Nothing is official, but if you believe the Denver Post, Steve McClain will be Indiana’s new assistant basketball coach.
Why McClain? You could mention the fact he was the associate head coach at Colorado the last three years and helped build the Buffaloes back to respectability with this past season’s 15-16 record.
You could mention the fact he previously was the head coach at Wyoming and guided that program to a 157-115 record with one NCAA tourney appearance and two Mountain West Conference titles. Or that he had a 91-16 record at Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College and won a junior college national championship there.
You could even point out that McClain was a finalist for the Colorado head coaching job, which opened up with Jeff Bzdelik left for Wake Forest. McClain lost out to Northern Colorado’s Tad Boyle for the Colorado job.
All this is important, but the bottom line is if IU head coach Tom Crean does go with McClain, it’s because he believes McClain provides the most recruiting impact.
Let’s face it. The Hoosiers need high-level players. They need an assistant coach who can help sign them more than they need a guy to coach, say, the pick and roll. Yes, Crean will always be the No. 1 recruiter, but an assistant who can bring in top-flight talent is invaluable.
Is McClain that kind of coach? It’s too early to tell, but if he comes to Indiana, he needs to be.
what about hiring an assistant with ties to Indiana so we can lure more instate recruits? I really feel it is futile to recruit on a national level until we get the program back to a consistent winning level. Most kids outside Indiana do not even know what playing at IU means or was even born when they had won their last NCAA title.
ReplyDeleteI think we need an IU guy who can help recruit our Hoosier high school talent.
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