[Hoosier Red]

[QUOTE=guttle11]Is that why Mike Davis is still there when they have wanted to fire him since the day he was hired? Obviously, no one has shown that much interest in going there, or he would be gone.
/QUOTE]

Who has wanted to fire him? Certainly many boosters but he has had almost unequivocal support from the Athletic Department until last year when he got a "be better next year" ultimatum. Of course nobody knows what that means but I digress...
If they finish poorly and Davis is fired, I assure you the top coaching candidates will line up for the job.
Following Bob Knight isn't easy. Following the guy who follows Bob Knight is much easier.

As for "losing all the top players," that's a bit misleading.

Vaden, Ratliff, Hardy, and Kline were all Indiana HS All-stars. Vaden I believe was Mr. Basketball.

Knight lost his share of players through the years as well.
Eric Montross went to North Carolina, Jason Gardner went to Arizona, and then there were the players who transferrred through the years.
Usually, IU has one or two Mr. Basketball's on its roster at any time, which means that two or three out of four years the top player is not attending IU.

Oden wanted to go wherever Conley went and for some reason Conley was against IU. Matta did a great job recruiting pure and simple.

My guess is in 4 or 5 years, Matta's stock will have risen even more and it won't be an East coast destination job, but rather a multi million dollar NBA job.