The State of IU Basketball

I have to admit, I'm almost glad that IU's season is almost over. This season was ruined the moment the news broke about Kelvin Sampson's latest cheating in October. Other than DJ White and 2 games in February, this team has not been worth watching. They are extraordinarily talented...and extraordinarily selfish and undisciplined. I'm not a fan of Bob Kravitz, but he sums it up pretty well:

IU's Selfishness

In a way, I feel for Eric Gordon. He seems like a good kid and he is incredibly talented. But I don't enjoy watching him play. It seems that he is a victim of his talent and today's screwed-up system. He obviously has NBA-talent but he just doesn't seem to know how to play good basketball. He constantly takes bad shots and is extremely careless with the ball. To say he hasn't lived up to expectations would be an understatement.

I have developed my personal list of coaches I would like IU to consider:

1. Tony Bennett (Washington State): There are 3 things I like about Bennett - (a) he's young, (b) he has an excellent record at a program with little history, a poor location, and plays in a tough conference, and (c) he has learned under 2 outstanding coaches - his dad and Bo Ryan. I have to admit, I love his connection to Bo Ryan. I love what Ryan does at Wisconsin with teams that usually don't have the most talent. Bennett has done similar things in a very short stay at WSU.
2. Jamie Dixon (Pittsburgh): At first I though Dixon was just riding Ben Howland's coattails at Pittsburgh. Then I did some research and, much to my surprise, Dixon has been running that program for 5 full seasons now. In those five years they have played for the Big East tourney title 4 times, winning it last night. I've been impressed by 2 things - (a) the way he kept the team together despite a ton of injuries this year and (b) his ability to recruit New York. While I wasn't blown away by Pitt's style last night, I was very impressed with their intensity, especially given they were playing their 4th game in 4 nights.
3. Sean Miller (Xavier): Again to my surprise, Miller has already been at Xavier for 4 years, so he has had the opportunity to put his stamp on the program. They spent much of this year in the Top 15 and clearly out-classed Coach AT&T when Xavier blew out IU in November. Being in Cincinnati he has strong midwestern ties, unlike Dixon.

Despite my pessimism regarding IU's post-season hopes, I look forward to the NCAA tourney. At the very least, I'll have the opportunity to scout these coaches. :)