Royce Waltman Finale

[tornado]

Two different sources are reporting that Indiana State is setting up a press conference for Monday to publicly announce the fate of Indiana State head coach Royce Waltmen.
It is believed that he is only hours away from coaching his last game at Indiana State.

But of interest is the running story over the past several weeks about the pretty good batch of young players Indiana State has and what do they have to do to assure they will not leave. Royce wil probably therefore stay within the athletic department.

The only significant player they lose to graduation is Trent Wurtz, their 5th leading scorer.

Two Indiana State freshmen, Marico Stinson and Cole Holmstrom made the MVC All-Freshman Team.
Sophomore Adam Arnold made the All-Bench Team.
They all return.

and all of the players who average more than 2ppg except Wurtz (8.7ppg) are returning
Moore, Gabe...11.8ppg, junior
Stinson, Marico.... 9.8ppg, freshman
Holmstrom, Cole.... 9.3ppg, freshman
Tunnell, Jay....... 9.1ppg, sophomore
Arnold, Adam.......5.8ppg, sophomore
Marshall, Harry....3.2ppg, freshman
Yelovich, Mick.....2.9ppg, junior
McCoy, Todd ....2.7ppg,junior

They also have a couple decent incoming recruits in Clayton Vette and Jordan Printy.

 

[Da Coach]

Yes, but as Evansville, Drake, and even Illinois State showed this year, just because you return all your players from a bad team doesn't mean you won't be a bad team the next season.

 

[Bravesfan]

Re: Royce Waltman Finale

Two different sources are reporting that Indiana State is setting up a press conference for Monday to publicly announce the fate of Indiana State head coach Royce Waltmen.
It is believed that he is only hours away from coaching his last game at Indiana State.

But of interest is the running story over the past several weeks about the pretty good batch of young players Indiana State has and what do they have to do to assure they will not leave. Royce wil probably therefore stay within the athletic department.

The only significant player they lose to graduation is Trent Wurtz, their 5th leading scorer.

Two Indiana State freshmen, Marico Stinson and Cole Holmstrom made the MVC All-Freshman Team.
Sophomore Adam Arnold made the All-Bench Team.
They all return.

and all of the players who average more than 2ppg except Wurtz (8.7ppg) are returning
Moore, Gabe...11.8ppg, junior
Stinson, Marico.... 9.8ppg, freshman
Holmstrom, Cole.... 9.3ppg, freshman
Tunnell, Jay....... 9.1ppg, sophomore
Arnold, Adam.......5.8ppg, sophomore
Marshall, Harry....3.2ppg, freshman
Yelovich, Mick.....2.9ppg, junior
McCoy, Todd ....2.7ppg,junior

They also have a couple decent incoming recruits in Clayton Vette and Jordan Printy.

I love it how all the facts come out before the press conference. Why even bother having one?!

 

[Da Coach]

Royce's contract is up after this season, so they either need to sign him to a new contract so he can start recruiting and building for next season, or hire a new coach. IMO, if they were going to retain him, they would have done it by now.

 

[OrangeandBlack74]

Is Royce the only MVC coach who is likely to lose his job?

I know there are many ISU fans who are dissatisfied with PM, and it seems there are always MSU fans calling for Berruh's head.....but I think it unlikely that either one of them will lose their jobs.

Any thoughts?

 

[MacabreMob]

Is Royce the only MVC coach who is likely to lose his job?

I know there are many ISU fans who are dissatisfied with PM, and it seems there are always MSU fans calling for Berruh's head.....but I think it unlikely that either one of them will lose their jobs.

Any thoughts?

Porter is safe for at least 1 more year.

 

[tornado]

It is being reported in several sites that Royce Waltmen has met with the team and told them he will not be returning next year to coach.

 

[amckillip]

Any thoughts who the next guy might be?

 

[DannyCooksey]

Yes, but as Evansville, Drake, and even Illinois State showed this year, just because you return all your players from a bad team doesn't mean you won't be a bad team the next season.

Besides Dilligard, who did Illinois State return of significance? They have 5 new players this year getting heavy minutes, 4 of which are the top scorers on the team.

I don't think that Illinois State is a good fit in your comparison.

 

[DannyCooksey]

Is Royce the only MVC coach who is likely to lose his job?

I know there are many ISU fans who are dissatisfied with PM, and it seems there are always MSU fans calling for Berruh's head.....but I think it unlikely that either one of them will lose their jobs.

Any thoughts?

Porter is safe for at least 1 more year.

Most likely this is correct, but a loss tonight could change that.

I expect Coach Moser to be here next season.

 

[BUBraves06]

I like Royce and hope he gets one more year, although that doesn't seem likely anymore.

The last few seasons, whenever Ind. State has come to Bradley the first thing Royce does when he walks onto the court is come over to the front row of the student section and shake my hand. We talk just for a minute but he seems like a really funny guy and I respect him a lot for doing that. I know it's not much of anything, but I think it's cool that he steps away from the game just to talk to a few of the opposiing team's students.

 

[Da Coach]

Yes, but as Evansville, Drake, and even Illinois State showed this year, just because you return all your players from a bad team doesn't mean you won't be a bad team the next season.

Besides Dilligard, who did Illinois State return of significance? They have 5 new players this year getting heavy minutes, 4 of which are the top scorers on the team.

I don't think that Illinois State is a good fit in your comparison.

OK leave them out. They are not an example of what the other 3 showed by returning virtually everyone of significance.
But what the Illinois State example does show, is that even with bringing in several good players who are ready to play right away (3 jucos- Richardson, Slack, and Dom were an upgrade of the players who left), it takes a period of time to adjust and play well. There are usually no quick fixes either.

 

[DannyCooksey]

Yes, but as Evansville, Drake, and even Illinois State showed this year, just because you return all your players from a bad team doesn't mean you won't be a bad team the next season.

Besides Dilligard, who did Illinois State return of significance? They have 5 new players this year getting heavy minutes, 4 of which are the top scorers on the team.

I don't think that Illinois State is a good fit in your comparison.

OK leave them out. They are not an example of what the other 3 showed by returning virtually everyone of significance.
But what the Illinois State example does show, is that even with bringing in several good players who are ready to play right away (3 jucos- Richardson, Slack, and Dom were an upgrade of the players who left), it takes a period of time to adjust and play well. There are usually no quick fixes either.

I agree with this analysis.

It's really taken them all year. Right now they are playing their best ball (which is good) but there were many bumps in the road to get to a consistent level of play.

 

[tornado]

I like Royce and hope he gets one more year, although that doesn't seem likely anymore. ...

Just one of my many Royce Waltman stories...take it or leave it for what it's worth....

Last year at the MVC tournament in St. Louis, Indiana State entered the tourney as the 9th seed, but knocked off Drake in the Thursday game. In the Friday game, they hung close to TOP SEED Wichita State for a half then fell well behind and lost 81-63, but up 'til the final 5 minutes, some really fine play by Indiana State's David Moss held them close.

Anyway, I happened to garner some really nice tickets absolutely right behind the Indiana State bench, and Royce was only 2 feet in front of me the entire game.

He never stopped talking'screaming, incessantly to anyone who'd care to listen, about how every referee call was horrible, cost them a chance to win, how the refs missed every call that might have benefitted them, and how everything from the crowd to the deep subs on Wichita were unfairly getting away with murder and costing the tourney for the Sycamores.
The other Indiana State fans near me never flinched, even though most every other word was foul, lots of "F" words, lots of swearing, and lots of terribly insulting things said about the opponents, the crowd, and the refs.
They seemed to indicate this was pretty much the usual way Royce behaves at every game.

Near the end of the game one of the deep, deep, walk-on Shocker-subs, launched a long, 25 foot shot just before the shot clock expired -- likely the only chance this deep sub was ever going to get to have bhis name in the box score, and the game was already out of reach, and the shot went in. Royce went ballistic, he was enraged that the kid took another 3-pointer with under 30 seconds to go and WSU already ahead by double digits. Royce responded by launching his own volley of expletive ladened, foul insults towards the kid and towards WSU coach Mark Turgeon, stomping and pulling a Merfeld-like seizure on the sidelines.

I have to admit, I thought that NO MATTER how nice a guy Royce might be for the other 60 years of his life, this one two-hour observation of the man convinced me he is a very childish person, never willing to accept responsibility for anything, intolerant of anything, and ripping just about anyone and everyone whenever his heart desired.
Because I was not wearing Sycamore-blue, I thought for sure I'd be next, but Royce might simply have not seen me, so I escaped.

Personally, Indiana State can have the man, he really has made a laughingstock of their team over the past several years, and he hasn't done much to qualify himself for any praises other than that he is supposedly a pretty funny guy at the game-day luncheons.
His losing streaks at Indiana State are about all he'll be known for..........unless the Syc fans wake up and go after a decent coach they are doomed to be 3rd rate in Indiana, maybe 4th rate behind University of Southern Indiana.

 

[BUBraves06]

T, as far as your story goes I don't doubt it, he was pretty much the same way last weekend. There was a lot of moaning to the refs, screaming, and swearing, there were a few times when he could/should have been T'ed up and wasn't.

 

[amckillip]

Royce is deffinately a Bobby Knight guy -- unfortunately in this day and age screaming, cussing, and berating is not considered coaching. Maybe TT can take note....

 

[real fan]

Royce is the first to go and if Missouri St. does not beat WichitaSt. Barry could be the 2nd; Evansville has underachieved so could Merfield be gone also?

 

[houstontxbrave]

I sat next to Waltman at a Central game in one of those River City Shootouts when Ruffin was a Junior. We talked the entire game about recruiting, his experiences as a coach and how he became a coach.

I thought it was very cool of him to talk while he was scouting a player he definitly was interested in.

No excuses though no matter how nice a guy is they can become out of hand when the spot light turns on. Mo was a great guy the times I met him in public, sat with him at an entire chiefs game, but even he could go "balistic" at times. I used to sit 5 rows from the top across from the BU bench for season tickets and could many times hear him yelling.

I would say that IndyState would be best served to move on, IndyState is a sleeping giant, but they need a high energy, young coach with ties to either the state or the university.

 

[amckillip]

HAHA, kids at ISU are talking about Bird... its just funny...

 

[tornado]

It all depends on what Indiana State WANTS to do.
If they are going to lure a top guy to coach their program they are going to have to commit to spending the resources to do so.
If they are going to offer a 9-10th best salary among Valley coaches they won't be able to interest anyone.

Of course they could start with Jim Molinari.