Texas drove out Rick Barnes, who took them to the tournament for 16 of his 17 years there, including a Final Four, 3 Elite Eights, and four Sweet Sixteens. Now they've driven out Shaka Smart, who was everyone's dram coach six years ago. That sounds like a nightmare job to me. And how is IU any better after chewing up and spitting out Archie Miller, Tom Crean, Kelvin Sampson, and Mike Davis in less than 20 years?

Meanwhile, I'm starting to feel a little bit like Loyola is a school and a program running at high RPM in third gear, and there may be a fourth gear and an overdrive to shift into.

Expectations are even higher in Bloomington. Shaka lasted a while at Texas with zero tournament wins. Archie lasted three seasons at IU and was run out the door. Texas will always be a football-first school so a little more patience for the basketball team. IU has no patience at all for basketball mediocrity.

Agreed on all of the above. If we make it through the weekend I have to imagine Indiana moves on, even if they are considering PM. If the third gear is this good, I can’t wait for the fourth!

It only matters because of the way you used "redshirt" in your original post to disparage Hutson. Why else did you use "redshirt" in the first place, but to make an invidious comparison to Welch?

You seem to be a little mean-spirited from your first month's worth of posts.

Toledo, just loved your analysis including the mention of Iscaris who flew too close to the sun and the wax wings melted.
Lickliter was only one example of a mid major coach who tried to fly close to the sun.
The Valpo coach at Vandy.
Barry Collier who went from Butler to Nebraska.
Miller at Indiana among others (Crean).
The P5 schools have money in part because they have more big donors with the mega bucks.

But they also don't have patience for a rebuild. Win now or we will boot you out.

That is capitalism.

The siren song and the whiff of greater things lures many. Some make it and some don't

It is a gamble for sure.


But in Chicago Porter has some intangibles.

Great city, well known in the media circles, a fan base that appreciates him, recruiting connections, a great house and lives in
a great suburb and a Midwest culture and job security. If anybody knows patience its Loyola fans who suffered for thirty
years. Only Moses wandered in the desert longer. (if you want to read a great book, read "American Nations". It talks about
the eleven different cultures in the US. Very interesting insights..

Now if the university can give more money and a longer term and some fringes, there is a good chance he will stay.


I also believe that Loyola has a great AD who works behind the scenes and will do everything he can to retain Porter.

And if not, the AD has most likely a plan to insure a great successor.

So, "lets ... take a deep breath and really enjoy this special season".

My updated prognostication (keep in mind I am generally a pessimist and I have zero "inside knowledge"):

60% Stays at Loyola
20% Indiana
10% DePaul
10% Other (Texas, dominos falling and another gig opens up, etc.)

My personal prediction (and nobody asked)

IU 100% will offer, but I am not convinced he takes it or that it ever gets out if he doesn't accept (Marquette for example?). I would not be a bit surprised to see PM in the mix at Texas.

My odds:

IU 70%
LU 20%
Texas 10%

My biggest concern is DePaul. Everyone thinks Kenny pain is a lock there but if he was why didn’t he get hired already. As we advance deeper and deeper into this tournament I get more and more nervous. I think DePaul is waiting for us to be eliminated.

Now if PM wasn’t interested in DePaul at all then he probably would’ve told his agent not to talk to them. But now DePaul keeps waiting for us to end the search and that makes me super nervous. Their AD is saying they’re talking to people who are in the tournament now.

Now say what you want about him not wanting to leave but the 3 candidates for the job are pm, Dennis gates and Kenny Payne. Gates is done for the season and Payne can leave whenever. Now why would they be delaying this....?

For those who would say PM isn’t talking to anyone, you’re probably right but coaches use their agent to talk to the search firm and the university to feel each other out. Again if PM is like dude DePaul sucks then the agent would tell the search firm and the university to piss off.

Even if he 100% plans to stay, it still benefits him to listen to what they have to offer so he can leverage in negotiations with Loyola.

While any big east school would be worrying, DePaul is the least concerning of that bunch. It’s not a particularly attractive job, in my opinion. Porter could turn them around no doubt but Loyola right now is a better program and is it really a step up just to move to the big east but be the punching bag for awhile? Will DePaul have the patience? Maybe, maybe not though. Facilities are a wash. Step up in conferences and possibly money, but think Loyola could keep salaries similar and he can stay in the Valley and be top 4 consistently.

When added together, think if he moves it will be for something bigger or Creighton. Marquette was the most likely landing spot, with that gone think the likelihood of him staying dramatically went up. Indiana is a possibility due to their deep pockets, but thats a pressure cooker of a job and he would have to have results day one or be on the hot seat if he didn’t make the tournament immediately. Not sure that’s the environment he wants because he won’t be able to implement his system or culture in one year. I doubt Texas makes a serious push but never say never. Will be interesting to see how it unfolds.

Until then, as many have said previously try to embrace the moment and the run now. This is a fun lovable team. These are future problems/discussions for the middle of the summer.