Thoughts on Indiana men’s basketball, a passionate fanbase and a constant hot board.
Bruce Pearl. Sean Miller. Rick Barnes. Tony Bennett.
Billy Donovan. Chris Holtmann. Chris Mack. Brad Stevens.
Thad Matta. Eric Musselman. John Beilein. Brad Stevens again.
Names. Indiana fans absolutely love names. The latest ones? Dusty May, Micah Shrewsberry and Bruce Pearl (again).
Indiana is one of the biggest jobs in the country and, until proven otherwise, always will be. The trident, candystripes and Assembly Hall will always mean something nationally. There’s a reason coaches at every level, from college to the NBA, are asked about the job when it opens.
Nobody has had consistent success in Bloomington in over two decades now. The program has gone through five coaches in that time with none being able to bring it back to the national prominence and winning ways its fanbase craves.
When things go south, as they have this year, the names come back out. Perpetuated by fans, local voices and a national media base that can’t seem to keep itself from asking what’s going on at Cook Hall every other day, it’s one of the most high-pressure jobs in the sport.
Someday somebody is going to get this right. The resources, world-class and on par with programs atop the sport, will finally help deliver the success everyone around here has sought.
But let’s take a breather for a moment.
On Mike Woodson
The job is occupied and the program’s current caretaker is one of Indiana’s very own. You know, the kind some have called on the athletic department to seek out for years.
Mike Woodson is an all-time Hoosier great. He was born and raised in Indianapolis, playing against the Pacers and George McGinnis as a youth before heading south to Bloomington when Bob Knight offered a scholarship. Only one guy in program history averaged more points per game in the cream and crimson across a four-year career.
When he was out with a herniated disc as a senior, the Hoosiers went just 7-5 to open Big Ten play. He returned just seven weeks into recovery and led the team to six straight wins and the Big Ten title.
He’s done some really good things in two years as a coach between ending losing streaks to rivals, reeling in top recruits and getting back to playing meaningful postseason games.
If you are eager to get the carousel turning and hit the reset button after three years, you need to consider this. Woodson is not just another coach stepping in, he is a beloved alumnus of the university who has the respect, admiration and love of his peers.
Giving someone like that three years of time, two of which saw the program finally return to March Madness, after his predecessor got four years without a single postseason bid, wouldn’t be a good look.
If Indiana isn’t willing to give Mike Woodson the time to fix this, who would get that time? Not exactly the kind of environment a new coach would be eager to jump into.
This is not, and I must stress this point, to blame the fanbase for Indiana’s troubles. It’s a large, passionate one that puts down dollars to travel to marquee matchups, buy gear and talk hoops with anyone who will listen.
But the constant churn and call for a new coach, from fans and media alike, doesn’t exactly create a welcoming atmosphere for candidates and athletes. Players have gone on the record saying that they chose another program because Indiana is always going through a coaching change every few years and they value stability.
Perception matters.
On the current circumstances
Back to the names. Throw all of the above out the window for just a moment and focus on the situation in a vacuum.
The reality is that much of this season’s issues are of Indiana’s own making.
The backup point guard forced into starting minutes isn’t ready for the role he’s had to take on. There’s an open scholarship spot that could have been used on a guard in the portal. Not even a starting caliber guy either. Anthony Walker was perfectly willing to come off the bench in the frontcourt, they could’ve found some sort of use for that spot.
Indiana has relied on starting two bigs alongside one another, same as last year and the one before that. There were thoughts, maybe hopes, that the previous years were the result of having inherited Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson. That hasn’t been the case.
It’s clunky, clogs up the lane and isn’t particularly fun to watch. It’s not friendly to the guards and has exacerbated existing issues with the backcourt.
Indiana both can’t and won’t shoot. Three years into a coaching tenure and there just isn’t enough outside shooting on the roster. That’s going to lose games and it caught up to Indiana extremely quickly with close calls against virtually every buy game opponent.
The list of things that work about this roster is short. These are unfixable problems in the short-term that demand immediate attention in the offseason.
On top of all of this, Indiana finds itself in a very odd spot.
Woodson is on the older end of the spectrum of college coaches at a time when seemingly more are retiring than ever. Other high caliber jobs are opening up and candidates Indiana will have to look at eventually, like May, are likely targets.
Something like that could speed up this process, push the athletic department into making a move so it doesn’t get beat for guys again.
This is not reporting, for clarity. Administrations, at least the good ones, have to think two steps ahead at all times in order to be successful. That is just how college athletics works.
Things are different from the last time Indiana fired and hired a coach. NIL is the name of the game and the Hoosiers’ resources in that department are vast. The candidate pool offers more immediate answers.
For now, the job is filled. It’d probably take something drastic for it to open up.
All anyone can do now is wait and see, but I wouldn’t bet on that changing.