I think Johnson should be scoped out if he is interested in the job...do we know he actually does have any interest???
Here's where I think we have to be careful....Ivy League coaches have not always moved on and been successful....and Johnson has not yet showed sustained degree of success...remember James Jones?
The last Princeton coach was hired at Denver in 2007 and has floundered there way under .500 at a low major.
And -- back to Jones...the last time we hired, we also considered an Ivy League coach as one of the final four in the hiring process.
He also looked good at the time -- but he stayed at Yale and done absolutely mediocre since them -- 104-120 and never more than middle of the pack in the IVY League.
Then there's the President's brother-in-law, Craig Robinson, who had Sydney-Johnson-like success at Brown and was hired at Oregon State and has done terribly there so far -- with his offense scoring in the 30's & 40's so often and entrenching themselves at the bottom of the Pac-10 so solidly that Beaver fans are already clammoring to get rid of Craig.
Cornell's coach was a hot topic a year ago -- but he stayed at Cornell - and nobody's mentioning his name this year...they're terrible...
Bill Carmody also moved on from Princeton and despite modest success at Northwestern - he's never made the NCAA and the Northwestern fans are not universally happy..
I know some Ivy League coaches have moved on and been successful -- but actually I can only find two such examples
Tornado, some excellent, excellent points though I think the situation with Johnson and Bradley would be VERY different, primarily because Bradley is a true basketball school with engaged alumni, terrific facilities and a rich tradition. Denver and Northwestern have never even been to the NCAA tournament and Oregon State has little tradition to speak of, outside of nice runs with Ralph Miller coaching and (later) with Gary Payton playing.
Bottom line, and I think this is the rare thing that ALL of us on this board can agree upon: Bradley provides a much better base for success than all of those other schools. It is also a completely different animal than Princeton and the Ivy League.
My wife and I were living in Princeton in 2004 when they won the Ivy League, went 20-8 with one loss in the league. Their team was excellent that year and you didn't hear a peep about that team anywhere in town. The students aren't huge sports fans and many of the local residents support teams from nearby Philly or New York. 180 degrees from Peoria, where BU is THE game in town.
A few more points:
1. I think the tie with Dr. Cross cannot be ignored. Let's hope he can sell Sydney on BU being the excellent opportunity that it is. It certainly doesn't hurt that Cross came here from Princeton as well.
2. I saw the emotional press conference with Sydney crying yesterday. Maybe he was crying because he knows there are other opportunities on the horizon and that yesterday may have been his last game for the Tigers.
3. The guy was an assistant at Georgetown before returning to Princeton. I don't think you coach in the Big East unless you're an ambitious guy who wants big things. And, though John Thompson III was an exception (an his family ties certainly played a role), you are very rarely going to make a move from the Ivy League to an elite basketball school. BU is a natural next step for Sydney.
4. I'm not sure if he'd be in Peoria forever, but I think Sydney would win while he was here, and win big.
Let's go get this guy and Restore the Roar!
