MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[augiefan]

IWU will be a perennial contender for the National title regularly in the future as they always havebeen in the past.  I am glad Tharp turned it down, as he would have been terrific for IWU but bad for the rest of is the CCIW. Also Denny won't be around forever.

[JACKB]

Has anyone thought of the possibility that Bridges made a decision on either Baines or Rose and informed Tharp and Rairdon of his decision?

Then as we see often in other coaching vacancies, the candidates who didn't get the job, "pull" their name from consideration.

I find it had to believe that Tharp wouldn't take the job if offered and it almost certainly has nothing to do with having a full time assistant coach.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Has anyone thought of the possibility that Bridges made a decision on either Baines or Rose and informed Tharp and Rairdon of his decision?

Then as we see often in other coaching vacancies, the candidates who didn't get the job, "pull" their name from consideration.

I find it had to believe that Tharp wouldn't take the job if offered and it almost certainly has nothing to do with having a full time assistant coach.

JACKB, good point.  It is a way to let losing candidates bow out gracefully, and perhaps Coach Bridges is hoping for a 'lifer', like Coach Horenberger and him.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Since I am a off for the summer, I finally put together the conference and national competition records together (so far only for IWU, perhaps I will get to it for everyone else).

Since their first d3 tourney in '84 (they were in the NAIA tourney in '80 - I forget when between those dates they switched), IWU has been in 18 of the 23 tourneys (12 as conference champ, 6 as pool C [or whatever it was then called]).

As the AQ, they are 20-12 [only 14-12 if '97 is omitted]; as a 'pool C' they are 19-6.  Of their 4 Final Four appearances (all in the last 11 years), 3 were when they did NOT win the CCIW.  Seemingly, they are better off if they do NOT win the CCIW (but come close enough to gain a pool C bd).

What does all this mean - almost certainly: nothing!  Afterall, their only national championship WAS with a conference title.  But, hey, I did the work of merging the data sets - YOU decide if it was worth it!

[Jim Matson]

I haven't seen Bob posting lately.  I know this whole thing must be bothering him juuuuust a bit (outside).

[Gregory Sager]

As Dave Kanackis once told me in Burgh Hall, "Coach, I have no knowledge."  Truer words were never spoken.

That's my second-favorite Kanakes quote, the first being, "I used to think I was just tired all the time, but then I found out that I was stupid." Good ol' Beldar Kanakes.

I find it had to believe that Tharp wouldn't take the job if offered and it almost certainly has nothing to do with having a full time assistant coach.

Why is it so hard to believe that Tharp pulled his name from consideration? The Post-Cresent story indicated that Tharp made his announcement after meeting with the Lawrence AD. It's a safe bet that the school offered Tharp a nice raise to stay put. My guess is that the additional money, plus the fact that he has deep roots up there in l'etat de fromage, were more than enough to lead Tharp to withdraw his application for the Wesleyan job. Whether Old School's third speculation, that it's more desirable to be the kingpin in Appleton who built the Lawrence program from scratch than it is to be the outsider in Bloomington whom a demanding fan base is expecting to keep a long-running basketball machine in top gear, is perhaps a less sound bit of conjecture than is warranted by the evidence (i.e., I doubt that any of us knows Tharp well enough to make such guesses about his inner thoughts). But the rest of what Old School is suggesting seems perfectly valid to me.

[Greek Tragedy]

Has anyone thought of the possibility that Bridges made a decision on either Baines or Rose and informed Tharp and Rairdon of his decision?
I find it had to believe that Tharp wouldn't take the job if offered and it almost certainly has nothing to do with having a full time assistant coach.

I'll have to disagree with both points here.  First off, as Greg beat me to the punch, the APC does say he spoke to the LU AD first and then contacted IWU and withdrew his name.  We can only speculate what went on in that meeting.  I think that having an assistant actually dedicated to the program is a big plus and may have had a factor in any coach's decision to accept or decline any job, not just the IWU job.  I'd frown upon my assistant if he just decided to leave at the "near end" of the season because baseball season, golf season, or flag football season is about to start.  It would be obvious that his mind isn't totally on the task in hand.  Just having an extra hand in practice is a bonus and not having a full-time assistant there could effect practices, let alone having an assistant help recruiting!

When this all began, I think some of the IWU faithful, or possibly others, were a bit full of themselves and were looking through those green tinted glasses of theirs.  I'm an outsider of both the CCIW and the IWU program, so I know little of the "inside story" of either, but I recall several readers questioning why Trost would even leave IWU, supposedly the best D3 coaching job in the country, for a D2 program at Lewis (aren't they a member of the toughest D2 conference?!).  Now, there have been several high profile coaches who have turned down the job when it sounded like coaches would be falling over themselves to get in line and yell, "Take me, take me!"  I don't mean any disrespect to Bridges, Trost, the IWU program, it's fans or even fellow CCIW fans, but some of the posters here sounded pretty arrogant regarding the IWU coaching job (like it was THEE job to have on the D3 level).  Apparently, that's not the case.  Obviously just my opinion and I'm ready for grilling...  

[titanfan]

OS,

The only thing I'll say, and I know this has been said before, is all the speculation and "arrogance" around the IWU job has been made by posters of other schools.  The IWU posters have been amazingly silent in all of this. 

I just hope it's not a case where a whole bunch of other CCIW people talk up the job, and then it somehow comes back to IWU being arrogant.  I've seen it happen before on here.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

he's probably considered a god at Lawrence, something he would never be at IWU.

I just thought I would point out the quality double meaning in this post.  Very smooth.


I think we've all mis-interpreted the meaning of "best job in d3."  What it really means in "best job in d3, if you're currently unemployed."  A coach at a strong, supportive school with good prospects for the future would be crazy to leave that program for one so demanding.  It's what I've been saying all along.  It's not that it isn't the most high profile d3 job, or even the most prestigious, but those things only matter if there aren't already mittigating factors in play.  Places like Trinity and Lawrence might never reach IWU status, but they are great places with successful programs.  When money isn't a determining factor, all of the other stuff goes out the window.  In d1, there are only two reasons a coach leaves, either he's about to be fired and/or sanctioned or he's about to triple his salary.  When money's not on the line, there is no incentive for a good coach to leave a school.

[Titan Q]

OS, are you sure the conversation here surrounding Scott Trost leaving (the "Why would he leave for Lewis?" sentiment) and then all of the talk about the coaching search that you are referring to has been from Illinois Wesleyan backers?  Can you point to some posts in particular that you are referring to?

If I am missing something I apologize, but since the day it was announced Scott Trost was leaving for Lewis, I don't think I have read more than a couple posts from IWU people about Trost leaving or the search.   I haven't followed the board everyday, so again, if I have missed posts that is my fault.  But on the surface, it seems to me you've taken a lot of comments from people not affiliated with IWU and attributed them to "Titan Nation."  Am I off?

The last 30 days I have been somewhat amused by the interest level the rest of the CCIW has in IWU's coaching situation, and all of the assumptions about the search process, the candidates, etc.  For the most part, it's been fun to read all of the speculation and commentary.  I'd just ask that everyone hold the appropriate people or groups accountable for their commentary.

[Titan Q]

I haven't seen Bob posting lately.  I know this whole thing must be bothering him juuuuust a bit (outside).

Jim, I still feel like I did on April 12, when I posted:


My wishlist for the new Titan coach is pretty simple.  I want a coach who will...

...be a great recruiter who can bring bigtime Division III talent and first-class kids to IWU.

...embrace and leverage the Titan basketball tradition and fans.

...produce a team that plays hard and smart.

...understands the unique nature of Division III and enjoys the ride, and makes sure the players enjoy the ride as well.

[veterancciwfan]

Every job has advantages and disadvantages. It's usually easier to stay where you are with the known rather than quit and take a new job with unknows. Changing jobs and houses is stressful for all family members. It's easy to apply for an attractive job vacancy. It's much harder to pull the trigger, take a chance, and uproot your family.

[onthesidelines]

It's also entirely possible that Coach Bridges went into this search with assurances to standing coaches (Raridon, Tharp, etc.) that he'd give them a graceful "out" if they were not chosen. 

Both Raridon and Tharp were fully aware of the coaching situation (no full-time assistants) before they ever threw their hats into the ring.  I'd be surprised if they were willing to expose themselves in the way they have with hopes of convincing Dennie to hire a full-time assistant when they got to the interview.

The practice of offering an "out" for candidates is both classy and not without precedent.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

When the new coach is announced - he, or she (shudder, shudder), will be announced.

What's with the shudder?  Were Dennie Bridges to hire a women to coach his men's basketball squad, I have every confidence she would be capable to handle all of the responsiblity placed upon her.  You have to remember who is making the call here.  I doubt there is anyone alive with more invested in the success of this program.  It might be nice to see, if he could find the right woman for the job.


Is April still in the running or has she "withdrawn" her name as well?

[markerickson]

Is Bridges pinching pennies?  I don't know why he or the institution would embrace a putrid Pohlad practice, given the attendance revenue stream, healthy tuition and enrollment rates, and large endowment.