Shows the unintended consequences of when big monies donors want coaches fired. I do not know the inner workings at IU, but clearly here a donor and administrator think they know what’s best when they may be setting the program back for a decade or longer.
https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/an-indi...Been a great discussion over here. The fanbase came to expect a lot when Knight was here and still think they are a blueblood. There are many that felt Archie was a bad hire from the beginning. To paraphrase...Knight is not walking thru that door.
Being born into UK fandom I do not have a dog in the fight but listening to locals here they supported seeing Archie for many reasons. Dakich has been discussing it daily on his show...before Archie was fired and arguing with folks on the show that they should proceed with caution and warning that he did not want Archie fired and now moving forward with listening and chiding folks who suggest Few, Beard, Mussleman while pointing out Bilas and Goodman's choices because "they do not know or understand enough to comment on IU".
I don't think you set the program back 10 years by doing this. Hiring an on probation Samson who allowed athletes to get by with 16 hours of PE, selling and using pot openly and assistants to skirt NCAA rules to put IU on probation started the ball rolling and Crean dragged it out of the gutter only to be a bigger spectacle than the basketball team causing the fanbase to want "Clappy the Tan Clown" gone. Replacing him with a guy who got Dayton to some success in the tourney (who DOESN"T win at Dayton?) was the ADs choice.
It is at this time that a guy like Schaus would be nice. He always seemed to have a list of candidates researched and a TOS like index card in his vest pocket with their names attached.
No idea where they are going with this. Whether they already have their man and he is still coachin the tourney, whether the AD is just in over his head and had no idea where he was headed when he fired Archie or whether they are doing a really thorough search....remains to be seen.
I think this is a move that was inevitable and this was the best day of Archie's life. One patient said "I wish he coached as well as he negotiated" and I had to agree...walking away with a cool 10M to walk away is a pretty good day most of us would gladly do with any vocation we are part of no questions asked.
Indiana, like Kentucky, Kansas, UCLA, UNC are some of the best and have rich traditions usually associated with the architects of the tradition. Whether they can recapture that remains to be seen. Personally, I think they can, if they are smart and make good choices...unfortunately, I think administration and the ADs are motivated by something else and are ill prepared to be the leaders and decision makers needed at this point. Doesn't seem like money, facilities or history is a problem.