McCarty placed on Administrative Leave

[ahunte1]

Isn't Chris Lowery an Evansville native?

Does the expression "Hell NO" mean anything. But thanks anyway. But if we are talking unemployed Coaches I would take Rick Petino, even with the baggage. He has to start somewhere

So, you wanna do this all again in 18 months?

What better way to demonstrate your commitment to doing things the right way?

[uniguy]

It has been explained to me many times, but I still don't get why Barry is so universally despised. He was a great advocate for the Valley, and he had some pretty good teams. Yeah, he never got anywhere in particular with SIU, but he also inherited a total dumpster fire.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

As a coach Barry is annoying. He's a 16-14 coach. Very mediocre and he's always been that yet schools stick with him for too long despite the obviousness. Personally, I'd rather my school take a swing and miss and suck for 3 years and try again than hire the guy who does nothing more than get you a cbi invite each year. Purgatory is nowhere to be and that's pretty much where ISUr is right now.

[freddycat68]

As a coach Barry is annoying. He's a 16-14 coach. Very mediocre and he's always been that yet schools stick with him for too long despite the obviousness. Personally, I'd rather my school take a swing and miss and suck for 3 years and try again than hire the guy who does nothing more than get you a cbi invite each year. Purgatory is nowhere to be and that's pretty much where ISUr is right now.

Kind of sounds like the BU formula. Swing and a miss with Geno, we suck for 4 years, then take another swing. This time seem to have hit a triple or so.

[Cdizzle]

As a coach Barry is annoying. He's a 16-14 coach. Very mediocre and he's always been that yet schools stick with him for too long despite the obviousness. Personally, I'd rather my school take a swing and miss and suck for 3 years and try again than hire the guy who does nothing more than get you a cbi invite each year. Purgatory is nowhere to be and that's pretty much where ISUr is right now.

Bingo. I also often didn't get the Barry hate. Then I realized it's because he wasn't my teams coach. The soundbites are fun when you just beat his team or his team just beat some random team. I can see how they would get real old real quick when stuck in mediocrity. I think SIU fans turned on him a little early given the mess he inherited, but I understood it.

I agree with Bradley's approach. There's no guarantees it works out soon, or ever. But after 4 years you can tell if it's going to happen or not. It's what WSU did through the 90s. We finally found a good coach and then got hella lucky to parlay that into a great coach. I thought both the Ford and Wardle hires were good (I was actually more bullish on the Ford hire).

[BEARZ77]

Just another point of view; had 9 years with Barry at MSU and got to know him a bit. The issue is he's very polarizing. His presentation is such that some really gravitate to and others hate especially the longer they are exposed to it. Some see it as genuine others as a "used car sales approach".

As far as his coaching, you can use any barometer you choose and it's still mixed. If compared against other coaches his overall w/l record and majority of conference finishes suggest a slightly above average coach. His failure to ever win a conference championship or post season tourney suggest lesser . There is no doubt he got screwed twice by the selection committee , but that he had also given them just enough for them to be able to do so. But if he had gotten those two breaks that many similar coaches have gotten on selection day, he would easily be seen by most as a competent coach, but he didn't and so the debate. Barry was pretty good at MSU when he had a good staff, and pretty bad when he didn't , again not that unusual for many coaches. But in the end no matter where he was, ORU/MSU/SIU he just couldn't win big games or ever quite realize the potential on his better teams.

I always thought Barry would be good as an AD or someone in the Athletics Development end of things. Despite all failings, he's been a positive ambassador for the Valley, but again, I understand those who cringe when he speaks.

[Adunk33]

I always thought Barry would be good as an AD or someone in the Athletics Development end of things. Despite all failings, he's been a positive ambassador for the Valley, but again, I understand those who cringe when he speaks.

When Muller had two assistant coaching spots to fill this past off-season, I had hoped he'd go get a guy with some more experience than what he had previously been hiring. I didn't necessarily feel Barry would be a good hire in that role, but he'd be great with a title like... "Special Adviser" or something like that. I believe when Rob Judson left ISU he got a title like that at Indiana. I agree though, from an outsider perspective I think he could be a great AD somewhere and would shake things up will if given a position in the MVC front office.

It'd sure be interesting if he got the Evansville job. Surely he won't but it'd be quite the resume to be able to list "Head Coach of 3 MVC Basketball programs."

[E-Villan]

As a coach Barry is annoying. He's a 16-14 coach. Very mediocre and he's always been that yet schools stick with him for too long despite the obviousness. Personally, I'd rather my school take a swing and miss and suck for 3 years and try again than hire the guy who does nothing more than get you a cbi invite each year. Purgatory is nowhere to be and that's pretty much where ISUr is right now.

Bingo. I also often didn't get the Barry hate. Then I realized it's because he wasn't my teams coach. The soundbites are fun when you just beat his team or his team just beat some random team. I can see how they would get real old real quick when stuck in mediocrity. I think SIU fans turned on him a little early given the mess he inherited, but I understood it.

I agree with Bradley's approach. There's no guarantees it works out soon, or ever. But after 4 years you can tell if it's going to happen or not. It's what WSU did through the 90s. We finally found a good coach and then got hella lucky to parlay that into a great coach. I thought both the Ford and Wardle hires were good (I was actually more bullish on the Ford hire).

Agreed...that is why all of us somewhere besides MSU and SIU loved him. He wasn't our coach, he had great interviews, and always stood up for the league. I also thought Ford was a great hire. He quickly became my favorite opposing Valley coach. He was truly a classy guy when he was in town..but again, he wasn't our coach. We even had somewhat of the same thing with Marty. Most people realized it was way past time to part ways, but I was surprised at how many still criticized the move. I remember more than one poster stating how they loved to watch him coach motion. It was executed, but watching it night in and out is not entertaining, just ask the half of our attendance that disappeared during the Marty era.

Any speculation of a post-McCarty situation is still premature. Like I said previously, there was a time I would have supported a Hinson hire, but now there is enough history at two MVC programs to show the risk isn't worth it. His personality and ability to engage the community is a necessity here, and makes you raise an eyebrow at least...and watching MSU and SIU heads explode should he actually win something really makes you raise both for a brief second...but like the rest of you, I think he needs to be in the league office.

[glm38]

Just to add to what Bearz said - Barry is not universally disliked by msu fans. Far from it. He had many supporters here. He still has support here. There were a small contingent of fans here who disliked him intensely that were very vocal.

My opinion of him is that hes a good guy but a mediocre coach. Not poor - mediocre. I know many msu fans that have that same opinion .

[VUGrad1314]

Wasn’t there a tweet summer of ‘18 about McCarty’s drunkenness at bars but no one took it seriously? Maybe that had legs after all?

Mark Spencer is a terrific AD so UE is in good hands.

Not having Lickliter hurts bad right now.

Now they have him!

https://twitter.com/UEAthletics_MBB/sta ... 09665?s=20