Quote:
Originally Posted by Dwight Shelton
Would consider Alford--he did things at Iowa that for the most part Iowa had never experienced but all at once the Iowa fans became Duke or North Carolina fans and demanded Iowa climb to a spot of reverence that all fans would be in awe of!!!
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Exactly right about the Iowa fans. Alford did more with less than any coach in the Big Ten or all of college basketball for that matter. I think the boneheads who called for him to leave are seeing that now with Lickliter. Todd is an excellent coach, but doesn't have any kind of talent to work with. The talent he had at Butler puts Iowa to shame. If he was at Indiana, he would have a much better talent pool to recruit from and a better program to sell to the recruits. Top prospects go to Iowa for wrestling and IU (or they used to) for basketball. With that said, I don't think Alford would have ever fit in well at IU as the coach. Too much of RMK's shadow to pressure him, and Steve has the kind of personality that is suited for more of a quiet, small program with very little pressure like he has now at New Mexico. He's much better off at a small program where he can easily surpass expectations instead of going to the high profile school and be pressured to win no matter what.
Somebody else mentioned Quinn Buckner, who I think would be a great choice also. I know he's a former player, which shouldn't be a requirement, but he would be an excellent choice even if he didn't go to IU. He would have no trouble pulling the fanbase back together after the Kelvin Sanction disaster. He can relate to the new style of young players because of his NBA and broadcast experience, but also bring back the old Bobby Knight diehards.