1.Brad Stevens(Obvious Choice)

2.Shaka Smart(Ditto)

3.Chris Collins(Chicago Native)

4. Kevin Stallings(Tired of battling Kentucky)

5.Greg Marshall( Ready for a Big School challenge?)

6. Bruce Pearl(The guy can coach)

7. Frank Martin(I think it is a step up)

Any other candidates?

Prescott;1092892 wrote:6. Bruce Pearl(The guy can coach)

This would be so ironic. He could even keep all of his orange suits...

Ill go:

1. Shaka Smart
2. Buzz Williams
3. Chris Collins

I highly doubt Brad Stevens leaves. I dont see him leaving for anywhere but Indiana or Notre Dame. I really dont see him in the same conference as Indiana. But Ive been wrong before, and will be wrong again.

Danny Manning?

I could see Gregg Marshall for sure.

Robert Smith (Simeon High) as a darkhorse.

Pearl still has like 2 years and 6 months on his Show Cause

Buzz Williams would be a fun addition to the Big Ten. I would put him and Smart as the top two.

When this job was opened in 2003 (I think this was the year) didn't it coaching job come down to Bruce Weber and Thad Matta? Thank goodness Thad didn't get it lol.

I think Collins would be a great choice, but I would worry about his ability to recruit in the big ten.

The best candidate from the list I see is Bruce Pearl. As a former UWM guy he knows the area and his offensive philosophy would be refreshing for big ten basketball zealots.

swamisez;1093414 wrote:I think Collins would be a great choice, but I would worry about his ability to recruit in the big ten.

The best candidate from the list I see is Bruce Pearl. As a former UWM guy he knows the area and his offensive philosophy would be refreshing for big ten basketball zealots.

How is a guy who is currently under 2 1/2 more years of a show cause the "best candidate"?

LJ;1093415 wrote:How is a guy who is currently under 2 1/2 more years of a show cause the "best candidate"?

I agree. Pearl wont' even get a sniff for this job. Ridiculous to even think so to be honest.

If Brad Stevens is smart, its his time to make a move. If he gets the opportunity, IMO, he should jump on this. He needs to make a move while his stock is high.

Chris Collins could be an interesting choice as well. He obviously has the name. Been with K forever. And is originally from Chicago as well. But I really wonder if Ill will go for an asst. coach with no head coaching experience. This is a pretty good basketball job.

Illinois may not consider Pearl, but he is a great head coach candidate and when he gets an offer he will build a winner. That is all he has done, no reason to think that won't continue (even with cloudy NCAA status).

swamisez;1093468 wrote:Illinois may not consider Pearl, but he is a great head coach candidate and when he gets an offer he will build a winner. That is all he has done, no reason to think that won't continue (even with cloudy NCAA status).

I don't disagree. I always enjoyed watching his teams play, and luv his enthusiasm for the game. He was certainly a colorful character for college basketball. But no top flight program is going to take a chance on him while he has that cloud over his head.

swamisez;1093468 wrote:Illinois may not consider Pearl, but he is a great head coach candidate and when he gets an offer he will build a winner. That is all he has done, no reason to think that won't continue (even with cloudy NCAA status).

He won't coach again until 2014-15. He is not a good candidate for anyone until his Show Cause has expired. You realize that a head coach with a show cause cannot recruit, be in contact with recruits, etc. It also has monetary and other sanctions placed on the program that hires him. That is IF the program can convince the NCAA that what Pearl did wasn't actually that bad and that he would be OK to coach again.

Lets not start thinking Illinois is even a top 20 job. It's not. I can name 20 better. There are at least 3 better in the B1G. There are others who are close.

While the state of Illinois is primed with H.S. talent, it isn't tied to U of I, never has been, and it's a hot bed for other major programs to come in for recruits. Those places aren't ever going to lose their spots.

Pearl would be a smart hire, even if a program is subject to the terms by the NCAA. Maybe not this season, but discussing him with Illinois is more of a placeholder. The key is that his name is getting thrown around, and if I was a good Power 6 school, I'd hire him over many others.

Illinois should hire Shaka Smart though...IMO.

Azubuike24;1093516 wrote:Lets not start thinking Illinois is even a top 20 job. It's not. I can name 20 better. There are at least 3 better in the B1G. There are others who are close.

While the state of Illinois is primed with H.S. talent, it isn't tied to U of I, never has been, and it's a hot bed for other major programs to come in for recruits. Those places aren't ever going to lose their spots.

Pearl would be a smart hire, even if a program is subject to the terms by the NCAA. Maybe not this season, but discussing him with Illinois is more of a placeholder. The key is that his name is getting thrown around, and if I was a good Power 6 school, I'd hire him over many others.

Illinois should hire Shaka Smart though...IMO.

THANK YOU

I was just about to post this. Illinois is a decent gig, but it's not some great place to be, it's not even a top position in it's own conference.

Brad Stevens? lol guy is gonna take over a blue blood school soon, yet he's going to choose Illinois instead?

Azubuike24;1093516 wrote:Lets not start thinking Illinois is even a top 20 job. It's not. I can name 20 better. There are at least 3 better in the B1G. There are others who are close.

While the state of Illinois is primed with H.S. talent, it isn't tied to U of I, never has been, and it's a hot bed for other major programs to come in for recruits. Those places aren't ever going to lose their spots.

Pearl would be a smart hire, even if a program is subject to the terms by the NCAA. Maybe not this season, but discussing him with Illinois is more of a placeholder. The key is that his name is getting thrown around, and if I was a good Power 6 school, I'd hire him over many others.

Illinois should hire Shaka Smart though...IMO.

Name 20 easily? You maybe can name 15 easily. After that, I think ILL would compare to the rest. If Henson, Self and even Weber (even he has won almost 70%) could get Ill rolling, another name coach could as well. Major conference, good fan base and a very good recruiting area. Its not a GREAT job. But I would certaily say its a top 20-25 job.

I said I could name 20 better. You said it was a top 20-25 job. What's your point?

It's a good job. So was Missouri. And Arkansas. And Arizona. And North Carolina State. And St. John's. All have different selling points, but they aren't jobs where the next coach is a guaranteed to settle.

Now, with the RIGHT guy, COULD it be? Like Rick Barnes at Texas? Billy Donovan at Florida? Thad Matta at Ohio State? All took football schools, that 20 years ago would have been stepping stone jobs, and turned them into destinations.

We'll see.

The right guy at Illinois can succeed. But can he succeed enough to then not move on if a job opens up? Who knows. I think so though. If Dougherty didnt blow dick at UNC, Ole Roy doesnt jump ship and Kansas isnt open. Self stays at Illinois and because he is a much better coach than Weber can even dream of, maybe wins a title. Certianly keeps that momentum going enough to probably make it a destination (so long as he didnt have a dream job). I think that much can happen.

Now, is it a great job? No. It has GREAT recruiting, and not just Chicago. But as AZ stated, its a hotbed for MULTIPLE programs which makes recruiting difficult. Illinois doesnt and never will own the state like Indiana (extent Purdue) can own Indiana, OSU can own Ohio, MSU/UofM share Michigan, Kentucky can own Kentucky, Kansas/Kansas etc etc. That said, its a state school, in the best conference stability wise with the most money. It has a huge fan base and alumni base. It has a TOOOOOP TV Market. But with that comes competition for coverage because Chicago is 75% (probably higher, but Ive never lived there) Pro Sports town.

Illinois CAN be a great job, but getting there is much more difficult than others. Heck, Id argue it was easier for Crean to build IU back up than it would be for Crean to turn Illinois into a destination job. But thats just me. And by destination I mean competitng for Big Ten Titles every year and FF every 4 years. It can easily, imo, be a top 4 program in the Big Ten (OSU/IU/MSU as top 3). Then you have Purdue/Michigan/Wisconsin/Illinois that could stake claim to be the #4 program consistently. But, can it be more than that? It will take a guy like Bill Self working his ass off and staying when a better job comes calling.

[h=2]College Basketball’s Top 25 Coaching Jobs[/h]
	RK	TEAM	COMMENT
	1	North Carolina	An unparalleled network of coaches and Hall of Famersd conference.
	2	Kentucky	Hands down the most rabid fan base in America where the players are treated like kings and coaches that win are gods.
	3	Duke	Coach K, Krzyzewskiville, Cameron Indoor, the “Crazies,” Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley.
	4	UCLA	Eleven national titles. Enough said.
	5	Kansas	The entire state (outside Manhattan) loves KU basketball,
	6	Indiana	A little bit of luster has come off this job in recent years but it’s still the marquee program in the Hoosier State
	7	Syracuse	Just attend a game at a sold-out Carrier Dome and you’ll see why this job is so high.
	8	Michigan State	Already a great gig, Izzo has turned the Spartans into a Final Four machine
	9	Connecticut	Jim Calhoun has single-handedly made it one of the best jobs in America
	10	Arizona	Rumors continue to swirl that Sean Miller is just biding his time there. But the fan base is loyal (if over-aged), there’s a steady stream of talent from L.A. and the weather during the season can’t be beat.
	11	Georgetown	there isn’t a hotter recruiting area right now
	12	Louisville	Louisville is a basketball school with an awesome new arena and a great history
	13	Maryland	The Comcast Center is fabulous and the recruiting is great but the job’s prestige is way down after some off years.
	14	Texas	Houston is full of great ballers,
	15	Illinois	It’s over two hours away from Chicago but Illini Backers paint the town orange like Syracuse alums do with NYC and there are always top recruits coming out of Chi-town. Two major downsides: the town and the arena: Both are dumps.
	16	Villanova	Jay Wright has it all. He lives in a city that loves him, is married to a former ‘Nova cheerleader and has recruiting pipelines laid in D.C. and NYC.
	17	Purdue	. It isn’t from a lack of fan support,
	18	Pittsburgh	Pitt has transformed into a basketball school,
	19	NC State	The glory days of David Thompson, Norm Sloan, Lorenzo Charles and Jimmy V seem like a cruel alternate universe at this point.
	20	Missouri	. Tiger fans are dying for a winner and Mike Anderson leaving town was a death blow to a fan base tired of watching Kansas win big.
	21	Arkansas	During the 1990s, this was a top 10 program. But it’s been a struggle in Fayetteville over the last decade. The fans are passionate.
	22	Ohio State	There’s some pretty decent basketball talent in the Buckeye State, the fans would cheer for their school in Tiddlywinks and the athletic department has never-ending deep pockets.
	23	Florida	back-to-back national titles in the last five years, a state-of-the-art practice facility and great college town land it on this list.
	24	Wisconsin	We know, another football school. Don’t tell that to opponents that visit the Kohl Center. Bo Ryan has done a great job of combining tough, hard-nosed Wisconsin kids with talented Chicago players.
	25	Marquette	Marquette hoops is huge on campus and has a great history that includes players like Butch Lee and Dwyane Wade.

Not my opinion .Just a list for discussion.

Prescott;1093652 wrote:Not my opinion .Just a list for discussion.

I actually like the schools in the list quite a bit. But I hate the order in many places.

When was the list made?

The commentary about Illinois STARTS by saying it's close to Chicago, a hot-bed for talent. True, they have a very good fan base that is very loyal, but if location is the top selling point, you better be able to dominate the talent in that state. Unlike other places, recruiting in Chicago has NEVER been dominated by Illinois. It never will be, unless the perfect candidate comes in. That's why I can't say it's a top job. Does it have the potential to be...sure. If that coach does what no coach has done there...

It's like saying Texas A&M could be the top job in the country in college football if they simply dominted recruiting in the state. It won't ever happen. Too many other quality fisherman fishing in that pond.

Point being, as verified by even your comments Azu, that it is/could be a top 20 job. To say you could list 20 better, on a consistant basis, was a stretch.

A guy I used to work with and still keep in touch with, was in the Navy with Cliff Paul, and this coaching change can't come soon enough for the team and those close to the program, according to him. Weber hasn't really developed any of the talent that the team has. Richardson and Paul are the same players they were as Freshman.