Let the games begin!

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/43723592/sources-woodson-unlikely-return-indiana-next-season

If I'm them..Im unloading the Brinks truck for Grant McCassland.

Stefano DiMera said:

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If I'm them..Im unloading the Brinks truck for Grant McCassland.

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I can't think of a single reason why McCasland would take that job. Tech has the donor(s) to keep him very well paid and their ceiling the last decade has been much higher than that of Indiana, which hasn't been past the Sweet 16 since Knight was there.

Indiana is a blueblood in name only at this point. Any coach with a good situation should stay where they are when they come calling.

The IU insiders all say it's almost assuredly Chris Beard and all believe he will take the job.

Stefano DiMera said:

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If I'm them..Im unloading the Brinks truck for Grant McCassland.

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Why would he leave the situation he's in for a lateral move?

I said if I was Indiana.

Just like Kentucky had to do due diligence and go after Hurley and Drew .

From what I hear...Dusty May is in play .. Indiana is his alma mater and was a student manager under Bobby Knight.

It's interesting. They dug up May's contract at Michigan through the Open Records act and it appears buyout would be $5 million plus repaying an approximately $1.5 million signing bonus May was originally given, so the total buyout would be $6.5 million. I would think IU has the resources to pull that off. Hell, Cuban could do that one by himself. ha

EvilTroyAndAbed said:

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Stefano DiMera said:

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If I'm them..Im unloading the Brinks truck for Grant McCassland.

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Why would he leave the situation he's in for a lateral move?

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Is this a joke? We aren't talking football.

PartyBear said:

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EvilTroyAndAbed said:

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Stefano DiMera said:

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If I'm them..Im unloading the Brinks truck for Grant McCassland.

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Why would he leave the situation he's in for a lateral move?

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Is this a joke? We aren't talking football.

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Indiana hasn't been a major player in college basketball since Bobby Knight was there. There is nothing you can do at Indiana that you can't do at Tech right now.

There's a reason Mike Woodson got hired the last time that job was open. It's not a premier job anymore.

Indiana is a name in men's hoops kind of like we talk of blue bloods in football. It really does not matter if they are currently down.

But it doesn't matter to me actually in the end other than I like the guy and like he is one of us when not being a hired gun.

The perfect correlation for Indiana basketball is Nebraska football.

We'll see if Rhule can restore the luster

PartyBear said:

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Indiana is a name in men's hoops kind of like we talk of blue bloods in football. It really does not matter if they are currently down.

But it doesn't matter to me actually in the end other than I like the guy and like he is one of us when not being a hired gun.

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They thought the exact same thing 4 years ago and ended up having to settle for Woodson. The IU media and fanbase thought it would be between Jay Wright, Mark Few, Tony Bennett and Bruce Pearl as the pool they'd get to pick from. None were interested and they had to settle on Woodson.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/43722918/indiana-mens-college-basketball-coaching-candidates-mike-woodson-brad-stevens-bruce-pearl

Seems like just about everybody on IU "wish list". I predict they go with some up and coming mid major coach but I really don't know who that would be?

IU has the highest attendance in their conference.

Are they not going all in on Beard?

bear2be2 said:

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Stefano DiMera said:

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If I'm them..Im unloading the Brinks truck for Grant McCassland.

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I can't think of a single reason why McCasland would take that job. Tech has the donor(s) to keep him very well paid and their ceiling the last decade has been much higher than that of Indiana, which hasn't been past the Sweet 16 since Knight was there.

Indiana is a blueblood in name only at this point. Any coach with a good situation should stay where they are when they come calling.

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Weird, I seem to remember them making the national championship game in 2002, and Bobby Knight was definitely not the coach.

Jared Jeffries was special on that IU squad

IowaBear said:

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Jared Jeffries was special on that IU squad

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I heard that Otzelberger signed a new contract in December that extends but also dramatically reduces the buyout. If so, strange ISU would go for that. I would think Indiana would move mountains (if Indiana had them) to get him. One thing: winning at Indiana gets you a volume level of national attention you are less likely to get at Iowa State.

I would be incredibly surprised if he left ISU anytime soon. He's got tons of roots here and genuinely loves coaching in Ames. Indiana would have to throw ungodly amounts of $$ for him to even consider them imo.

Indiana looking at 4 different Big 12 coaches:

https://www.heartlandcollegesports.com/2025/02/07/four-big-12-coaches-listed-on-indiana-basketballs-coaching-search/

Since that article stopped, the list has dwindled down to three:

https://www.heartlandcollegesports.com/2025/02/09/indiana-basketball-trying-to-hire-these-three-big-12-coaches-is-wishful-thinking/

IowaBear said:

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I would be incredibly surprised if he left ISU anytime soon. He's got tons of roots here and genuinely loves coaching in Ames. Indiana would have to throw ungodly amounts of $$ for him to even consider them imo.

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He loves it there and they love him. He has no reason to leave.

JeremiahJT said:

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bear2be2 said:

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Stefano DiMera said:

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If I'm them..Im unloading the Brinks truck for Grant McCassland.

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I can't think of a single reason why McCasland would take that job. Tech has the donor(s) to keep him very well paid and their ceiling the last decade has been much higher than that of Indiana, which hasn't been past the Sweet 16 since Knight was there.

Indiana is a blueblood in name only at this point. Any coach with a good situation should stay where they are when they come calling.

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Weird, I seem to remember them making the national championship game in 2002, and Bobby Knight was definitely not the coach.

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Touche.

That was still before almost any of the players playing today were born.

That program has been a non-factor for more than two decades.

Media and fans just can't get out of their heads this isn't 1984 any longer. Looks like the Indianapolis Star is falling right into the same trap of telling readers what they want to see and not what is actually likely to happen.

Kentucky job opens -- all big names thrown about. Ends up with 2nd tier choice Mark Pope.

Louisville job opens -- all big name NBA and P4 head coaching names thrown about. Ends up with College of Charleston head coach

Michigan job opens -- all big name NBA and P4 head coaching names thrown about. Ends up with Dusty May from Florida Atlantic.


All end up being good hires and all are good coaches. That is what IU will end up with. A really good mid major coach or they may fall into a situation with someone like Beard, who has the stain from his firing at UT.

There's no reason for Bruce Pearl, Jay Wright (out of retirement), Brad Stevens, Scott Drew, TJ Otzelberger, Grant McCasland, and you can continue on down the line of big name or former coaches, to chase other jobs in 2025. Unless they have a really bad working relationship with their AD or school President, coaches today all make plenty of money and have plenty of opportunity for success at the school they're currently at.

Big12Fan2024 said:

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Media and fans just can't get out of their heads this isn't 1984 any longer. Looks like the Indianapolis Star is falling right into the same trap of telling readers what they want to see and not what is actually likely to happen.

Kentucky job opens -- all big names thrown about. Ends up with 2nd tier choice Mark Pope.

Louisville job opens -- all big name NBA and P4 head coaching names thrown about. Ends up with College of Charleston head coach

Michigan job opens -- all big name NBA and P4 head coaching names thrown about. Ends up with Dusty May from Florida Atlantic.


All end up being good hires and all are good coaches. That is what IU will end up with. A really good mid major coach or they may fall into a situation with someone like Beard, who has the stain from his firing at UT.

There's no reason for Bruce Pearl, Jay Wright (out of retirement), Brad Stevens, Scott Drew, TJ Otzelberger, Grant McCasland, and you can continue on down the line of big name or former coaches, to chase other jobs in 2025. Unless they have a really bad working relationship with their AD or school President, coaches today all make plenty of money and have plenty of opportunity for success at the school they're currently at.

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The Irony of you needing to explain this is that is what Indiana's two hires before Woodson were, too. Crean was coaching at Marquette, which was a CUSA team for most of his time there, and Archie Miller came over from Dayton.

The last big name power conference coach Indiana hired was Kelvin Sampson almost 20 years ago.