on December 16, 2025, 11:59:15, in reply to "That’s definitely not what I’m trying to say. I count myself as part of the group I’m describing…"
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where I find myself being pissed off at dropping to #13 in KenPom but then on the other hand am trying to remind myself how much I would have killed to be ranked #13 in KenPom for basically the entirety of the 2007-2020 time period. So that’s the dynamic I’m describing when it comes to the confusing mental state that a lot of people are in.
Where I diverge from some of our internet fan base is in the reaction to that frustration. Brad Underwood not being as good as Dan Hurley or Matt Painter doesn’t mean he sucks or that we should move on from him. Doing so would be viewed as one of the most insane/dumbest coaching decisions ever made by most neutral observers.
Building and maintaining a top 15 program is incredibly hard to do and we are just coming off a 15 year stretch where we learned that the hard way. It’s very likely that Underwood never wins a title here, but hardly anyone wins a title. Sampson hasn’t. Barnes hasn’t. Painter hasn’t. Pearl never did. Izzo only did it once and that was 25 years ago.
So as much as it pains me that we may never get over the hump, I don’t think that continuing to stack successful seasons is a sign of progress stalling out just because we maybe haven’t had the one true breakthrough yet. There is something to be said for continuing to give yourself bites at the apple.
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You’re historically 15, so be happy staying at 15 in perpetuity.
That’s not really human nature. You strive for more. You try to grow and achieve and break through.
15 is amazing as a floor. It’s not as amazing as a ceiling. Which is probably the glass half full/glass half empty paradox of our situation. Previous Message
We are achieving.
Not underachieving not overachieving.
We are historically about #15 in wins, and that's about where we are in the polls.
We are very safely and comfortable in that range without much danger of moving.
Besides one very notable game, all of our tournament results have been fairly chalky
We are very good... but there are a handful of programs that either catch fire for a year or two or structurally remain above us Previous Message
We’ve reached the stage that happens with college football programs that leads to the prevailing sentiment that all fanbases are miserable, it just manifests itself in different ways.
We’re now at the Penn State football stage where a lot of people are only viewing a season as a success if we are as good as the likes of UConn and Duke. So when we make a totally irrelevant move but it happens right after a frustrating loss, people are looking for reasons to be upset.
All that being said, I do have a slight fear that going the Euro route even to just get a practice body could start to push this thing a little too far when it comes to the degree to which we are fully making it our program’s entire identity. It’s a great resource to be able to tap into, but we’re trending towards it being the only resource we can tap into for blue chip prospects. We’re mostly operating outside the top 100 for high school recruiting now, and the only transfer portal big fish we’ve reeled in across the last 3 offseasons (Stojakovic) was also due to the Euro connections. Previous Message
and play. Previous Message
NEWS: Croatian forward Toni Bilić has committed to Illinois, his agent Misko Ražnatović told DraftExpress. The 6'9", 20-year-old will arrive at semester break and be eligible to play immediately. pic.twitter.com/jJBtE0GV8z — Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) December 15, 2025 .
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- osklister December 17, 2025, 9:04:21