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Never got offered an assistant spot the last 20 years. By the way. Dane Fife is freakin' hilarious. It's a must listen.

I thought the same thing.... But I certainly thought Fife would've been too cozy in Michigan.

Various factors and things that have been going around.

Because

Exactly. We aren't even allowed to contact a player unless he is in the portal, so to say IU is "in contention" is a crock of crap. I highly doubt ANYONE at IU would allow for that to even get out, even if they were talking to Brooks' family, due to the violation. So unless Coyle is getting his info from Hunter, Roberts, or Woodson, he's recycling the garbage.

I wouldn't put a lot of stock into what those guys say.

Supposedly, he's coming on as an assistant and has it in writing he will take over when Woodson is done. That's insider information, so.... ssshhhhh

I fully expect Lewis to join the IU staff.

He's been an assistant with the Knicks up until his hiring at IU

The 9 years as an NBA coach (for two different franchises) sets him apart for sure. Not saying it automatically translates, but it's silly for national guys to compare them and act like they all were cut from the same cloth.

Exactly. Everyone wants to compare Woody to Penny Hardaway, Patrick Ewing, Juwan Howard, etc. That's somewhat insulting to the work Woody has put in. He's literally been coaching for decades in the NBA. So when you see idiotic statements from Dan Wolken, Jeff Goodman, and all the national morons comparing him to these guys, just take it with a grain of salt. Woody has DECADES of coaching experience.

Agreed on the "energy level" portion of the recruiting, although Woody still seems like a young guy for his age. Hopefully with a little success, good assistants can do that leg work. I think once Woody is in a recruit's room, he'll be as good as anyone.... hopefully he can get things rolling sooner than later to take pressure off himself. The "proven" coach is where I think interpretations and disagreements would arise. I wasn't nearly as high on Beard as many. I think he's done good at Tech, and he's a good coach, but he reminds me of Archie the most out of all the names. Can't put a finger on it though. With Oats' buyout and Drew's sketchiness they were probably out, so that would really leave just Beard and Musselman. I think with that pool of candidates, now was the perfect time to give Woody a shot. Archie spent a decade recruiting and coaching, and we were left with a coach that couldn't pull big time recruits in, and had a porous defense and stagnant offense. Some goes on the players, but I just don't think Archie could get through to them. I've been impressed with Woody's ability to adapt and change with the times. He's not an old timer stuck in his ways. And I think with his NBA background both playing and coaching, he will have more clout on the recruiting trail than a guy like Archie ever would... Always enjoy the debate and back and forth with you. It's nice to have opposing opinions and be able to debate a bit without silly name calling or things like that. At the end of the day, we may disagree on the process or question the decision, but we both want Woody to do great. I think we are in for some great basketball in the coming years!

Responding to your longer, previous post (didn't want to quote it and eat up space), but I don't think the Woodson hire is really much riskier than taking an Oats, Musselman, Beard, or Drew. I dont think Beard was ever really an option, but with the other three, you could make an argument against any of them. Drew is dirty as hell. Oats has been good, but there's a lot of similarities between his rise and Archie's. Musselman seemed like the most realistic, but he's been a bit of a journeyman. Could he handle the pressure of IU? Is his end goal NBA? If he'd do a "meh" job at IU and leave for the NBA, how much worse off would we be? We don't really know if Dolson made any calls to them or about them, but the complete failure of Archie has to put a little fear in hiring someone else that may or may not be ready for the limelight. It's hard to know the complete story of why he failed, what went on behind the scenes, etc but you draw some similarities between his rise and Oats, Musselman, Beard, etc. Woodson does two things: brings excitement back to the IU family, and gives us a coach with massive NBA experience. Listening to Landon Turner talk about the hire was incredible. Having guys like that around the program again won't hurt. I get Woodson hasn't coached a college game, hasn't recruited a kid, etc. Listening to guys like Fran Franschilla, I don't think Woody will struggle with the in game coaching. Fran basically said coaching in the NBA takes so much more than coaching college (I think it was Fran). Listening to people talk about Woodys player development and coaching styles/strategy, I don't see an issue with that aspect. Recruiting I'm sure is everyone's biggest question mark, and I get it. People don't "remember" Woody. Ill say this... did people really know Archie when he took over at IU? Probably not until they looked him up or spoke with him... and if they looked up Woody, they'll find a hell of a lot more credential wise than Archie. Personality wise? Woody vs Miller? It's Woody and it's not even close. And Archie still got some recruits. This is personal for Woody. The guy will do whatever it takes to get Indiana basketball rolling again. And he's got a lot of connections to help him along the way. Listen, Woody may flop. But looking at the last 21 years, I wouldn't feel warm and fuzzy with any of the realistic candidates that we think were available.... and I think you're on to something with the NIL and what not. NBA connections are going to be as crucial as they've ever been. And Woody has them. If he can get off to a hot start, I have very little doubt he can keep thr momentum going.

He has decades of coaching, period. Some of those kids that were on his teams were younger than college seniors. Getting kids to buy in at any level is a sales pitch... recruiting battle. Woodson is a personable, relatable guy. He will have no problem recruiting. He's also selling a program he helped build, and he's selling his decades of NBA coaching

That is the least of my worries. Why do we think Mike couldn't do this and guys like Archie can?

One thing comes to mind. Leader of Men. Something that couldn't be said about the last few hires. Going to be tough on you when needed. Honest. You can tell the guy played for Knight. Has so many qualities of a Knight player, and the NBA experience. I'm pumped!

For everyone worried about Woody's recruiting, go take a gander at who Woody worked with in the Knicks organization. He's the "senior basketball advisor" to the Knicks....

Would love it if he could lure Kenny Payne to come take an assistant job. A staff of Payne, Hunter, and Lewis would be outstanding.

Woodson will be on with Dakich tomorrow. Can't wait to hear it. Sounds stupid, but I miss not having our coach go on the show. Look forward to hearing him!

With the ages and health of both, I wonder what he meant by deadly? I kid, I kid.

Well said. At the end of the day, Dolson may have just been told NO, a lot. And I'd rather gamble with this, than the known, crappy alternative (Archie)

Duncomb approves. That's a start

Give it a chance folks. Look at it this way. The "hire an IU guy!" Will either work, or it won't and no one will have to hear it

I'm optimistic that Lewis will come back to be an assistant. Listening to Lewis, you can tell he was tired of the route IU was going with the coaching hires. I could definitely see him coming back, especially with Matta overseeing things

I wonder if Woody passed his physical? My guess is Woody and Matta were taking their physical at the same time. "Whichever one of you passes the physical becomes the next IU coach. Good luck!"