Scott Drew was only the head coach at Valpo for one year.
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Scott Drew was only the head coach at Valpo for one year.
Yes, but he was on his father's staff for a long time as the coach in waiting. The religious angle is a big deal with the Drews. Scott took the Baylor job because they practically begged him to. Someone had to clean up the mess after the Dave Bliss scandal. I thought he would have been a great choice for Marquette when Crean left, but then he got a rep as slimy at Baylor.
Both Adam Zagoria and Roy Schmidt reporting on Twitter that the job is basically Ben Howland's to turn down.
Had heard that from a few people early on, and those two are about as credible sources as you will find. (Three if you count Bulls-Eye as two people).
Howland is a good coach and I'm sure he would win there, but as someone said above, that isn't the answer. You need someone to come in with their hair on fire and light the place up. Howland will recruit and coach, but you need to rebuild that fan base in a hurry, and winning will take time.
Along with Hurley, I would look at Andy Toole, Steve Masiello, and Brad Underwood.
The problem with Howland is also how he would likely play. Yes, he showed the ability to play up-tempo at UCLA, but I think that was largely in response to criticism from their fanbase. If he takes over DePaul, he'll likely slow it down and try to win grind-it-out games. It will work, I'm sure he'll win some with it, but it won't be appealing to the eyes. It will take at least 2-3 years before he can really start winning there, I'd imagine, and watching a losing slow-down program won't win many new fans. He'd be a terrible hire. Maybe not the kind that would set the program back like Wainwright and Purnell did, but more likely the kind that would just have the program stagnating for a decade.
Many wanted Howland the coach at Marquette. This would be a solid hire for DePaul.
In Howland's last year he won the Pac 12 title and went to NCAA tourney. Also took team to final fours.
I think there were some issues beyond wins and losses that resulted in him getting let go at UCLA.
It sure won't hurt the conference is DePaul becomes a decent team in the future.
I am having a discussion with my buddy on how Depaul is not committed to their men's basketball program. He is citing the new stadium to show that they are. Can someone recount the story how someone was talking to a Depaul administrator and how they refuse to do it the Marquette way?