Reports now coming out...Mullins to SIU

[siudawgs]

Bryan will have to prove himself like all young coaches, but he has a lot of great characteristics and intangibles on his side. I’m optimistic he’ll be able to both coach and recruit well (not easy to find coaches who excel at both), and re-energize the fan base in the process. It feels great to be excited about Saluki basketball again.

[freddycat68]

We'll see. If SIU was fixin' to pay a coach over 450K, they could have gotten a proven DI winner and elevated themselves by poaching another program's HEAD coach--just as an example, a guy like Scott Nagy from Wright State. Objectively, an assistant coach from another MVC school is not a home run hire even if he is a charismatic alum. Could ultimately wind up being a home run, of course, or it could wind up being another Dan Muller.

[ACECARD]

We'll see. If SIU was fixin' to pay a coach over 450K, they could have gotten a proven DI winner and elevated themselves by poaching another program's HEAD coach--just as an example, a guy like Scott Nagy from Wright State. Objectively, an assistant coach from another MVC school is not a home run hire even if he is a charismatic alum. Could ultimately wind up being a home run, of course, or it could wind up being another Dan Muller.

Or Marty Simmons.

[siudawgs]

We'll see. If SIU was fixin' to pay a coach over 450K, they could have gotten a proven DI winner and elevated themselves by poaching another program's HEAD coach--just as an example, a guy like Scott Nagy from Wright State. Objectively, an assistant coach from another MVC school is not a home run hire even if he is a charismatic alum. Could ultimately wind up being a home run, of course, or it could wind up being another Dan Muller.

I’m good going with a promising young coach with Mullins’ very impressive background. He’s not a run-of-the-mill MVC assistant; he was the top assistant for a Final Four team and earned rave reviews by Loyola coaches and players, not to mention coming with some serious recruiting connections and sparkling academic background. To me, it is a swing for the fences hire, and I’ll gladly take my chances with Bryan Mullins over being beholden to hire someone with head coaching experience.

[Ricardo del Rio]

The Shockers never had an answer for coach Mullins. He just gave fits to the Shockers. Not a great athlete, but just smart and very physical.

[freddycat68]

We'll see. If SIU was fixin' to pay a coach over 450K, they could have gotten a proven DI winner and elevated themselves by poaching another program's HEAD coach--just as an example, a guy like Scott Nagy from Wright State. Objectively, an assistant coach from another MVC school is not a home run hire even if he is a charismatic alum. Could ultimately wind up being a home run, of course, or it could wind up being another Dan Muller.

I’m good going with a promising young coach with Mullins’ very impressive background. He’s not a run-of-the-mill MVC assistant; he was the top assistant for a Final Four team and earned rave reviews by Loyola coaches and players, not to mention coming with some serious recruiting connections and sparkling academic background. To me, it is a swing for the fences hire, and I’ll gladly take my chances with Bryan Mullins over being beholden to hire someone with head coaching experience.

Yep, you put it perfectly: swing for the fences. That's my point I guess. You either hit a home run or leave a couple guys on base as the game ends. Could be the Tom Izzo or Roy Williams of MVC hires, or could be Danny Manning or Dan Muller. If I were SIU and playing with 450K, I'd swing for some consecutive triples with a guy like Nagy and sleep really well at night. But if you want to gamble that kind of money on one last swing or miss, there's nothing inherently wrong with that. A little high anxiety, but the upside might be worth it.

[Drakey]

I don't think Nagy is probably going to jump for 450.

[Adunk33]

Just getting around to Mullins' intro presser. At the time, he had talked to Lance Jones, and Chris Payton and hadn't heard from Evan Taylor. He sounded confident about Jones, but not so confident about Payton and Taylor.

[austinsaluki]

I don't think Nagy is probably going to jump for 450.

Seeing as how he already makes $500k, I think that's a pretty safe bet.

I think you'd be hard pressed to find a "proven D1 winner" available for $450k, unless you mean the likes of...Barry Hinson.

[Birdfan2018]

Bryan will have to prove himself like all young coaches, but he has a lot of great characteristics and intangibles on his side. I’m optimistic he’ll be able to both coach and recruit well (not easy to find coaches who excel at both), and re-energize the fan base in the process. It feels great to be excited about Saluki basketball again.

Kinda sounds like Illinois State with the Dan Muller hire.
Star at Illinois State as a player.
Thirteen year Assistant Coach @ Vanderbilt & highly respected recruiter.