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I recall discussions a couple years ago that Bradley should have hired Jim Whitesell instead of Jim Les. In fact, silliness like that on other message boards is what lead the establishment of BradleyFans.com in January, 2005, because I thought such discussions went too far with unmerited rips of Jim Les and the Bradley administration, and were ridiculous in assuming Whitesell would have been a better choice just because he was an established coach at D2 and D3.
Well, Whitesell had mediocre seasons his first 2 years, and then won 21 games last year (2 were against D2 teams, so for the purposes of the RPI, they were 19-11), though they play a schedule each year that cannot be compared with Bradley's, and he inherited some pretty good players that made up those first 3 teams.
Whitesell's record in his first 3 years against D1 was:
2004-2005 12-17 RPI 209
2005-2006 17-11 RPI 138
2006-2007 19-11 RPI 101
Now Whitesell is in his 4th year. Blake Schilb and all the other players he inherited are now gone. This could be considered Whitesell's first team comprised mainly of his own players. But this year, Loyola is 2-4, but one win is against a Division 2 team (Robert Morris), and the other win is against Eastern Illinois (by far, the worst team in Div 1). Overall, Loyola has looked terrible. Their RPI is 241, much lower than Bradley has ever been under Jim Les, and by far, the worst RPI in the Horizon League. They have lost to Bradley, Northern Iowa, Western Michigan, and Purdue by an average of 13 points. I thought Loyola looked very poorly coached in the game Bradley played there. Jim Les easily outcoached Whitesell, and Bradley expolited Loyola's weaknesses as the game went on, and Loyola became inept at stopping Bradley's offense late in that game.
In brief, is there anyone now who would like to have Jim Whitesell over Jim Les as Bradley's coach? What has happened to Loyola? Is Whitesell not a great coach as some had believed, or is he just a poor recruiter?
Well, Whitesell had mediocre seasons his first 2 years, and then won 21 games last year (2 were against D2 teams, so for the purposes of the RPI, they were 19-11), though they play a schedule each year that cannot be compared with Bradley's, and he inherited some pretty good players that made up those first 3 teams.
Whitesell's record in his first 3 years against D1 was:
2004-2005 12-17 RPI 209
2005-2006 17-11 RPI 138
2006-2007 19-11 RPI 101
Now Whitesell is in his 4th year. Blake Schilb and all the other players he inherited are now gone. This could be considered Whitesell's first team comprised mainly of his own players. But this year, Loyola is 2-4, but one win is against a Division 2 team (Robert Morris), and the other win is against Eastern Illinois (by far, the worst team in Div 1). Overall, Loyola has looked terrible. Their RPI is 241, much lower than Bradley has ever been under Jim Les, and by far, the worst RPI in the Horizon League. They have lost to Bradley, Northern Iowa, Western Michigan, and Purdue by an average of 13 points. I thought Loyola looked very poorly coached in the game Bradley played there. Jim Les easily outcoached Whitesell, and Bradley expolited Loyola's weaknesses as the game went on, and Loyola became inept at stopping Bradley's offense late in that game.
In brief, is there anyone now who would like to have Jim Whitesell over Jim Les as Bradley's coach? What has happened to Loyola? Is Whitesell not a great coach as some had believed, or is he just a poor recruiter?
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