Yes.

I see. Would you rank Loyola as a better program based on national championships? I gotta think that would be Calipari's next stop after he is run out of Kentucky, just because of how good of a program it is .

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I'd say it's close. Virginia is a "basketball school" with better facilities.

Also, aside from the obvious ACC jobs, Maryland is a way, way better job than Illinois.

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Where did you get this statistic? Wikipedia puts Illinois at 12th as of 2009 and that winning percentage likely didn't increase much.

Western Kentucky is 8th.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Illinois was on the verge of being a top 5 national power as recently as 2005. They were coming off 4 Big Ten Championships in 5 years and a spot in the National Championship game.

Weber dropped the ball on recruiting and control in the program and it spiraled down.

Illinois has and could again be a perennial contender for the Big Ten title. There is talent in the program currently. It would not take much to get the team back on track. They were 15-4 starting out this season with a team that had no point guard.

Illinois is a program that could be a destination for a coach to have a sustained run of success. No coach would leave Illinois for any program other than the ones I listed above or the NBA.

If Leonard and Paul come back and a new coach is able to get these kids to utilize their skills to their full potential, Illinois could be a top 10, possibly top 5 program next year.

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You know me like that.

Virginia? You can't win at Virginia unless they plan on cloning Ralph Sampson.

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You know me like that.

This is the best line in that post. You really believe this?

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Well, he's kind of right. Big Ten coaches, at least at the non-bad schools don't leave without being forced out or going to a place with a bunch of prior titles.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I'd add UConn to the list, possibly, depending on their legal situation at the time. Possibly Florida as well.

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You know me like that.

Duke
North Carolina
Kansas
Kentucky
Indiana
UCLA
Indiana
Ohio State
Syracuse

-AND-

UConn
Maryland
Texas
Florida
Georgetown
Michigan State
Missouri
Louisville


List goes on and on........

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So, a successful coach at Illinois is going to go to Maryland, who has won 2 conference championships in 30 years?

OK.

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You know me like that.

You rate past success at a school (which a prospective coach has no affiliation) way too high on your priority list.
No big time coach out there cares about the past success of Illinois basketball. It's not UCLA or even close:

Recruiting base
Exposure (national media and local)
Facilities
Admin Support/Stability
Salary

All of those come before past success when talking about schools like Illinois. Illinois is severely lacking in Facilities and administration. They haven't been able to get the blue chips out of Chicago/Illinois save for Bill Self - who left for Kansas of course because KU has way more conference championships than Illinois does.

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Past success demonstrates the overall potential of the program.

A coach isn't going to worry about last year or even the last 5 years. But, if a program, such as Northwestern, hasn't made the tournament in its history, there may be other factors related to academic standards or facilities that put it at a competitive disadvantage.

All non-Duke / non-UNC schools in the ACC are 2nd fiddle jobs. You might get lucky one year if you're good and Duke and UNC are having a down year. Maryland did. But that's about it. Coaches want to win and you aren't going to do it in the ACC. Certainly not like you could at Illinois. Illinois' record of success in the conference demonstrates that. If you are winning the Big Ten consistently, you are getting top NCAA seeds, you are more likely to succeed than at a school like Maryland or pick a random ACC school.

I point out conference success to demonstrate that you're almost always going to finish 3rd in the ACC unless you are a miracle worker. That's not the case with Illinois and the Big Ten.

Severely lacking in administration? I don't get that. He's fired everybody because they weren't his people. Anybody he hires will be his guy. You don't think he'll support his own guy? His history is exactly the opposite.

Facilities? You may not like Assembly Hall but, when they are winning, it's a great environment to play in and has provided a significant home court advantage in the past. They just did a major renovation on the football stadium and Assembly Hall is next.

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You know me like that.

Not only is he firing everyone, but the guy who hired the AD (president) is currently being run out of town by an angry mob, no? Doesn't exactly scream stability and security. That's a factor in a big time coaches choice of jobs at a place like Illinois.

The idea that Assembly Hall is bad is not my personal thought - it is widely held among college basketball fans. Most Illinois grads that I know say the same thing also. It's severely outdated (no boxes, etc) and the top-half of the seats are pretty bad. They are really far away from the court.

Besides, it can't be both a "good facility" and in line for a major renovation at the same time. There is a reason why a major renovation is being discussed.

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One more thing - with today's conference alignments - coaches aren't looking for a school where they can/have to win their conference. All of the big conferences get 5-6+ schools into the tournament every year now. They can go to any non-Duke/UNC school and have a really good chance to have a successful season - at places like Maryland, NC State, etc.

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LOL @ Missouri

I don't see why it can't be a "good facility", that was quoted even though I never wrote that, and also be in need of a renovation.

I mentioned it had a great environment which players have stated many times that they loved to play in. The old Chicago Stadium was a great playing environment also but that place should have been condemned 20 years before it was destroyed. I'd say from a creature comfort standpoint that Assembly Hall is average-to-below average. It was out of date 20 years ago.

In any event, a coach that plans to be here for the next decade might have some interest in having input in designing the updated facilities. I don't think facilities will be an issue for a basketball coach for UofI unless they plan to do a quick 3 years up and out.

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You know me like that.

I was listening to Hub Arkush, guest hosting for Laurence Holmes on the nighttime SCORE, and he was talking with Adam Hoge, the Webmaster behind 670 The SCORE's page on CBSchicago.com and WSCR's in-house Big Ten guy. They were talking about head coach Bill Carmody, his future & Northwestern AD Jim Phillips very, very quiet about Bill's status. Hmmm...

Makes me wonder if Carmody's on borrowed time in Evanston...

Based on the rumors leaking out, I think Smart is going to take the job.

There's no reason to presume that "unless something drastic happens" means anything other than "I want more money and I'll take the job". Illinois will pay him whatever it takes and he probably understands that.

Sounds like a pure negotiating tactic. I predict word comes out today by 3pm that he's taking the job.

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You know me like that.

Trying to figure out if you should take the $2.5 million/year dollar job or stay in the $1.2 million/year job. #blackcoachproblems

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I think he probably wants $3mil+ and eventually will get it.

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You know me like that.

really? Where've you been? He's been on borrowed time for the last several years.

I can't believe Shaka Smart is playing hardball for more $$$ with a top-10 program. He should take that job for minimum wage. It should be an honor.

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What time is the Matt Painter to Mizzou press conference?

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Why do I get this feeling that AD Mike Thomas has swung & missed again, this time with its men's basketball program with news that VCU's Shaka Smart has said no? Makes me wonder if the Illinois job is nothing more than a stepping stone job.

Just ask the Jeff Joniak-looking Bill Self. He won a National Championship at Kansas. He wouldn't have won one here.

SHARK,

The players Self recruited lost the NCAA Title game by 5 points two years after he left. I'll bet he had a chance.

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You know me like that.

My people are saying Shaka's "no" is a negotiating "no" and not necessarily a final "No".

Stay tuned.

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You know me like that.

Well, college basketball is different than college football. It seems like a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away that Illinois & North Carolina played for the National Championship...

I don't think losing Smart is a big deal assuming that they still find a good coach. He's barely made the NCAA tournament and he's not in running for anything if not for one good run in the NCAA tournament. He's only been there since 2009. He could have been great but there are probably 20 coaches right now that had a good chance at being good too.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I wonder if VCU's Shaka Smart's decision to turn Illinois down is only the beginning. While CBS/Turner Sports' Seth Davis, also of Sports Illustrated, Tweeted last week that the Illini job is a Top 10 job, I wonder if other coaches around the college basketball world will use Illinois as leverage to stay put and get a lot more $$$$ in the process.