round and we had never really disappointed in that slot before. He had the opportunity to leave for KSU literally last season ... I'll trust our insiders, but one frustrating season all of a sudden has him pining for the job he passed up last year, AFTER he got his fat raise??
However, Arkansas? Kansas State? I actually remain pretty confident that Underwood sees his potential to win here as just as high (if not higher) than those places. The ceiling has always been high at Illinois, and multiple coaches have proven that. 4 of our last 5 coaches have gotten a #1 seed ... that is impressive by itself, but also 3 of those 4 have reached at least the Elite Eight, with 2 reaching the Final Four. Yes, BU choked a bit in 2021, but you could actually even argue we were due for a letdown as a #1 seed, as 5 of the last 6 Tournaments have had one lose in the Second Round and we had never really disappointed in that slot before. He had the opportunity to leave for KSU literally last season ... I'll trust our insiders, but one frustrating season all of a sudden has him pining for the job he passed up last year, AFTER he got his fat raise??
I believe that would be four of our last six coaches have gotten a #1 seed.
Underwood - yes
Groce - no
Weber - yes
Self - yes
Kruger - no
Henson - yes
turnaround3
- 1st & Daniel
I agree completely on the underlying point here but it's also worth noting, I think, that K-State will always, for better or worse, be kind of lurking in the proverbial hometown corner for the duration of Underwood's career here. No such concerns for the other comparably middle of the road programs that could come calling each and every offseason.
I am glad we can put the Brad leaving story to bed as many on here wanted Brad to stay. We need continuity and it starts at the top. Will some changes be made? Yes. I hope the staff is vetting the correct pieces in the portal so we can compete and get to the second weekend of the tourney. Has Brad made mistakes, yes, but all college coaches have so lets put last year to bed and concentrate on how we can get better for next year.
FeelYourPaign
- So Cal
I'm just hoping that someday we'll have a coach so successful that he'll outlast Loren Tate.
I thought we had banned good logical well stated posts around here. Nice job op.
I don’t know if that’s even possible…I think he was made in
laboratory somewhere.
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Are his growth plates still open? Sorry, I had to ask.
We’d have more luck landing Lightning Hopkins at this point.
It could very well play out that way. But I think there are many coaches who'd never say this publicly... but that they find NIL and The Portal unwelcome intrusions and stressors and complications into what used to be a more familiar and predictable kind of coaching environment. It is indeed very tough to break the coaching addiction as for most of these guys this has been the greater portion of their lives.
But the temptation of walking away does get easier if the bank account is well-supplied and one is not so pleased with having to deal with NIL payments and constantly shuffling and shifting rosters... and dealing with emboldened egos of young players that NIL and The Portal can and does bring. (And a few coaches will actually find those changes stimulating and a new challenge).
Are his growth plates still open? Sorry, I had to ask.
He's like a more athletic BB King.
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I don’t know if that’s even possible…I think he was made in
I would have gone with Charlie Parker
RedRocksIllini
- Morrison, CO
NJJ beat me to it
I don’t think so.Are his growth plates still open? Sorry, I had to ask.
No one in the public really knows what Self's medical picture is. We know he had stents put in, we don't know if he had an MI (although the relatively quick return to being public would likely rule that out). He's only 60, we could assume relatively good health (other than the cardiac blockage). The only other reason for him not to return would most likely be a personal or family decision.
I am not a doctor, I did not say in a Holiday Inn Express last night. I did have a triple Coronary Artery Bypass Graft at age 61 in 2018.
Glad you’re still here @Illini in Italy. So much for the Mediterranean diet!
Thanks brother, I'm pretty happy too!
i don't live in Italy (any more), but created this account when I was visiting there. I try to go back every year or so.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Ah, yes - thank you for the correction. I think I confused it with another incredibly impressive stat that shows how self-sustaining our program is in competent hands: 5 of our last 6 coaches have won at least one conference championship, with Groce being the only one not to.
(I believe Groce is also the only Illini coach to be here for more than one season and not finish ranked in the AP top 20 since the polls were invented in the 1940s.)
If you look at the Self/early Weber years, we won the conference 4 times and got 2nd twice in those 6 years.
That would be why Weber gets so much hate. Lon built us back up. Self took is to the top, Weber maintained it with Self's players, but he couldn't maintain the talent level to keep us at the top. Now no one will say we should win the conference every year, though we damn well should, but dropping to the middle of the pack was not welcomed on the heels of such success.
John Groce was not good, but Groce was not the problem. Mike Thomas was the problem. That was the hire that set us up for the fall we had in both Football and Basketball. He hired a defensive minded head coach who had terrible defenses. Thus it was a shock to no one that Matt Campbell, the OC, was actually responsible for Toledo's wins, proven by his success at Iowa State and Beckman's failure. Groce never finished better than 3rd in the MAC, but Thomas thought this was the right guy. Groce took the losses, but Thomas was to blame.
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
No argument there. I initially really liked the change to Mike Thomas because Illinois NEEDED to shed its image as the "University of East Central Illinois" that RG helped perpetuate ... all subjective, yes, but I always got the feeling that RG was content running Illinois like a private school that catered to a relatively small group of locals and alumni only and felt no need to get an "Average Joe" without a degree in Rockford or Chicago or St. Louis to become an Illini fan. This manifested itself in such BASIC terrible decisions like allowing the tailgating atmosphere right outside of Memorial Stadium to be spaced out, high-donor lots with zero party atmosphere compared to every other big-time stadium that's rockin' and putting the students up in the sky vs. as close to the field as possible. I liked how Thomas at least seemed intent on treating us like a major state flagship whose fan support should extend vastly further than its alumni base and townies.
The problem was he turned out to apparently be an a$$ who was bad at the actually most important parts of his job.
chiefini
- Rockford, Illinois
I never liked the Mike Thomas hire. He WAS an a$$. On his initial caravan trip to Rockford put on by our Illini Club, which introduced him, Beckman, and Bollant, and was supposed to introduce Groce (who no showed last minute because he just lost his top assistant coach a few hours before the event), Thomas was unfriendly, seemed arrogant and aloof, and talked on his cell most of the time. He shook hands with very few people, talked to no one, didn’t speak to the audience, and left after about an hour. I knew after that first hour that his tenure was going to be dismal. Groce having issues that quickly, and Beckman showing off to everyone his new shirt that his wife had his monogram stitched in orange on the cuffs also were portents of things to come…No argument there. I initially really liked the change to Mike Thomas because Illinois NEEDED to shed its image as the "University of East Central Illinois" that RG helped perpetuate ... all subjective, yes, but I always got the feeling that RG was content running Illinois like a private school that catered to a relatively small group of locals and alumni only and felt no need to get an "Average Joe" without a degree in Rockford or Chicago or St. Louis to become an Illini fan. This manifested itself in such BASIC terrible decisions like allowing the tailgating atmosphere right outside of Memorial Stadium to be spaced out, high-donor lots with zero party atmosphere compared to every other big-time stadium that's rockin' and putting the students up in the sky vs. as close to the field as possible. I liked how Thomas at least seemed intent on treating us like a major state flagship whose fan support should extend vastly further than its alumni base and townies.
The problem was he turned out to apparently be an a$$ who was bad at the actually most important parts of his job.
All I know about Self is his kids flew in to watch this tournament they don’t normally do that unless it’s the final four or beyond. People here are worried this is the end.
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