Indiana's hypothetical coaching hot list?

[Chicago-bound Hoosier]

I'm not a Pearl apologist, nor do I think that he should be a candidate to coach at IU, but what he did in regards to the Illinois/Deon Thomas matter was a good thing. Illinois offered Thomas a Chevy Blazer and $80K in cash (not only was it proven in this case, but the same was offered to LaPhonzo Ellis as well). Illinois was blatantly cheating and Pearl called them out. Good for him. I wish more coaches had the backbone to do the same.

ILL/Henson/Jimmy Collins were sleazy and deserved to be busted. The entire Chicago metro recruiting scene is sketchier than an off-strip Vegas gentlemen's club. The way Pearl 'entrapped' Thomas was what bothered me. I don't know anyone - let alone a 17 yr old kid- who would be happy to learn that their private phone call was being taped, to be used against them.

Strange twist was that Thomas denied that it actually happened- said he just said that crap to get Pearl off the phone because he had already made his school decision and didn't want Pearl bothering him- and then Thomas passed a poly about the whole incident.

If this had been Pearl's only scarlet letter, I'd give him the benefit of the doubt. But he's earned several more since.

 

[Chicago-bound Hoosier]

I've always been a bit torn about that incident.

Thomas himself said that he went along with Pearl's leading questions just to get him off the phone. I never bought that. And I seem to recall Thomas accusing Iowa, not Illinois, of offering compensation. Who knows.

I don't mind Pearl being a whistleblower. But I don't like how he went about doing it. That said, it certainly doesn't belong in any list of examples of him cheating. Calling a kid, recording the call, and asking him leading questions was certainly underhanded. But it's not the same thing as violating the rules to land a recruit.

agree on that last point- the Aaron Craft story was bad. When you have to go around and ask other adults to lie, to cover your ass, you've completely F-d up and need to accept the beating heading your way..

 

[crazed_hoosier2]

ILL/Henson/Jimmy Collins were sleazy and deserved to be busted. The way Pearl 'entrapped' Thomas was what bothered me. I don't know anyone - let alone a 17 yr old kid- who would be happy to learn that their private phone call was being taped, to be used against them.

Strange twist was that Thomas denied that it actually happened- said he just said that crap to get Pearl off the phone because he had already made his school decision and didn't want Pearl bothering him- and then Thomas passed a poly about the whole incident.

If this had been Pearl's only scarlet letter, I'd give him the benefit of the doubt. But he's earned several more since.

Poly or not, I never bought Thomas' story about making it up just to get Pearl off the phone. That sounded a lot like something kinda plausible concocted after the fact.

If I was a kid who had been recruited straight up without any "incentives" and I had made my decision and the guy who had recruited me for a school I spurned called and falsely accused me of being offered (and accepting) a car and money, the last reaction I would've had would be to acknowledge it. I might've said "Huh, what are you talking about?" or "That's not true, coach." or even just hung up the phone. But to acknowledge malfeasance as a means of getting the guy off his back?

Again, I think what Pearl did was underhanded. There are better ways to be a whistleblower than that -- although I'm sure Pearl figured that simply complaining to the NCAA wouldn't do anything.

But, whatever Pearl did or didn't do, I also think that Illinois essentially paid Deon Thomas to accept their scholarship offer.

 

[Fredsbeirhaus]

dumbest thread yet

 

[.Gerdis]

dumbest thread yet

Nah, probably not even top 100 for stupidity.

VBG

 

[jbriegel]

very misleading...Davis's last year, IU touched #9 for one week in early Jan, then lost and fell back out, and were outside the top 20 after Feb 1, and not ranked from Feb 14 through the end of the season. CMD was and is a great guy. He did the best he could under circumstances that NO ONE could have prepared for. But even he has admitted, he was in way over his head at IU.

I'll ignore the Trump reference. The 45th president has nothing to do with past/present/future situation regarding IU basketball. None.

Brunk- I mentioned this in another thread, and it really hasn't been discussed much but I agree, Brunk's injury has been costly. Costly because I think it's forced TJD to play a little more passive at times (especially on defense) to avoid foul trouble. Costly because it's forced Hunter to play more inside rather than a big wing who can knock down 3s. It's forced Race to spend more time hounding guys like Garza on defense even though he's undersized (but has still done a great job overall). Brunk was never going to give us stat stuffing numbers, but his absence has put a strain on the roster and where people are forced to play on each end of the court.

I agree on the Brunk evaluation completely. Guys playing out of position and our bigs counting their fouls isn’t a recipe for success

 

[Chicago-bound Hoosier]

dumbest thread yet

Dumb.

Wait...is that technically an oxymoron?

 

[Chicago-bound Hoosier]

Poly or not, I never bought Thomas' story about making it up just to get Pearl off the phone. That sounded a lot like something kinda plausible concocted after the fact.

If I was a kid who had been recruited straight up without any "incentives" and I had made my decision and the guy who had recruited me for a school I spurned called and falsely accused me of being offered (and accepting) a car and money, the last reaction I would've had would be to acknowledge it. I might've said "Huh, what are you talking about?" or "That's not true, coach." or even just hung up the phone. But to acknowledge malfeasance as a means of getting the guy off his back?

Again, I think what Pearl did was underhanded. There are better ways to be a whistleblower than that -- although I'm sure Pearl figured that simply complaining to the NCAA wouldn't do anything.

But, whatever Pearl did or didn't do, I also think that Illinois essentially paid Deon Thomas to accept their scholarship offer.

Did IL Cheat? For yrs (Chicago is a pay-to-play city at every single level )
Did Thomas get benefits and then lie? Odd are....yep. He beat the poly but his story doesn't pass the smell test.
Did Pearl violate laws of decency by taping the conversation? Yep
Was Pearl motivated to do so because he felt the NCAA would just sit on their hands otherwise? no doubt, that's the one thing you can always count on the NCAA to do....next to nothing.

Again...the Craft saga is why I want nothing to do with Pearl. He can't blame Lou Hensen or Jimmy Collins or anyone for that. That was his mistake, compounded by an even bigger mistake. All on him. Cheating is bad enough.....the cover up is always looked upon more negatively than the actual crime.

 

[crazed_hoosier2]

Did IL Cheat? For yrs (Chicago is a pay-to-play city at every single level )
Did Thomas get benefits and then lie? Odd are....yep. He beat the poly but his story doesn't pass the smell test.
Did Pearl violate laws of decency by taping the conversation? Yep
Was Pearl motivated to do so because he felt the NCAA would just sit on their hands otherwise? no doubt, that's the one thing you can always count on the NCAA to do....next to nothing.

Again...the Craft saga is why I want nothing to do with Pearl. He can't blame Lou Hensen or Jimmy Collins or anyone for that. That was his mistake, compounded by an even bigger mistake. All on him. Cheating is bad enough.....the cover up is always looked upon more negatively than the actual crime.

Yeah, I get it.

Having a recruit over to his house for a social event, in the grand scheme of things, seems like a pretty minor infraction -- but an infraction, nonetheless. And he signed his own death warrant when he not only lied to the NCAA about it, but asked others to do the same. And beyond that, it was a really stupid thing to do -- flouting the rules in such a way that lots of people (including a kid who ended up elsewhere) witnessed first-hand. It baffles me that he thought he'd get away with that.

And I guess it remains to be seen what, if any, culpability Pearl is going to have for what went on at Auburn with Chuck Person. It would surprise me to learn that any head coach would have entirely clean hands in these kinds of endeavors. Pearl isn't going to be getting any benefits of the doubt and deservedly so.

So I totally get the aversion to hiring Pearl or anybody else with a similarly checkered past. Many people think, understandably, that guys like him are leopards and those infractions are simply their spots.

I don't subscribe to that, though.

 

[BaxterIU]

I think where Pearl signed his own death warrant in regards to the backyard BBQ incident was when he lied to his university president. Lying to the NCAA? Ha, no big deal (remember, we're talking about the SEC here). Bald face lying to your university president is what cooked his goose. Fess up early and, as long as you were winning games, the school would've backed him all the way (see Kansas, North Carolina, LSU, Kentucky, Baylor, etc.). He would still be coaching in Knoxville today.

As for Pearl being underhanded when taping a call with Deon Thomas, I'll just have to disagree with other posters on this. There's a lot of pearl clutching going on over taping of a call. Not a big deal. There's a much bigger issue at hand here. Henson and Collins were cheating, plain and simple. So what if a call was taped. Don't offer a Blazer and a boatload of cash to recruits and this is a non-issue. Let's record 100% of communication between recruiters and potential players, fine by me. I would love to listen to recordings from the John Wooden era at UCLA, wouldn't you?

 

[welshman#]

Stevens might just be going back to NCAA... There are some questioning if he has lost attention of Celtic players... Now would he choose Butler over IU?

Butler? Doubt it

Duke or UNC? Possibly

 

[Harry Hondo]

We could argue about whether Dane Fife would be successful at IU, but that’s not really my point. I don’t get how you name Stevens, Donovan and Beard and then put Dane Fife in that same tier is all I’m saying.

Probably because Stevens, Donovan, and Beard aren’t going to come to IU. I honestly don’t think IU will ever be able to attract a top coach again. The job has fallen off the radar.

 

[go_iu]

Did IL Cheat? For yrs (Chicago is a pay-to-play city at every single level )
Did Thomas get benefits and then lie? Odd are....yep. He beat the poly but his story doesn't pass the smell test.
Did Pearl violate laws of decency by taping the conversation? Yep
Was Pearl motivated to do so because he felt the NCAA would just sit on their hands otherwise? no doubt, that's the one thing you can always count on the NCAA to do....next to nothing.

Again...the Craft saga is why I want nothing to do with Pearl. He can't blame Lou Hensen or Jimmy Collins or anyone for that. That was his mistake, compounded by an even bigger mistake. All on him. Cheating is bad enough.....the cover up is always looked upon more negatively than the actual crime.

That's so bad? Not like I'd want Pearl as a new coach, but didn't he basically feed him at an impermissible cookout?