As far as what has transpired with Mike Davis I think that there are many to blame...mostly himself. The man was setup to fail no matter what, nobody wanted him as head coach to start with and even after the run in 2002 people were still unhappy. Where the IU/Mike Davis saga turned for the worst was in 2003. I believe we were 8-0 and #5 or #6 in the nation. It was Bracey Wright's freshman year we had just come off an OT victory against Maryland (the defending national champion). We were playing Kentucky and down 3 I think with 10 secs. to go, Bracey drives in and gets what looked like a foul but isn't called. Davis runs on the court gets a technical and ruins the game for IU. Ever since that moment IU has never been the same.
I don't think Davis was qualified to take over a head coaching job when he did let alone one as prestigious as Indiana University or any other top 6 program for that matter. People were bitter about Bobby Knight and fans treated davis like shit in his whole tenure. I am ready for davis to go and will welcome a new coach next year but I don't believe it is all entirely Mike Davis' fault.
As far as buckeyes questions did the loss of DJ White hurt? Undoubtedly it took IU out of the running for a Big10 championship and possible deep run in the tournament. Did it make or break the season? abosolutely not. If we were good enough to get to number 11 in the country and nearly knock off #1 Duke and go 12-3 without DJ (albeit he was there in some capacity for a while) then there is no way in hell we can't be better than the 13-8 we are now and I blame that solely on davis. He is just to emotional, to sensitive, and to underexperienced for this job.
Iowa should and probably will win the Big10 this year. They have the easiest remaining schedule left with only 1 tough game on the road (@illinois). They are undefeated at home this year and look to be playing good ball with a senior lead team.
Davis will finish out the rest of the year per his latest quotes and then at that point he will resign. As far as who will potentially coach IU next year look to Thad Matta at Ohio State (my first choice) who would then probably bring along Mike Conley and Greg Oden. Matta had an out clause in his contract at Xavier if the Indiana University job opened and actually had that same clause in his contract at Ohio State. He has since re-negotiated his contract but has said in the past that IU is his "dream job". Honestly how could you want to coach at Ohio State over IU. Ohio State basketball is cared about as much as IU football and vice versa. OSU=football school always has been and always will and IU=Basketball school again always has been and always will.
Next you gotta look at Steve Alford. The man is a legend in the IU history books and is a former RMK player. He would be embraced at IU and if he could restore the program to glory you can believe he'd go down as one of the most recognized figures in the history of Indiana athletics. Not only that (not to be racist) but the guy recruits white guys with high B-ball IQ's that get the most out of there talent. Sound like somebody who recently coached at IU? He would make many alumni happy however I would not want Alford because he hasn't really done anything at Iowa up until this year.
There are a slew of other coaches that could be potential canidates but I'd look at those two as the two that will be in the running first and foremost. After that you can bet there will be a dozen or more high profile coaches drooling at the IU job.
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