Storm the Court! Storm the Court!
Storm the Court! Storm the Court!
Originally Posted by BuckeyeRed27
What did you guys think of the lineup changes? Elston starting, VJ III playing PG. I like the energy Elston brings personally and hope he returns next year.
I do too though I think Northwestern's one of the few teams that Crean can get away with playing Watford at the three for a long time against. Unfortunately I think most wing players are a little to quick for him to defend so he's going to have to make it work as a power forward.(GAIN SOME WEIGHT PLEASE)
I think Elston's best role will be the first guy off the bench in place of Capobianco. Pritchard's lack of minutes at the end of the season is interesting to me. With Elston's expanded role, I wonder if perhaps Pritchard may be leaving.(PURE SPECULATION, I HAVE NOTHING TO BACK THIS UP WITH) I hope not because I think he's better than what he's shown this year.
Agree completely with the first paragraph. Watford can be an athletic 4 but he needs to put on some muscle. Can't see him surviving as a 3.
Elston as the first big off the bench is a good role for him. It will still give him plenty of minutes and he needs to be on the floor a lot more than he was prior to these last few games. Honestly, I hope none of these guys leave because depth is a great thing. Someone probably will though just due to the lack of minutes available next year.
From ITH:
This release just popped into my inbox from J.D. Campbell, Indiana assistant athletic director for media relations:
Indiana University men’s basketball coach Tom Crean informed assistant coach Roshown McLeod on Sunday that his contract would not be renewed for next year and he will no longer be with the team effective immediately.
“There is never a good time for something like this, but it is a decision that had to be made moving forward,” said Crean.
I can’t say I’m surprised by this news, considering McLeod was absent from Saturday’s win over Northwestern. McLeod’s recruiting prowess never really paid big dividends in Bloomington, which is most likely the reason he won’t be returning. The search for his replacement begins … now.UPDATE: 10:57 a.m. by Zach Osterman
Tom Crean fielded questions this morning on the Big Ten coaches’ teleconference regarding the departure of Roshown McLeod, including the timing of the move. His response:
“There’s probably never a good time. You can’t focus on timing. You’ve gotta focus on what the right decision is. That’s the decision that I made.”
“It’s about putting the program forward and putting the program first. We’re going to do the things that we need to do.”
We’ll try to have more on this moving forward.
Odd timing to say the least. Despite the fact that McCleod got IU in a number of recruiting conversations that it otherwise would not have been in, the actual % of winning recruits was pretty low.
How much of that can be blamed on him I don't know.
I really haven't been concerned to this point but part of the being patient approach requires that IU has better recruits actually coming to IU.
Here's some more on McLeod from the Herald Times.
McLeod a former NBA player who finished his college career at Duke, was Tom Crean’s final hire two summers ago. He had been working with the Atlanta Celtics AAU program in the Atlanta area and was going to coach high school basketball before being lured away. He’d served as an assistant for only one year, at Fairfield from 2002-2003, after his pro career.
McLeod was brought in because of his ties to the Celtics and in Northern Jersey. He played for legendary high school coach Bob Hurley at St. Anthony, but Indiana had been unable to snag any talent from that area since he joined the staff. It recruited top guard Kyrie Irving, but he ultimately chose Duke.
McLeod was also instrumental in recruiting David Williams, a small forward out of Florida who verbally committed to the Hoosiers last April shortly after receiving a scholarship offer. Pundits were surprised that Indiana had offered Williams, who played with the Atlanta Celtics and was not highly regarded in recruiting circles. Williams did not sign with Indiana in October, and his father told The Herald-Times that he wanted to keep his options open.
Freaking David Williams wants to 'keep his options open'?!?! What the hell is going on at Indiana? That kid should've been signing that LOI within 2 seconds of receiving it.
Not sure what really went down with David Williams. It was a strange case all around.
One name I've heard mentioned on local radio as a possible replacement: former IU player Greg Graham.
"In baseball, you don't know nothin'"...Yogi Berra
Not sure how he would do in the same role that McLeod had, as lead recruiter. Graham hasn't coached above high school ball as far as I know.
Based on Tom Crean's latest Twitter ramblings, he's apparently worked up about......big, bad Xavier. Never thought I'd see that day. Very amusing.
I like Crean, but I wonder if he isn't in over his head a little bit. Marquette isn't exactly a high pressure job. I can totally see Brad Stevens being the Hoosier coach in a few years. He's probably taken Butler as far as they can go, sadly, I don't see them making a run like they did again. I know he's got a huge buyout, but Indiana University has deep pockets, especially when it comes to the hoops program.
What did he say about Xavier?
The following comments are apparently directed at Travis Steele and Chris Mack. Xavier is, by the way, doing some good work in recruiting in Indiana these days:
"Frankly some of the assistants we go against I wouldn't let valet my car. They either would lose the keys or drive away with it"
"In all honesty there are some Head coaches that would be the same way. The ones that wake up on 3rd base and think they hit a triple kill me."
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