Keeler: Indiana could not fire favorite son, so why hire him? By SEAN KEELER REGISTER COLUMNIST Word on the street is that Rick Greenspan, Indiana's athletic director, has cold feet about bringing Steve Alford home. I don't blame him. You don't hire someone you can't fire. If you cajole the Iowa men's basketball coach back to his alma mater, you aren't just offering the Hoosier legend his rightful seat at the round table. You're handing over the keys to the kingdom. Chances are, it's Bobby Knight all over again. The untouchable icon. The face of Indiana athletics, beyond reproach, dangling from banners all over town like Stalin or Mao. Sure, Knight was a crazy dictator, the locals will tell you proudly, but he was our crazy dictator. Although he's not the coach Knight was at the same age — at 41, the General had already won two national titles at Indiana and been named Big Ten coach of the year five times - there's no question Alford could do the job. He's still relatively young. The painful potholes of the past four years have left him wiser and, at least on the surface, more humble. After six seasons of false hope, ligament tears, transfers, academic snafus, Pierre Pierce and National Invitation Tournaments, Alford is finally delivering on the promises he made when he was hired. Barring an injury (or arrest, suspension, etc.) from out of left field, the Hawkeyes are headed to the NCAA Tournament for a second consecutive year, something that hasn't happened since 1996-97. This Iowa team doesn't have top 20 talent. It just plays with a top 10 heart. Alford's stock might never be higher here than it is now. Point guard Jeff Horner and power forward Greg Brunner, the twin rocks of Elliott Drive, the classy constants in a program dogged by turmoil and underachievement, are in their final season together. If their coach decided to follow them out the door, could you blame him? "I just think Indiana needs to have one of their own," the Hoosiers' current coach, the frazzled Mike Davis, said Monday, stoking the Alford-to-Indiana fire. "They need to have someone that has played here, so they can embrace him. And they need that." I feel for Davis. He's a good man in a tough situation. Of course, he didn't exactly help himself by calling in sick the morning that the most popular Hoosier alive turned up at Assembly Hall. How can you look your players in their eyes and implore them to fight for their season when you won't do the same? And besides that, he's wrong. The Indiana faithful don't need one of their own. What they need is Big Ten titles. What they need is to witness glory, not just keep reminiscing about it. Let's say that Alford, the People's Choice, bolts the Hawkeyes for Indiana. Let's say he succeeds immediately in Bloomington, snaring a Big Ten title and a Final Four berth right out of the chute. What's to keep Alford from calling his shots, as Knight did during his salad days? What's to keep him from demanding more money, more power, more autonomy? Knight and Alford have long since mended fences. Are you comfortable having the prince on the throne when you know that the exiled king is always a phone call or an e-mail away? To keep the fans happy, Greenspan would have to keep the Alfords happy. If there's ever a power struggle, real or perceived, he's going to lose the public every time. I don't hire someone who'll have the power to run me out of town on a whim. And what if the coach's first five years at Indiana are like his first five years in Iowa City? If Alford can't win, neither can the athletic director who has to cope with the inevitable fallout. I wouldn't want to be known for the rest of my tenure in Bloomington as the guy who canned Steve Alford. I don't think Greenspan does, either.
8) Terry they'd "lynch" Thomas (I guess that ain't too p.c.) in this state for what is still thought of as a slam against one of this state's biggest BBall icons after the General. That if Larry Bryd was black he would just be considered an average player
OK, I was a little ahead of the curve, must have been a warp in space time. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/seth_davis/02/15/indiana.davis/index.html
Liiks like Davis is out. Following a legend like Knight, is never easy. John Cooper has the same problem here at Ohio State. We lost a golden opportunity last night losing to the Badgers in Madison. No easy wins on the road this year for anyone. Don
Don, Was Earl Bruce a legend? :wink: Just kidding, of course. I think it was Bruce who had the misfortune to follow a legend. Of course, Cooper had the same issues as Bruce, so you definitely could include him in that scenario. Same at ND, when Dan Devine followed Ara. Same at UCLA, when several coaches could not fill Wooden's shoes. I'm sure there are many other similar situations around the country. To a large extent, Davis has made his own bed, his publicized histrionics aside. As a Hoosier, I don't believe it is so much the shadow of Knight as it is the failure of his teams to be consistent and tough. IMO (not a very good BB analyst), his teams rely too much on the 3-point shot, and do not have much of an inside game at either end of the court. Over the past few seasons, IU has not had much success vs. ranked teams. IMO, where Knight figures in is that over 30 years, he changed the fundamental expectations of IU fans in such a way that middle-of-the-road is not acceptable. Following the improbable run to the final game in the 2002 NCAA tournament (which Knight loyalists argue was with Knight's players), his teams have been no better than middle-of-the-road.
Certainly there is going to be a lot of interest from upcoming coaches around the country in this job. I read where Rick Majerus might be interested, but you'd think they'd be nuts to take a guy who already quit one job because of health problems and then took another job only to resign the next day because he didn't think his health could stand up to full time coaching. I hope they don't reach down and steal Billy Gillispe from Texas A&M, the Aggies need to go ahead and raise Scotts season ticket prices again and give Gillespie a nice extension and enough money to make him want to stay at A&M. Terry
Great, great win last night over Sparty....the first win at the Breslin in 14(!) years or so.....these kids now control their own destiny for the league title. Sparty hasn't lost at home very often in the last decade. Matta had Mike Vrabel give the fellas a pre-game talk - speaking about mental toughness - apparently a very effective one. Playing Izzo's boys at the Breslin is a good place to have a linebacker talk to your roundball players...Izzo preaches toughness to the point of having his kids do rebounding drills with helmet and pads on - that's full contact basketball - and are perenially among the most physical teams in the conference. If these kids keep shootin' it like they have been, they can make a helluva good run in the tourney. Great job by Coach Matta, his staff and those kids. Terry
Extremely good win last night for the Bucks. Congrats! Terry ps...did I mention that IU folks are thinking they can lure Matta to IU!
I saw Matta's name among the "candidates". I can't understand why his name would be mentioned. What possible incentive would he have to make that move?
Sid, Matta's name is being mentioned because he grew up in the Hoosier state and somewhere along the line made reference to the Inidana Job being a real Gem! He is not going to leave Ohio State with that incoming class. Don I think Alford would jump at the chance if offered.
I would agree that Matta would be foolish to leave Ohio State, not only does he have a great class comming in, he has a better faciltiy in the Schott than Assembly Hall (I think). But I could see him using it as leverage for a nice fat raise. As far as Steve Alford, it would seem like a natural except that he hasn't been all that successfull at Iowa. He's not been a flop either but somehow the success he's had there doesn't seem to portend a big career at IU. Terry
Well, as much as I like Matta... If he wants to look at IU to look at it, fine...but if he pulls a Cooper and tries to get a new contract out of their interest... Let him go. stu