Penn State & Indiana...and following a legend

[44PRIDE]

Watching the resurgent Indiana Hoosiers play tonight got me thinking. Bob Knight was a living legend at Indiana much the same way that JoePa was at Penn State. Knight was unceremoniously forced out in 2000 much the same way that Joe Pa was forced out this year. Neither had an established successor in place before they left.

Its taken Indiana Basketball 12 years to return to this point. They've gone through 4 coaches since Bob was fired and only had modest success (at best) since he left.

Will this be a similar trajectory for Penn State? I can't help but think Penn State will see equal (if not more difficult) growing pains trying to replace JoePa.

 

[Fjoinkay]

IU went to the final 4 with Mike Davis after Knight was fired. It was Knight's team of course, and if he hadn't been fired many hoped it would be his last final 4 team and he might win his 4th national championship. Mike Davis had never been a head coach before, and the hire raised a lot of eyebrows. The program (recruiting) began to slide until Davis was fired and replaced with Kelvin Sampson. Sampson turned the program back in the right direction with better recruiting- Eric Gordon being the best example, but Sampson ran into trouble with the NCAA. He already had a run-in with the NCAA while at Oklahoma, so once again many questioned IU's hiring decision. When Sampson was fired the NCAA hammered IU with scholarship restrictions and nearly everyone Sampson recruited left the program. Tom Crean coached the first season with mostly walk-on type players and limited scholarships. The first 2 seasons under Crean were disastrous, but last year IU improved and this year they are back. Next year they have one of the top recruiting classes.

My take from the IU situation is hiring the right coach is crucial even at a place like Penn State where the resources, the facilities and the history are all there.

 

[rosconey]

just look at us-been trying to replace pp for what 10 years now-still havent returned to mediocrity

 

[44PRIDE]

Difference is we were trying to replace a coach. They are trying to replace legends.