The Illinois Coaching Search

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#4,556      

Deleted member 8213

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Deleted member 8213
I didn't know much about Underwood. Been reading. If he's our guy then I'm on board. I want a good coach more than a splashy name. Plus he has a Gene Keady face and a hot wife I guess...

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#4,557      

Loyal2uIllinois

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Loyal2uIllinois
I am confident we will end up with a good coach. JW is a smart dude and he is quickly fixing the poor moves Thomas made. I have not felt this good about our future in years.

Also, agree we have no facts at the moment, which is not bad. I do like the flight tracker posts, a great puzzle to solve:)

I see three possible strategies:

1) NBA Type Coach

Monty seems to be leading candidate and would not surprise me if he is chosen. Many positive aspects with his experience and connections. Some risk with not a proven college winner or recruiter.

Could JW surprise with a pick like Donovan? Highly unlikely, but would be grand slam.

2) Proven College Winner:

Bennett and Marshall would be grand slam top picks. Miller a home home run. S Drew and B Drew also good picks but carry some risks and some good positives. Would love to see Powell return.

3) Mid Major Route

Keatts is gone. Will Wade about the best left. I am not thrilled with Jankovich.

I believe JW is executing his plan. I don't believe anything I have read about Cuanzo Martin being offered the job. If we wanted Cuanzo or Keatts I truly believe we could have made it happen. I don't believe JW wanted them.

As for the Chicago media, they really are disappointing. They should be nothing but supportive of Illinois and this state. They make comments about NW basketball and compare to IL. What ridiculous comments. There is no comparison about basketball programs. There best team ever still lost to IL twice! And don't even compare all time records, NCAA appearances, Final Fours, etc.
 
#4,559      

GortTheRobot

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North Bethesda, Maryland
GortTheRobot
FiveStar said:
All of this is true. However there are some competing facts.

1) Tilmon is the overall gem of a great class. The best player at a position with minimal depth.

2) Part of the sell of the job is the great class a coach can inherit. Without Tilmon, the quality of the class sinks considerably. The sell then becomes that much harder.

3) It's in the new coach's and our program's best interest for immediate results, that Walker is retained for Tilmon and potentially smith, as well as future metro area talent. Long term, we lose our connection to that area, there's a chance that Ford and Martin clean up.

Tl:dr, the leverage is not really tied to one single person, but the immediate success of our program under a new coach kinda depends on it, or we get set back a year at least. I should also probably add that the reason you go after a Bennett or Miller is because even if Tilmon does fall through you feel like they can recover from that first year.
Click to expand...

I certainly agree that Tilmon is well-worth keeping if possible...just not at the expense of the overall program, or getting the coach we want. The hope here is right coach can either secure him, or excite us enough to forget him.
 
#4,561      

Illinifanforlife

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Illinifanforlife
I feel like Scott Drew is the worst well do because he would be very tempted to leave Baylor right now. And I would love Scott Drew as a coach. I feel we will be happy with whoever it is!
 
#4,566      

PNWIllini

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PNW
PNWIllini
Posting in middle of epic thread. Thank you all for helping me keep up with things from far away. Illini fan since the 80s. Watching the excitement here is a lot of fun. Hope we land someone good.

My own .02, posting this from Seattle, is watching the contrast between the Washington Huskies fanbase "meh" to Romar's dismissal, and the enthused and close following you guys are doing. The Huskies fanbase only really cares about Football. And rowing, they're super stoked by rowing.
 
#4,573      

ILLINIShox24

ILLINIShox24
Orange Krush '04 & '05
ILLINIShox24
Starting to tune out the rumors and figure we'll know in a few days.

That said, if JW hires Archie, it will exceed my highest expectations.
 
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