On the NCAA forum here, I recently posted this in response to the question of who the next head coach at IU will be....
Scoot McGroot wrote:Pearl would be great. He's got a history at Southern Indiana, and our current rivalry with Illinois certainly wouldn't go away (see Deon Thomas and his recruiting scandal). Dan Dakich (formerly of Bowling Green) will (likely) take over as the interim coach and if we finish strong, will get a strong look as permanent coach.
Steve Alford will always be mentioned, but I think his lineage with Bob Knight will ultimately hurt him, and not help him, in his interview for the job. His lack of success at a Big 10 program will also hurt him, though I'm sure he could recruit at Indiana a lot better than he did at Iowa. Hell, he probably wouldn't have to leave the state for the next 3 years.
Ray McCallum (on the staff currently) could get another look. He's got experience at Ball State and Houston. He rode Bonzi Wells to success at Ball State and suffered at Houston. However, the fact that he was on the staff that committed the violations could go against him. However, the fact that his son is likely to be a high 4*/5* recruit in 2010 could go in his favor (he wants to play for his dad as well).
Scott Skiles and Lawrence Frank will probably be mentioned. They each have a history either in the state (Skiles dominated Indiana high school basketball years ago) or at IU (Frank was a team manager at IU), but I think IU would rather go with a guy with college head coaching experience which both lack.
Brad Brownell of Wright State and Sean Miller of Xavier either have attachments to Indiana (Brownell is from Evansville) and Miller has apparently received rave reviews from AD Rick Greenspan at IU after knocking off IU this year and in admiration of his career thus far at Xavier. Both could be the type of mid-major coach to make the leap that could interest IU and they both recruit the midwest already.
Kevin Stallings apparently has connections to Rick Greenspan as well, but he played and later coached at Purdue. While former female basketball coach Sharon Versyp played at Purdue, coached at IU, and succeeded, I just can't see Greenspan dipping into the Purdue pipeline to lead IU. However, Stallings and John Beilein were the finalists when Sampson was hired, but the fact he was a Purdue guy hurt him and Beilein's buyout was what kept him from being the current head coach at IU.
Two very unlikely, but somewhat possible candidates could be Brad Stevens of Butler and Ron Hunter of IUPUI. Stevens would likely stay at Butler and while doing great so far there, is still untested. Hunter has completely built the IUPUI program into a contender in their conference, is beloved by Indiana high school coaches, is trusted by his players and recruits, and coaches with passion while being a very honorable man.
I'm sure many other names like Rick Pitino, Mark Few, and John Calipari may come up, but as last time, it'll probably just be so that they can get either facility upgrades or pay raises from their current schools.
Tom Crean would be a dream hire if he could be convinced to leave Marquette. His recruiting ability in the midwest is extremely strong, and he's completely rebuilt Marquette into a consistently strong team year in and year out. However, I doubt he'd be willing to leave since he already has strong facilities and a great contract.
The IU job will depend tremendously on what punishment IU receives from the NCAA in the Sampson violations. We have a great new practice facility that should be ready for next season, and then Assembly Hall is either to be renovated or bulldozed and rebuilt. We have a great history, although our last national championship is now getting further and further in the past. We have a great recruiting bed to raid here in-state and we're a basketball first school. The job could be great, but NCAA sanctions could really hurt the image of the job.
So, what are your thoughts on the subject?
, I think BK is 
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