LOL - I was thinking the same thing!
The Illinois Coaching Search
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LOL - I was thinking the same thing!
ILL in IA
- Iowa City
And here I am as an Illinois, White Sox, and Bears fan reading "Don't Jump, It will get Better"books.
Ryan Evan of espn1050 reporting that Walker had talk with Whitman and is staying FWIW. That would mean coach has been chosen right? Not getting my hopes up yet.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
Do you believe in silent verbals?
ILL in IA
- Iowa City
And that Tony Bennett 4.8 mil a year money dropped and went to Walker getting a raise.
Gather around kids, it's story time.
Everyone read this article. Seriously, click through and read the whole thing.
37 days! The hire didn't come until April 24!
Sound familiar?
We remember a couple of those names. Three guys transferred DURING the search!
Spoiler Alert, Kenny Payne left for Kentucky and took Jones with him. Sound familiar?
This is the money piece. This is the moral of the story. After a endless, disastrous embarrassment of a coaching search process, worse than our current worst nightmares, they came down to two guys. Two pretty similar guys all things considered. Dayton had just won the NIT (defeating us along the way, remember that?), Gregory was younger, he was the energy guy, he had the big time recruiting background, at a glance he probably profiled as the closer fit for the Oregon brand. In that moment, those are two equally fine but blah hires that just mercifully end the rolling defenestration of Oregon basketball.
But at that fork in the road, Oregon chose the right guy. The transfers, the humiliation of getting turned down by every coach in sight, the loss of Kenny Payne and a chance at a program changing recruit, none of that put a dent in Oregon's path to the elite program they are today.
Hiring Brian Gregory would have killed it. That very day.
Let that story guide you, my sons. Hire. The. Right. Guy.
Everyone read this article. Seriously, click through and read the whole thing.
37 days! The hire didn't come until April 24!
Sound familiar?
We remember a couple of those names. Three guys transferred DURING the search!
Spoiler Alert, Kenny Payne left for Kentucky and took Jones with him. Sound familiar?
This is the money piece. This is the moral of the story. After a endless, disastrous embarrassment of a coaching search process, worse than our current worst nightmares, they came down to two guys. Two pretty similar guys all things considered. Dayton had just won the NIT (defeating us along the way, remember that?), Gregory was younger, he was the energy guy, he had the big time recruiting background, at a glance he probably profiled as the closer fit for the Oregon brand. In that moment, those are two equally fine but blah hires that just mercifully end the rolling defenestration of Oregon basketball.
But at that fork in the road, Oregon chose the right guy. The transfers, the humiliation of getting turned down by every coach in sight, the loss of Kenny Payne and a chance at a program changing recruit, none of that put a dent in Oregon's path to the elite program they are today.
Hiring Brian Gregory would have killed it. That very day.
Let that story guide you, my sons. Hire. The. Right. Guy.
I would think so.
We have our.... lead recruiter?
I think so. It also leaked that Mark Smith was waiting for the coach to be announced to commit. I still have a feeling it's Monty.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
I think that rumor is older than today, FWIW
It is. I think it was buoyed by Walker recruiting in St. louis for the Illini and meeting with Pickett and Tilmon
I hear ya, man. Same for me. I had a conversation with my brother-in-law (Badger and Packer fan) at Christmas and I told him I haven't watched hardly any games in quite a while. I still follow the results, but watching is just too painful.
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sacraig
- The desert
There are some really overly-hyper folks in here and some real wet blankets to boot. I think it's best if we all just sit back this Friday, relax, and listen to the smooth jams of Hot Chocolate.
[Youtube]https://youtu.be/aOl4oeHZnBk[/YouTube]
[Youtube]https://youtu.be/aOl4oeHZnBk[/YouTube]
I read that anecdote much differently. They struck out over and over, took so long that they lost recruits, and they were lucky enough that year that their plan D guy was very successful. Their hiring process doesn't actually sound like the greatest.
If all you're saying is that you'd rather have a great coach than a lousy one, even if it slows the hiring process, then +1, I agree. But pointing out success after the fact doesn't really show how it's done IMHO. If there's another lesson in there, can you spell out how you think that changes our search?
ILL in IA
- Iowa City
And none of the sports really over lap. So it's one suck fest leading right into another. Guess I'm glad it happens when I'm in my 30s with young kids. I hardly have time to go to the bathroom let alone sit down and watch a full game.
I realize it's been out there since before Groce's termination and discussed heavily throughout the process. I mean that if there was a reiteration/confirmation today, it could be significant.
This person thinks it's a possibility
http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2017/03/16/scott-drew-baylor-ncaa-tournament
LOL... Oregon is not elite today by any means.
The big difference with Oregon though, and their entire athletics program, is Phil Knight, arguably the most influential person in sports and the preferential treatment they receive from him and Nike.
If we had Phil Knight, I would indeed feel a lot better about Illinois' prospects in sports, no matter the selection of coaches. You can have a disaster of a search and most times than not, it will end up in a huge disaster. Altman is a good coach indeed, but the influence of Phil Knight/Nike is a huge factor.
For Oregon, Phil Knight is the "right" guy.
I was surprised when Kruger went to Atlanta. Kruger took over a very mediocre if not bad Hawks team. So it wasn't surprising when the team never did anything during his tenure there. Same sort of story with Calipari at the Nets, though he did have one good year. But they traded Sam Cassell the next year and that was it.
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