Illini Coaching Staff
The Dave
- CA
As I recall, Powell was an ordained minister while at Illinois. If you combine that with some recruiting, X's and O's, and a strong Illini background, I agree. He could be important in recruiting.
Whitman and Underwood are not fools. Antigua will have been vetted to the extreme to make sure nothing would follow him to Illinois.
It looks like we are playing big boy basketball these days.
As much as Roger loves Illinois, I can't imagine him going from Associate Head Coach at a Power 5 school to basically the third assistant.
He was, visited my fellowship a couple of times, ran into him at the outlet mall a couple of weeks ago actually.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal
Does anybody actually know anything about Roger Powell as a coach, or is this purely "I liked him while he played and he's a great dude"? I mean that to be snark-free, I honestly don't know what he has focused on during his time at Valpo or Vandy.
Btw "Not sure, but Bryce Drew sure seems to like him, and Bryce Drew is a rising coaching star" is a totally acceptable answer.
Btw "Not sure, but Bryce Drew sure seems to like him, and Bryce Drew is a rising coaching star" is a totally acceptable answer.
And, cheating and extra benefits are typically part of the program culture vs. imported by assistants.
For example, no assistant invented cheating at a program like Kansas. The extra benefits are provided by a well-oiled, wealthy booster machine.
Not sure, but as I've mentioned before, last year Dee Brown was convinced that Powell would be headed back here with the next coaching shake-up.
I think you are right. Drew & him have been together quite awhile. I can't see hiim, in effect, taking a demotion.
You know the answer to that.
Is Roger highly regarded in either of these areas?
Louisville disagrees with this.
I doubt he would step to a lower position anyway. But I know from following Powell on twitter that he has a good attitude. He also seems to be a pretty successful recruiter at his level. I think he would be a very good assistant. Don't see it happening though.
I think it is tough to know how strong any assistant is as an X's and O's coach or how that translates to new styles and new systems. Recruiting is obviously a little easier to gauge, but that can also be very program specific (for example, Antigua wasn't bringing blue-chippers to Tampa.)
I'm personally a big Roger fan because of the following:
*Former player at the school he would be working for
*Ties to large recruiting area
*Post-NCAA career that included stops domestically and overseas
*Tons of off the court positive engagement
*Not a single hint of negative on-court or off-court issues
*Assistant at fairly strong mid-major who has steadily climbed the coaching latter
*Has stuck with one staff and not career jumped all over the country
*Has been to the post-season as an assistant every year
So, not being involved in practices or knowing the guy personally makes it tough to judge his basketball IQ or coaching ability (as it does for pretty much every assistant), but all signs point to him being a solid hire anywhere and specifically at Illinois.
BananaShampoo
Captain 'Paign
- Phoenix, AZ
If the Antigua rumors are true, then 
. I guess at some point I shouldn't be surprised by what can happen under Whitman's watch anymore, but I'm not there yet.
. I guess at some point I shouldn't be surprised by what can happen under Whitman's watch anymore, but I'm not there yet. Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
It could be a combination of learning a new system, coming home and $$$. Don't know what he makes at Vandy, but I think we are paying assts pretty well right now.
ILLINIShox24
Orange Krush '04 & '05
So when can we expect the staff to be official?
TownieMatt
CU Expat
- Chicago
Sounding like at least by the end of the week. Maybe even tomorrow.
Interesting to compare Coach Walker and the other names being thrown around for CBU's staff with Martin's new staff at Mizzou. Cornell Mann joins Mizzou from Oakland University after being let go by Iowa State. Chris Hollender leaves University of Missouri at Kansas City to move to Columbia. And Michael Porter Sr moves to Mizzou after being let go with Romar at Washington. Obviously Porter brings something to the table that no other coach in the country has, in his son, but this is a surprisingly uninspiring staff in my eyes.
I think most of us have never seen him coach skills or diagram players, or really know him as a manager or tactician.
But I know Powell was raw when he first arrived compared to High Div 1 standards and to what he became as a senior. Coach W McClain allowed me to watch a one on one skill training of Roger. I was amazed how much he improved in one year. That always stuck with me that Roger worked tremendously on his dribbling , shooting, and overall game. So I always assumed that he could teach these skills. Luther was also in his peer group and those two improved drastically in their game in the 4 years.
Future Walk-On
- Peoria, IL
You all want to run with the Blue Bloods yet have reservations about a guy who recruited for Kentucky...
You can't compete with the 5 major schools if you don't play the game and this guy has played the game.
You can't compete with the 5 major schools if you don't play the game and this guy has played the game.
Ubermensch
BOOM! Feed my ego.
Just win games. Grey area concerns are for fogies and worry warts.
Orlando would be a HUGE hire. We'd be back in business. Whitman and Underwood aren't playing around. This is exciting, to say the least.
Orlando would be a HUGE hire. We'd be back in business. Whitman and Underwood aren't playing around. This is exciting, to say the least.
TyinLex
- Kentucky
Well they've got that fertile recruiting ground in Mattoon covered...