Northwestern leads the nation
- Thread starter Vassar69
- Start date
In patience.
If Collins stays, as it seems he will, it's going to be next to impossible to recruit high school kids from the 2023 class.
Ray Meyer was a very successful basketball coach at DePaul beginning in the 1940s. But, he had many losing seasons, and some of them came back to back to back. Fans and alums were calling for his firing or retirement in the '60s, but he persevered. DePaul stuck with him. His best years came between '74 and '84, when he was in his 60s and 70s. He is now in the Hall of Fame. Sometimes patience is rewarded. It is not like NU has been more successful under other coaches - the school has never had a strong basketball program. Collins is the only guy to get us to the NCAA. He is the Gary of basketball. He has a lifetime contract as far as I am concerned.
Gary, Indiana more like.
Also, that Ray Meyer stuff is amusing, but it isn't true. He was at DePaul for 42 years and had exactly 5 losing seasons, never more than 2 in a row.
I'm sorry for my ongoing love of Joey, but everything that was great about DePaul happened when he was an assistant or the head guy.
Well, except for George Mikan and Pat Kennedy's adventure.
I always wish Billy Blue the best (as I do LoyolaCat's Ramblers) and hope they get their act together.
Here's another way to think about the whole situation. There's a potential of crucial, seven available scholarships for the class of '23.
Do they leave? I guess they do, but they have the option to stay one more year.
Boo
Audige
Young
Beran
Probably available ...
Greer
Elyjah
Vacant
I assume two of those spots will still be available after a couple transfers play next season.
Leaving that many schollies for a short recruiting cycle starting next March or leaving the next guy with two years of Roper, Simmons, Barnhizer, Nich, Hunger and 3-7 more bums is begging for a horrible start for the next guy.
“Bums”? Criticism of players is one thing we mostly all offer, but name calling? You are better.
The 23-24 team is going to have lots of trouble scoring. Shades of KON’s 0-16 year.
I assume the next eight weeks will be full of transfer offers to every 6’4”-6’9” mid major kids with a jumper. Positionless!
@Aging Booster do you mean OUR remaining lifetimes or his? /s
But seriously, and to my sarcastic point above, I'm too old to wait for Chris Collins to "get it" in his 60's and 70's.
As near as I can tell, he "had it" in the tourney year and the two years prior, and then "lost it". I don't know why. My SWAG is that he started swinging for the fences on recruits, got a couple, missed on many but got "hooked" on the long ball, becoming a modern day Dave Kingman. Imagine if Fitz did that with QB's...never mind.
You are right - I checked and the record is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Meyer Yet, there were many down years. Growing up in Milwaukee, I remember when DePaul was an annual whipping boy for Marquette - year after year. Apparently, the Demons won a few games against other teams. But, the point remains the same. Many wanted Meyer out - he stayed and succeeded. If NU had a history of success before Collins, I'd likely feel differently, but we have been horrible for decades. Collins is likely as good as we'll get. NU is not a basketball school - too bad, but true,
Collins had one excellent recruiting class - his first.
Most people knew little about him as a coach, other than who his dad was, where he played college and high school ball and the fact that his mentor at Duke recommended him.
People were enthusiastic, Collins was energized and, with no track record, could promise the world.
So he got players. Law, McIntosh, Skelly and Lindsey.
The first couple years didnt go so well with Carmody's guys and a few freshmen getting playing time.
The 2nd recruiting class was headlined by Aaron Falzon, with Derek Pardon playing 2nd fiddle. Pardon was not highly regarded coming in.
The 3rd class was Rapolas Ivanauskas, Barret Benson and Isiah Brown.
When everything aligned, that first Collins recruiting class (and Taphorn, Lumpkin and Pardon) made the tournament.
Ray Meyer took over DePaul's head coaching in 1942-43 and took his team to the NCAA regional final.
They went 19-5 that first season.
In his first 14 years at DePaul, Meyer's Blue Demons had one losing season.
And you are saying Chris Collins reminds you of Ray Meyer?
Yes, Meyer had a 9-year stretch in which he did not make the postseason, and people were calling for his head, and he rebounded to turn in some great seasons after that. But he'd been the coach for 24 years before that stretch, with 13 postseason appearances at a time when those were much harder to get. Collins does not have a record like that. This was also 50-60 years ago - it's really not comparable to the modern game.
And if Collins is as good as we can possibly get, why does he have a worse career winning percentage than his immediate predecessor?
This reminds me of the Chicago Bears a year ago. Everyone knew Nagy and Pace were done after 2020. There was no reason to bring them back for the 2021 season....and after wasting another year they were fired. I am expecting the same thing with Northwestern basketball. Another 15-17 type season....they beat the inferior opponents like Nebraska, Minnesota...and maybe pull an upset. And then a year from now they fire Collins. Its crazy that a $3M difference in the buyout would cause this decision given the school has received hundreds of millions in donations..... I just want Northwestern to be relevant and at least flirt with the NCAA tourney with the NIT be expected every year! Fingers crossed!
It is difficult to have any expectations for next year until we see who is on the roster.
Do we know that Ryan Young is sticking around?
I don't think we know anything at this point. Even Pete Nance has the extra COVID year if he wants to come back. Nobody has to leave....but I expect Nance tries for the NBA/D-League/Europe and we lose 2-3 people to transfers.
Dude, Nance told Bardo on BTN after the last home game that he had played his last game at Welsh-Ryan. No speculation required, he's moving on.
If he comes back we will have one instance where we can make a comparison between Pete and Tom Brady
