Bruce Weber is on very thin ice. Brad Stevens would be a perfect fit for Illinois and Illinois would be perfect for Brad Stevens.I would love to see Stevens in the Big 10.

Why is Webber on thin ice? And if he were to leave, I think he could get a better job than Illinois.

I been hearing rumors about Isiah Thomas and the Illinois job. He is from Chicago.

thedynasty1998;719995 wrote:Why is Webber on thin ice? And if he were to leave, I think he could get a better job than Illinois.

Seriously? Most Illinois fans dont like the guy. He is one coach who does less with more than anyone. Has he ever accomplished anything in his career sans taking JR/SR that Bill Self recruited and coached for 2 years to a great record. Years since seem to prove that it was a fluke run in spite of his coaching. Similar to Mike Davis.

Illinois would be stupid not to go after him. As would N.C. State, Tennessee and some others. Very doubtful, however, that Stevens would leave Butler considering the love he has for the school, program and state of Indiana. At least not yet. I think he will pay close attention to what happened to Todd Lickliter at Iowa and, at least for a while, play from the Mark Few book of coaching and remain in Indianapolis.

I love Brad Stevens. He is the "next big thing" in college basketball coaching. I know that is said of a lot of coaches, but Stevens really is. He has already proven his prowess as a tournament coach in March, which is what separates a good coach from a truly great coach, and his in-game demeanor, poise and tactical approach are all far beyond his years. He also has a perceptive eye for recruiting less heralded players (Gordon Hayward, Matt Howard, Shelvin Mack) as well as a proven ability to entertain the french fry boys (as noted by Cody Zeller's interest in Butler, which, pre-Stevens, would never have happened). He is having unimaginable success at Butler right now. If Steven is smart and, most importantly, wants to move on to a bigger program, he will wait and do so when one of the Blue Bloods -- Indiana, Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina Kansas or UCLA, or even Syracuse or UConn -- opens up. Because, if any of those doors do open, Brad Stevens will be near the top of the list.

Im with Rec. At Butler (with another run this year...maybe the E8 or even another F4) he will be able to start getting the Indiana recruits. He wont be able to take the highest rated players who will still take Indiana first and Purdue second. But Indiana is such a loaded state with talent, he can continue to compete nationally year in year out and make runs like this because he is such a great coach. He will have more recruiting success than Mark Few at Gonzaga, I have no doubts. Indiana just produces so many more players to pick from compared to the west.

He can stay at Butler, build them into a national player, and have his choice of colleges when his choice opens up. He probably will never win a title at Butler, but he can be good enough every year to eventually move anywhere he wants and win one there.

Bruce Weber is a lot like former Buckeye coach Jim O'Brien. He is good at coaching but just doesn't have the players to be a serious threat. O'Brien didn't want to recruit 5 star players that would leave his program in 1 or 2 years, and it showed. Besides the Final Four run in 1999, the Buckeyes underachieved years in the Tourney because of the lack of NBA caliber players. The same with Bruce Weber. Weber showed if he can get the players, Illinois could be dangerous. I think the 2005 squad is one of the best ever not to win a national championship. But just like O'Brien made a run with Randy Ayers players (Though Michael Redd never played for Ayers, he committed to the Buckeyes before Ayers was fired) Weber did the same with Self's NBA type players such as Williams, Brown, and Head.

If Steven is smart and, most importantly, wants to move on to a bigger program, he will wait and do so when one of the Blue Bloods -- Indiana, Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina Kansas or UCLA, or even Syracuse or UConn -- opens up.

Blue bloods don't hire coaches who don't have major D1 experience. When UNC opened, Roy Williams was hired. When Williams left Kansas, Bill Self was hired. When UCLA needed a coach, Ben Howland was hired.

Maintaining the level of success that Stevens has enjoyed at Butler will be difficult to do. I am not sure the Butler job prepares a coach for all that goes with a Blue Blood school. Illinois would a great situation for Stevens. He'd stay in the midwest and have the facilities and the player pool to compete with the best.

Indiana is the only school me thinks he will leave for. He may not have to wait long if crene's big classes don't pan out fast.

Bruce Weber is a lot like former Buckeye coach Jim O'Brien. He is good at coaching but just doesn't have the players to be a serious threat.

I couldn't disagree more.Weber is a good recruiter, but a not a great coach.

mallymal614;720016 wrote:Bruce Weber is a lot like former Buckeye coach Jim O'Brien. He is good at coaching but just doesn't have the players to be a serious threat. O'Brien didn't want to recruit 5 star players that would leave his program in 1 or 2 years, and it showed. Besides the Final Four run in 1999, the Buckeyes underachieved years in the Tourney because of the lack of NBA caliber players. The same with Bruce Weber. Weber showed if he can get the players, Illinois could be dangerous. I think the 2005 squad is one of the best ever not to win a national championship. But just like O'Brien made a run with Randy Ayers players (Though Michael Redd never played for Ayers, he committed to the Buckeyes before Ayers was fired) Weber did the same with Self's NBA type players such as Williams, Brown, and Head.

Huh?? Weber gets tremendous talent and players, then he isnt able to coach them a lick.

OneBuckeye;720027 wrote:Indiana is the only school me thinks he will leave for. He may not have to wait long if crene's big classes don't pan out fast.

Good point! Crean is on thin ice, and I would imagine with Stevens in state and likely available for the right amount of money that the IU higher ups will be watching Crean closely this year.

thedynasty1998;720057 wrote:Good point! Crean is on thin ice, and I would imagine with Stevens in state and likely available for the right amount of money that the IU higher ups will be watching Crean closely this year.

Stevens went to IU game with his dad all the time as a kid, this is why I say IU is only one to get him. Everyone already offered him big bucks last year then he signed a contract through 2022 or something redunculous with Butler instead.

mallymal614;720016 wrote:Bruce Weber is a lot like former Buckeye coach Jim O'Brien. He is good at coaching but just doesn't have the players to be a serious threat. O'Brien didn't want to recruit 5 star players that would leave his program in 1 or 2 years, and it showed. Besides the Final Four run in 1999, the Buckeyes underachieved years in the Tourney because of the lack of NBA caliber players. The same with Bruce Weber. Weber showed if he can get the players, Illinois could be dangerous. I think the 2005 squad is one of the best ever not to win a national championship. But just like O'Brien made a run with Randy Ayers players (Though Michael Redd never played for Ayers, he committed to the Buckeyes before Ayers was fired) Weber did the same with Self's NBA type players such as Williams, Brown, and Head.

This is just...well, wrong.

Prescott;720018 wrote:Blue bloods don't hire coaches who don't have major D1 experience. When UNC opened, Roy Williams was hired. When Williams left Kansas, Bill Self was hired. When UCLA needed a coach, Ben Howland was hired.

This is true, but Stevens is bigger than most "big time" mid major coaches. I mean he took Butler to the national championship game. A year later he has them in the Sweet Sixteen. Stevens doesn't have major D1 experience, but he's already done what most D1 major coaches have done.

SportsAndLady;720073 wrote:This is true, but Stevens is bigger than most "big time" mid major coaches. I mean he took Butler to the national championship game. A year later he has them in the Sweet Sixteen. Stevens doesn't have major D1 experience, but he's already done what most D1 major coaches have done.

Not that Stevens needs any help, but Matta made the jump from Butler to OSU pretty efficiently.

I know he had a stop in between, but he proved that he was ready.

thedynasty1998;720077 wrote:Not that Stevens needs any help, but Matta made the jump from Butler to OSU pretty efficiently.

I know he had a stop in between, but he proved that he was ready.

Yeah and that stop was Xavier, which isn't a major D1 program.

And Indiana would have hired Matta in a second (from a Mid-Major) had the job been open at the time.

Stevens will be able to do this for years to come, imo. He can get the less regarded kids in Indiana who are honestly, top 100 talents that dont get rated because they are playing along side such great talent. Plus, and this is extremely biased, but I think Indiana has the best HS coaches in the country. I think thats why so many teams have Indiana kids making an impact even when we didnt hear about them in HS. Very fundamentally sound. Kind of reminds me of Texas football in a sense. You get an unrated kid who has tremendous talent, but goes unnoticed because of the peers.

SportsAndLady wrote:This is true, but Stevens is bigger than most "big time" mid major coaches. I mean he took Butler to the national championship game. A year later he has them in the Sweet Sixteen. Stevens doesn't have major D1 experience, but he's already done what most D1 major coaches have done.

Exactly. You better believe the Super Six would entertain Brad Stevens if they did not have another specific coach already lined up. (For example, at Duke, if Coach K were to retire at the end of the season, Stevens would have a better chance at replacing Phil Jackson in Hollywood. That's, of course, because Duke has two associate head coaches already in line in Wojo and Chris Collins.) With the record Brad Stevens is putting together, things no other coach in the history of the game has done (Stevens is the winningest coach in NCAA history for a coach's first three seasons), he is on his way to being mentioned in the same breath as Thad Matta, John Calipari, Bo Ryan, Sean Miler, etc. -- excellent coaches who have taken their programs to the brink of greatness, but not quite attained it yet (read: win a championship). He's already far surpassed anything Mark Few has ever done.

I firmly believe if Stevens is given the keys to one of the Super Six programs that in the next 15 to 20 years, once K, Roy Williams, Jim Calhoun, Tom Izzo, Bill Self, Rick Pitino, Jim Boeheim and Billy Donovan are gone, Stevens will be them. He will enter that group, which, in my opinion, comprises the eight most prominent coaches in today's game in terms of March success.

There is more to running a major D1 program than recruiting and coaching. Stevens has proven he has an eye for talent and can X and O with the best, but his resume is still a little thin. Only time will tell who is right.