IMO it’s hard to know Beilein’s criteria but gotta assume he wants to stay close to home. I don’t see him in Minnesota.
My question on the true strength of the Indiana job is the talk around the talent in Indiana. Most of the really high level, five star talent in the state the last five years have gone to La Lumiere, and I don’t know if those players have any real desire to go to IU over any other national program. I could be wrong, but if you assume IU has no real recruiting advantage for LaLu kids I don’t think the in-state talent is that much better than a lot of other states.
They can still be a top level Big Ten team with the right coach, but I think you say the same about just about every program in the conference. Aside from money (which is a big aside), I don’t think they have anything to lure away another high major coach and based on their fan base I think Minnesota might be a better job right now.
I’d say that’s a stretch.
I like Dennis Gates for Minnesota…
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if he has the choice between DePaul and Minnesota that’s a no-brainer for him
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I can see why Indiana fans wouldn’t want Beilein. He eventually hit it big at Michigan but they aren’t into waiting years and years to reach that point. Beilein is 68 years old now if it took him 4-5 years to get IU rolling and being 73 would he still be coaching for a few more years after that?? Crean had some real good teams at IU that couldn’t get over the hump. Crean did have some volatility but I can see Beilein seeing similar volatility and at his age it probably doesn’t end up well.
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I think Michigan fans have an advantageous perspective on him. We know JB isn’t the same coach he was when we hired him. He has learned a lot and made exceptional staff hires. I hated losing Jeff Meyer and Bacari, but then Beilein actually upgraded his bench. I thought Donlon was a unicorn, but then Beilein found Yak.
IU fans probably hear “John Beilein Year One” and think all the way back to CJ Lee and a recruiting class of Zack and Stu. But a John Beilein Year One in 2021-22 is a whole different ball of wax.
The game has changed too, and the IU program has its issues, but most of John Beilein’s Year Ones throughout his career have been extremely successful and he’s (I think) a better coach today than he was in 2008.
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I selfishly keep telling myself that JB wouldn’t want to coach against Michigan…but I think I’m not giving this the true level of realism/possibility it deserves.
As for any talk about IU not being that great of a job…go to a game at Assembly with fans in the stands. Doesn’t even have to be a great matchup. There’s a different feel there, and those candy stripe pants are the closest thing to the Yankee-pinstripes that I can come up with. It’s a great gig.
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That’s a great perspective. I do wonder how that year #1 would compare. He walked into a messy roster at Michigan but still had Manny, Sims, Udoh, etc. At IU he might walk into a similar mix of raw talent that doesn’t know how to play offense. Could be a similar rebuild given where they are…could be a lot of upside given how poorly coached and dysfunctional they seemed to be.
I also think Beilein is a much better recruiter now than he was when we hired him. He can point to all of his Michigan success stories, reach out to old connections, etc. that he couldn’t when he arrived.
Beilein can certainly recruit far better now than a class of Stu and Novak, and given a much more active transfer market now, he might even do OK in year 1.
Talking about his insistence on forming a really strong connection with them and their families, as described in the SI piece. And from what I understand he is getting them to class. More alike than many would assume.
You picked the least important part of my argument, though. The question of whether Beilein recruits aggressively or who he pulls is paramount. He was accused of being passive about it throughout and he’s that much further on. I also am with those who think IU’s pretty tarnished at this stage; it’s pushing thirty years* since they made it past a Sweet 16–to people desperate for wins, I’m not sure that John feels like a homerun hire. I will be surprised if he ends up in that job.
*EDIT: Have this wrong, it’s 20.
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Beilein’s process was just very different. It was just one of the extreme parts of who he is as a coach. It also would drive IU fans crazy at a place that is that recruiting obsessed.
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19 is pushing 30? You sound like my teenagers.
Just to throw my (worthless) opinion in - I definitely think IU will yo-yo away from the hot young coach who will be around for 25 years (you know, this year’s Archie Miller) and instead throw money at an experienced coach who’s already had Final Four success. So after they strike out with Stevens, Donovan, and Beard, Beilein may get a call. But so may Lon Kruger and Ben Howland.
And nobody expects Richie’s dad to stay at Iona for long, do they?
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Semantics because I get your point, but weren’t they in the championship game in ‘01 or ‘02? And their 2013 team was REALLY good, just didn’t get by the ‘Cuse zone in the sweet 16
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Tbh, I feel like that’d be a poor hire for Minnesota. No guarantee that it fails, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable hiring a guy based on a single successful year where he produced the second-best team in his low-major league (and seemed like his defense was phenomenally dependent on 3 point luck). On the other hand, my brother was really impressed by Cleveland St when Oakland played against them this year.
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You’re right. Misread the table I was looking at. Pushing twenty years also gets to be a long time, though, in my opinion. (All the recruits weren’t born.)
These things are matters of perception, to some degree but I’m an older person and just don’t feel IU as a big deal after Knight. (I kinda like Sampson, but but we know what happened there.)
Mostly I was intent on the reasons why I don’t see JB as a great fit.
Watched Cleveland St in the conference semis and finals. Would be a solid get for them. Going from double digit conference losses for the previous bajillion years to only four in year two is impressive.
Yeah I hear you, it’s a long time since Bob Knight meant anything to today’s players, and it does/should matter that they haven’t had a ton of success during these recruits’ lifetimes.
I’ve been to 2 games at Assembly during 2 different tenures, though, and that atmosphere is electric. There’s no reason kids won’t want to go there if a proven coach is at the helm.
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This is changing the subject a little, but was just reading at mgoblog how the Baylor coach, Scott Drew, had terrible records his first couple of years there. What school has the time to invest in a promising young guy?
Baylor’s record in Drew’s early years had more to do with the situation he inherited. Probably about as bad as it gets.
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