I don’t think that’s true at all, at least for those in Europe. The best prospects go pro very young - like 15 or 16 years old. Elite talent is funneled into special sports academies from a young age. That’s why there’s so few European prospects in the NCAA in general. The players capable of playing at a P6 school are good enough to be pros in Europe. Little incentive to come over since if you are good enough the NBA will discover you just fine in an European pro league.
The end of the Collins era
- Thread starter MCC_Cat
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Sorry but my point was that not as hard to think that there was potential in overseas recruits because our educational system currently is not really doing that good a job. Educational performance here has been slipping over the years by comparison to other industrial nationsI'm not making the argument. hdhntr1 is. I'm just letting him know that the link he provided to back up his assertion doesn't back up his assertion...it contradicts it.
But congrats on the thoughtful rant board post tho.
Yeah it is gone. So is my response to your post.
Anyhow the part I liked was
"our public education system is failing, so many kids cannot do basic math or attack a zone defense"
We're awfully touchy about our inept offense these days.
Either that or the harmless social commentary.
I would love to see the comparative data from two years regarding traffic, engagement, cost per click value, etc. Must be strong enough that yahoo still affords a nice budget for Lou and his team.
Sure there are potential overseas recruits, but that seems to have next to nothing to do with the state of the American educational system. That situation existed before and will continue in the future, regardless of U.S. world ranking in math and science.
This from today's ESPN+ article on hot seat coaches......
Northwestern
After Chris Collins led Northwestern to its first NCAA tournament in 2017, he received an extension through the end of the 2024-25 season -- and the Wildcats haven't been able to get back to the dance. There have been flashes of potential, like 6-1 and 8-2 starts the past two seasons, but the excitement has consistently faded in Big Ten play. That said, Collins is still under contract for three more years and it's hard to find anyone who doesn't think he will be back in Evanston next season.
Northwestern
After Chris Collins led Northwestern to its first NCAA tournament in 2017, he received an extension through the end of the 2024-25 season -- and the Wildcats haven't been able to get back to the dance. There have been flashes of potential, like 6-1 and 8-2 starts the past two seasons, but the excitement has consistently faded in Big Ten play. That said, Collins is still under contract for three more years and it's hard to find anyone who doesn't think he will be back in Evanston next season.
I think the most important person's perspective is Gragg, but we know he say zero. I would like to know who the "anyone" is???
"One rumor floating around is it could be an exit strategy for Northwestern's Chris Collins, whose father, Doug, played at Illinois State before being the No. 1 pick in the 1973 NBA draft. But Collins is under contract through 2025 and is likely getting at least one more year with the Wildcats."
have you been to the place where they sing you Christmas carols and chop the head off the cooked goose at the table? I love that place.
I'm confused. Are they saying that Collins could end up at Illinos State? I believe the job was already offered to him when he was at Duke and the turned it down.
I don’t see that happening. There may be an exit strategy to try and save what he has left as a reputation, but the ISU job is not what it was in the 80’s.
Agreed on ISU. But if staying at NU with all the institutional constraints and the strength of the BIG means more seasons of losing then Collins is doing lasting damage to his reputation. Yeah, he will get to keep his job for 2 more seasons and the millions that go along with it, but the chances of him getting another P5 head coaching job are just about zero if it's more of the same. He's only 47! I'm sure he's not ready to call it a career. He would be wise to at least consider a move like Shaka Smart.
Presuming I could take the losing stress, I'd take the $9M and take my chances. He can always become a BTN announcer for a couple of years after that, do a rehab assignment at a smaller school, and (if he's capable), return to P6. But leave at the end of the season, forego 9M, and maybe make $1M a year at a smaller school, STILL needing to rehab his reputation - I wouldn't do it, unless the stress of losing is too much.
This team allowed 112 points to Iowa 11 1/2 months ago! More improbable than 2000 football.
Give it a rest. Just about all of us had our pitchforks out a year ago today. Let's face it... we sucked this time last year. It's part of what makes this season so incredibly fun. It was so unexpected. Kudos to Collins. He adapted. Kudos to the kids. They are tough as hell.
I will stand by what I wrote in this thread, and be grateful Coach Collins seems to have listened to me:
“About a year ago, I said NU could go two ways (not mutually exclusive) to have a chance with a coach considering its history and recruiting limitations. One would be to copy Wisconsin 20 years ago and find a coach that emphasizes strong interior team defense and player development, playing a slow, physical game with players who are not top 100 recruits and build over three or four years.”
I would say this team is pretty much built this way, and congratulate Coach Collins for making it happen.
“About a year ago, I said NU could go two ways (not mutually exclusive) to have a chance with a coach considering its history and recruiting limitations. One would be to copy Wisconsin 20 years ago and find a coach that emphasizes strong interior team defense and player development, playing a slow, physical game with players who are not top 100 recruits and build over three or four years.”
I would say this team is pretty much built this way, and congratulate Coach Collins for making it happen.
Disagree we sucked last year (I spent hours saying the numbers and close games indicated improvement despite the record, which did also improve to a small extent), and I said (of course, repeatedly) that Collins had it in him to keep us improving, though I agree this level of success was unexpected.
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