Gregg Marshall really wants to play KU, he indicates. Now may be his chance.
Weber has built down KSU FASTER than expected.
A Gregg Marshall motion play from WSU to KSU would let Marshall play Self twice each year! Maybe a third time in the B12 tourney!
If you're feeling froggie, Gregg, jump!
Howling!
Though your comment appears in jest or tongue & cheek, I'm thinking Marshall will be offered the Indiana job if Crean doesn't get it going.
I was thinking the same thing about squeaky the last weak or so. He is setting a precedent for taking programs from the black to the red.
Maybe, but Adidas-INDIANA will be a very tough hire. I suspect they know Crean is not the problem, like KU probably knows Self is not the problem. They will probably keep Crean, who showed he could build a clean winner before the valve got tightened.
Few coaches will want sign with an adidas school, unless the school contracts not to fire the coach for the shoe driven recruiting constraint that Rick Pitino has described, as a reduced pool of prospects.
Marshall might take the job to get out of Wichita, but as a southerner I suspect he would have a very tough time recruiting in the Big Ten without a Nike deal. Maybe he could concentrate on grits country in southern Indiana. 😄
The Knight mafia always lurks there and could be desperate enough to take the job.
@jaybate-1.0 You think Liberace would get canned by the Kitties? Who is going to play piano at all the Mildcat functions?
@jaybate-1.0 this is the first article I've seen written about this, yet you have been talking about the shoeopoly for several years now. We're there other things written, or was this just keen insight on your part ? I remember some called it a "conspiracy theory" but you Were spot on.
Marshall was offered the UCLA job (and other high profile jobs) and passed, what makes you think he would take the KSU job? Just curious...
@JayHawkFanToo He's not going anywhere. He's smart enough to know that at WSU he's a big fish in a small pond. About any other team that he went to would be in a conference with real competition.
I don't think Marshall would leave for KSU. At KSU, he's at the sixth or seventh best program in the conference. He has to compete with KU every year even though he can't draw recruits much better than he can currently at WSU. That's as sideways a move as you can make.
If Marshall were to leave, it would be for a program with some recruiting power that is located in the midwest or back on the east coast since he's from there. The programs that would probably interest him most would be Virginia, Maryland, possibly NC State, Indiana (good call @Blown ). He also may have interest in a school like Louisville once Pitino retires if that happens in the next 4-5 years or UNC if Roy leaves in that same time frame. At those schools, he could recruit well, has some tradition to build from and would be back closer to home.
Jmo, but if he wants to leave for a better job he better do it before he loses his backcourt. Baker and Fred are keeping this team winning. Not sure what happens when they're gone. Oh yeah, he will have CF!
No inside scoop on any change in Weber's status as KSU's head coach.
Just satirizing both Head Coaches a bit.
But KSU is 7-7. And the trend appears down from his first season to this. So, as I have jokingly referred to him from the beginning, as a tip of the hat (and good natured thumb of the nose) for his mock burial of Self, I will continue to call him, tongue in cheek, Interim KSU Head Coach Bruce Weber. :-)
The part that I really liked about the joke was combining two opposing coaches that have felt to me like thorns in the side of Self and KU. How often do you get a twofer like that in a joke?
Ah, comedy, it is so fun to think about and analyse.
Let me expand on this.
It was a joke combining two coaches--one that mock buried Self at Illinois and built down Illinois, then showed signs of building down KSU--and one that appeared to taunt Self and KU last season regarding not scheduling WSU, and this season, when his team seems not quite so good, has not appeared to taunt KU and Self similarly.
It makes me laugh again as I recount it. Somethings are just funny.
I found genuine comic irony in the what-if idea of Marshall taking the opportunity to exploit Weber's current misfortune by applying for Weber's job before he was even being talked about being fired for building down another program. :-)
But, to reiterate, no, inside scoop. It was all entirely a tongue-in-cheek piece of satire of two guys, that from this KU fan's perspective, are fun to satirize. For what its worth, technically speaking, I tried to fine tune it short of a lampoon.
Hopefully, an opportunity will arise to do a burlesque about them both, too, but, as I said, twofers like this just don't come along very often.
Rock Chalk, and thanks for asking.
On a serious note, I was fascinated to learn from you that Marshall turned down the UCLA job. If I recall correctly, UCLA was an adidas school under Ben Fouland. If the UCLAN are still adidas, I will put this factoid in my hopper of factoids supporting a hypothesis about adidas programs possibly facing an increasing struggle to hire coaches, because of what Pitino called the smaller pool of recruits available to adidas schools and coaches.
I mean think about it.
Sean Miller, an uncharismatic type with just some success at mid major Xavier, takes a Nike-UA job and instantly is up to his eye balls in OAD/TADs, where as future Hall of Famers and historically very strong pre-OAD recruiters Bill Self and Rick Pitino--Self with one ring and Pitino with two rings--are sweating bullets just to get 3-4 OAD/TADs. I mean its mind boggling what an advantage it is to recruit for certain Nike schools, like UK, Duke, UNC, and UA. I mean, KSU is apparently not an easy Nike school to recruit to, but some Nike schools are. Holy Cow!!!
Based on what you said, adidas UCLA got turned down by Marshall and had to take sloppy seconds with Alford. Who would have ever thunk UCLA would have to take second choice after offering a mid major coach? Incredible situation facing college basketball.
@jaybate-1.0 did you read my post where Miami is switching to adidas?
@jaybate-1.0 Actually, if you take a look at Arizona's roster, they have the same amount of McDonalds All Americans as KU does.
Thanks for the assist. A acquaintance of mine that follows Arizona said they had six OAD/TADs on roster this year and had signed more already this year. I would tend to trust your count.
One thing though: mcd's are often not the best criterion of OAD/TAD talent. Many foreign players are probably not Mcd's and I recall Zona has a Euro footer rotating that could be drafted. I don't think Svi was a McD.
That's why I don't talk about mcd's anymore--just OAD/TADs.
And regardless, doesn't it seem odd that Stumpy fresh out of mid major Xavier could equal Self and Pitino and be ramping up to pass them? How exactly does that work? Maybe I am missing something?
Yes, thanks. Did you notice Pitino's willingness to be quoted yet again on the subject? And wasn't his quote fascinating. He reputedly said something like the NCAA doesn't see anything wrong with this and if the NCAA doesn't see any wrong with it then he doesn't. Very interesting way of putting it. I wonder if the quote were from a reliable reporting source? I didn't recognize it. Did you?
@jaybate-1.0 yes and don't know source. I read this, have you already mentioned it?
When asked why he didn’t think the affiliation should matter, Saiz cited the Jayhawks as an example.
“Kansas is one of the best schools in North America and they’re adidas and they get the best recruits, so I don’t think it matters.”
I started to, but then I got derailed. It didn't occur to me to question the veracity of the source until just now. Wouldn't it just be like wrong way types to put out misinformation? My hunch on this story is to wait awhile and see if other outfits confirm it, and if Pitino stands behind the quotes.
Interesting about Saiz. Do you think Saiz understands the trouble Self has appeared to have been having signing OAD/TADs in the numbers UK, Duke, and UNC have been, since Self's '08 ring team, or especially the last couple years?
Do you recall how Self couldn't even get one for awhile, unless one considered Brandon Rush one. And when Self finally got one--Xavier--it was only after Memphis imploded in Cal's wake and Xavier defaulted to KU? And then he only got Josh Selby when Pearl and UTenn imploded. And the he got an OAD/TAD type in Ben Mac, but never several at a time, like the other coaches seemed to be getting. :-)
What a world!
P.S.: Am I forgetting any OAD/TAD laden recruiting classes prior to Wiggins, Embiid and Selden?
Say, what do you make of Miami switching to adidas? Is it any more complicated than just that adidas outbid Nike, when adidas offered $33M, or whatever?
Why would adidas pay $33M to be in Miami? Is it the petro clothing market in Miami? Or something else?
You grossly underestimate Sean Miller. To say that he had "some" success at Xavier is like saying Coach Self has had "some" success at KU. Miller took an also run mid-major and brought it to the level of a major program; in many ways similar to what Marshall has done at Wichita State. Since he has been ta Arizona he has brought a program that had fallen on hard time and missed the tournament to a level comparable to the better years under Lute Olson (minus National Championship) and he is universally considered on of the top 10 coaches in College Basketball.
Likewise, Marshall is hot now because what he has done at WSU and it would not surprise me to see him land at a program considerably bigger than KSU. Weber, on the other hand has once again proven that he does OK with players he inherits but once he gets his own players he fails big time; I would not characterize him as "thorn in the side of Self" but maybe more appropriately as comic relief??? :)
@jaybate-1.0 I really think Self has done a pretty good job of getting recruits that weren't OAD or TAD, and coaching them up. Just these last few years, seems those guys have gotten more than us. Isn't there more OAD's than ever? The only reason there is a TAD is they failed at being a OAD?
No, actually I specify Stumpy with gross accuracy.
You and I certainly agree on Weber. I like the idea of comic relief. Better than thorn.
But we'll have to part company on Stumpy. And there's no reason to belabor it here and spoil the calm between us. You sound like you've looked at a lot of detail about Stumpy. So have I. You interpret it one way. I interpret it sharply differently.
We grossly disagree on Stumpy.
And that's okay.
Also, do you think Saiz would say having 10 OAD/TADs at Nike-UK and 9 OAD/TAD's at Nike-Duke but only 3 OAD/TADs at adidas KU matters?
@jaybate-1.0 I don't know! The TAD's at Kentucky are still there cause they wouldn't go first round. Success or failure? Compare that to Embiid, not suppose to be OAD, but superior program got him there quicker! Jmo!! I'm standing by it!!
"I am woman hear me roar."
Please forgive me if I have recalled your gender incorrectly.
Either way: you're an absolute man for sticking with your logic.
JBeeeee! How can we switch to Nike? Or do they not want us? Does Adidas simply outbid Nike on the programs Nike is only lukewarm on?
If shoecos really do stack certain teams, and that is only a hypothesis, I keep hoping adidas will reduce its OAD/TAD types to just two programs: KU and one other. Then KU will have 10 OAD/TADs easy to go out and slay UK.
Looks like only wishful thinking right now though.
@jaybate-1.0 I like adidas! Covers all sports. Wiggins is doing alright w/them. Embiid will too, right?
@jaybate-1.0 roaring!
Personally, I can't see any "National Coach of the Year" going to purple town. Any coach with that in his title doesn't want to drink grape pop... they'd rather drink fine wine.
KSU should rehire Martin. I miss Desi Arnaz, Jr.. Surely, everyone in purple town has selective memory from all the alcohol one must drink to tolerate that existence.
"You think Liberace would get canned by the Kitties? Who is going to play piano at all the Mildcat functions?"
I love you, man!
@jaybate-1.0 How pleasant to see the civility in your rebuttal :)
There was a brief interlude where a routine got switched on accidentally by the proprietors that enabled down voting.
A sudden flurry of playful down voting broke out, of course. :-)
Not surprisingly, I got my share. :-)
@VailHawk was shrewd enough to capture one and make it his avatar.
I howl everytime I see it. :-)
@Blown and @jaybate-1.0
BRING BACK THE DOWN VOTE!!!
