Jim Crews Deserves Some Serious Appreciation

[MB73]

They say, many years ago, Crews was a hot commodity, was offered three Big 10 head coaching jobs (Michigan, Iowa, + 1), but did not want to go against Bobby Knight.

If he finishes the regular season strong (4-1?), gets some wins in the A-10 tourney and gets us an NCAA Tourney win or two... especially if we get to the Sweet 16... then he might be the man. I (we) did not think that a month ago.

If we get into the C7, recruiting in that situation coupled with this year's success should be signifcantly easier; need a good assistant coach go-fer.

I still worry about the recruiting, this is our peak yr from the Majerus era, we get thin next year, we are behind on our recruiting with this year's freshman class and next year... need a quality big and a guard for 2013-2014.

[grunky]

I'm really not sure what to think anymore. But can you give a guy 2 years and expect him to be able to recruit effectively?

that's a good point. i guess 4-5 years is the starting point.

[grunky]

They say, many years ago, Crews was a hot commodity, was offered three Big 10 head coaching jobs (Michigan, Iowa, + 1), but did not want to go against Bobby Knight.

If he finishes the reguar season strong (4-1?), gets some wins in the A-10 tourney and gets us an NCAA Tourney win or two... especially if we get to the Sweet 16... then he might be the man. I (we) did not think that a month ago.

If we get into the C7, recruiting in that situation coupled with this year's success should be signifcantly easier; need a good assistant coach go-fer.

I still worry about the recruiting, this is our peak yr from the Majerus era, we get thin next year, we are behind on our recruiting with this year's freshman class and next year... need a quality big and a guard for 2013-2014.

losing KC hurts that much more when thinking about next season. we could have continued our 3 guard rotation with JJ, MM, KC. Oh well...

[doowop]

losing KC hurts that much more when thinking about next season. we could have continued our 3 guard rotation with JJ, MM, KC. Oh well...

McBroom will be fine and maybe even better than Carter. He could have gone to a better school than the one from where he ransferred, but he followed his friend who was a very good player.

[RiseAndGrind]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="grunky" data-cid="344833" data-time="1361405146"><p>

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losing KC hurts that much more when thinking about next season. we could have continued our 3 guard rotation with JJ, MM, KC. Oh well...</p></blockquote>

We will still have mcbroom. He becomes Mike. mike becomes kwamain. Manning becomes CR. just gotta replace Ellis.

[RUBillsFan]

We will still have mcbroom. He becomes Mike. mike becomes kwamain. Manning becomes CR. just gotta replace Ellis.

I think Barnett can pick up some of the offensive slack when Cody graduates at least the outside shooting portion.

Assuming McBroom is good enough, we will still have a solid 8 man rotation next year: RL, GG, DE, JJ, MM, AM, JB, and JM. I think JD and MC will see limited minutes, but might contribute a little bit. That leaves 3 open scholarships and it would be great if we could get a big who can play right away with one of those because we would be thin inside with just RL, GG, and JM. I like DE on the wing, but without adding another big he might be forced to play the 4 a lot next year.

[dlarry]

Im not sure if Crews is the best man for the job bit if he gets it thats ok with me.

Rhe big knock on him is, from the board at least, can he recruit?

But honestly the same thing can be said for any hot shot assisstant or low mid major coach who would be coming in.

Its a crap shoot either way but with Crews we know he is a good x's and o's guy.

Ill let the thing playout and go from there. We will never know who the options were or what talks played into it so no matter what happnes Ill put on my glass half full smile and hope for the best.

Anyone know anything about Danny Manning at Tulsa?

I know nothing about him as a coach but I think his name would have some appeal to recruits.

He was able to learn under Bill Self and SLU eould be a nice jump from Tulsa.

Again I have no idea about him jist wondering what other people though.

[billiken_roy]

Im not sure if Crews is the best man for the job bit if he gets it thats ok with me.

Rhe big knock on him is, from the board at least, can he recruit?

But honestly the same thing can be said for any hot shot assisstant or low mid major coach who would be coming in.

Its a crap shoot either way but with Crews we know he is a good x's and o's guy.

Ill let the thing playout and go from there. We will never know who the options were or what talks played into it so no matter what happnes Ill put on my glass half full smile and hope for the best.

Anyone know anything about Danny Manning at Tulsa?

I know nothing about him as a coach but I think his name would have some appeal to recruits.

He was able to learn under Bill Self and SLU eould be a nice jump from Tulsa.

Again I have no idea about him jist wondering what other people though.

i would bet the typical 16 year old doesnt know who danny manning is/was.

[dlarry]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="billiken_roy" data-cid="345008" data-time="1361475875"><p>

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i would bet the typical 16 year old doesnt know who danny manning is/was.</p></blockquote>

Yeah I guess youvare right.

Sometimes I forget how old I am.

Thanks for reminding me Roy ;-)

[rudymcgowern]

100 percent he should be A-10 Coach of the year.

[kmbilliken]

100 percent he should be A-10 Coach of the year.

Totally agree. If national coach of the year is selected after the tournament and we go deep into the tournament, he will recieve serious consideration for that too.

[Mobile-iken]

Crews and our Billikens are enjoying some national press, and Bobby Knight isn't at Indiana any longer. If we keep on this winning track and make a nice tournament run...I don't know if the Big 10 will have any openings, but there will be BCS conference openings.

Am I the only one concerned that we may not be able to keep him?

[Billiken Rich]

Crews and our Billikens are enjoying some national press, and Bobby Knight isn't at Indiana any longer. If we keep on this winning track and make a nice tournament run...I don't know if the Big 10 will have any openings, but there will be BCS conference openings.

Am I the only one concerned that we may not be able to keep him?

Yes (and good to see a former regular who doesn't seem to post much anymore.)

[Mobile-iken]

Well I happen to have a little extra time on my hands now-a-days to do some posting. I've been lurking, just not posting.

Crews was coaching the Purple Aces back when I was a student in the MCC days. He did a heck of a job back then, and is doing an even better job now. A10 COY is definitely in play.

Could you imagine the negative press SLU would get from not removing the interim tag and hiring someone else?

A month ago I agreed with the majority of the board in that we need some new young gun recruiter, but now I'm not so sure.

By the way, for those keeping track, I am a SLU grad

[Corner3]

i would bet the typical 16 year old doesnt know who danny manning is/was.

The typical 16year old would not have known who RM was either. A little explanation and video tape goes a long way.

[almaman]

Any recruit that knows him would be 40+ years old. Course if they got game and still have eligibility...

Anyone know anything about Danny Manning at Tulsa?

I know nothing about him as a coach but I think his name would have some appeal to recruits.

He was able to learn under Bill Self and SLU eould be a nice jump from Tulsa.

Again I have no idea about him jist wondering what other people though.

[Duff Man]

Danny Manning would be an intriguing option down the road - hypothetically if Crews/alternative doesn't work out - but this is his first year at Tulsa. Let him at least show he can coach/recruit.

Granted, Danny Manning's track record of developing unheralded big men (not unlike Majerus) is exactly the type of skill a program like SLU should be looking for.

As for Crews, I wouldn't be devastated if they retained him, but the real unknown is recruiting and in the end recruiting trumps everything else.

1) Recruiting

2) Ability to develop players

3) Gameplan preparation

4) In-game adjustments

5) Media skills

How are May/Chaifetz going to evaluate Crews recruiting? It's nice that Crews got Crawford, but I think they would have to have some kind of idea of what Crews can deliver in the Spring and the Fall if/when he's named the permanent coach.

There's a lot of moving parts on this, and there's a reason May and Crews have shelved any talk of the future until the season is over.

[Duff Man]

A nuanced on-point take on the Crews situation from Gary Parrish

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/blog/eye-on-college-basketball/21774703/wakeup-call-yet-another-coach-finally-reaches-900-wins

So many of the local radio hacks are completely out of touch on this issue, constantly asking "Why hasn't SLU made him the permanent coach yet?!?! ZOMG! They are screwed on recruiting until he gets the permanent job...blah...blah...blah"

Rammer's co-host Zack McCrite is especially bad on this issue, but he's hardly the only one.