The War on 74 rivalry contiues

[isutaz]

I agree, but they were a year removed from the NCAA. They were coming off a 16-15 (7-11) season, which had a lot to do with Rico Hill opting to go pro and not play his final year. So maybe I should blame Hill, not Stallings.

Stallings was campaigning for greener pastures two years before he left. Greenspan didn't want to spend time looking for a replacement, the downward spiral began. What kid would want to come here. I really thought Porter Moser was the right fit, but the AD at the time thought different.

 

[dpdoughbird06]

I agree, but they were a year removed from the NCAA. They were coming off a 16-15 (7-11) season, which had a lot to do with Rico Hill opting to go pro and not play his final year. So maybe I should blame Hill, not Stallings.

Thanks for the correction. I arrived in Fall of ‘99 so what happened right before is a bit of a blind spot for me. I’d have thought Stallings made the jump immediately following the ‘98 NCAA run.

Kind of like how we all thought Muller was gone after ‘17 but a year later that talk was dead as the Birds had regressed back to frustrating mediocrity and nobody was knocking at his door with better opportunities.

 

[dpdoughbird06]

He came to ISU to prove that P5 schools missed out

So he was basically Nic Moore: The Prequel.

 

[Redbird222]

Williams had already stated he was transferring before Stallings left.

Vic Williams Interview

Some of you guys (and gals) might not know or remember Victor Williams. He was basically a multimillionaire’s Kirby Gardner if you need a present-day comp. Fast as hell (Kelvin Sampson once said “there’s quick, then there’s Vic Williams”), and absolutely clutch (see video above — I love Sampson...

pistolsfiringblog.com

I honestly don't remember the timing or sequence but according to this interview with Williams he decided to test the waters because Stallings was leaving

Vic: My head Coach Kevin Stallings, who now is the head coach at Vanderbilt, decided to leave so I wanted to test the waters. Coach Sutton offered me a scholarship and the rest is history. If you get a chance to play for a legend it’s a no brainer!!!

 

[ISU86]

Vic Williams Interview

Some of you guys (and gals) might not know or remember Victor Williams. He was basically a multimillionaire’s Kirby Gardner if you need a present-day comp. Fast as hell (Kelvin Sampson once said “there’s quick, then there’s Vic Williams”), and absolutely clutch (see video above — I love Sampson...

pistolsfiringblog.com

I honestly don't remember the timing or sequence but according to this interview with Williams he decided to test the waters because Stallings was leaving

Vic: My head Coach Kevin Stallings, who now is the head coach at Vanderbilt, decided to leave so I wanted to test the waters. Coach Sutton offered me a scholarship and the rest is history. If you get a chance to play for a legend it’s a no brainer!!!

IMS (and it doesn't always), VW always felt recruited over. He was from KCK, his desire was to play in the B12, but out of high school those schools seemingly had one scholarship too few available (he was plan B). The rumbles of him looking elsewhere were present during the latter half of conference play at ISU (we were plan M). KS leaving (virtually inevitable by then (if a reasonable option presented itself)) was just fortuitous justification timing. Another reason he gave for transferring was playing closer to home (the travel difference between Normal and Stillwater is sixty miles).

Today no one would even blink an eye.

 

[BirdGrad2011]

Speaking of coaching changes and talent left I think we should talk about how big of a failure Dan Muller’s first year was. Here was the roster left to him:

Jackie Carmichael
Tyler Brown
Jon Ekey
Zeke Upshaw
Johnny Hill
John Wilkins
Anthony Cousin
Jordan Threloff
Nick Ziesloft
Bryant Allen
John Jones

Finished 6th and went 8-10 in conference play. What an absolute failure. Ekey, Hill, and Ziesloft went on to play in the B1G. Zeke (RIP) wound up a bucket at his next stop and in the G League. I will never understand why Dan chased off Johnny Hill either.

 

[Bird Friend]

Speaking of coaching changes and talent left I think we should talk about how big of a failure Dan Muller’s first year was. Here was the roster left to him:

Jackie Carmichael
Tyler Brown
Jon Ekey
Zeke Upshaw
Johnny Hill
John Wilkins
Anthony Cousin
Jordan Threloff
Nick Ziesloft
Bryant Allen
John Jones

Finished 6th and went 8-10 in conference play. What an absolute failure. Ekey, Hill, and Ziesloft went on to play in the B1G. Zeke (RIP) wound up a bucket at his next stop and in the G League. I will never understand why Dan chased off Johnny Hill either.

To be fair, Muller did not chase off Hill. That's been documented that Hill regretted leaving. Muller was tough--probably too tough--on Hill, but he did not want Hill leaving.

 

[RedbirdSoxFan]

Speaking of coaching changes and talent left I think we should talk about how big of a failure Dan Muller’s first year was. Here was the roster left to him:

Jackie Carmichael
Tyler Brown
Jon Ekey
Zeke Upshaw
Johnny Hill
John Wilkins
Anthony Cousin
Jordan Threloff
Nick Ziesloft
Bryant Allen
John Jones

Finished 6th and went 8-10 in conference play. What an absolute failure. Ekey, Hill, and Ziesloft went on to play in the B1G. Zeke (RIP) wound up a bucket at his next stop and in the G League. I will never understand why Dan chased off Johnny Hill either.

We had no point guard!!!

 

[ScoreboardDotRace]

New coach, first year new system right? Isn’t that the tune we hear?

Let down of a season, but I wouldn’t call it a failure. The kick game killed all momentum the team was building too.

That team overperformed for sure and got hot at the end the prior year and allowed Jank to duck out and take an assistant coaching job instead of staying here.

 

[BirdGrad2011]

We had no point guard!!!

We had Cousins and he brought in Kaza Keane. That’s on him.

 

[RedbirdSoxFan]

We had Cousins and he brought in Kaza Keane. That’s on him.

Like I said “We had no PG”
You make it sound easy for a Head Coach getting hired in May to sign a good PG?
KK & AC were not good PG’s

 

[ScoreboardDotRace]

I’d just like to see a Redbird tourney game in HD….

When was the last time this rivalry really had big conference implications? 98?

 

[dpdoughbird06]

New coach, first year new system right? Isn’t that the tune we hear?

Let down of a season, but I wouldn’t call it a failure. The kick game killed all momentum the team was building too.

That team overperformed for sure and got hot at the end the prior year and allowed Jank to duck out and take an assistant coaching job instead of staying here.

Dropkick game would have raised us to .500 after 0-6 start. Taking out Wichita was a big deal then. Instead we fell to 6-8 and went out pretty quietly in STL - I think we got down 22-0 to Wichita on Saturday before making it a game, if I recall.

 

[CaliRdBrd]

We had Cousins and he brought in Kaza Keane. That’s on him.

The love and hype this very board showed when we landed Keane is exactly why I’ll forever take any recruitment news with a big ole grain a salt.

 

[RedbirdSoxFan]

We had Cousins and he brought in Kaza Keane. That’s on him.

KK transferred to Cleveland State where he played one season averaging 4.4 Pts & 2.1 Assists.

 

[Buffett1]

KK transferred to Cleveland State where he played one season averaging 4.4 Pts & 2.1 Assists.

And plays now in LNB Pro A league

 

[Redbirdfan06]

New coach, first year new system right? Isn’t that the tune we hear?

Let down of a season, but I wouldn’t call it a failure. The kick game killed all momentum the team was building too.

That team overperformed for sure and got hot at the end the prior year and allowed Jank to duck out and take an assistant coaching job instead of staying here.

Different situations. Pedon was handed a dumpster fire. Muller was handed two all conference players. Granted, I do think Moore leaving hurt the 2013 team and we overrated them based on how the team performed at the end of 2012.

It’s a lot easier to take over for a coach who moves on versus one who is fired. There is probably a reason he is fired based on what you have inherited.

 

[ScoreboardDotRace]

Different situations. Pedon was handed a dumpster fire. Muller was handed two all conference players. Granted, I do think Moore leaving hurt the 2013 team and we overrated them based on how the team performed at the end of 2012.

It’s a lot easier to take over for a coach who moves on versus one who is fired. There is probably a reason he is fired based on what you have inherited.

Different talent level, but still a new coach and new system. I wasn’t 100% serious with the comment when I said it. I could’ve made that more clear.

 

[Bird Friend]

Different situations. Pedon was handed a dumpster fire. Muller was handed two all conference players. Granted, I do think Moore leaving hurt the 2013 team and we overrated them based on how the team performed at the end of 2012.

It’s a lot easier to take over for a coach who moves on versus one who is fired. There is probably a reason he is fired based on what you have inherited.

I said at the time that the bigger loss would be Moore than Coach Jank. And didn't we miss out on a Thursday nite game because of Jackie's buzzer beater against E-ville, which probably is the only reason we were able to make the NIT.

 

[Bird Friend]

KK transferred to Cleveland State where he played one season averaging 4.4 Pts & 2.1 Assists.

And then went on to win a national championship . . . in Canada.