@cavanagh All 3 of them are good coaches. I do think May at IU, probably makes the most sense for a bunch of different reasons. But I think McCollum, long term, is the best of the bunch. DeVries is no slouch though. And we're pretty lucky to have him...big scheme... after fumbling the chance to get May the year before.
McCollum, May, Devries
McCollum...best pure basketball coach of the 3. Might be unparalleled by really anyone currently coaching. But will he thrive in today's portal/NIL world? Will he blend his style with NBA caliber kids well enough to win Natty's? Or will Iowa be the next Wisconsin or Purdue?
May...looks to be the best recruiter of these 3. And at IU, that would be a massive advantage. But he has some clunker seasons on his resume, and I'm not sure he's known as a great tactician, or for his adjustments. Also has a twinge of Crean, in him... to me.
DeVries... Maybe he's the best blend of the tactical, basketball coaching side, and the flexibility and ability to attract NBA level talent...that fits with how he wants to play?? On that front, I don't think its been a resoundingly successful start. I'm not sure he brought in a single NBA caliber player (outside his son maybe)... and he's whiffed, or passed, or however it happened with all of them... he's missed on all the HS kids that he's been in on that fit that bill. That HAS to change. At the risk of starting a philosophical "star ratings" argument. You can't win Natty's without NBA level kids. But also... it doesn't look like you can win a Natty with mostly portal, and/or 1 and done kids either. So he needs to start getting some NBA talent, but not via the Duke, Arkansas...or maybe Michigan route. Needs a core group of returning guys every year as well.
The first two guys are GREAT at things that DeVries might not be. But maybe DeVries will end up being really good at enough things to harness all the IU benefits, and in the end, be the best choice?!
Hope so.
I for sure would have took May or McCollum over DD. May 100% is better will see on McCollum. How we mest up May is classic IU
One good thing about CDD is he took the job. It sounds like Ben didn't want it. Was he even a miss if he didn't want to come here?
And we probably could have got Dusty a year earlier, but Quinn had to give his buddy another year as we know.
I don’t understand the view that McCollum is a better coach than DeVries, who is the one who actually turned Drake into a good mid major program.
@iugradman D2 Nattys, overall Win pct, accomplished in 1 year what CDD never did at Drake, did it with virtually none of CDD's players...eye test... plenty of reasons.
The only thing CDD has on McCollum, at this point, was he did turn around a P4 team in one year. And McCollum has not yet shown he can do that.
Having said all that...I still think there's a chance we got the better fit, for IU. And they're both really good coaches. CDD is probably the best coach we've had since RMK, other than Sampson.
I don’t understand the view that McCollum is a better coach than DeVries, who is the one who actually turned Drake into a good mid major program.
I would've definitely understood the hesitancy to hire McCollum after Archie. They wanted more of a sure thing. I think McCollum is the next Bo Ryan or John Beilein but maybe even better. It's possible he could be the next Ray Harper though. So there's risk. I would've taken it though.
DeVries won a tournament game at Drake as did McCollum. DeVries has demonstrated sustained success at a higher level than McCollum and actually has P4 experience of turning around a program.
@iugradman I don’t believe DeVries has ever won an NCAA tourney game. He also never won the Missouri Valley regular season championship. But he did build Drake, basically from scratch in to one of the best Valley programs. And he rebuilt WVU in one year. And I love watching his IU team play.
Maybe depends on how the injured guys help out. But I dont disagree with your assessment.
Small glimpse in to the overall fanbase, right now?
I personally haven't looked at the football board since early yesterday morning. Honestly haven't thought about them. And believe me, what our football program is doing is a BIG deal in my household. But IU basketball is IU basketball...and I've really thought about nothing else (IU related), since early yesterday.
We've been awful. We're distracted by the football success. Coach DeVries isn't a lightning rod hire. We have some glaring holes in our bball roster. But IU basketball is now playing regular season games...and that just hits different, for me, than really anything else.
I don't think we need any sort of miraculous turnaround for our fans to buy back in. You could tell how jacked the students were last night. How this team plays the game is such a welcome sight. The ball movement, and wide open sets... I continue to be very, very excited by the style and energy we play with. IU bball fans don't need a lot...
Two things from me.
1) There is no reason people can't enjoy both sports. It's after an IU bball win, which was not like going to the dentist. That was a fun performance regardless of opponent. So yeah, attention is going to be on the hoops board. I am not insulted in any shape or form. Since I run the site my attention is all over the place with sports.
If people want to talk football awesome, basketball great. Soccer cool, Volleyball basically anything. That's what this community is for. I won't shame people for talking basketball or whatever sport they want (now it may take me a little to respond, but happy to).
2) I think a lot of the fan base has been beat over the head with bad basketball for a long time that it was refreshing to see that team play. It was kind of hard to tell over the TV what the atmosphere was like, there were a ton of empty seats. However, from what I heard from people at the game was that those who went enjoyed themselves. The pressure was off (in a good way) and they enjoyed watching IU hoops again which is a bigger deal than most think and a big step in this process.
Will this team win 25 games? Probably not. But, they play a fun brand of basketball and if they can get healthy they should win enough to play in March. I know Cig has moved the bar for a lot of people in turnarounds, but if this team plays like they did last night and adds Dorn and others back to the mix. Getting into the tournament and repairing the relationship with the fans is a successful season IMO.
Thank you for reading Hoosier Huddle
@iugradman I don’t believe DeVries has ever won an NCAA tourney game. He also never won the Missouri Valley regular season championship. But he did build Drake, basically from scratch in to one of the best Valley programs. And he rebuilt WVU in one year. And I love watching his IU team play.
Devries won the regular season title in his first season at Drake as well as two conference tournament titles. He also won a play-in NCAA tournament game in 2021.