Harry Gonso pegged to lead coaching search

by Alex Bozich in Coaching search | March 17th, 2008

According to a press release from IU, Harry Gonso is the choice to lead the search for a new head coach to lead the basketball program. (Sorry Coach Dakich, it was nice knowing you.) Here is an except for that release:

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie announced today that he has appointed a 10-member, blue-ribbon committee of faculty, alumni and Athletic Department representatives to begin a nationwide search for a new men’s basketball coach. The panel will be chaired by Harry Gonso, an Indianapolis attorney and former IU trustee who led the Hoosiers as quarterback of the 1968 Rose Bowl team. An Academic All American and All Big-Ten football player, Gonso earned a bachelor of science degree in accounting from IU in 1970 and a law degree with honors from the IU School of Law-Bloomington in 1973.

Gonso indicated that the search committee and its members would not be publicly commenting on the progress of the search process until a decision is announced.

Also named to the committee were: Rick Greenspan, athletics director; Ken Beckley, former president of the IU Alumni Association; Grace Calhoun, associate athletics director for compliance and academic services and senior woman administrator; Bruce Jaffee, professor of business economics and public policy and faculty representative on the Athletics Committee; Wayne Radford, former IU basketball player and most valuable player of the 1978 Hoosiers; Jennifer Sinclair, president and chairwoman of the IU Varsity Club National Board of Directors; Bill Stephan, IU vice president for engagement; James Wimbush, dean of the University Graduate School, professor of business administration and chair of the University Athletics Committee; Jerry Yeagley, former IU head men’s soccer coach and member of the U.S. Soccer Federation Hall of Fame

A couple of quick observations here: I really know nothing about Gonso, so I’m not at liberty to say if he’s the man to lead the search. Surely he can’t be any worse than our man Rick Greenspan, right? Second, the early buzz on the street is that two of everybody’s favorite candidates, Sean Miller of Xavier and Tony Bennett of Washington State, might not be as interested in IU as many had anticipated. With that said, I find it hard to believe that either man would turn down the job if it was offered and the money was right. Third, the quote in the press release towards the end by Gonso seems to fall in line with the sentiment that IU will move to hire a coach before the Final Four assuming the targeted candidate’s team is eliminated from post season play.

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Tags: Harry Gonso, Rick Greenspan

backhomeagain

The one thing to remember about Gonso is that he chaired the IU presidential search committee that recommended the hiring of Myles Brand.

deedubbadoo

Maybe I am out of bounds here but does anyone else think it is a bad idea to announce this 3 days before our first tournament game? I mean haven't these kids been through enough of a media circus already and then to go ahead and give them something else to think about? I feel like it is in poor taste to make this public right now, maybe they are trying to salvage recruits but I would be more worried about our current players who have fought through the adversity this season than anything else. It just doesn't make sense to me at all.

Dirk

The school has to move forward on getting a replacement ASAP. Every potential candidate will be at the Final Four, so IU must have their ducks in a row by then. Two weeks should be enough time for the committee to get organized. The school can't keep this secret because the media can file an open records request (which is what kept the school from sitting on the NCAA charges). If it hurts the current team, well no more damage can be done at this point.

Ben

Tom do you think that Bob Knight would of become the winningest D1 coach at Army? Try not batch. Indiana hadn't won much during the 60's......and Indiana was still considered elite in the 70's when Bobby took the job. Produced may of been the wrong term.....maybe I should of said an ELITE program like INDIANA help Bob Knight flourish into the winningest coach ever.....I mean even at Tech he wasn't as consistant. I wasn't "raving" about KS either. I was merely pointing out that he had us back in business in two years as a major contender. Until he left the hoosiers were doing great.....or at least much better than past years.

Oh and the Mike Davis thing....I'm sure you weren't runnin' your cock sucker when we were in the NCAA championship game. The players wanted him and when they got him they went to the finals and won a share of the Big Ten......maybe thats something that elite teams don't do.

Ben

oh yea and you did get owned....so if you don't think IU is elite...get off here and go lick duke's chode....or something

tom

seriously...grow up.

Ben

seriously.....duke's chode

Briank

They have fans wanting to know something is happening in someway of searching for a coach as well as letting recruits know they are being active. Plus the press etc. So they had to release something because it's been so long since we have really heard anythign in regards to this.

deedubbadoo

Yeah that is understandable I guess but it just seems like bad timing. Of course this whole thing from the get go has been bad timing, so maybe the kids are getting used to it. I just hope this doesn't affect them anymore going into the tournament. They are going to have to be focused and ready for a very game Arkansas team and it doesn't get any easier after that.

JamesHardy

1. The wife joke...totally WRONG!

2. IU USED to be an ELITE program. The tide has shifted. Does that mean our history is worthless...NO! Kentucky is in the SAME BOAT as us. College sports come and go in cycles. DEAL WITH IT! With the correct hire...we CAN get back to the top of that cycle.

3. If you two want to pu$$y fight on the computer...do it somewhere else or go meet in a back ally somewhere and kiss and make up...geesh...I thought middle school girls were bad!

Brett

I can't believe IU fans say that IU isn't an elite program anymore. I mean, really? If, and that is a huge if, we get a quality name in for the head coaching position this program could be back on top in no time.

tom

"a huge if" we can get a quality coach? i thought you said we were elite? aren't top coaches busting down our door to get in? another person that has no idea what he's talking about.

Brett

Uhh. First, you got OWNED by Ben stating your wife was damaged goods, I found that funny. Second, the "if" pertains to the people on the board doing the actual hiring. Trust me, big name coaches want to coach at IU, the birthplace of college basketball.

Tom

the wife thing was funny? are you guys 12 years old?

no big name coaches want to come here. if they did, why was mike davis our coach? when unc had an opening they didn't have any trouble getting a big name coach, did they?

Brett

The wife thing was borderline hilarious. as was your attempt of rebuttal. Big name coaches want to come here.. your point about mike davis has no legs. Mike Davis was hired due to his relationship with the players/staff and his short term success as a interim head coach.

ZP is correct, you sir are wrong.

Tom

you're wrong, and you're 12 years old.

if you'll recall we tried to get other coaches to come here and they said no.

so tell me, then, genius. what big name coaches are dying to come here?

xxZPxx

At the time, the KS hiring was intriguing. Not too many people knew about the severity of his allegations at Oklahoma and had he not made the same mistake our program was heading in a great direction. I was at midnight madness this year and we had a #9 ranking, 5 5-star recruits in attendance and the #2 recruit in the nation in an Indiana uniform making Adam Ahlfield and others look like 4th graders. The program was a year away from being a perennial powerhouse. That was my point as far as the KS hiring. But as we know it didn't work out too well from there. But big name coach fitting in and building a winner in 1.5 years. My new point is that we should sit back and let this committee do there job. I think we will be surprised at the quality coach that they will hire. I do not know who that will be and refuse to predict but I do know this committee will do a good job with their task at hand. Quote me there and try to think of a lame comeback when we hire someone you dont agree with in 3 weeks because its people like you that never are saitisfied and only see things in black or white.

Tom

i hope i am surprised by the signing as i want the school to return to it's glory days.

and enough with saying i have lame comebacks when i'm not even trying to "comeback" and you're still laughing at the equivalent of a mom joke cicra 1976.

xxZPxx

Come on it was kind of funny....

Brett

Well put ZP. Cmon Tommy Boy lighten up a little. All in good fun.

xxZPxx

Yeah, Tom you got owned because that was a funny comment. You are also taking a way too personal side with your comments and just trying to badger everyone else which is just ignorant. Your points just aren't very good and its unclear what you are trying to get across. And making fun of grammar on a blog as a comeback is brilliant.

Tom

i see, i'm ignorant yet you're applauding a wife joke. how old are you?

raving about getting sampson is ridiculous. he was on his way out after doing the same thing at ou that he did here. i guess the next school that gets him is lucky, too? dumb.

xxZPxx

Problem is that there is so much parity right now in College Basketball. Its real tough for a big name coach to leave his school for an elite/former elite program because his school has probably just about as good of a chance as any school to be successful. Looking back on it, stealing Kelvin from an already good college basketball school was a pretty good move (not looking at the allegations or the simple fact that leaving oklahoma helped him with that as well.) But I remember only old alumni being upset with that hire. I myself was pretty excited we were able to get him at the time. I think we might be surprised at how good of a coach we get this time around. Also, know that the people making the decisions have a lot more to take in consideration this time around and that is why there are some pretty unfamiliar but yet very ethical and successful people on the committee (other than Greenspan who is there by default but will have little to say in the matter I think). Just wait and see Hoosier fans. What makes our school an Elite Program is us, the fans, and how much we care. It wont be too long and we'll be back! Trust in it....

Jay

Please, Gonso Gang, IU must get it right this time. We don't get any more do-overs. No more "oops, our bad." You goof this up, and you bury IU basketball for a generation.

Get the right guy. Ideally, it will be someone who really wants to be our coach, not someone who has to be talked into it.

Hiring this coach is the difference between the first shot of a game, and the last shot with time running out and the team down 1. Davis and Sampson were the horrible shots that clanked off the rim. Now you've got to nail it.

Ben

Look Tom, this isn't about grammar.....this isn't about spelling.....this forum is about IU basketball. If you don't think that a school with the 3rd most national championships our of any other school in the country.....a school that has the second most Big Ten titles.........a school who produced the all time winningest coach in NCAA history.....a school with the best damn fans in all of college basketball........isn't an elite school.....well then Tom what exactaly is your definition of an elite college basketball program.
In my opinion, I think schools like UNC and Duke are overrated. I mean if one school gets the east McDonald's all american team and the other gets the west....every year.....and doesn't consistantly win national titles.....I would say they are overrated teams.
But please Tommy Boy.....lets hear your definition.

tom

how did indiana "produce" bob knight? was he born there? did he attend school there? did he set the record there? no, no and no. brilliant point.

Ben

Now your wife, may be damaged goods......but I don't think IU is.

tom

wow, a wife joke. hilarious. you even did it in a separate post because you were so proud of it. grow up, little boy.

Brett

Tom you got OWNED. IU is still an elite program, stfu.

tom

where did i get "owned", brett? there are others here that agree with me. and if this program was so elite now, our last 2 coaches would not have been mike freaking davis and kelvin sanction sampson. it's not 1987 anymore. wake up.

Briank

elite schools have been having troubel trouble getting big name coaches ex. Kentucky trying to get Donavon. Coaches are realizing they can get success at smaller schools now without the elite school pressure.

Ben

and what was your definition of an elite team?

CoveyDale

definition of elite team (n.):
"a group of collegiate basketball players that advances past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament on a regular basis."

JamesHardy

soooo...what you're saying is...Gonzaga is an "elite" team based on their recent 7 or 8 year run in the tourney? I guess that leaves the question, "what's your definition of "regular basis?"

CoveyDale

no, i said first weekend. gonzaga has only gotten to the sweet 16 once (2006) since 2001. IU is still historically elite, but i think this 10-15 year stretch (especially their Tournament struggles) has put them a cut behind UNC, UCLA, Duke and UK as far as the "elite" program pecking order goes.

tom

totally agree, coveydale. no way are we on the same level as unc and duke.

tom

if anyone is damaged goods it's indiana. it's not the elite, cream of the crop job it once was.

Ben

it has everything that an elite school needs....a great campus....awesome fans....history.....tradition....financial backing.......it was on its way back too. I mean KS got us in the top 7 and we were in contention for the Big 10. It took him less than two years. If he wouldn't of got the ax we wouldn't be playing like this. If you don't think IU is an elite basketball school your an idiot. It is elite it just hasn't had the right coach to fill bobby's shoes. Hopefully we will get it right this time.....and mark my words...when roy boy leaves unc....and coach k leaves duke...they will suck too....so if we make a great move here we will slingshot into prominance....if we don't well it will be a real slap in the face to hoosier fans everywhere.

PS: Rick Pitino was in Bloomington for 4 hours this weekend.

CoveyDale

um, duke and UNC will never "suck." every once in awhile they'll have a down year (UNC 2003, Duke 1995) but i doubt they'll ever have a stretch of one sweet 16 in the 14 years like IU has had.

tom

the fact that you used incorrect grammar to tell me i'm an idiot speaks volumes. you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, ,little boy.

CB in OR

I watched the Brian Gumbel HBO sports/talk show and Bruce Pearl said "he knew Indiana would come calling" but that he had no interest in the job..not on tape but retold by the sportswriter/reporter/talking head

RobertSchell

Interesting group to say the least.
Somewhat surprised to see Yeagley on the committee, then again he was a coach at IU to see much of our glory days in basketball, and he knows a thing or two about winning games and championships.

tberry

If IU wants to keep Ebanks they will have to get a big name that will make him think he and IU will be stars.

They will probably hire an up and comer who will make IU a winner again but it will take a while and recruiting new players.

I just hope they can hire a great coach and very soon so the rebuilding can get underway. The quicker we start the quicker we will be well.

CoveyDale

i don't think a big name is necessary (not like there is one out there anyway).

anthony grant recruited then oversaw joakim noah, al horford, taurean green, and corey brewer as an assistant at florida. he's not a big name but i'd say he did pretty well for himself developing NBA talent while part of billy donovan's staff.

JamesHardy

forget about ebanks....let him go suck Calipari's dong in Memphis for a year. This coaching move has to be more than "lets get a one-n-done player" to stay. There are literally HUNDREDS of kids in this country who would LOVE to come play basketball in bloomington. If he isn't one of them...screw him!

Boyo

Scott Drew sure doesn't have a squeaky clean reputation among the Big 12 coaches who were targets of the Baylor staff's negative recruiting--for which Drew had to later apologize.

BTOWN40

Just give me a coach that can get the most out of kids. If we go 23-7 every year with a Big Ten championship about every 3 yrs ( usually jr sr led teams) and go to the sweet sixteen and elite 8 in those Big Ten champ years I am fine with it. Find a coach that can make the kids play in your a@@ defense, that way when they can't hit a shot for 5min at a time they are still in the game. Offensively I would like to see movement by all 5 players on the floor, not one on one ball, that isn't who we are. 2 names come to mind Tony Bennett and Jamie Dixon. They seem to get kids to listen and to play with passion. Dixon was on Mike and Mike radio and said he had the utmost respect for knight and he used what Knight said about concentration and execution being the key factor in tournament teams making a run in the tournament to his own kids at Pitt, apparently it worked for the Big East tournament. As far as Bennett goes they are 3rd in the nation in defense at 55 points a game, that would have come in handy alot this year and if you look at his team there isn't any 5 star players on their team, just a bunch of kids that bust their ass and understand team ball. Again we don't need to be 30-2 like Memphis or Tennessee (can't stand that type of ball being an IU fan)..Get back to the Sloan screen 45 days with todays athletes and the cream and crimson will rise to the top....Greenspan please listen

TheMiz

i agree with most of this, however i think i speak for most IU fans especially, but fans of any team for that matter, when i say that sweet 16 and elite 8 are nice...but to really keep me and this fan base satisfied final fours and nat'l championships MUST be in the picture, at least every so often

BTOWN40

definetly, sweet 16 and elite 8 are where we need to be every year..It just gets to be luck the rest of the way in the tournament.

JamesHardy

Anybody else think that Dicky V should be on this committee???

SocksShortsSwish

nope.

jgongora

god no

kb33

Please, do not infer from my comments about the selection committee that I was looking for any Bensons, Kitchells, or other former players. It appears we have a very good selection of self-righteous types. I am just a little concerned at this point what we end up with when this process is complete.

kelin

I think Ebanks still has a chance to come to IU, if he talks with the new coach and gets sold on the opportunity and sold on Indiana....NOT a coach.

kelin

I won't totally blast this "blue chip" group but I would have liked to have seen more basketball people on the panel/search group.......this hire to me breaks down to be based on these things....

1. Clean guy
2. Basketball success
3. Youth
4. Name

Dirk

Committee = no individual accountability

Given that the alternative is giving Greenspan carte blanche, I'll take the committee. Go committee!

Bay Area Hoosier

Anybody worried about the credentials of the committe, take a look at Jerry Yeagley. He might not know how to run a box and one or a full court press, but 6 national championships in d-1 soccer have to garner some respect.

any chance Ebanks still heads to IU?

T

Just because someone played basketball doesn't mean they are right for making big time decisions about basketball, (Exhibit A - Isiah Thomas)

I don't know any of the names on the comitte, but if I was appointing someone to find the new coach at IU I would want guys who had common sense and closely followed all of College Basketball, not just what IU is doing.

Ben

I do like Bennett and the more I read....the more I like. Hell he got a 4 seed in the tournament. Miller I don't think wold be bad......something about it just doesn't seem right.....but he he got a 3 seed. It is disappointing to hear these two wouldn't be interested in the job, but it is, after all, a rumor. I don't like many of the names on the committee. I agree with the "whose gonso" thing. Maybe he should pick the football coach. Yeagley and Radford seem like good pics though. I did here through the grape vine that John Calapari was text messaging former hoosier and new jersey net Brian Evans about the IU job.

rambit

Gonso..wtf.... whats he know about basketball.... he is nothing more than a sham for the munchkin mitch daniels. Gonso took too many hits to the head as a quarterback, his faculties are not quite what they should be.

kb33

Sherron, I agree with you my man. What troubles me, however, is in looking over the names on this 10 member, so called, blue ribbon committee. I see one name, Wayne Radford, with any prior basketball experience. Sure, some of these guys may have played some high school or pick-up ball, but c'mon, were talking about replacing a coach at Indiana University.

Bay Area Hoosier

Bruce Pearl? Damaged goods.

Scott Drew from Baylor. Talk about a squeaky clean reputation and someone who has proven the ability to turn around a program.

I'm not sure we need the next "big thing," in college coaching. A solid coach with a tangible up-side is what we should gun for. Forget Pitino, Pearl, Few, etc.. and let's find a coach who can make his name at IU and not bring it in a carry-on.

Brett

Talk about a coach with no experience at a major school. Grow up.

Bay Area Hoosier

In 1980, Krzyzewski took over as the head coach at Duke University after having accumulated a 73-59 win-loss record in five seasons at Army.

I forgot everyone needs experience at a major school before success comes calling. get a clue.

Brett

Ok you got me there. For every Coach K or Bob Knight story there are thousands upon thousands of stories stating the opposite. WatchMorBasketball.

Sherron Wilkerson

A "blue chip committee" that "will not be releasing their findings publicly" sounds to me like the powers that be (the Alum who fired Knight and apparently didn't get any say on Sampson being hired so they were still pouting about it) are going to hire who they want to this time. Probably Tom fucking Creen or some other d-bag that they see fit. I hate to say it but we have become like Notre Dame in that our Alumni have WAY WAY WAY to much pull in what happens in our sports programs. They fired Knight and I would not be surprised at all if a couple of them had a hand in on the NCAAs hurry up offense in getting rid of Sampson.

jdaddy

Interesting... for sure. It sounds like IU is wanting to head in the direction. Is there anyway we can pull Bruce Pearl away from Tenn??? He is my first choice by far... thoughts???

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