Iowa City native. Great success at the D2 level. Would be my pick other than/maybe before DeVries.
Why not Ben McCollum?
- Thread starter BrewHawk
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Drake is a projected 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
How would they do in the opening round against a team like Oregon (a projected 5 seed)?
How would they do in the opening round against a team like Oregon (a projected 5 seed)?
Men's Bracketology: Behold, our final predictions for the field of 68
There's little any team can do now about its chances, so take a look at the final projected NCAA tournament field for 2025. Watch the men's bracket reveal starting at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN.
www.espn.com
The man just wins. I like him a lot. Would probably be a learning curve with recruiting B1G level talent but so what. He's the Bo Ryan of the 2020s.
Short of pulling a miracle hire like Bruce Pearl or someone who's proven in a power conference.. I'd say eff it, give the guy a shot.
Assuming Beth has to go the up & comer route, I like a Ben McCollum hire as much as anyone. Not writing off Devries, and am open to other names if there's someone else out there who they like even better. I don't follow the coaching landscape very closely.
As stated above, McCollum reminds me of a Bo Ryan type of hire. Remember, Bo Ryan had not coached above DIII at the time Wisconsin hired him. Worked out pretty well.
Assuming Beth has to go the up & comer route, I like a Ben McCollum hire as much as anyone. Not writing off Devries, and am open to other names if there's someone else out there who they like even better. I don't follow the coaching landscape very closely.
As stated above, McCollum reminds me of a Bo Ryan type of hire. Remember, Bo Ryan had not coached above DIII at the time Wisconsin hired him. Worked out pretty well.
Not entirely true, but your point remains given his limited experience as a Div 1 head coach. But Wisconsin hired Bo from Milwaukee - a division 1 school. He was the head coach there for two seasons. Ryan had also been an assistant coach at Wisconsin for 7 seasons earlier in his career.
Interesting note: Bruce Pearl was hired by Milwaukee to replace Ryan.
You are correct - I had forgotten that Ryan had coached 2 years at Milwaukee in the Horizon League, where he went 30-27 overall. So he was still very much an unproven commodity at the D1 level.
Looks like Milwaukee had a pretty good track record of coaching hires!
McCollum is the best fit for Iowa right now of people that excite me and that would take the job. DeVries would also be a good hire but is going to cost you a lot more money to make happen. People in the CBB world have known about how good BM is for a while but he is just now getting recognized.
Side note to all of this, if Iowa doesn't make a move, somebody will be very soon. He is already on the radar of a bunch of the Indiana fans and media.
Correct. He’s going somewhere, hopefully it’s Iowa
As a Drake fan, I want him to stay for another few years before taking the leap to a P4 school.
But I’ll enjoy the upcoming conference tournament and hopefully they can make a little run in the ncaa tournament.
But I’ll enjoy the upcoming conference tournament and hopefully they can make a little run in the ncaa tournament.
The man can flat-out coach. I would actually prefer him over DeVries. If Iowa doesn’t snap him up some other school will.
Yes
My fear in all of this comes back to Iowa slow rolling things like this with previous ADs (Stoops). I think he is Iowa's best bet and with the higher ceiling for what it will cost you currently for other coaches.
They would play them tough IMO and may even beat them.Drake is a projected 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
How would they do in the opening round against a team like Oregon (a projected 5 seed)?
Men's Bracketology: Behold, our final predictions for the field of 68
There's little any team can do now about its chances, so take a look at the final projected NCAA tournament field for 2025. Watch the men's bracket reveal starting at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN.www.espn.com
Im sure he can recruit to what Iowa can realistically get. Iowa isn’t going up against Duke for kids. It’s obvious he can identify what he wants/needs and coach the hell out of these kids.
He's already better at Drake than Iowa is right now with a bunch of D2 kids.
Still an improvement over what we currently have.
not a proven fact, he is doing it now with alot of 4th/5th year guys
Look at his championships and records over the years. I’m pretty certain the guy knows how to identify talent. I’d assume he knows what a P4 talent looks like.
This. Some of you guys think we're going to get a coach that is John Wooden and recruits like Calipari. We're a Power 5 school. That alone gets you a look at top 100-200 players. The only time we were ever really in the game for the elite guys were the Raveling era and Dr Tom early when Pearl was around and we were cheating like everyone else. I've seen enough of McCollum this year to see he has a winning system. He's won 13 conference titles in a row. Give him solid players he's going to win against teams that are similar because he's a better coach. And his defense travels on the road. The dude never gets blown out. Isn't that what you want to see every night is a team that plays their asses off every single night?
This
The thing that sets him apart for me is his experience in tournament pressure situations. We all know that D2 isn't D1 but the pressure on the coaches and the players are similar. He knows how to navigate those situations and expectations. Highest ceiling of anyone that is going to be available.
And we're "not doing it" with experienced players.
He would be crazy to take the Indiana job. Besides the fans expect a big name hire. I'm betting on Mick Cronin for this job. But IDK.
And if he can’t recruit, what are we out? Missing our own conference tournament?! *GASP*
This, we're not going to be stuck with another mediocre coach for 15 years again no matter what.
The circumstances are different and more importantly the world of college basketball is much different.
The next coach will either be a success within 4 years or we try again.
Agree.
This isn't 15 years ago.
It's a completely different landscape in power conference bball.
Contract for 4 years. Results in the NCAA tourney or start over.
Originally I hoped to have DeVries as Iowa’s next coach. But the more I read about McCollum (and watch Drake play), THIS is the guy I want.
I totally agree. Layups of three pointers. And if you're shooting mid-range shots, they better come with the shot clock under 7 seconds or less.
Leaves UCLA for Indiana? Lateral move at best? Why?
Wearing out his welcome. And living in LA isn't easy. Although with his $$ I'm sure he's in a sweet area, if it didn't burn down. He's a midwest guy, maybe wants to return. IDK. Just spit ballin...
I wouldn't be disappointed in DeVries but my #1 choice is McCollum
