It looks like IU basketball coach Mike Davis is back for another season. I've gone back and forth on this through the season, what with the lousy start and then the strong showing for much of the regular season, but in the end I would have been happy starting over. All that politicking for that NCAA bid even after losing the must-win game against Minnesota was pretty disatseful, and typical of what his approach has been both in and out of the locker room. This is a guy who in some ways is actually less mature than Bob Knight -- how else to explain the excuse-making, the blame-laying, and the bizarre way he's handled the press? Sure he's taken IU to the brink of a championship and brought in some great recruits, but it just hasn't been a consistent effort. The one-and-out letdown loss in the NIT this year is a perfect example.
One interesting aside about the announcement coming today is that Knight was slamming Davis earlier in the news cycle: could all the nasty press from the General have somehow contributed to the decision to keep Davis around?
What's the deal now with Steve Alford? It was naturally assumed when he took the Iowa job that he was eventually on his way to IU, but I guess he doesn't want it at this point--even though three seasons without an NCAA bid (until this year) might have dimmed his star a bit, wouldn't the IU job be his at the drop of a hat if he expressed interest?
Despite all the talk about the bad blood between Alford and Knight, Alford still has some loyalty to his old coach, and I think especially right after things went south for Knight at Indiana it would have been awkward for Alford to accept that job. Also, he'd just arrived at Iowa at the time, so leaving right away might have seemed like a betrayal.
It does seem like he'd be a good fit now though.
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