Comments on: 2013-2014 ITH season preview: Northwestern Wildcats

By: SCHoosier

SCHoosier — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 20:27:00 +0000

Quality coach..great person..strong recruiter and falls from the Coach K tree. Question is…with all that…can quality b-ball “take root” at NW?

By: marcusgresham

marcusgresham — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 19:29:00 +0000

If Sina were any more indecisive about where he wants to be he’d have a camel and yurt.

By: Kenneth234

Kenneth234 — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 19:12:00 +0000

As much as it would be nice for the Big Ten Conference to have no teams that are perennial bottom of the standing dwellers, it is a reality that there will likely always be those traditional teams. It is just the way it is. Northwestern’s problem has always been their facilities and lack of commitment financially to establishing a basketball program that will be on par with the rest of the conference. Adding a coach, no matter how exceptional he may or may not be, or under whom he was tutored, will ultimately matter very little. If they are serious about making upgrades in the facility, perhaps they can start to pull some players that will help them be more competitive. But I will remain confident that Northwestern will not get their first NCAA bid for many more years to come, and as soon as Collins gets a shot at a mid major university, he will head out of town.

By: CreamandCrimson

CreamandCrimson — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 17:14:00 +0000

Chris Collins made a ton of sense for Northwestern. However, just because he worked under Coach K doesn’t mean he is going to be successful. His “coaching tree” has been surprisingly bereft of sturdy branches. Time will tell if Collins is a good coach or not but we shouldn’t assume that he’s great just because he worked for Coach K.

I don’t know how good or average or poor Northwestern is going to be this season. I do know that I really love Drew Crawford’s game. I think he is very versatile, tough and skilled and he would be a good addition to any program in the conference.

By: calbert40

calbert40 — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 16:12:00 +0000

I thought Carmody improved the program from constant cellar dweller to “sometimes-we-finish-8th.” I don’t mean to suggest that is an insignificant achievement, because I remember what they were like in the 80s. You used to chalk them up as 2 Ws every season. Now, you have to battle them.

Still, Collins is a homerun hire for them. To get a guy from the Coach K coaching tree to come to a program that has never even made the NCAA tourney, and up until recently, rarely qualified for the NIT is nothing short of amazing.

I expect Collins to improve recruiting considerably, and over the next 3-5 years, they will jump from “competitive” to NCAA tourney caliber, if not necessarily being a consistent at-large berth program. Then, I expect he will leave for a better program…maybe Duke once Coach K retires, and if he experiences success in Evanston.