Big Ten Discussion

I have a hunch those Ohio teams do a bit better in the Southland Conference

I’d be disappointed for sure. But if he was making more money, can’t really criticize it. It’s his career. Pretty sure he didn’t fulfill his contracts at Stanford or the 49ers when he left those jobs.

Only time I get upset is when coaches say they’re not leaving and then do. No need to lie in those situations. People are gonna speculate no matter what you say, so just say you’re not gonna comment on any job but the one you have.

But Underwood wasn’t playing with guys from the Ohio team. Winning your league year after year has predictive value for me.

Highly doubtful since he is a PG but would love the staff getting after Zach Dawson who signed with OK State. We were recruiting him for awhile.

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I for sure agree that if you think you deserve that money, go get it. BUT it’s not always about money nor should it be.

I will say Harbaughs situations at 49ers and Stanford were different, but I get your point.

My final thought is if you were all about money then don’t take that “low” of a salary at Ok St. Feel bad for those kids after getting abandoned by his crap after one year.

That’s fine. I still fail to see what the difference is between Groce and Underwood given their history, yet Underwood is a great hire and great coach.

He is literally the exact same as Groce. In my opinion it should be called a risky hire for that money given their last hire was the damn near same situation.

Yeah, I feel bad for the OkSt fans and players. I’m not saying it’s a stand up move, although you wonder if he gave OkSt a chance to up his salary and they declined. Either way, still think it’s a good basketball hire for Illinois.

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He was making 400k at SFA. Made a million at Okie St. That could have been his best offer at the time. Would you leave 600k on the table and hope you can get a better offer the next year? It’s a risk as you could have a poor season and get worse offers or none at all.

Do feel for the kids, but that’s why you commit to a school/program and not the coach himself. Coaches are always at risk of leaving unless they’re at a UNC or Duke.

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Well the more coming out isn’t painting a great picture of Underwood. He didn’t notify any Ok St school officials, give them a chance to counter (supposedly) and had a fractured relationship with the AD.

If he wasn’t happy there than obviously 100% absolutely get you that money and get out of there.

Either way, VERY VERY unprofessional if those facts are true that he caught Ok St off guard and didn’t alert them.

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Yep. If he was going behind their backs and not giving them a chance to counter, that’s a more shady situation.

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We’ll never know but end of the day I see your side to the argument and everyone else here.

That’s not fair, Harbaugh is the prodigal son. Underwood had no ties to OSU (at least that I’m aware of). There’s a lot of layers to Harbaugh coaching Michigan.

I imagine Indiana will make a good hire, which means our conference is just stacked with good coaches. Miles, Chambers, Pikiell and Pitino are the worst coaches. And they’re not bad.

I meant it hypothetically but yes Harbaugh would be a whole lot different for the meaning. Situation is the same though.

Maybe coaches should only be given 1 year contracts or better yet have to sit out a year, just like players, if they want to transfer. I don’t really know the particulars of this situation but I’m not a fan of justifying the decision by paycheck while restraining the players and leaving schools with only a downside. As it is the players and schools pay.

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Rumor is there was an understanding his contract at OK St would be renegotiated if he had success this season. His agent approached OK St athletics before B12 Tourney to see what the school was thinking; school rebuffed the request. This was weeks before the Illinois job opened. Then Illini make their coaching move and offer him the position to triple his salary and he jumped.

Sounds like he/his agents feel like OK St wasn’t going to stand by its end of the agreement.

If he perceived those were the circumstances, tough to blame him for his move.

Still, yes, I feel bad for the players who stayed last season and the players who signed to play for him next season.

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Seems like most logical truth is both sides manipulating their side of the story a bit.

One side saying he didn’t let Ok St counter offer and another side saying they rebuffed.

I don’t see what he did this year that deserves a raise. It was overall an average to good year but nothing raise worthy. Now with Illinois being idiotic and paying him $3 million a year, gotta see if Ok St will bump you up ha. If they didn’t go up much, I don’t blame him one bit. If he didn’t give them a chance and didn’t communicate he took the job, good luck being an unprofessional arrogant coach. You’re Groce version 2.0 buddy, you haven’t done a thing at a major program that Groce didn’t do. Your hope and nothing more, unbelievably at $3 mil a year.

This one just really bugs me and boggles my mind. In what world is this guy worthy of this praise as a good hire? It’s a risky hire and nothing more as of now.

Now if you say this guy is a great coach than you better damn well say Groce is a great coach that just didn’t work out at Illinois.

Here’s the thing: What would qualify as a good hire?

Have to be realistic. It is not easy these days to land a sitting Power 5 coach. Underwood’s resume at SFA is superior to Groce’s at Ohio, plus Underwood has had a year of major-college seasoning. You could go the retread route or hire another low-/mid-major coach who won a conference tournament, but how is that better than Underwood?

No one is saying Underwood is a sure thing. But if “good hire” means landing Gregg Marshall or Brad Stevens, that’s just not fair.

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For $3 million a year I just don’t think you can say Underwood is a good hire. Groce was making half that at Illinois.

I’m going to keep going back to Underwood being literally the exact same as Groce. A good not great mid-major coach who you just hoped pans out.

Can I ask why people keep saying Underwood’s resume is better than Groce at SFA?

Do people realize Groce went to the sweet sixteen and also upset #3 Georgetown in a previous appearance? Do people realize in the sweet sixteen he lost to UNC in overtime? Does Underwood’s owning of a weak conference make him better? Keep in mind he didn’t resurect that program, they made the NIT and tournament a 2-3 years before he started there.

I think people here have a STRONG receny bias going on right now. Unless you say you would’ve paid Groce $3 million in 2012, this is not a good deal at all.