IU has fired Archie Miller. EDIT: Learned third hand that "philanthropic" donations will fund his $10mm+ buyout. No confirmation but it makes sense that IU would not have pulled the trigger if they had to pay from athletic budget $.
Archie seemed like a homerun hire for IU at one time. IU now in one of those cycles where they keep looking for the next Bobby Knight. Mike Davis, Tom Crean and now Archie Miller. BTW I listen to ESPNU radio on the way home and Mark Packer has Dan Dakich on Wed and that guy is a major league pain in the ass IMHO. Can't stand him.
Really not a surprise to me Sid! He did well at Dayton, not sure why he could not win with the Hoosiers?
I have seen some articles praising Rick Pitino for taking Iona to the NCAA tourney in his first year. I was thinking maybe they haven't been in awhile, but that's wrong they've made the last 4 tourney's before Pitino arrived and 6 since 2012. So while it's acknowledged he's a legendary coach, he hasn't done something this year that Iona hasn't had happen in a long time.
Same here, Terry. I stopped listening to his local radio show a few years ago because I couldn't stand his schtick. Your description of a major league pain in the ass is accurate IMO.
Athletic director Scott Dolson released a statement confirming Miller's firing, saying that "private philanthropic funding" paid for Miller's buyout, which was more than $10 million. Since when did philanthropy involve buying out a coaches contract so your school can get rid of him a year early? I had read that IU wanted him out, but was going to wait a year because it would save them millions in the buyout.
Terry, I edited my earlier post to provide information I received 3rd hand describing what you confirmed above. As you can imagine, there was heavy local news coverage about the school's inability to find the funds in its budget for the buyout, so it was assumed that Miller would be back for one more season. Like most major programs, IU apparently has its own deep-pocketed "philanthropists". A respected sportswriter who is well-connected said that he was amazed how many "influential" alumni were anxious to have Miller gone. Apparently, those alumni also felt that IU could use some unrestricted help with its philanthropical projects.
Re: IU. Just learned through local news update that per the AD one "rich booster" paid the buyout amount, and another booster has paid to help hire the next coach. I wonder if one or both might be Mark Cuban. The AD also said he's not hiring a search firm. Some in the media are suggesting Brad Stevens. I think that would be at best a lateral move for him. Can't see it, but never say never.
You may be right Sid, but I've got a feeling that if a rich booster in Alabama gave that much money, he would at least want to be listened to.
You both know a lot more about booster involvement than we Hoosiers. This is new territory for us. It’ll be interesting to see what happens. Stay tuned.
Very interesting article Bobda! I have never heard of Dickens and was unaware of the B10 rules on financial aid back in those days.
KU has 3 players in Covid protocols and will not travel with the team to Indy. Also 6 officials have been sent home from Indy... Multiple referees have been sent home from the NCAA men's basketball tournament's controlled environment in Indianapolis due to a positive COVID-19 test and contact tracing, the NCAA said in a statement Monday night. Per the NCAA, one official tested positive on Monday and had interacted with five other officials. All six were sent home. Four of the refs have been replaced from a pool of reserves; two won't be replaced.
My family moved to Indiana in 1961 from South Jersey. At that time, I didn't follow any IU sports. My full attention was on Purdue, which was my Dad's school. I knew nothing of this story until I read Bobda's article. I didn't even know that Phil Dickens was the coach. All I knew was that from the time I set foot in Indiana, the IU football program was at the bottom of the B10 until John Pont became the coach.
Re: The firing of Miller...yeah, the money was raised from private booters. But cash is fungible. That 10 million could go elsewhere to help the university. Even if the interest of the boosters is more towards athletics the 10 mill could be used to bolster athletic facilities and aid in recruiting. It's 10 million down the drain no matter how you look at it. I have always believed (with no inside track or knowledge) that the big boosters have a huge influence on things like hiring. I think a OSU booster or boosters were huge in firing Earl Bruce...and it is my feeling (again no inside knowledge of course but just stuff I read) that Rich Rodriguez never had a snowball's chance in hell at Michigan because some of the big donors never liked him...not a Michigan Guy. Maybe Bobda could straighten me out if I'm wrong.
From what I have read, there was a great deal of intrigue re Rich Rod. Miles was the popular choice but Carr and others inside the school blocked his hiring leading to RR being hired. Several events led to RR quickly becoming an unpopular choice: his horrible first season; his lawsuit with WV and destruction of WV team records; his badmouthing when he arrived of the team’s conditioning and discipline which lead to Carr disassociating from RR’s team; not having M lineage; getting hit with NCAA violations for violating practice time rules; reports of abusive treatment of players. There was an interesting generational divide. Students liked RR generally because his spread offense was perceived as a welcome change from Carr’s conservatism while older alums were of the “he’s not one of us” mindset.
Sister Jean is headed back to March Madness. Loyola-Chicago confirmed Tuesday that Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the 101-year-old chaplain for the school's basketball team, will be in attendance Friday when the Ramblers open the NCAA tournament against Georgia Tech in Indianapolis. The Ramblers won the Missouri Valley Conference championship and are the No. 8 seed in the Midwest region. Sister Jean, who became an international celebrity during Loyola-Chicago's run to the Final Four in 2018, has not attended games since the coronavirus pandemic began. She delivered pregame prayers virtually throughout the season but remained in a senior independent living apartment in downtown Chicago.