Any mention of NY Knicks #22 gets a +1,000 from me. Ferocious player.

Does anyone think Boals has lost interest being a head coach in the NIL/Portal era? And trust me, if he has, I get it and understand it. If so, he needs to really ask himself what he wants out of this profession moving forward.

To me, something with his demeanor and passion seems off these last 3-4 years. I’m not saying he doesn’t care, but I don’t feel like this is the same Jeff Boals that was introduced as head coach of the Ohio Bobcats in 2019.

I believe Ohio’s next coach needs to be in the 30-33 year old range. Somebody not 42-47 and used to how it was done before portal and NIL.

Kim English is also on the hot seat at Providence. I think he’ll eventually get another HC gig, but his ascendance as one of the next big young coaches on the rise might have been premature.

If and when we do go the route of a new HC, I wouldn’t hate casting a wide net, following Drake’s footsteps, and doing diligence on a top lower level coach that just wins.

Midwest programs like Minnesota State (2024 national champion) and West Liberty in West Virginia are perennial top 5 schools at the D2 level.

Ben Howlett got hired at UI-Indy this past season, but went 217-37 in 8 years at West Liberty. He’s from Marietta and 38 years old.

That said, I suspect Lairchild might look into his South Dakota Sate coaching connections as part of the process. During his 5 year tenure, the program had 4 regular season titles and 2 conference tournament titles.

$13 a month for 4 or 5 months is certainly less expensive and more convenient than going to the games plus sit allows one to see the away games too and in my case, games of my former next door neighbor who is at Yale. Is what little we get in TV revenue actually costing us in the long run?

I too am a Boals supporter. We knew the portal and NIL BS would put us here. Many of us pulled the fire alarm 3-4 years ago. You don't have to be a genius or be an "insider" to see this doesn't end well for our Bobcats and the MAC.

I say all of that because it does 1000% accelerate burn out for any coach not flush with money and support. Many of you said it...dealing with grease ball agent "wannabees" and, most likely, lawyers would get old for me quick. Do we really have a person on the staff that can migrate the NCAA equivalent of "Moneyball?" We (Ohio) do not have a high-caliber ruthless GM to handle this for the coach.

We also are seeing the obvious disruption of gambling. It just quietly set in several years ago as a "fun" way to make a "few bucks" on the color of shoes a player may sport. BetMGM, bet365, FanDuel, DraftKings and many more come out of the woodwork to help many become addicted to gambling. If a player doesn't get an NIL bag, maybe some quick money is there for the taking by feeding a seemingly worthless act/play during a game? I believe it has been happening and not just because of the recent accusations.

I never thought I would say it but it has worn me out as a fan. Just like we knew after they hit campus, Hendricks and Williams were already on borrowed time. I commend the football staff for being able to play this transfer/NIL portal to OUr benefit (so far). That said, they have more room for error just based on roster size.

Here we are...JJ and Simmons are on borrowed time. My hats off to players like Pav for staying. Dude deserves more credit for that and his outstanding play.

I wouldn't want to coach in the "groundhog day" spiral.

People don't appreciate how much time/energy Boals has to expend checking under the university community's couch cushions to keep his program afloat.

Honestly, it's a little hard to by sympathetic here.

I shared an auditor's official review of our athletic budget and the operating revenue for the basketball program was ~$2.9m. Boals' salary is about 30% of that.

I know he's not running a traditional business. But the idea of a top exec at a company that burns cash paying themselves 30% of operating funds would be malpractice if you were running an actual company. A board would typically suggest 8-10% for the entire C-Level.

Maybe he'd have more time to focus on coaching basketball and not budget stuff if he was paid in line with the dude at Toledo who he's 1-12 against.

how do ya think hunter or oshea would do if they were coaching nowadays with this portal thing. the portal and nil are screwing the low level conferences really bad. now a lower level conference has to try and hope to keep the higher level recruits that they manage. to land. its the same as the mmajor conferences trying to keep players from hitting the nba draft. in otherwords further seperation between and small schools

Are you saying he should have turned down the money the university offered him? Second, I don't believe NIL funds are reflected in operating budget. I'd bet Miami has 2x what we have for basketball.

With european players and more american college kids hanging around longer that makes for less room for true freshman at the top jobs. Buyouts also are begining to limit mobility.

I'd say stick with Boals and save the buyout money to see if he can get something working in the new environment. In a few years once a mid major gets back into hte Sweet 16 they'll be a moneyball blueprint to follow then make a decision on the coach once the new game is better understood.

Agree SBH. Boals is a great guy and works hard in Athens. However, he has not performed up to his top paid salary that our former AD rewarded him. Boals was treated much differently by the former AD than the two time Conference Football Coach of the year. Boals had more NIL cash than the two time MAC Coach of the year and yet underperformed. You, the former AD and many others didn't recognize that. It is because of the former AD, that this buyout is what it is. You and plenty of others continued to support her many blunders. Of course, if constant five seeds and an occasional third place finish floats your boat, so be it.