Kenny Payne played at Louisville in the 80′s. He was on the 86 NC team.

Really, we have no idea what is going on behind the scenes, so any speculation as to why McLeod is leaving is…speculation. And all this criticism about the recruiting strategy is a bit silly. To expect 5-stars to come to Indiana, where the program is in disarray and the likelihood of getting to the tourney is very remote even if said 5-star came to play, is wearing the crimson colored glasses at this point. Yes, IU is a storied program. Yes, IU will be back. But it's going to be a few years until there is any consistency in terms of wins. You can't fault the recruiter for all the ones that got away if there isn't much for them to come to in the first place. Those types of recruits are still a couple years off.

Not sure how one season is enough for a guy to prove he is or isn't a great recruiter. Especially, when you are recruiting against consistent 20 game winners and your team won 6 games or whatever it was last year.

I actually didn't even notice he was gone…..

Ok two things….
1. Would anyone object to us hiring world wide wes? Hey you said you want 5star recruits….?
2. Fill me in on Kenny Payne I have heard his name alot….who is he and why should we want him?
3. Could Crean bring in an IU guy? or a recent young grad? Coverdale….Smart…..

Hire Shawn Teague!!!

This is a dumb move by Crean. You can't fire a guy because of bad recruiting. We had the two worst seasons in IU history. Thats a tough sell when you compete against UNC, Kansas, Duke, and Kentucky. If we would have had half way decent seasons we would have easily gotten Irving, and Kendrick two athletes that wouldn't have given as a stare if it weren't for Mcleod.

Hopefully this signals a shift in recruiting strategy. The recruiting decisions of the last year deserve harsh criticism. They wasted a lot of effort with Irving, Selby, Abraham, etc. They put all their eggs in Irving's basket to get him to come, including foregoing recruiting other players at his position. Getting in late on 5-star kids didn't work for Mike Davis and it won't for Crean.

jgon86, your post makes zero sense. You say “you can't fire a guy b/c of bad recruiting.” How do you know why he was fired? No one other than the people intimately involved with the program knows exactly why McLeod is gone, so for anyone on here to speculate why is pointless. You also say we would have easily gotten Irving and Kendrick if we had halfway decent seasons…again, how in the world do you know this? Did they tell you? Plus, Irving eliminated us and Kendrick committed to Memphis before this season even started, so the 20 losses this year had nothing to do with their decisions.

The fact that he was not there for the last home game that was a conference game that was on senior day makes me think it may have not been an amicable parting of ways. Have also heard the “Kenny Payne” name somewhere but can't remember where or in relation to what. Seems like it had to do with recruiting at some school out west. Assistant coaches are not something you hear alot about but is a very intregal part of any team and in alot of ways. Crean should take his time and wait to see what happens in coaching world after the season ends before he makes a hire unless he has no doubt who he wants and wants to make sure he doesn't end up somewhere else before he can talk to him.

How long before someone starts throwing Dakich's name out there ? Don't think he would take it and don't want it to even be considered. Need someone that can help our bigs develop as quick as possible since it looks like what we have is what we are going to have to work with for next year possibly the next two. Hopefully we will need someone that is fluent in French and whatever language they speak in the country that Moses originally hails from (Nigeria ?) Speaking of Moses has anyone heard when he intends to announce who he is going to sign with. I know they said that him being sick had pushed that decision back but didn't say till when at that time.

Being from southern IN I thought I remembered that name from years ago at UL but didn't think my memory could be that good or that it was a different Kenny Payne. If memory serves me right he was from the Jersey area as a high schooler. Wasn't he part of what was at the time called “the Camden connection” I know there were a few really good players that ended up playing for Crum via what was called the Camden connection.

This move shows Crean is not going to waste any time with this program. He needs the right fit and knows waiting another year or two could only hurt the program. It also puts everyone on notice to work hard within the program and there is no room for mistakes.

I hate to see someone lose their job but I'm sure he will land on his feet.

Believe me, I'd love to have a former player that can pull in the recruits, but I think the bigger need is basketball coach, not figure head. I think we need a guy that can recruit, but also has plenty of experience coaching the game.

It seems many of the former players fans are calling for, have zero coaching experience.

1. I don't think the WWW idea would go anywhere. From what I've read, he's getting ready to become an agent for coaches. So while you couldn't hire him per se, I guess the logic is that you hire one of “his” coaches, and you gain access to his player pipeline.

2. Here's an article that explains a bit of Payne's recent background, and his connections to Wes and Calipari. http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Payne_Kenny_5453…
Beyond this, he's credited with pulling in some Detroit area recruits that helped Oregon make waves in the NCAA tournament a few years ago. You do wonder what's being going on since then, if Oregon has slipped enough that they're letting the Ernie Kent and his entire staff go. I think I go two ways on this. One, I would like to get someone who is a solid recruiter, and help build the program. But, he is part of the whole WWW group, so who knows what that would also bring with it.

3. I'm not sure what IU guy you could bring in that would lend instant cachet. McLeod was supposed to be our “relevant” guy on the staff – someone who would show up in someone's house and be someone the kids would have seen play on TV. Cov or Fife would really only work in-state, and while I want to get more local kids, IU does need to look elsewhere for talent as well.

Yes, the coaches convention is during the final 4.

It was a secondary violation and I'm relatively positive that it's totally unrelated.

My recollection is the McLeod hiring was based on his experience as a big, teaching as a big, and recruiting bigs. I also recall he knew this guy that knew that kid and had coached this AAU kid. None of which ended up at IU.

We all have been nervously awaiting the 1 or 2 bigs that are sorely needed for a full year. Meanwhile, Pritchard, Tijan and Bawa haven't exactly developed into what we were all hoping for.

Do the math people. It didn't work out. I realize dismissing him now may look a little seedy but perhaps the writing was on the wall. Maybe it was discussed and they mutually agreed to move on now so both parties could fill another position.

I have no problem with this. He was a well-known college big with a few connections and it just wasn't a long-term fit. It happens a thousand times a day in the real world.

Isn't there a big convention of coaches etc around the NCAA finals ? If so splitting up now enables TC to get the jump on new hires and enables RM to get prepared to seek new openeings.

Another question after these last 2 seasons is whether this is the complete set of dismissals.

HIRE COVERDALE!!!! or somebody that can bring in great recruits

I took Crean's Coaching of Basketball class and it was pretty much ran by his staff. McCleaod was a nice guy. I enjoyed the couple classes he taught. Sucks to see him go but whatever it takes to bring us back.

To answer several questions asked earlier, Moses is expected to commit to Georgetown. McLeod was hired from the Atlanta Celtics AAU team and was expected to deliver a pipeline of prospects from that team to Bloomington. He was successful getting Christian Watford to IU, but not Jelan Kendrick and others. IU needs to focus on keeping in-state talent home like Marquis Teague from Indy.

tx

Which is conveniently up the road this year…

CBI?

Was just kidding around Dave I don't have the answers. Only speculation.

That may be true, but they do have a consensus top 10 guy (Fabricio Melo) coming in, so you can't tell me that they aren't looking out for the top talent.