2020-21 Coaching carousel

[Da Coach]

Jeff Goodman @GoodmanHoops Indiana State coach Greg Lansing is unlikely to return after the season, sources told @stadium . The administration prefers to move on despite fact that Lansing is two wins shy of all-time winningest coach in school history and Sycamores are 14-9 overall this season.

I thought Lansing might have done enough this season (14-9, 11-7) to warrant another chance next year. But there have been rumors that the decision to part ways with Lansing was made well before this season started, and maybe even a couple years ago, though Indiana State needed to wait until the buyout amount became affordable. There is a 10-page thread on the Indiana State message board titled "Coaching replacement list" that has been active for months. And they have another long thread titled "Lansing contract situation" that has been going since 2017.
There will be plenty of interested applicants, but probably not any big names or people with successful head coaching experience because Indiana State will not likely be offering a big salary. Reportedly, Lansing is the lowest paid head coach in the MVC despite being in his 11th season there. He won the MVC and the tournament, and went to the NCAA Tournament his first season in 2010-11, but has not duplicated that success in his last 10 seasons.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb...lansing-1.html

[Da Coach]

Another head coach is let go-
Tommy Dempsey of Binghamton
https://twitter.com/CBB_Central/stat...76211978883072

Coaching changes for 2020-21-

Portland- Fired Terry Porter; named assistant coach Ben Johnson Interim Head Coach.
Fordham- Fired Jeff Neubauer; named assistant coach Mike DePaoli Interim Head Coach
Northern Illinois- fired Mark Montgomery; named AZ State assistant Rashon Burno named new head coach
UT-Martin- Head Coach Anthony Stewart died unexpectedly; assistant coach Montez Robinson named Interim Head Coach
Penn State- Pat Chambers resigned related to an investigation for inappropriate behavior; assistant coach Jim Ferry named Interim Head Coach.
Texas State University- Danny Kaspar resigned amid an ongoing investigation; assistant Coach Terrence Johnson named Interim Head Coach.
Wichita State- Gregg Marshall resigned; assistant coach Isaac Brown named Interim Head Coach.
UC Riverside- David Patrick has left UC to take the Associate Head Coach position at the University of Arkansas; Associate Head Coach Mike Magpayo named Interim Head Coach.
University of Texas- Rio Grande Valley- head coach Lew Hill died; assistant coach Jai Steadman was named Interim Head Coach
Boston College- Jim Christian fired; assistant coach Scott Spinelli named Interim Head Coach.
New Mexico- Paul Weir reportedly will not return next season.
Indiana State- Greg Lansing reportedly let go after season (not official)
Binghamton- Tommy Dempsey let go
Albany- Will Brown let go
Eastern Illinois- Jay Spoonhour let go
Central Connecticut State- Donyell Marshall resigns
Eastern Michigan- Head coach Rob Murphy let go
Indiana State- Head Coach Greg Lansing let go

[Da Coach]

Albany fires their head coach Will Brown after 20 seasons. He won 5 American East Conference titles in 20 years and played in 5 NCAA Tournaments, but the last one was 2014-15.
Albany's historical record- https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/albany-ny/

[braves16]

Spoonhour’s contract not renewed at EIU
https://www.wcia.com/sports/spoonhou...ign=socialflow

[Da Coach]

Donyell Marshall resigns at Central Connecticut.

https://hoopdirt.com/central-connecticuts-donyell-marshall-resigns/

Record- His cumulative record was 40-104. He has not been close to a winning record in any of his 5 seasons there.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/coaches/donyell-marshall-1.html

[Da Coach]

There have been many rumors that Dan Muller was on the hot seat this year at Illinois State. And he did very little to quiet those rumors by finishing dead last with a record of 7-18, 4-14 in the MVC, and exiting the MVC Tournament in the opening round. But that was good enough for the ISU Athletic Director to say:
"I have really nothing to say. He's our coach. I don't know why there's rumors. There's no truth to the rumors he's leaving ... he's not going anywhere."
https://twitter.com/Pg_Benson/status...41032378327043

[AZ BU Fan]

As the official pessimist of this Board, I'll be the first to think Wardle will be on the hot seat next season.... Like the guy a lot, and, will give him the benefit he can coach and motivate today's kids to consistently perform, but, BU again doesn't have the horses.

On a positive note, BU will be 1 year closer to trying again to land a coach who can recruit well enough to make BU a MVC Conference power.

[Da Coach]

I'll take the bait.
I think it would take several down years before anyone begins to consider that. He is coming off three 20-win seasons in a row, and back to back MVC Conference Championships, This year can be considered an anomaly. 3 top players suspended for the final 6 games, including 2 starters who are the top 2 scorers. Unexpected injuries causing the loss of 2 other key players, and numerous games missed by other key players due to illness, personal leave, and injuries. And Coach Wardle had no control over any of that.

And as far as recruiting... We all have our opinions, but IMO, Bradley has had some pretty good talent recruited by Coach Wardle and his staff.
We've got one of the top players in the conference, MVP of last year's Tournament, and if not for all the unforseen circumstances, possible Player of the Year in Elijah Childs. In addition, Bradley had 2 All-MVC players in 2018, 2 more in 2019, and 3 in 2020. Note that Bradley went 3 straight years without a single All-MVC player thanks to the last head coach. And I think there is still a lot of talent here. Teams don't win the MVC Championship back to back unless they have great talent.

We saw what changing coaches did for us in 2011 and again in 2015- years of finishing at the bottom of the MVC. We've finally overcome those painful years of being the laughingstock of the MVC. If we tried that move again, we'd lose what's left of the remnant of our fan base.

[Tommy]

As the official pessimist of this Board, I'll be the first to think Wardle will be on the hot seat next season.... Like the guy a lot, and, will give him the benefit he can coach and motivate today's kids to consistently perform, but, BU again doesn't have the horses.

On a positive note, BU will be 1 year closer to trying again to land a coach who can recruit well enough to make BU a MVC Conference power.

This was a joke, right?

[Da Coach]

Northern Illinois will name Arizona State Associate Head Coach Rashon Burno as their new head coach-

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/3/6/22316859/rashon-burno-niu-basketball

Burno has not had any college head coaching experience before, but has worked as an assistant at multiple Division I schools over the past 10 years. He played college basketball at DePaul for head coach Pat Kennedy. He has had previous assistant coaching positions at Towson State, Manhattan College, University of Nebraska, and Florida (under current Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan).

[AZ BU Fan]

I'll take the bait.
I think it would take several down years before anyone begins to consider that. He is coming off three 20-win seasons in a row, and back to back MVC Conference Championships, This year can be considered an anomaly. 3 top players suspended for the final 6 games, including 2 starters who are the top 2 scorers. Unexpected injuries causing the loss of 2 other key players, and numerous games missed by other key players due to illness, personal leave, and injuries. And Coach Wardle had no control over any of that.

And as far as recruiting... We all have our opinions, but IMO, Bradley has had some pretty good talent recruited by Coach Wardle and his staff.
We've got one of the top players in the conference, MVP of last year's Tournament, and if not for all the unforseen circumstances, possible Player of the Year in Elijah Childs. In addition, Bradley had 2 All-MVC players in 2018, 2 more in 2019, and 3 in 2020. Note that Bradley went 3 straight years without a single All-MVC player thanks to the last head coach. And I think there is still a lot of talent here. Teams don't win the MVC Championship back to back unless they have great talent.

We saw what changing coaches did for us in 2011 and again in 2015- years of finishing at the bottom of the MVC. We've finally overcome those painful years of being the laughingstock of the MVC. If we tried that move again, we'd lose what's left of the remnant of our fan base.

Allow me to retort..... Two 3 day miracle weekend runs in MVC Tournament, for two one and dones in NCAA's. This is the blind devotion of a fan base who's bar is so low a rattlesnake could soar over it. I'm old fashioned, give me a team that dominates the MVC for a season, and I'll take my chances in MVC Tourney and NCAA's.

You want success? Check out DeVires at Drake. Pretty impressive first 3 years' run in MVC.

I doubt fan base would care if BU can find a coach like DeVires.... No matter how many coaches they had to churn through.

You don't build a fan base without a team that can succeed season in/season out in the Valley. Who wants to support/go to home games where your team stinks - even if a miracle eventually wins an out of town MVC Championship??

If BU is any more successful next year than this in the MVC regular season I'll buy a drink for any BU fan that wanders into the Phoenix desert!

[Da Coach]

Great retort AZ!
My turn..... Drake has had a couple nice years, but they do not have one of these yet. Maybe this year.
To me and a lot of fans, that is success. Loyola and Drake fans can enjoy their regular season titles the last 2 seasons (does anyone know if there is even a trophy for that?), but I am pretty sure they would trade them for this trophy.

[Tommy]

Allow me to retort..... Two 3 day miracle weekend runs in MVC Tournament, for two one and dones in NCAA's.

Well, we weren't one and done twice. Our second championship last year didn't lead to an NCAA game because the tournament was canceled, and everyone and their brother thought we got a raw deal with a 15 seed and being matched up against MSU in the 1st round of the tournament in 2019. Need I remind you that MSU went to the final 4 and we still gave them everything they could handle. Some would say were it not for some favorable calls near the end of the game, we very well could have won.

Furthermore, Wardle showed improvement in every year as a head coach until this season, and let's be honest, this season was a mess. COVID, limited practices, and no fans changed the playing field and it had an effect across all the NCAA as so many perennial tournament teams are either out or on the bubble.

Wardle will get this team back on track next year, trust me, and he's probably the best coach we've ever had and certainly in recent memory. Sure we had some great teams back in the day when we got the best recruits in the nation, but that's not the case anymore.

[Da Coach]

Eastern Michigan will not retain head coach Rob Murphy-
https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/sta...54986739163143
https://emueagles.com/sports/mens-ba...ob-murphy/1554

Rob Murphy was 166-155 in his 10 seasons at EMU, but his record in the Mid-American Conference was just 79-93.
He never made it to the NCAA Tournament, and his record this year was 6-12, 3-11 in the MAC.

[Da Coach]

As posted elsewhere, Indiana State will not retain Greg Lansing.

https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sports-forums/basketball-fan-talk/496966-indiana-state-parts-ways-with-greg-lansing#post496966