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mauf

Anderson Cooper × Mr. Rogers
Moderator
SoSH Member
Can't believe Marshall wasn't an option. There aren't many blue blood jobs to hold out for. Unless he wants to build the Gonzaga of the Midwest.
If you look at WSU's current roster, there are a couple of East Coast guys, but there's definitely a regional bent. IU might have been concerned about whether his recruiting success would translate; at a minimum, it would take time to build new regional connections, whereas Miller presumably has those connections. For his part, Marshall wouldn't want to be mentioned in connection with a job he wasn't going to get, as it calls into question his commitment to WSU.

In sum, I'm not sure Marshall to IU made sense for either side, and even if it did, Marshall wouldn't want to be identified as a candidate unless he thought he would get the job.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

Homeland Security
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
Love it. There were rumors of Shaka Smart, Mike Brey or Tommy Amaker, but seemingly none wanted to be part of the politics involved with JT2 still holding so much influence over the program and that's understandable. At some point we will need to make a clean break from the JT era, but this is still one of the most desirable jobs in the game and probably the easiest transition at this point.

I think comparisons to Mullin or Drexler are kind of a joke. Neither had coached at any level before. Ewing has been an NBA assistant for a long time now and yes, he has name recognition for local recruiting, despite being retired for a long time. The two biggest names associated with the program are JT2 and Ewing - they built the friggin thing.

I would have been perfectly fine with a clean break and going with someone like Smart or Amaker, I might have even preferred it, but given the situation at hand I think this was a smart move, both in ability and recruiting. They'll give him the resources to get up to speed on the logistics of recruiting and will have the asset of the other former players - Mourning, Mutombo, Iverson, etc, these guys run together even to this day and the return trips to campus of all the big former players were and are still legendary in D.C. This is a good step.
 

moondog80

heart is two sizes two small
SoSH Member
Sep 20, 2005
8,040
I hope you're right but I have my doubts. Hiring Ewing with a resume than includes zero college coaching experience would considered a strange move for any other major college program, the difference of course is that he was an awesome player at Georgetown 30+ years ago. I'd like to have a little more to hang my hat on than that.