New coach search...

[CrimsonChuck]

I would definitely be alright with Crean. It sounds like he's a great recruiter too.

But if the second half of the rumors are also true, that would also be nice. That Billy Donovan would be Indiana's number one choice to replace him. Although being the #1 choice and actually getting Donovan are two entirely different things.

 

[KrAzY3]

Actually, the coach prior to Donovan at UF (Lon Kruger) took them to a Final Four and elevated their program quite a bit, but I understand and agree with your overall point. Florida was a "nothing" program with no real tradition before they made good hires.

I didn't really think about Kruger, that guy is pretty interesting. He seems to be more than capable and willing to come in and put a program on good footing. I've alluded to program building a bit, and one could argue it makes more sense to bring in a guy who knows how to build a program, vs. just gambling on some young high risk/high reward guy. I don't think Florida planned it that way, but it sure worked out.

Since you bring up Florida hiring a good coach, he doesn't meet the criteria you want for a mid-major coach. He was only at Marshall from 1994 to 1996. He didn't make the NCAA tournament either year.

I suppose one should put emphasis on the fact that he played and coached under Pitino. That's no small thing, Alabama was excited to have the coach who coached under the coach who coached under Pitino, heh but perhaps that was a bit of a reach. But yes, when I discuss things at length I tend to look them up and I recognize that Donovan (experience under Pitino aside) was a gamble that turned out well.

I never said as far as I recall that Alabama should hire a coach like Donovan. Alabama has gambled three times and lost, something which took up the better part of my life. Florida had less to lose, Alabama has more to gain by simply hiring a proven coach. It's time they invest in a proven winner, it sure worked out in football didn't it? Dubose, Shula, Gottfried, Grant... unproven is always a big gamble.

There's also a reason I've brought Bruce Pearl up a few times though, no one is even surprised that he's turning things around at Auburn. You know what a good coach looks like, and you know what a gamble looks like.

 

[Ldlane]

I wouldn't be happy with Crean.

 

[AlexanderFan]

Who is this Jess Nichols and why should we believe him?

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

 

[Athens-LA-Tide]

I'd rather keep Coach Grant and our recruit Dezon Ingram vs Crean. I just don't see the enthusiasm there....Which coach can come in and talk with Ingram and get him to stay? Can Crean do that?

 

[imauafan]

I'd rather keep Coach Grant and our recruit Dezon Ingram vs Crean. I just don't see the enthusiasm there....Which coach can come in and talk with Ingram and get him to stay? Can Crean do that?

Really? Do you know how many NBA players that Crean has recruited and coached vs how many Grant has recruited and coached? Ingram staying or going is not going to make or break us and that should have no impact on who we hire.

 

[MikeD]

I will admit upfront that I have not watched much Alabama basketball over the past 10+ years, but was impressed with Coach Moore's hiring of Anthony Grant. It didn't take long though to realize that a new coach, except for the rare conference upset win or maybe for one good season, actually changes Alabama basketball.

Not to diminish the success of C.M. Newton's teams and a few of Wimp's but Alabama basketball is, well Kentucky football, an occasional good season followed by a string of bad ones. Is it all on the coaches or is it a curse for having such a storied football program. Or is it the curse of the SEC? The only SEC school in recent history to produce nationally prominent football and basketball programs is Florida.

Can Alabama basketball be better and more competitive in conference play and at least get an invite to the NCAA tournament, of course. Can it reach the heights of a final 4 or elite 8 except on a rare occasion, my guess would be probably not regardless of who the HC is. We do need a HC who is not afraid of competing with the best football program in college football.

Florida won a national championship in both football and basketball...the same year. This is the level our athletic program should be striving for. There is not a single reason we can't win big in basketball. I remember for over a month most people, fans and media, said no way was Saban going to coach at Alabama. Then when he did arrive they said he would not stay more than a year. I believe with the right coach we can win big in BB. Our goal in all sports at the university should be SEC and national championships.

 

[Athens-LA-Tide]

It's just a statement, but yes, really!!!! How does this headline sit with you "Mr. Basketball contender Dazon Ingram de-commits from Alabama following Anthony Grant's firing"!! I think a coach who can come in here and get a "Mr. Basketball contender" is huge, we had that in Grant, dude was coming. If we have some mid major coach come in who cant get a kid like this to stay, than not sure we made the right choice. Just my take..

 

[KrAzY3]

I don't want to disparage any recruits, but Dazon Ingrim is the 220 ranked recruit according to 247 sports. If we're reached the point that is of great importance to the program, it's a symptom of the problem.

 

[Athens-LA-Tide]

I think you guys are focusing on the wrong part of what I'm saying. It's not about Ingram himself, there is a bigger picture here IMO.

 

[TideEngineer08]

Someone up thread compared Alabama and Kentucky, saying that as Kentucky basketball is to Alabama football, so is Alabama basketball to Kentucky football.

I could not disagree more. Alabama is historically the 2nd or 3rd best basketball program in the SEC (depending on how you rank Arkansas from their SWC days). Alabama basketball is more akin to Tennessee football on a historical perspective. This is a program that can win and it is a program I believe the fans will support if it is successful. I completely understand that we are not going to go out and get a Nick Saban like hire for basketball. But I believe we can and should be able to get someone that can come in and win and rebuild this program to a tournament level program.

 

[RobK]

My understanding is that Crean makes a bit more than $3 million a year at Indiana...a figure that we could probably get close to or exceed if the will exists. But the buyout is $8 million. That's a chunk of change for basketball, unless Indy is ready enough for him to go that they would discount it. Interestingly, on July 1st of this year (and thereafter), the buyout drops to $1 million.

Bottom line is this: if Coach Saban feels the need to push hard for Crean, and Crean is looking to escape the pressure cooker at Indiana, then I would assume there's a good chance it would happen. But who knows.

 

[BamaMTA06]

I keep reading Alabama is the 2nd best basketball program in the history of the SEC. What does that really mean? In the last 20 plus years we've been a mediocre program that has shown flashes here and there. We've made it past the 2nd round once. We went to the Elite 8, but so did George Mason. Today our program is on the same level it was when Hobbs left and when Gottfried left. I really hope we get it turned around with the next coach.

 

[CrimsonChuck]

My thought is that if Indiana really wants to get rid of him, they will probably waive the buyout. And it sounds we have the upper hand here anyway. Just say that we are hiring him effective on July 2nd. Indiana won't want to keep a lame duck coach around that long.

 

[TiderJack]

What does that mean us being the 2nd best program in the history of the SEC? It means the same thing as the Bama football program being the best program in the SEC as of 2007. History is history. Our short term history is not as good as we would like but you can't just throw out the 60 years before that.

 

[TitleWave]

Let's go back before the start of the outrage and agitating that eventually got Grant's job, when several TF posters called for considering former NBA coaches should Grant get ousted. Have any of those names emerged in the search? A long shot for anybody with NBA ties to a top job might consider "coming back to college," but would they even be given a chance to make a case if any of them (say Jeff Van Gundy) wanted to? Any other coaches currently in the Dance (at least as of tonight including all 68 teams) under consideration? Guessing Tejas is still at least semi-happy with ex-Alabama assistant Rick Barnes, but even if they weren't, one would hope 'Bama ain't his next landing spot.

 

[KrAzY3]

To address the whole what does Alabama's history matter thing, it matters to me in two respects. One is it shows Alabama's potential, it also shows Alabama's unrealized potential. For a team that historically is the second best SEC basketball program, they don't have much to show for it. But, a big part of this is that the area has talent. When things are going well, when there's a coach who can at least recruit, the team will have plenty of talent.

I mentioned five first rounders before, but I'm not sure people get how rare that is for one team to have five first round draft picks. That might be not be such a big deal for a program like Kentucky or Duke, but it's a big deal when you have that much talent and can't even make the Sweet 16. Anyway, someone else mentioned recruiting Mississippi and that's key, Alabama has traditionally drawn talent from there and if you go to the five first rounders, you have 3 from Alabama, and one from Mississippi. That's what Alabama can do, if things are going right, they draw the top talent from within the state, and cherry pick the surrounding areas. That's why they can put together talented teams, that's why they can win, and that's why all it takes is just a coach who knows what he's doing.

Someone else mentioned Bledsoe and Cousins, it was a pretty big black eye for those two guys to be coming out of the state of Alabama, and Alabama not even be in the discussion. That's not normal, that's not supposed to happen, because Alabama most certainly isn't like Kentucky in football. They've generally landed the top in state guys though, but that's all they really have to do. No, they can't make the final four year in year out, the framework isn't there, however the talent is there for this team to make a run in the postseason every few years.

Anyway, I don't get the allure of Tom Crean. He looked good coming out of Marquette, if that was all his resume had I could see wanting him. But, at Indiana? He's been pretty mediocre, and their basketball program has accomplished a lot. They're a basketball power in a basketball state, I don't see him coming to Alabama and suddenly improving.

One thing that I could hope for, and that we don't see yet (but the last poster kind of alluded to) is that potential for someone to come out of the woodwork. There are people like Lon Kruger (who another poster mentioned), or Larry Brown who are prone to sudden changes in location. If only Alabama could be so lucky to land that sort of a coach, Alabama doesn't need a guy to be there for the next 20 years, they need someone to put the resources that are going to waste, to proper use.

 

[CrimsonEyeshade]

At Indiana, Cream took the nuclear landscape Sampson left and built a national contender in a few years. He, like a lot of coaches, has lost many of his best players early to the NBA -- including Noah Vonleh, who been paid not to play for a mediocre Charlotte team. Crean recruits well -- Indiana doesn't hurt him there. Yet half his fanbase is still steamed that Bob Knight rightfully got run off. They're looking for any excuse to hate his would-be replacements. Lose a few games, the carping and endless Knight comparisons start anew.

As far as I'm concerned, gimme.

 

[RobK]

When you talk about Cousins and Bledsoe, people forget that DeMarcus committed to Calipari AT MEMPHIS and Eric was predicted to do the same before Cal jumped to Kentucky and both of them followed him. Both of them committed more to the coach than to the program.

Elite players will embrace coaches with track records of winning and--perhaps even more importantly--putting kids in the NBA. I think this current era of college hoops favors the coach with a longer track record or pedigree over the mid-major up-and-comer. Of course, there are exceptions, but I think that's the trend.

 

[KrAzY3]

Crean has a .524% winning percentage at Indiana. It's so bad you'd think Sampson actually caused Indiana to face penalties from the NCAA but he didn't, they just got put on probation. Mike Davis, who a lot of Alabama fans are wisely not suggestion, both had more trips to the NCAA tournament and a better winning percentage at Indiana. I guess I'd buy the idea that Crean somehow turned Indiana around (though turning Indiana around seems like it would have to be for the worse), if he hadn't lost 18 games in his past two seasons. That's not exactly tearing things up at a basketball power.

In terms of Bledsoe and Cousins, I guess that's why a guy like Ben Howland (who as far as I'm concerned has a resume that looks so much better than Crean's), holds value. We know he has an ability to deal with some of those top tier guys. Wimp could do it, Hobbs carried some of that over and had some success when McDyess (from Mississippi) was around, but he clearly was running on fumes. At that point in time Alabama absolutely was bringing in the top kids from Mississippi and Alabama, for instance McDyess was a top 30 recruit. Gottfried started out ok, he got Gerald Wallace amongst others and then he just lost his mojo. It isn't though that he didn't get Bledsoe or Cousins that hurt so much, it's that he never had a chance. Even Saban has trouble pulling the top football player out of Kentucky, you can't have home field advantage and fail that miserably. What ever edge Gottfried had at Alabama, he clearly lost it towards the end.