My List of Coaches

Here we go. Here is my list of who I want to be IU's next head coach.

I've been reading every article and I have literally been thinking about this non-stop since our Hoosiers lost to Arkansas.

The order has been changing and has even changed since I started typing this, but the same group of guys have remained at the top and my #1 choice has pretty much remained the same since Sampson was fired. His picture is right up there.

1. Tony Bennett
Bennett is my clear-cut #1 choice. He is the answer. Let's make it happen. I just think when you look at all the factors that should go into this hire, all signs point to Tony Bennett.

First and foremost, can he coach? Definitely yes. This is not a guy that's pulling in 5-star recruits and just throwing them out there. This is a guy that can flat out coach. A coach's son that was a very smart player when he played. His teams play outstanding defense and are fundamentally sound. Also, his offensive system is not nearly as boring as his Dad's. He does have an offensive philosophy of making sure you take good shots (seems obvious, but also seems to be a lost art in college basketball these days). However, he does give his players some freedom to make plays and if a good shot is open early, they take it.

In my mind, I had always thought that Dick Bennett went to Washington State and turned that team around. Then, I had in my mind that Tony took over and then just took the team to another level. However, Dick Bennett was just 36-49 in 3 seasons. Now, Tony has taken over and gone 52-16 in 2 seasons. That's quite a turn-around. Granted, Tony is doing it with players that were recruited while Dick was still the head coach. Even so, it was Tony that was hitting the pavement and actually recruiting these players. And those players most likely knew that they were ultimately going to be playing for Tony anyway.

Ok, so I just did a little more research and found that Dick Bennett does deserve credit for turning Washington State around even though he didn't get to .500. I didn't realize how bad Washington State was before Dick Bennett got there. Under Dick Bennett, he was able to break a 27-game road losing streak, break a 47-game losing streak at UCLA, break a 22-game overall losing streak to UCLA, and a whole bunch of other streaks of futility.

So, I would liken what the combined Bennetts have done at Washington State to someone going to Penn State and winning 26 games and going to the Sweet 16.

It should also be noted that this year's run to the Sweet 16 was the first Sweet 16 in Washington State's history. Hey, didn't a guy named Kelvin Sampson coach at Washington State??? Prick. Anyway, we're not talking about Kelvin anymore. Back to Bennett....

Can he recruit? Yes. He is credited with recruiting the likes of Devin Harris, Alando Tucker, and Kirk Penney while at Wisconsin. I'm not as familiar with the Washington State players, but obviously he has put together good enough players to win 26 games in each of the last 2 seasons. I have also read that he was won some nice recruiting battles, especially when you consider that Washington State is in the middle of nowhere.

For more on his recruiting philosophy and some other topics, check out this youtube video clip and then tell me that you don't want this guy as IU's next coach.

Would he represent the university in a positive fashion? Yes. I think he would be a great face for the IU basketball program. He's really just a good clean-cut All-American kid. He's the type of guy you think of when you think IU basketball. He's well spoken and does things the right way. His teams play hard and learn how to actually play basketball.

Fan Support? Yep. He's #1 on my list and that counts for....well, nothing. But he has seemed to be the fan favorite for the job to this point. Even with all the names thrown out there (including some pretty big names), Bennett still received twice as many votes as the 2nd-place vote-getter on an Inside Indiana/peegs poll that received over 500 votes.

Indiana or Big Ten or Midwest ties? Yes. Played at UWGB and assistant coach under his Dad at Wisconsin for several years. Sister coached the women's team at IU, but that may actually be the one negative as there have been conflicting reports on her departure from IU while Greenspan was A.D.

Affordable? Yes. Like it or not, but the topic of money has been mentioned a lot in this coaching search. There have been some reports that donors are ready to ante up for a big name, but the fact is that IU does not have nearly the football revenue that many other schools have. But with Bennett's current salary under $1 million, IU should definitely be able to make him an offer that would make it attractive for him financially.

Young enough to stay a long time and truly build a program? Yes. Not that IU needs to build a program, but they certainly do need a coach that will come in and rebuild the program into one that competes at a high level year in and year out. Bennett is just 38 years old so he could potentially stay for a long time.

College Head Coaching Experience? Yes....but only 2 years. However, I do like that those 2 years have been in a power conference. And I would call those 2 years highly successful.

Realistic Interest in the IU job? Yes, I would think so. This one is impossible to know for sure. Perhaps he is waiting for Bo Ryan to retire so that he can eventually take the Wisconsin job. But I have to believe that if IU wants to talk to him, he would certainly listen. We're talking about going from Pullman, Washington to the heartland of basketball.

Possible Negatives: If sister says Greenspan is a complete jerk and sometimes offense can be ugly. Sometimes, with Bennett's style of play, his teams will win ugly. And when they lose, it is really really really ugly. See tonight's 47 points against UNC. But then again, that style was going to be the only possible way that they were going to compete with UNC and they still lost by 21 points. But if you let Carolina play their style, you'll lose by 40 points. It's pretty impressive to hold that UNC team under 70 points, but you still have to score more than 47. They were simply out-manned. But even forgetting about tonight's game, there would definitely be IU fans that would groan at Bennett's offense. I'm sure I would be one of those people when they lose. But I do believe that his style of play would produce a lot of wins, they would play hard, and it would be fundamental basketball that most IU fans would enjoy when they win. I also think it is a style of basketball that can allow the program to be competitive every single year, even in years where the talent level might be somewhat down.

I say, give Bennett tonight and maybe tomorrow to unwind from the end of their season, then it's time to give him a call and talk Hoosier basketball.

Ok, so there's my clear-cut #1, but who's next?

2. Jamie Dixon
Dixon has rocketed up my list as of late. I think he has a lot of the same positives as Bennett. Again, I like that he has been highly successful in a power conference. In 5 years at Pitt, he has had 20-win seasons in all 5 and 25+ wins in 4 of them. Very impressive. He was an assistant under Ben Howland and his Pitt teams play an extremely tough style of basketball that I think Hoosier fans would appreciate. No baggage and does things the right way. Main negative might be that Pitt is as close to the Midwest as he has ever been and he originally has West coast roots.

3. Sean Miller
Doing a great job at Xavier. Tonight, his team got to 30 wins and advanced to the Elite 8. But actually, for our favorite coaches, we want them to lose! Prior to tonight, the Xavier A.D. was already saying that they were going to do everything possible to keep Miller. Imagine if they go to the Final Four or farther.

I've been reading that Xavier is tired of being a breeding ground and launching pad for coaches. This time, they want to do everything possible to keep their good coach. Miller already has a $2 million dollar buyout and he has sort of pledged some loyalty to Xavier. I don't recall his exact words, but I do know it wasn't just the neutral stand that many coaches take by saying "I don't talk about other coaching jobs." He instead said something about staying at Xavier. Of course, we know that doesn't really mean anything coming out of a coaches' mouth, but I do think many coaches have learned that the neutral stance is the best one to take.

I would love to have him, but it seems that I keep reading about his buyout, etc.

4. Rick Pitino
Again, I thought this was a complete joke when I first heard his name, but you just keep hearing that he would definitely listen if IU came calling. With Pitino, you are probably looking at a maximum of 7 years, but this guy can flat out coach and he goes to Final Fours.

5. Tom Izzo
I still think this one is a joke, but that won't keep him off my list for wanting him. Again, a proven winner. And there would be a bonus of IU hiring Izzo....he would no longer be coaching at Michigan State. They'd probably then hire Tom Crean.....Advantage: IU.

6. Bruce Pearl
Pearl has been sliding down my list a little bit. But we are still in the group of coaches that I would do backflips over, so the order really isn't that important. Part of my hesitation is that he is a big personality. Some of that would be good because he shows up at pep rallies and interacts with the fans. Much like Terry Hoeppner in that way. But at IU, the football program needs those things. The basketball program needs to focus on basketball. I'm a little bit tired of the head coach or other things surrounding the program being the main focus. I want winning titles to be the focus again.

But I do think Pearl would win and win big. His style would surely be interesting in the Big Ten, but with the way the Big Ten has been getting beat up by other conferences, I am sure it would be a successful style in the Big Ten.

The bonus would be that it would piss off Illinois fans to no end.

7. Thad Matta
Last time, the timing was not right because Oden and Conley were on their way and you'd be crazy to leave that situation. Could it be a different story this time? Is IU still his dream job?

8. Rick Barnes
Been to the Sweet 16 in 5 of the last 7 seasons.

The above 8 coaches are what I am considering my Tier 1. I would be ecstatic if IU landed any of these guys.

I also have a Tier 2 that I would still get pretty excited about. Here they are:

9. Mike Montgomery
Originally, Montgomery was a "hell no" for me, but he has been climbing my list. Highly successful at Stanford and does things the right way. A little old at 61, but I would be confident that he would get this program back on the right track.

10. Brad Brownell
Would be a little risky because his head coaching experience is at UNCW and Wright State, but he has Indiana ties and is well respected in the Indiana high school ranks. IU is his dream job.

11. Jay Wright
I am getting too tired to actually look up stats, but I think Wright is now 8-3 in the Big Dance.

12. Anthony Grant
I hear he is the front-runner for the LSU job.

13. Mark Few
Still a really good coach if he would be interested.

14. Tom Crean
I'm down a little on Crean, but I still think he is a good coach, really good recruiter, and is a good PR guy.

15. Purdue Guy
I'm still struggling with the Purdue thing, but Stallings can coach.

16. Scott Drew
I had been hearing about questionable recruiting tactics at Baylor, but did not know what they were until today. Apparently, the Baylor staff (not Drew himself) sent a flyer to a potential recruit that said "Guess which one of these coaches has recruited a McDonald's All-American in the last two years?" Then it had pictures of Bob Knight and Billy Gillespie with an X over their face and a picture of Drew that was circled in the middle. This was viewed as negative recruiting and although it is not a violation, it's a no-no within the coaching profession.

But I would still be pretty happy with any of the guys in this Tier 2 group.

In a group by himself:
17. John Calipari
If this was based purely on coaching, he would definitely be in Tier 1. But in light of what has happened at IU this past year, I just think that this would be way too big of a risk. I just can't imagine that the Memphis program is clean. But I guess if he could convince that 10-person blue-ribbon committee that he runs a clean program, then I'd be willing to go for the ride. I think this has a 0% chance of happening.

Another guy in a group by himself:
18. Steve Alford
This is as high as I have had Alford and you can see that it's not very high. He did do a nice job at New Mexico this year and he was highly successful prior to Iowa. But the Iowa thing was a complete mess. However, if he did land the IU job, I still think he is highly connected and respected around the state of Indiana. If he landed the job, I would back him 100% and hope for the best.

And here are the guys that would make me cringe (only including names that have been mentioned with some frequency):
* Mike Brey -- He's doing a nice job at Notre Dame, but I just don't like him. I don't know why, but I don't.

* Randy Wittman -- No college coaching or recruiting experience.

* Scott Skiles -- No college coaching or recruiting experience and I fear he might be too much of a hard-ass to have any success at recruiting.

* Dan Dakich -- Again, I like having him associated with the IU basketball program, but not as head coach.

So, who's at the top of your list? Who would make you cringe?

This is all expected to shake out within the next 2 weeks. And with the way IU does thing, it's guaranteed to be interesting. They should literally sell tickets.