A modicum of hope? Honestly, I don't understand why anyone thinks Collins would leave, as long as we keep supporting him and paying him. It must be the natural cynicism that that has built up over years of frustration and failure. We still fear for and prepare for the worst, so that when something bad happens it doesn't hit so hard I guess. The Northwestern reflex I suppose.
The other Northwestern reflex is to undersell the school. We are building a state of the art arena. Not huge, but it already had crushing home court advantage that no one thought we could possibly have, just on winning. When they finish the renovations, it will be one of the best - and toughest - venues to play in the nation. As the football team moves out of Nicolet, that means a big upgrade on the practice facilities for hoops too. The city, the hoops talent here. If you build it (and we are building it) they will come. Hell, if the likes of Gonzaga, Butler, and Baylor can build themselves into perennial powers, there is no question that we can do that and more at NU. And we have a coach who came from a school that is like us in its academic orientation. He knows this program, how to sell it, how to win at it, as evidenced with his yet to mature roster (we're going to dance this year, but wait until next year when we have a full CCC recruited roster with deeply expereinced senior leadership). And then wait until we open the new arena. We are on the Coach K plan my friends. We have been following it faithfully - if anything ahead of plan, and if we keep on track that means another NCAA appearance next year, and then a national championship game appearance in 2 more years.
This is his hometown, his legacy that he is building. We are in the B1G. Given the years he waited for this exact opportunity to open up and what he's said about the legacy, I would be shocked if he left. With perennial NCAA appearances, hopefully a Final Four appearance in the bag, his hometown, the city of Chicago, the legend that he is building for himself, I say there is no way he leaves. Even for Duke.