The case for Gregory, Drew, and Forbes

Keno Davis promised a Providence recruit he wouldn’t leave the Friars. Bruce Pearl said, “I’m grateful to be at Tennessee and I’m blessed to be at Tennessee.” And Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall, who was interested three years ago, declined an interview for the vacant men’s basketball head coaching position at Iowa.

Everyday the rumor mills churns out another potential candidate to succeed Todd Lickliter. A few days ago, the buzz was around Marshall. Yesterday, Jim Boylen, the head coach at Utah, was named. Today, all the talk is about Dayton’s Brian Gregory.

I’ve been keeping close tabs of the coaching speculation not only because I’m a fan, but, given how badly wrecked my bracket is, I’d like to say the new hire was one of my picks. My first pick, Keno Davis, is apparently unavailable, so I’ve decided to present the case for three of my favorites still in the mix.

~

Brian Gregory

I’ve been reading the comments accompanying the P-C, CRG, and DMR search updates. Yesterday, a commenter suggested everyone watch Brian Gregory’s Dayton Flyers play Illinois in the NIT quarterfinals. I didn’t run after returning from work, so I turned on the game to see what Gregory and Dayton were all about.

Wow. It was a basketball blitzkrieg.

Dayton is lengthy, fast, and entertaining. The Illini were stretched thin by Gregory’s run and machine gun offense. The Flyers pushed the ball up the court, often scoring before four seconds ticked off the shot clock. Dayton was so quick, Bruce Weber’s defense could barely get down the court and set.

I really liked what I saw, and would love to see Gregory’s hyper-tempo offense running opponents out of Carver. Gregory is familiar with the Big Ten; he was an assistant at both Michigan State (under Heathcote and Izzo) and Northwestern. However, there were a few pitfalls on display in Assembly Hall. Dayton’s frenetic style caused them to be sloppy and quick on the draw. They don’t take time to set up an offense because there’s no offense to set up; it’s run, penetrate, and shoot. Lickliter’s system was too slow and calculated, but Gregory’s may be a little too fast and spontaneous. Just like Lick’s, Gregory’s system needs the right players to run it effectively. However, it could be adjusted to accommodate the Hawks’ current squad. I’ll tell you right now, Brennan Cougill definitely wouldn’t fit in.

Also like Lickliter, Gregory prefers man-to-man defense. It works for the Flyers because their length and speed allows them to switch-off and tightly pursue. With the right players, it could work with the Hawkeyes. But in the meantime, if Gregory were tapped for the Iowa job, I hope he would be open to run a 2-3 zone, because the length and speed he has at Dayton is nonexistent in Iowa City right now.

Gregory received a lot of buzz today because Iowa AD Gary Barta flew to Cincinnati, 50 miles from Dayton. However, the CRG reported that Barta did not talk to Gregory. Barta apparently did go to Dayton, but may have met with Wright State coach Chad Brownell instead. With the Flyers still competing for the NIT crown, a source said Gregory “has told everyone interested in his services to wait before the end of the season to even inquire about his availability.” That’s totally understandable, and I hope Barta waits and talks to him.

~

Scott Drew

Currently the head coach at Baylor, Drew has guided the Bears from a horrible situation (one player murdered another in 2003, and the resulting investigation uncovered a pay-for-play scheme run by the then head coach) to the Sweet 16 this year. Though Drew’s gradual rebuilding has been tough (he won eight, nine, and four games his first three years, though Baylor was banned from pre-conference play and stripped of a number of scholarships during that time), his hard work and dedication has paid off. He’s been able to attract talent back to Waco.

Baylor is one of my Final Four picks this year. I watched them play Texas in their regular season finale, and again in the Big 12 Tournament, and liked what I saw. The Bears are athletic — long, strong, and quick. Truthfully, I don’t remember what kind of offense they run, but I think it was uptempo. I’ll be watching their Sweet 16 game tomorrow night.

Drew is Scott Dochterman’s top choice.

~

Steve Forbes

No, not that Steve Forbes.

Steve Forbes is an assistant coach to Bruce Pearl at Tennessee. (When I first told Mervgotti about Forbes, he joked, “What do you think he’d run? A flat tax offense?”) Forbes’ name has been tossed around a lot, and not only because he’s a Bruce Pearl disciple (which puts him, by proxy, in Dr. Tom’s coaching lineage), but because he actually wants the Iowa job. Badly.

A native of Lone Tree, a little town about 15 miles southeast of Iowa City, Forbes grew up as a Hawkeye fan. The head coaching position at Iowa is his dream job.

The rumor is that Forbes was highly recommended by Pearl. Forbes has been in Knoxville since 2007. Before that, he was an assistant at Texas A&M under Billy Gillispie. The man is apparently a Grade A recruiter, as he signed a top 10 recruiting class to Louisianan Tech in 2003; Pearl supposedly attributed the Vols’ recent recruiting success to Forbes. While at Idaho in 1998, he also signed a well-touted class of recruits. You have to be one hell of a salesman to draw basketball players to Moscow, Idaho.

The man’s got everything going for him. He wants the job, has an Iowa connection, and can attract talent. However, he has no Division I head coaching experience. His only head coaching experience was at Barton County Community College in Great Bend, Kansas from 1995-’98, and at Southwestern Community College in Creston, Iowa in 1991.

Yesterday, there was a page filler debate between P-C sports writers over whether or not Iowa should hire an assistant coach (you can read “assistant” as Forbes). Ryan Suchomel suggested assistant candidates should not be dismissed, while Pat Harty felt they should be overlooked; the program needs an established name with proven success. Look, Forbes has a great track record, and I think he’s worthy of a Division I head coaching job. There’s a degree of uncertainty and risk with all coaching candidates, but I think Forbes is worth taking a chance on. Anyone with his experience and knowledge, who dreams of coaching the Iowa men, needs to be considered.

~

Right now, if I could rank them by preference, I would put them in the order I just did: Gregory, Drew, and Forbes.

Since he’s the only one who wants it, Forbes would be no problem to get. Gregory and Drew, on the other hand, may be harder to snag. Neither get paid shit, relatively speaking (this is college basketball we’re talking about), so I don’t think either would balk at the $1 million Iowa would offer. However, that depends on their personalities. Though disappointed, I’d have mad respect for both if they stayed committed to their programs in spite of a potential salary increase (both would double their pay). Drew, I think, would stay at Baylor, but after seven years at Dayton, I think Gregory may consider moving on.

A Chicago area native, Gregory is also apparently being considered for the DePaul job. He may rather return home than go to Iowa City. Chicago produces more local D1 talent in a year than the Hawkeye State does in a decade. Still, I think Barta needs to wait and talk to the guy.

The coaching carousel is still turning for the Hawks. When it finally stops, I hope one of these three guys will get on.