Shaka Shocks Illinois Turns Down BB Coaching Position

99topdawg said:
Agreed. Won't believe it until I see it. It it comes true, I hope he's the second coming of Tommy Amaker to the Big Ten.
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Amaker I guess interviewed for the NW job back before he took the Michigan job.

The story is he wanted to see who NW was letting into school. He showed the school two players academic bios to see if they could get in. NW said the two players would not be admitted. I guess Amaker said he could not take the NW job because they would not have allowed Hurley or Laetner into NW.

I have heard that NW has way too tough of admission standards. See they actually hold regular students and athletes to the same standards. No other power 6 conference schools do this. The AD is friends with the admission people and tell the admission people to let athletes in as long as they have the base required GPA and ACT to be eligible. Northwestern doesn't operate this way. They need to losen up a bit.
 
1hawkeye1 said:
I got the answer right here, Illinois. BOOM!
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oh yeah that would be perfect coach for illinois perfect match !!!!!!!!!:)
 
ICHAWK said:
Amaker I guess interviewed for the NW job back before he took the Michigan job.

The story is he wanted to see who NW was letting into school. He showed the school two players academic bios to see if they could get in. NW said the two players would not be admitted. I guess Amaker said he could not take the NW job because they would not have allowed Hurley or Laetner into NW.

I have heard that NW has way too tough of admission standards. See they actually hold regular students and athletes to the same standards. No other power 6 conference schools do this. The AD is friends with the admission people and tell the admission people to let athletes in as long as they have the base required GPA and ACT to be eligible. Northwestern doesn't operate this way. They need to losen up a bit.
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Um, why? They seem to be doing just fine as an institution.
 
olivecourt said:
Um, why? They seem to be doing just fine as an institution.
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They don't need to loosen up but they can't expect to hire some new coach to change things if they are going to limit players so much. I think Carmody has done fine considering all the challenges he faces.

Can't complain about a coach if you are not willing to change things a bit.
 
ICHAWK said:
They don't need to loosen up but they can't expect to hire some new coach to change things if they are going to limit players so much. I think Carmody has done fine considering all the challenges he faces.

Can't complain about a coach if you are not willing to change things a bit.
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Their admissions policy doesn't seem to hold them back to the same degree in football. I don't buy it that even with their current standards Northwestern can't be good enough to at least occasionally qualify for NCAAs and maybe challenge for a top-4 conference finish every 7-10 years. Their team this year definitely had the talent to win another 3-4 games and go to the dance. They really played poorly in end-game situations.
 
99topdawg said:
Hadn't thought of him for NW. Wouldn't that be a slap in the face!

They actually are saying that Chris Collins (Duke Asst. who went to HS about 10 miles from Evanston) is the leading candidate (FWIW).
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Is this legit? Or are people saying it simply because Dickie V. tweeted that's who he thought should get the job?
 
olivecourt said:
Their admissions policy doesn't seem to hold them back to the same degree in football. I don't buy it that even with their current standards Northwestern can't be good enough to at least occasionally qualify for NCAAs and maybe challenge for a top-4 conference finish every 7-10 years. Their team this year definitely had the talent to win another 3-4 games and go to the dance. They really played poorly in end-game situations.
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I heard Fitz was as good as gone when the Michigan job was open.. until the boosters got together and got him a ton more money AND really lessened the admission standards for him..
 
burky247 said:
Is this legit? Or are people saying it simply because Dickie V. tweeted that's who he thought should get the job?
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It was actually written by Matt Giles and Joe Kaiser of ESPN Insider. Andy Katz has said it as well. Giles is also saying that Jeff Capel and Johnny Dawkins are on Illinois' radar. Take it all FWIW.

Also, I'd never post something because Dickie V tweeted it, not that I'd ever look at his twitter. (Does that sound dirty?) ;)
 
I threw Alford's name out there on their Scout site, I'm guessing I will be banned in a couple of minutes if not already.
 
Champaign-Urbana is a craphole. I've been to 7 of the other Big 10 campuses, and Illinois' was easily the worst, IMO. Tailgating sucked, too.
 
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BSpringsteen said:
Jon - you've been clammoring on and on and on about how great of a job it is and it is simply so far off base it's stunning.

No one in Chicago gives two poops about the University of Illinois. They care about the Bulls, Bears and Notre Dame. Add to it that far more people from the Chicagoland area go to out of state B1G schools than go to Illinois (in aggregate, not individually) that every B1G school has a huge presence in the sports bar nightlife, and you have a recipe for no one giving a ****.

Yes they have access to talent, talent that doesn't know Chief Illiniwek from the Land O Lakes logo.

If Illinois wants to be a top 10 job, they can start by hiring a marketing firm and reminding people in Chicagoland that they are not on an island and are actually in Illinois.

No One Cares. Hard for you to develop a following and a recruiting story when that is the case.

I'll do you one better. Iowa is a better recruiting job than Illinois, because at least when Iowa gets in state talent, there is a really good chance that kid grew up a Hawkeye fan and that is a big part of the battle. Kids in Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina, have 18 years of emotional investment in a school before deciding. Kids in Chicago have Derrick Rose.
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Completely agree. Well said.
 
You are gravely mistaken, IAJay, if you don't understand what a great coach Leonard Hamilton is. He is a VERY, VERY good coach.
 
BSpringsteen said:
Jon - you've been clammoring on and on and on about how great of a job it is and it is simply so far off base it's stunning.

No one in Chicago gives two poops about the University of Illinois. They care about the Bulls, Bears and Notre Dame. Add to it that far more people from the Chicagoland area go to out of state B1G schools than go to Illinois (in aggregate, not individually) that every B1G school has a huge presence in the sports bar nightlife, and you have a recipe for no one giving a ****.

Yes they have access to talent, talent that doesn't know Chief Illiniwek from the Land O Lakes logo.

If Illinois wants to be a top 10 job, they can start by hiring a marketing firm and reminding people in Chicagoland that they are not on an island and are actually in Illinois.

No One Cares. Hard for you to develop a following and a recruiting story when that is the case.

I'll do you one better. Iowa is a better recruiting job than Illinois, because at least when Iowa gets in state talent, there is a really good chance that kid grew up a Hawkeye fan and that is a big part of the battle. Kids in Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina, have 18 years of emotional investment in a school before deciding. Kids in Chicago have Derrick Rose.
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Yeah, I agree with all of this except the part about Iowa being a better place to recruit to.
Chris Collins was being considered more for the possible opening of the northwestern job than Illinois. My brother went to Illinois and does some business with them to this day. He will tell you, as will most Illini, that Collins is a hated man on that campus. If he was the greatest coach in the history of the game they would riot in the streets rather than accept him.
Word right now in central Illinois is they are negotiating with Brad Stevens. No idea if he is really interested. Guy I talk to down there said Frank Martin is on their list if Stevens says no.
John, I agree with you it's not a top ten job, but, why do so many people nationally see that place as a great spot?
You just got to hope they don't bring in a 'difference maker' with an established reputation. I'd rather they take their chances on a guy from a mid-major. Those guys are very hit or miss.
 
Thawki said:
You are gravely mistaken, IAJay, if you don't understand what a great coach Leonard Hamilton is. He is a VERY, VERY good coach.
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I understand that he is a great defensive coach. Unfortunately he seems incapable of coaching any sort of offense which makes most of his teams quite average.
 
Auggie said:
Yeah, I agree with all of this except the part about Iowa being a better place to recruit to.
Chris Collins was being considered more for the possible opening of the northwestern job than Illinois. My brother went to Illinois and does some business with them to this day. He will tell you, as will most Illini, that Collins is a hated man on that campus. If he was the greatest coach in the history of the game they would riot in the streets rather than accept him.
Word right now in central Illinois is they are negotiating with Brad Stevens. No idea if he is really interested. Guy I talk to down there said Frank Martin is on their list if Stevens says no.
John, I agree with you it's not a top ten job, but, why do so many people nationally see that place as a great spot?
You just got to hope they don't bring in a 'difference maker' with an established reputation. I'd rather they take their chances on a guy from a mid-major. Those guys are very hit or miss.
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Methinks thou art an illannoy troll
 
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