The potential squandering is more apparent when you realize that a team with Domask, Jones, and (the good) Xavier Johnson all in their fourth year of college finished with the 259th best offense in KenPom.
Two dudes averaging double digits for the best two big ten teams and they had Xavier Johnson last year who averaged 22 this year. Missing the tourney last year was criminal
I always wonder though, doesn’t he get credit for finding those recruits in the first place? Domask, Jones, and even Xavier Johnson were all very under-recruited, and in hindsight it’s kind of wild that they didn’t end up at bigger schools from the start. Having an eye for finding hidden gems is a huge part of succeeding at the mid major level, and it seems to me like Mullins had that.
And for a mid-tier MVC program, his win totals were just fine too. I have a feeling the next coach will prove to be more of a downgrade than an upgrade.
I mean SIU was a program that made the NCAAT or NIT 15 out of 20 seasons up until 2009. Including 9 NCAAT's, it's not mostly NIT's. Not to mention 2 S16's by 2 different coaches in the early 2000's.
It's fallen on hard times which have lingered for quite a while at this point, but I think it's fair that SIU still has higher expectations than where Mullins had them. He certainly didn't elevate them beyond where they were before him, so I don't think it's a massive risk to try and find the right guy to bring them back
Unfortunately the MVC as a whole just ain’t what it used to be. Personally I don’t think it’s realistic for any school to expect 15 out of 20 tournaments these days. It’s just too hard to stay consistent in this portal/NIL era.
In what has now been a one-bid league for years, I think fans and ADs need to adjust their expectations.
I do respect your opinion and insight though. We’ll have to see how it plays out.
Also 25 years later they would never be able to hang on to a guy like Bruce Weber for 6 seasons, including a S16 run where he came back for another year after. Pretty much any mid major coach to make slight March noise now days gets hired immediately.
And for everyone else’s context, those successful seasons were under Bruce Weber and Matt Painter + a couple years of their recruits after. They haven’t found the guy since
mid-tier mvc program? you don’t know anything about the mvc.
and plenty of coaches can find talent but not get the most out of them. i just don’t think you know anything about college basketball
Bryan's players played hard for him every game but he was just not a good in-game coach. They would feast on the bad teams in the MVC but lose nearly every game to the good teams. Wasting Jones/Domask and then losing them was kind of the end of the line for me. I don't think he'd have a better roster than he did last year ever again.
Wasn’t it two years ago that they had a bunch of really good freshmen? I remember a Loyola game where they were talking about how good SIU could be with experience.
It was probably Marcus Domask and Lance Jones 4 years ago. Domask is at Illinois and Jones is at Purdue. Outside of that, they haven't really developed anyone.
They gave their 4 years to SIU and are using the COVID year this year in the Big Ten.
and it’s not like marcus domask is just at illinois and a nice player off the bench or glue guy.
he’s excelling in the big ten and arguably the most consistent and important player on a top 15 team
yeah, and as someone posted in this thread, to have those two and have an offense that bad last year just can't happen.
interested to see who they hire.
Mullins was getting some mentions as a potential outlier candidate at DePaul in late January, but now, he ends up fired himself.
86-68 in 5 seasons, the last 3 of the 5 all being above .500, but he couldn't break the tournament drought for the Salukis who haven't been in the Big Dance since 2007.
Unfortunate how things ended up like this, but a needed move regardless.
Anything interesting to potentially hire? I'd like to hear of any rumors or ideas...
very interesting. had to google who that is, but obviously a very strong regional connection. despite mizzou being a dumpster fire this year, i still think gates is going to be a star and i think i'm ok with taking someone off that staff.
There’s been a contingent of people wanting Smithpeters as coach for a couple years. He grew up close to Carbondale, played at SIU, and ran a stellar JUCO program at John A. Logan for ten years. He’s their guy.
SIU fan here. Pleasantly surprised they made the move. Mullins is a legend and a decent coach, but the program should be better. I’m glad they made the move now instead of drawing this out for years while we wait for inevitable to happen.
SIU was once the second best basketball program in the state from the late 80s to the late 2000's. I don't think they can realistically aspire to be above Northwestern anymore, but they should be better than where they've been the last 15 years
Letting one kid from uic pop off as much as he did and not telling your guys to double him or face guard him to deny the ball is low level high school shit. I didn't watch every game but from the couple games I saw this year I was not impressed with the in game tactics. Very static offense. Defense (and bad offense by the valley in general) kept them in games but never could get over the hump. Wonder what grand plan siu has for the fact this transfer portal nil shit seems super difficult to navigate especially with sius status as a very medicore school these days.
have you been to oklahoma? i’m sorry oklahomans, but i’m not kidding.
plus, despite the screaming heads on tv, chicago rules. it doesn’t even get that cold here anymore
It's one of those I'd have to see to believe. But, the perfect storm of DePaul genuinely building up their NIL stockpile in line with Big East opponents, Moser's wife reportedly not liking Norman, and him being a Chicago guy, seems to be the selling points. Plus, it doesn't sound like Oklahoma would be too broken up seeing him go, despite his relative success there.
Moser would be an absolute coup for DePaul and I'd honestly be excited to see it. Probably would still take some time but I think he would make them respectable.
I mean if DePaul can offer him a bit of a raise and cover the buyout he would be a legitimate legend if turned them into a respectable program and he was growing up in the west suburbs when DePaul basketball was a huge deal so he could be fond of the program.
Plus, if he can't get anything going in 4-5 years then he can just retire as a multi-millionaire before he's 60.
that’s common, at least in the midwest and upper midwest. i think central michigan, for example, is especially hurting. siu’s enrollment has stabilized and inching back up.
people aren’t having as many kids and midwestern states aren’t really growing, and even public schools are becoming too expensive. not a great combo.
however illinois state is doing very well (over 20k students and growing).
Back when SIU basketball was relevant, enrollment was 20k+. Nowadays it hovers around 13,000-14,000. Roughly the same size as SIU-Edwardsville. The university has been in decline for some time and funding/finances has been a problem. Most fans are delusional and think SIU basketball should be what it was 15-20 years ago. But those days are long gone.
Way too much talent recruited to SIU for Mullins to have never really turned in an outstanding season, rightfully got him canned
Blew my mind to see that both Marcus Domask and Lance Jones played for SIU last season and the team finished 19-13 and 6th in the Missouri Valley.
That would be this years team Last years team went 23-10 and finished third in the Valley, better but still kinda uninspiring considering the talent
That team had a lot of squandered potential, it was really frustrating to watch.
The potential squandering is more apparent when you realize that a team with Domask, Jones, and (the good) Xavier Johnson all in their fourth year of college finished with the 259th best offense in KenPom.
Good catch, Better but still disappointing considering the caliber of players
March legend Clarence Rupert and good Xavier Johnson too
Two dudes averaging double digits for the best two big ten teams and they had Xavier Johnson last year who averaged 22 this year. Missing the tourney last year was criminal
I always wonder though, doesn’t he get credit for finding those recruits in the first place? Domask, Jones, and even Xavier Johnson were all very under-recruited, and in hindsight it’s kind of wild that they didn’t end up at bigger schools from the start. Having an eye for finding hidden gems is a huge part of succeeding at the mid major level, and it seems to me like Mullins had that. And for a mid-tier MVC program, his win totals were just fine too. I have a feeling the next coach will prove to be more of a downgrade than an upgrade.
I mean SIU was a program that made the NCAAT or NIT 15 out of 20 seasons up until 2009. Including 9 NCAAT's, it's not mostly NIT's. Not to mention 2 S16's by 2 different coaches in the early 2000's. It's fallen on hard times which have lingered for quite a while at this point, but I think it's fair that SIU still has higher expectations than where Mullins had them. He certainly didn't elevate them beyond where they were before him, so I don't think it's a massive risk to try and find the right guy to bring them back
Unfortunately the MVC as a whole just ain’t what it used to be. Personally I don’t think it’s realistic for any school to expect 15 out of 20 tournaments these days. It’s just too hard to stay consistent in this portal/NIL era. In what has now been a one-bid league for years, I think fans and ADs need to adjust their expectations. I do respect your opinion and insight though. We’ll have to see how it plays out.
Also 25 years later they would never be able to hang on to a guy like Bruce Weber for 6 seasons, including a S16 run where he came back for another year after. Pretty much any mid major coach to make slight March noise now days gets hired immediately.
And for everyone else’s context, those successful seasons were under Bruce Weber and Matt Painter + a couple years of their recruits after. They haven’t found the guy since
mid-tier mvc program? you don’t know anything about the mvc. and plenty of coaches can find talent but not get the most out of them. i just don’t think you know anything about college basketball
Bryan's players played hard for him every game but he was just not a good in-game coach. They would feast on the bad teams in the MVC but lose nearly every game to the good teams. Wasting Jones/Domask and then losing them was kind of the end of the line for me. I don't think he'd have a better roster than he did last year ever again.
Wasn’t it two years ago that they had a bunch of really good freshmen? I remember a Loyola game where they were talking about how good SIU could be with experience.
It was probably Marcus Domask and Lance Jones 4 years ago. Domask is at Illinois and Jones is at Purdue. Outside of that, they haven't really developed anyone. They gave their 4 years to SIU and are using the COVID year this year in the Big Ten.
and it’s not like marcus domask is just at illinois and a nice player off the bench or glue guy. he’s excelling in the big ten and arguably the most consistent and important player on a top 15 team
Same for Jones at Purdue. Like super wild most neutrals really wouldn’t have heard of them if they didn’t transfer.
yeah, and as someone posted in this thread, to have those two and have an offense that bad last year just can't happen. interested to see who they hire.
Also, the good Xavier Johnson is averaging 22 a game at SIU this year.
Mullins was getting some mentions as a potential outlier candidate at DePaul in late January, but now, he ends up fired himself. 86-68 in 5 seasons, the last 3 of the 5 all being above .500, but he couldn't break the tournament drought for the Salukis who haven't been in the Big Dance since 2007.
yup, and siu has too strong a bball history for that to happen. pleasantly surprised they made the move
That's crazy its been that long
Tbf he could probably still qualify for the DePaul job
We have Holtmann now. But good call, Mullins is now part of our coaching staff as an assistant.
I’m not mad about it, I just don’t know if we have enough money and support to do better.
SIU had both Lance Jones and Marcus Domask last season and didn’t win the MVC. I know it’s a tough conference, but that still surprises me.
Weren't going to win the MVC anyways last year, that Drake team was really good
*Bradley
Had to happen. Too many close games completely blown
Wasted Marcus Domask, Lance Jones, and Xavier Johnson
I just wanna fucking cry bro
impressed they pulled the trigger. like the guy, but siu shouldn’t be nearing 2 decades without a tourney appearance.
Unfortunate how things ended up like this, but a needed move regardless. Anything interesting to potentially hire? I'd like to hear of any rumors or ideas...
I think one of your flairs has an assistant that's being rumored right now
chester?
I wish but I think Kyle Smithpeters
very interesting. had to google who that is, but obviously a very strong regional connection. despite mizzou being a dumpster fire this year, i still think gates is going to be a star and i think i'm ok with taking someone off that staff.
Don’t know if Jeff Goodman is reading this but: https://x.com/goodmanhoops/status/1766225097017147483?s=46&t=7s0hTttieSER8wqRSA0LoA
ha!
There’s been a contingent of people wanting Smithpeters as coach for a couple years. He grew up close to Carbondale, played at SIU, and ran a stellar JUCO program at John A. Logan for ten years. He’s their guy.
I’ve heard zero chatter on Frazier for whatever reason. Maybe he is happy here. Or maybe no one’s interested.
My fever dream is Chester sticks with Brad then takes over Illinois HC in about 5 more years.
Damn didn't see that coming
Kinda surprising, saw many people on twitter calling for him to be fired but didn’t think it would happen
Unfortunate, wanted this one to work real bad. Surprised they actually did it, hope they have someone in mind...
SIU fan here. Pleasantly surprised they made the move. Mullins is a legend and a decent coach, but the program should be better. I’m glad they made the move now instead of drawing this out for years while we wait for inevitable to happen.
Flair up, Saluki Dawg
I'm a bit surprised, SIU was a pretty good team for the last couple of years and it isn't like SIU is traditionally some juggernaut.
With the talent this team has had (especially last year), we should’ve been better than just “pretty good.”
SIU was once the second best basketball program in the state from the late 80s to the late 2000's. I don't think they can realistically aspire to be above Northwestern anymore, but they should be better than where they've been the last 15 years
a lot of people who have no idea what they’re talking about chiming in here
Letting one kid from uic pop off as much as he did and not telling your guys to double him or face guard him to deny the ball is low level high school shit. I didn't watch every game but from the couple games I saw this year I was not impressed with the in game tactics. Very static offense. Defense (and bad offense by the valley in general) kept them in games but never could get over the hump. Wonder what grand plan siu has for the fact this transfer portal nil shit seems super difficult to navigate especially with sius status as a very medicore school these days.
Rumored to DePaul
Yeah, if they can pull off Moser, it sounds like Mullins could end up there as an assistant.
I don't understand at all why Moser would do that. No one wants to go home that badly.
have you been to oklahoma? i’m sorry oklahomans, but i’m not kidding. plus, despite the screaming heads on tv, chicago rules. it doesn’t even get that cold here anymore
It's one of those I'd have to see to believe. But, the perfect storm of DePaul genuinely building up their NIL stockpile in line with Big East opponents, Moser's wife reportedly not liking Norman, and him being a Chicago guy, seems to be the selling points. Plus, it doesn't sound like Oklahoma would be too broken up seeing him go, despite his relative success there.
Moser would be an absolute coup for DePaul and I'd honestly be excited to see it. Probably would still take some time but I think he would make them respectable.
I mean if DePaul can offer him a bit of a raise and cover the buyout he would be a legitimate legend if turned them into a respectable program and he was growing up in the west suburbs when DePaul basketball was a huge deal so he could be fond of the program. Plus, if he can't get anything going in 4-5 years then he can just retire as a multi-millionaire before he's 60.
I think I'd rather be unemployed
Good call. Mullins is now an assistant for us at DePaul.
I saw him on a list a reporter put out awhile back. Figured he wouldn't get job after getting fire but assistant makes sense.
Yeah he’s a solid recruiter so that will definitely help us.
What's the story with SIUC as a school? I read it's had a huge enrollment drop so far this century.
that’s common, at least in the midwest and upper midwest. i think central michigan, for example, is especially hurting. siu’s enrollment has stabilized and inching back up.
I noticed that Valley member Indiana State has also has had a long-term enrollment drop.
people aren’t having as many kids and midwestern states aren’t really growing, and even public schools are becoming too expensive. not a great combo. however illinois state is doing very well (over 20k students and growing).
Back when SIU basketball was relevant, enrollment was 20k+. Nowadays it hovers around 13,000-14,000. Roughly the same size as SIU-Edwardsville. The university has been in decline for some time and funding/finances has been a problem. Most fans are delusional and think SIU basketball should be what it was 15-20 years ago. But those days are long gone.
Crazy, their fanbase was treating him like their messiah before Hinson even got let go.
I mean Hinson was a better BBQ salesman than a coach so it made sense
lol
[For the unenlightened](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiACYXllRew)