The Indiana Basketball head coaching job has been a rather difficult position to hold in the last few years. The past Indiana coaches have brought anything from recruiting scandals to losing streaks to the university, and IU has been searching for someone to proficiently fulfill this honorable role. Indiana was under the impression they had accomplished this by hiring Indiana basketball alumni, Mike Woodson back in 2021. In his first two seasons with the Hoosiers, he led Indiana to three wins against their rival, Purdue, two deep runs in the Big Ten Tournament, and two straight NCAA tournament appearances. Woodson started off his coaching career on a good note, however, his past two seasons at Indiana have taken a turn for the worse.
Last season, Woodson and the Hoosiers went 0-2 against Purdue, took an early exit in the Big Ten Tournament, and were not even in the NCAA tournament picture. Woodson seemed to be making some much-needed adjustments in the off-season by acquiring talented players, such as Oumar Ballo out of Arizona University (and Gonzaga) and Myles Rice from Washington State University. The Hoosiers, however, have not performed up to par thus far this season. Indiana is currently the 12th-ranked team in the Big Ten and is not projected to make it into the NCAA Tournament next month. In the midst of this rather disastrous season, Coach Woodson has recently announced he will be stepping down from his position at the end of this season.
According to Matt Normander from CBSSports.com, Indiana’s Athletic Director, Scott Dolson stated, “Coach Woodson said it had been weighing on his mind for a while, and that it was an emotional and difficult decision. We have had subsequent thoughtful conversations about his decision and his desire to ensure that the program is in the best position it can be moving forward. At an appropriate time, Coach Woodson will articulate his feelings about his decision and his experiences these last four years.” Despite Woodson’s struggles, he was a memorable coach that Hoosier Nation will most certainly not forget anytime soon.
The question now, is who will be the one to fill the rather large shoes Coach Woodson left behind? It seems like the ideal choice for the Hoosiers would be the Boston Celtics general manager, Brad Stevens. Stevens is a true Hoosier as he was born and raised in Indiana. He is notoriously known for taking Butler to back-to-back National Championship games as the head coach before moving his way up to the Celtics. Even though Stevens would be a fantastic option for Indiana, it is not likely that he would part ways with the Celtics at this point in his career.
Some other great options for the Hoosier’s next leader are Baylor’s Scott Drew and Auburn’s Bruce Pearl. These two have everything it takes to be a successful college basketball coach, and it would be massive if IU could score either one of these candidates. However, it also does not seem likely that either one would leave their current position. To Indiana fans, the most obvious answer is Michigan’s head coach, Dusty May. Espn.com’s Jeff Borzello said, “May is an Indiana native who was a student manager for Knight’s Hoosiers between 1996 and 2000. He led Florida Atlantic to a Final Four in 2023, but left the Owls last spring to take over at Michigan after the Wolverines parted ways with Juwan Howard.” It seems the Hoosier Nation thinks highly of May, as they applauded him loudly in Michigan’s latest visit to Assembly Hall.
Indiana has many promising options available to them to fulfill the head coaching position next season. Whoever IU lands as their next coach has high expectations to meet and rather large shoes to fill. Indiana is in need of a fearless leader, ready to take the Hoosiers back to greatness.
From the sidelines to the headlines, this is Lauren, signing out.
