Feathery

Thats the crux of the question to me. Does he get to fix it…. When he was hired it was said he is the bridge. He was to fix it for the next guy. He was never the long term solution. So know we are 3 years in and he needs to fix it. But what is fixing it? To me it’s something totally opposite of what they are planning on doing in the portal. Say he hits a home run in the portal and we finish top 4 in conference and have a top 5 seed in the dance. Thats great but those portal guys will all leave. Guys like Trey and Leal are out of eligibility. So now after year 4 he needs to go get like 7 new players on the portal because he hasn’t recruited high school talent for the foundation. He is taking guys who will go to the league asap. If Mgbako stays for next year he will definitely go pro and will also be gone. Also the contract is an issue now it’s 2024 and his contract runs til 2027. So not only does Dolson and the board have to decide to back Woodson, they also have to give him an extension so that he can recruit high school kids that will stay 3-4 years so the next coach isn’t left with a Crean situation. Woodson has really put the program in a bad situation that will take multiple years to fix for the long term. It’s why if they can get Pearl or Oats then they have to move on imo. Let them start building for that long term continuity. Can you imagine the uproar the fanbase will have if Dolson announces that Woodson is coming back next year and is getting an extension? Yikes

Another way to think of it is how does Woodson have that much NIL at his disposal and still have massive gaps in his roster and have such a down year?

It was a number I saw a “insider” use for IU. Now that could also mean that it’s 6 mil in total and it covers multiple years. I did see something like a year ago that had IU has the #2 NIL school for basketball in the Big Ten. (Illinois is #1).

Texas tech has only made one final four. They did have a lot of transfers but I dont remember the amount. They also fell off the next year and won 18 games. Then 18 the following year as well. That was also pre-NIL. This season there was a stat that was posted on social media that every team that took more than 4 were not projected to make the tournament. Now with NIL the top teams can offer money and a chance to win by supplementing. So IU in order to have a chance to land the pieces to be a contender next season will need to raise a boatload of cash and overspend. Forget the $6 mil they spent for this year, going to have to be substantially more imo.

Woodson is good at Portal recruiting. What team has been successful with massive portal hauls? No team taking 5 portal players have the success that will warrant a 5th year. As last I looked none were going to be in the tournament. So if that’s the plan, it’s a bad one and we are just spinning our wheels. He has to land multi-year players even in the portal. Problem is he doesn’t have multiple years left to coach to see the project through. He isn’t going to get an extension and his contract length is going to be a problem moving forward. He is in a lame duck situation. I don’t envy Dolsons position and I don’t like Woodson being in this situation either. Even if he made the bed he is laying in.

The Crean comp is good. And I’m not a May guy either. If Pearl, Oats, etc say no, the. Yes try May. Ironically I feel like the NIL/Portal era would fit Crean roster turnover style. He was good at shorter recruitments and always had 2-3 transfers. IU NIL game is strong and could have supported it without the drop off we saw from year to year towards the end. If Dolson hires May he has to require a defensive assistant. Michigan did this with Beilein midway through his tenure. And it worked well for them. At the end of the day I have no clue what is going to happen. I just know there needs to be structural and cultural changes to the program on how it goes about its business and it’s playing philosophy. If Woodson can do that fantastic let’s go. If he can’t, then go get a guy who can do it. But even Pearl will take 2-3 years to turn it around to be a contender. The roster will be short of talent and you can’t build a contender through massive portal hauls.

Archie wasn’t a unanimous favorite when he was hired either. Though a lot of ppl wanted him. I remember debating ppl on here and elsewhere that Archie isn’t in my top 5 candidates. His offensive system was bad imo. Slow and low scoring, reminding me of Bennett in a way but not as bad. And his defense gave up the 3 a lot. As we see still that doesn’t work in the modern game. I rooted for Archie to do well but he was in over his head and you could tell by his body language at his announcement. And then they got torched by Ft Wayne. May is different bc he can coach offense and putting the ball in the hoop is the hardest thing to do. The big question about May, is his defense. I think he has to bring a defensive specialist in to help him grow in that area to be successful at IU. If not he will end up being some version of Fran McCaffery at Iowa. Minus the explosive personality that we all laugh at Fran for.

A nice freshman to soph jump would be great. What’s the conversations happening about a top end PG and SG? NIL money needs to be on point this offseason.

Never been sold on Holtmann and didn’t want him at IU. Remember going to watch one of his Butler teams and sat there and told my buddy I don’t get it. Everyone says what a good coach he is and I don’t see it. Definitely hit his ceiling at OSU. Was told by someone who played for Holtmann that this player didn’t have a lot of respect for him as a coach. Holtmann would have his assistants have the tough conversations with players instead of doing it himself. My take is it sounded like he didn’t like confrontation or tough conversations. Definitely not a guy to be a leader of a big time program. But a good human.

I didn’t look it up. I was going off memory of when we had Hull, Oladipo, and Watford all shooting 3’s above 40%. Yogi had a down year shooting his freshmen year if I remember correctly but was over 40% the rest of his career. Again going off memory. essentially that’s the level of shooting I’d like to see again.

I think the reality is he isn’t getting fired, so a more constructive conversation is how does the program get fixed for next year. Personally I think there needs to be some overspending on a PG and 2 wings. All 3 need to be 40%+ shooters from behind the 3pt line. And then need to replace what big production that leaves. But we need to transform the roster to one that plays with 3 guards and 2 bigs, or a PG 2 wings and 2 bigs, however you want to label it. But one of the bigs needs to be able to shoot well from 3 to speed the floor.

When IU starts recruiting a new wing to play the 3, then I’ll believe we are out of it.

If IU lands these last 2 players rumored to be all in on, then they will be a top 10 team at some point next year.

Then they need to start spending it on basketball. Rumor on the Michigan board is Kansas collectives offered Hunter Dickinson $4 mil over 2 years in NIL. Has anyone seen anything that points to IU collectives spending that kind of money on mens basketball? No offense to the other sports, but 90% of NIL money needs to go to basketball until there is a revenue share in place for football.

Excited for the season to start. I wasn’t anti-Archie but wasn’t excited by him either. Tomorrow will be the first time since the Crean era that I’ve watched a IU game in person. Work is going to be soooo slow tomorrow.

Or they go and get some brands that bring in $$$$. I don’t think standing still is an option for any conference long term.

Michigan won’t play the game like OSU does. Harbaugh is in thin ice. I’m a Michigan football fan. They have a lot of talent that Harbaugh has wasted over the years. Can’t wait for the IU Michigan football game this fall. The wife and I already have our tickets.

If the Big Ten doesn’t expand, I can see OSU, PSU, Mich, MSU leaving for the ACC. Fertile recruiting grounds and they drive the money because of football.

I agree. Also add Colorado and Kansas. Natural rivals for Nebraska. Have east west divisions and it’s as close to the old Pac10 Big Ten meeting in the Rose Bowl days from years past as it can be.

If they add a couple teams then recruiting should be a priority with the AAU membership. Georgia Tech seems to be a no-brainer to me. Good academics and quality recruiting grounds for both football and basketball.

I don’t think he is implying the player on the back end is necessarily from IU. Could be anybody.

Crystal ball for the good guys placed the other day. Maybe some momentum here?

Doesn’t Parker Stewart have 2 years of eligibility after this season??

Another site is saying it will be on Twitter.

Really not worried about the 2021 recruiting class. I think we land a couple of transfers and/or spring commitments. Make the NCAA tournament and have a solid season and momentum starts up again for 2022.