Yet again the problem with a completely unproven coach is how much time do you give him?....3 years, 4 years, 8 years like Pitino?....The remaining fan base will be impatient with Ben after two years of medicocity/failure.....An established coach would have more equity.
I think if you make any hire the minimum is 4-5 years. You have to allow a full turnover of a roster with his scheme and integration of recruits. This isn’t professional sports where you can judge from two years as there isn’t free agency or a draft. If that’s too long for some or yourself I’d say collegiate Athletics is not for you. Do I expect signs before that? Yes. However, that’s a fair bar for most college programs that are not blue bloods. Especially one with as little success as we’ve had.
Basketball is completely different than football...Guys have been canned after 2 years as basketball coaches...Much easier to establish a program in a shorter period of time in bball than football.
+1,000
The only thing worse than a sub-par tradition in a Great conference is a program with a short leash and no historical success to back it up.1982. Last B1G title. If we’re not willing to have a longer leash than the premier programs the candidates will continue to dwindle. We’ve seen from the last two coaching searches that clearly this opening isn’t as valued as we’d like to believe it is. It hurts to say, but it’s true at this point.
Sure, that certainly helps and is a new wrinkle to the game. The portal and potential guys transferring home is the only reason I think this may work. Provided he assembles a staff that can “coach.” Even still I’m not sure I want to build a program like Hoiberg on transfers. So I’ll meet you in the middle with 4 years
More experienced candidates wanted the job and were in the budget. Those are not excuses.
One of the lowest salaries in the Big Ten. How many are lower?
I think this has potential merit. With that said, than I’d have interviewed Medved with the same terms. Both those situations I like more than this one. Assistant coaches are going to be instrumental in the success or failure of this hire. You have to believe Johnson has a good idea of his staff for Coyle to pull the trigger on it.
In this era of college basketball, a full roster turnover can occur in 2 years. Frankly, if we're not in the NCAA's by year 3, we'll know all we need to know.
I believe just Chris Collins of NW and maybe Shrewsberry of PSU, but haven’t seen his terms yet. He’s likely getting similar to what Guaard is at WI.
A full turnover sure, but hard to win with underclassmen in the B1G look at the teams in the tournament. Very veteran teams. If you’re bringing in top notch class’s you can win sooner, but I look at Iowa, Illinois, WI, Rutgers, etc. all veteran squads. It took underwood and McCaffrey three plus seasons to turn around Illinois and Iowa. They were terrible for multiple seasons. Patience paid off.
I think Smith wanted it. I doubt he was told who to have on his staff. He just wasn't offered the job. Coyle made his choice. A bad one, IMO. But I hope to be proven wrong.
Agreed. If he was white, he doesn't even get the interview.
There will not be that many Duke level recruits on a consistent basis. These things go in cycles. There is no Suggs coming next. There is not a Chet after Chet. Ben will find solid players that fit his culture wherever.
What is his culture and team identity going to look like?
First cousin but not as experienced. I am all in on giving Ben a shot. No way he does as poorly as the last guy.
Counting on it being sound, tough mentally and physically. Strong defensively. High character.
He was absolutely terrible in the nba. Hey you sucked up there, so let's give you a shot here. No, no way. Terrible take
I assume you are making that statement based on personal conversations with ben or word from contacts? Was he a key part to the successful defense in 16-17?
Possible but I don’t see it. You don’t tell successful and experienced head coaches who to hire. That would a major red flag for the candidate. You can, however, tell an unproven low profile candidate that there are parameters to work in for hiring. A lot easier to tell Ben who to hire than Smith.