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Is CCC a good coach?

Get outta here with a reasonable opinion like that!

You know what Collins did? He did what good leaders do, especially those who have had past success before their current difficulties. He took in those criticisms, looked inward, and made the changes to himself and his organization needed to improve. Those aren’t just simple changes, they involve working to develop oneself. He’s a better coach today than even last year. He’s coming into his own, and it didn’t happen on accident.
This is exactly right in my opinion. He has really grown as a coach. To the point where he gives you that feeling that "Everything will be ok because Coach knows what he's doing". But it took him awhile to get there.

He got knocked on his ass after the first tourney and to his credit he changed himself. It took too long in my opinion but he did it whether that be hiring the right people, coming up with an identity and creating a great culture.

Some will say he's always been a good/great coach but I would say he's gone from a mediocre coach to a good/great coach. All the credit in the world to him for making the necessary changes so far into his career which is not easy for any leader to do.
 
When it’s true and folks won’t believe it, or it’s a subtle point vs. another one, it bears repeating.
That’s how I feel. Glad we are on the same page. And glad ccc made the necessary changes to become an asset to the program. Sure sign off a maturing coach ;)
 
This is exactly right in my opinion. He has really grown as a coach. To the point where he gives you that feeling that "Everything will be ok because Coach knows what he's doing". But it took him awhile to get there.

He got knocked on his ass after the first tourney and to his credit he changed himself. It took too long in my opinion but he did it whether that be hiring the right people, coming up with an identity and creating a great culture.

Some will say he's always been a good/great coach but I would say he's gone from a mediocre coach to a good/great coach. All the credit in the world to him for making the necessary changes so far into his career which is not easy for any leader to do.
A mediocre coach doesn’t bring NU to it’s first every tournament birth.
 
This is exactly right in my opinion. He has really grown as a coach. To the point where he gives you that feeling that "Everything will be ok because Coach knows what he's doing". But it took him awhile to get there.

He got knocked on his ass after the first tourney and to his credit he changed himself. It took too long in my opinion but he did it whether that be hiring the right people, coming up with an identity and creating a great culture.

Some will say he's always been a good/great coach but I would say he's gone from a mediocre coach to a good/great coach. All the credit in the world to him for making the necessary changes so far into his career which is not easy for any leader to do.
This is true, he had some definite flaws in his approach. Who can forgot the “air out of the ball” way too early games. However, as most seem to agree that CCC has grown into a very good Coach, how long will it take for the pendulum to swing back when results are not as favorable? Will he suddenly have forgot how to Coach? Sometimes it isn’t as simple as we won, Coach is great and we lost Coach Sucks.
 
I would *love* to hear CCC’s take on how he’s gotten better since 2017. And while “Boo Buie makes a lot of guys look better” is an easy answer, it would be interesting to hear if he’s changed recruiting philosophy or how he delegates or what he talks about.


It seems like eons ago, but the best indication we had that CCC was becoming a great coach was his eruption at West Lafayette.

Wait until the loss is secure.
Light up the official.
Clarify to your players that you know what you’re doing.
Shake coach Painter’s hand.
Dap up Edey.
Make eye contact with Purdue students, encouraging them to lose their sh*t.
Defend the hell out of your players in the postgame.

Perfection.
 
This is exactly right in my opinion. He has really grown as a coach. To the point where he gives you that feeling that "Everything will be ok because Coach knows what he's doing". But it took him awhile to get there.

He got knocked on his ass after the first tourney and to his credit he changed himself. It took too long in my opinion but he did it whether that be hiring the right people, coming up with an identity and creating a great culture.

Some will say he's always been a good/great coach but I would say he's gone from a mediocre coach to a good/great coach. All the credit in the world to him for making the necessary changes so far into his career which is not easy for any leader to do.
I imagine that Collins had his initial success and started seeing increased interest from higher rated recruits. That led him to perhaps think he could use a Duke model of just going out and getting the best players and figuring it out once they are on campus. That is what he saw work well at Duke. However, the best players that Duke could get and the best players at NU (even though they were rated higher than the traditional NU recruit) are quite different and so that Duke model didn't work at NU. He figured it out and then went back to rebuild the program in a different way. That's my hypothesis as to what has happened here.
 
This is true, he had some definite flaws in his approach. Who can forgot the “air out of the ball” way too early games. However, as most seem to agree that CCC has grown into a very good Coach, how long will it take for the pendulum to swing back when results are not as favorable? Will he suddenly have forgot how to Coach? Sometimes it isn’t as simple as we won, Coach is great and we lost Coach Sucks.
I was a little nervous last night that we were seeing the "air out of the ball" approach too early leading to a number of unproductive possessions as Maryland cut the double digit lead down to 5. Boo held the ball too long and was left with nothing. Fortunately, they seemed to acknowledge that at the timeout and went back to moving the ball a little more, leading to a huge Martinelli bucket in the paint.
 
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I imagine that Collins had his initial success and started seeing increased interest from higher rated recruits. That led him to perhaps think he could use a Duke model of just going out and getting the best players and figuring it out once they are on campus. That is what he saw work well at Duke. However, the best players that Duke could get and the best players at NU (even though they were rated higher than the traditional NU recruit) are quite different and so that Duke model didn't work at NU. He figured it out and then went back to rebuild the program in a different way. That's my hypothesis as to what has happened here.
You still take the most talented players you can get that fit the culture. The culture part being a non-negotiable.
 
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A mediocre coach doesn’t bring NU to it’s first every tournament birth.
So did he go from a great coach to a mediocre coach and now back to a great coach? Obviously having good players is a big part of it but he struggled to get a lot out of those teams between the first dance and last season.

And I know people will say he has an All-American in Buie right now, but it's obvious that his coaching style has changed and he is a much better leader now.
 
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I imagine that Collins had his initial success and started seeing increased interest from higher rated recruits. That led him to perhaps think he could use a Duke model of just going out and getting the best players and figuring it out once they are on campus. That is what he saw work well at Duke. However, the best players that Duke could get and the best players at NU (even though they were rated higher than the traditional NU recruit) are quite different and so that Duke model didn't work at NU. He figured it out and then went back to rebuild the program in a different way. That's my hypothesis as to what has happened here.
This is a very good point. He seems to have gone from getting/going for highly rated recruits to getting guys that are talented enough but are also tough SOBs. And that speaks to him maturing as a coach and becoming better.
 
So did he go from a great coach to a mediocre coach and now back to a great coach? Obviously having good players is a big part of it but he struggled to get a lot out of those teams between the first dance and last season.

And I know people will say he has an All-American in Buie right now, but it's obvious that his coaching style has changed and he is a much better leader now.
Went from a good young coach to a very good experienced coach. Ego management and culture were his biggest learning curve moments. Lost the team after the first tournament and it took awhile to build it back. His X’s and O’s and in game decisions have not drastically changed. Do not underestimate the impact of an all American who is fully bought in. The fact that Buie and Audige didn’t have any chemistry problems shows the development of Collins culture building and ego management. That’s what lead to failure of 2017. Some of those teams inbetween were competitive as well. He’s always been a good coach but nobody is perfect and good players make bad coaches look good and good coaches great. Players win you games coaches build you programs.
 
An
Went from a good young coach to a very good experienced coach. Ego management and culture were his biggest learning curve moments. Lost the team after the first tournament and it took awhile to build it back. His X’s and O’s and in game decisions have not drastically changed. Do not underestimate the impact of an all American who is fully bought in. The fact that Buie and Audige didn’t have any chemistry problems shows the development of Collins culture building and ego management. That’s what lead to failure of 2017. Some of those teams inbetween were competitive as well. He’s always been a good coach but nobody is perfect and good players make bad coaches look good and good coaches great. Players win you games coaches build you programs.
And a big part of being a great head coach is culture building, hiring the right assistants, knowing what type of player to recruit etc. So if culture and ego management led to failure(your word) in 2017(and then for several years after that) then calling him anything more than a mediocre coach during that time would be very generous since that is a huge part of being the head man.
 
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This is a very good point. He seems to have gone from getting/going for highly rated recruits to getting guys that are talented enough but are also tough SOBs. And that speaks to him maturing as a coach and becoming better.
He is always going to go after highly rated recruits if he thinks they will fit the culture and we have a fighting chance. I just don't think they were an option the past few seasons. I think he still recruits Falzon, Kopp, Beran and Nance. You have to take chances on guys like that. I have said this before but if you put senior Buie on the last Nance team (even with a less than healthy Audige), we go to the tournament. He does seem to be recruiting less big guys and going with more guards and wings.

And as far as changes in his coaching, I think the first 4 years he was a slightly crazed, confident and hungry coach. His teams played very hard and he had a great lead guard in McIntosh. After the first tournament, I think he was less hungry and overconfident (arrogant?) and struggled to make up for 3 years of recruiting classes that produced one great player (Pardon) and one rotation guy (Gaines) and no lead guard. Hard for any coach to overcome that.

In the past few years, he has been humbled and seems much less crazed and more supportive (as least on the sideline in games). Seems like the players genuinely like him.

This board is notoriously results oriented so let's see what folks think of him if we struggle after Buie and Langborg leave. He hasn't proven he can win without a great lead guard.
 
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One of the most obvious improvements to me the last two years is that Collins now typically has the right people in the game at the right time. I realized at the game last night (fun time!) that there have only been a couple instances the last two years when I wanted to yell at him (or more often the TV) because I thought he had the wrong people in at the wrong time/situation. I LOVE his substitution patterns now, and he almost always has the right people in at the right times. (Granted, that’s easier when you regularly only play 7 guys, but still.)
 
This isn't anything startling or new, but it seems to me that CCC had a great pitch in the beginning and he brought in talented guys who bought in to the pitch, which led to 2017. I think what he had to learn and improve on was 1) not just recruiting the highest ranked players he could get, but finding talented guys with the right attitude and getting them to buy in, 2) putting together a coaching staff similarly talented and attitudinal, and 3) developing his own game planning and in-game coaching skills.

And 1) isn't just getting guys like Brooks and Nick, it's also getting guys like Chase, Langborg and Tydus.
And 2) isn't just getting Lowery, it's also getting Battle - PG play, including Boo's game, upticked with him, imho.
And 3) isn't just stuff already mentioned, it's also prepping to play the game you can with the talent you have rather than the game you want to play - so Ty goes down, Ryan goes down, adjustments are made and the game plays a little differently.

I think he started at NU as a decent rookie coach with a ton of 'youthful' enthusiasm. He's learned and grown and become an excellent, experienced coach and probably the all-around best coach NU has had in my lifetime at least.

For me that doesn't just count the winning, which is just wow, but also how much team there is in the team. How connected they seem to each other and the staff. How hard they fight each game. Whatever else is going on with NU, you no there's no drama in the locker room, just a competitive brotherhood.
 
My short take on the longer posts above: for the first 7 to 8 years CCC worked under the Duke model. That produced one tournament team After the collapse of the pot-tournament team, he shifted to the Wisconsin model.
I was unhappy when he used the Duke model, because I thought it was not sustainable at NU, and wanted a coach that would follow either the Wisconsin or St. Mary's model. Since he decided to follow the Wisconsin model, I am happy. Barnhizer, to me, is a foundational Wisconsin model player.
 
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My short take on the longer posts above: for the first 7 to 8 years CCC worked under the Duke model. That produced one tournament team After the collapse of the pot-tournament team, he shifted to the Wisconsin model.
I was unhappy when he used the Duke model, because I thought it was not sustainable at NU, and wanted a coach that would follow either the Wisconsin or St. Mary's model. Since he decided to follow the Wisconsin model, I am happy. Barnhizer, to me, is a foundational Wisconsin model player.
This is a good point. One of the things that frustrates some of the Collins detractors is his hesitance to play younger players until absolutely necessary. That is very much a part of the Wisconsin "get old and stay old" model.
 
This is exactly right in my opinion. He has really grown as a coach. To the point where he gives you that feeling that "Everything will be ok because Coach knows what he's doing". But it took him awhile to get there.

He got knocked on his ass after the first tourney and to his credit he changed himself. It took too long in my opinion but he did it whether that be hiring the right people, coming up with an identity and creating a great culture.

Some will say he's always been a good/great coach but I would say he's gone from a mediocre coach to a good/great coach. All the credit in the world to him for making the necessary changes so far into his career which is not easy for any leader to do.
I think Fitz was going through that same process. Bringing in Braun turned out to be a great move.
 
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I imagine that Collins had his initial success and started seeing increased interest from higher rated recruits. That led him to perhaps think he could use a Duke model of just going out and getting the best players and figuring it out once they are on campus. That is what he saw work well at Duke. However, the best players that Duke could get and the best players at NU (even though they were rated higher than the traditional NU recruit) are quite different and so that Duke model didn't work at NU. He figured it out and then went back to rebuild the program in a different way. That's my hypothesis as to what has happened here.
So based on your hypothesis, do you think it is reasonable to hope that given the new venue that by many accounts rivals many very difficult venues and a series of years making the tournament, CCC could adopt parts of the Duke model because he knows how it works.
 
My short take on the longer posts above: for the first 7 to 8 years CCC worked under the Duke model. That produced one tournament team After the collapse of the pot-tournament team, he shifted to the Wisconsin model.
I was unhappy when he used the Duke model, because I thought it was not sustainable at NU, and wanted a coach that would follow either the Wisconsin or St. Mary's model. Since he decided to follow the Wisconsin model, I am happy. Barnhizer, to me, is a foundational Wisconsin model player.
So were Buie and Audige part of the Duke model or the Wisconsin model? I'm not sure I understand the distinction. He recruited Brumbaugh 3 years ago. He seems like a Duke player. Top 100 player and somebody you might want to punch. I am trying to understand who on the first tournament team would not be recruited now? Law?
 
So based on your hypothesis, do you think it is reasonable to hope that given the new venue that by many accounts rivals many very difficult venues and a series of years making the tournament, CCC could adopt parts of the Duke model because he knows how it works.
I don't think he would ever go back to the Duke model (and I have made up what the Duke model means in the previous post). That isn't to say he won't go after a highly rated recruit again, but I would hope he wouldn't recruit a kid without serious thought as to how he fits into the culture and the scheme.

Granted, this is all a gross oversimplification of what is involved in building and maintaining a program, but this is a fan message board, not a PhD thesis.
 
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So were Buie and Audige part of the Duke model or the Wisconsin model? I'm not sure I understand the distinction. He recruited Brumbaugh 3 years ago. He seems like a Duke player. Top 100 player and somebody you might want to punch. I am trying to understand who on the first tournament team would not be recruited now? Law?
I think he shifted to a Wisconsin model when he hired Lowery and Audige and Buie both benefited from the change.
 
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My theory for what it's worth, goes like this:

March 2013: Collins hired, immediately goes about recruiting Vic Law. Nets his first big class on the pitch of "you'll be the first to make the tourney, pound the rock, etc"

2013-14: Takes a roster of Carmody players after re-recruiting Crawford to stay, gets them to play hard-nosed defense in a strong Big Ten despite being utterly unable to shoot, posts best NU defense since 2001-02 season, beats Frank Kaminsky-led Final Four-bound Badgers at the Kohl Center for first win in the building.

2014-17: Using his first recruiting class as the foundation of the team, improves each season despite the conference being weaker than the last years of Carmody and some bad injury luck (Law 2016, Falzon 2017, Ivanauskas 2017-18) reaches the pinnacle by making first NCAA tourney in school history.

2017-18: Signs 2nd big recruiting class coming off making the tourney headlined by 4-stars Nance and Kopp. Collins thinks he can run it back and relax a bit knowing what he has on his team, losing just two players, albeit the best 3-point shooter and the most underrated defender. McIntosh gets injured during final non-conference game, never the same after that. Playing at Allstate, season begins with warning signs that there might be issues, eventually turns into a disaster.

2018-22: Restarts with class of Kopp, Nance, Young, Greer in a revitalized Big Ten conference. Signs another 4-star in Robbie Beran along with some guy named Daniel Buie. Departs from past approach and tries to go up-tempo with relatively disastrous results. Suffers 10+ game losing streaks in each of 2018-19, 19-20 and 20-21 seasons. Begins to shift recruiting philosophy, whether because his hand is forced by all the losing or he sees that the parade of 4-star players isn't working out. Ty Berry is last 4-star signed right before beginning of 2019-20 season. Transfer portal comes into play as well, transfers in aren't great, Kopp, Nance and Young eventually transfer out.

2022-23: Hires the 🧙‍♂️ following hotly debated public ultimatum delivered by the AD. Emergence of Nicholson as a defensive force after years of being on the bench, of Audige into his final form of terrifying defender with bouts of amazing offense mixed with head-scratching moments, Barnhizer as valuable depth piece, and Martinelli seizing the opportunity afforded by Roper's injury. Buie matures into an all-conference player, team embraces gritty, scrappy, mentally tough mindset. Team defense skyrockets up, led by emphasis on forcing turnovers. Returns to slower tempo of earlier years. Reaches 2nd NCAA tourney.
 
I'd like emphasize one simple point why CC's been a good coach for NU that's been DRASTICALLY overlooked for awhile now.

He stayed.

There's not even a sign that he sniffed another job after both tournaments. It says a lot about Collins' dedication to the program that he didn't twitch after a new AD pulled that public statement BS.
 
Get outta here with a reasonable opinion like that!

You know what Collins did? He did what good leaders do, especially those who have had past success before their current difficulties. He took in those criticisms, looked inward, and made the changes to himself and his organization needed to improve. Those aren’t just simple changes, they involve working to develop oneself. He’s a better coach today than even last year. He’s coming into his own, and it didn’t happen on accident.
Once I get past the unfounded (maybe even patronizing) statement to start, I am totally with you. No one is perfect and it’s how you respond to adversity that matters. He owned it, even though he rightfully defended himself and his team that they were making progress after falling down precipitously in 2017-2018. Lots of people saw no progress. I’d like them to tell that to Boo and see what he would say in response.
 
This is exactly right in my opinion. He has really grown as a coach. To the point where he gives you that feeling that "Everything will be ok because Coach knows what he's doing". But it took him awhile to get there.

He got knocked on his ass after the first tourney and to his credit he changed himself. It took too long in my opinion but he did it whether that be hiring the right people, coming up with an identity and creating a great culture.

Some will say he's always been a good/great coach but I would say he's gone from a mediocre coach to a good/great coach. All the credit in the world to him for making the necessary changes so far into his career which is not easy for any leader to do.
Luckily he had the time to make those changes. Many people were trying to run him out of town
 
Anybody ever wonder how different the last several years would’ve been if NU landed Baldwin? I don’t.
 
He is always going to go after highly rated recruits if he thinks they will fit the culture and we have a fighting chance. I just don't think they were an option the past few seasons. I think he still recruits Falzon, Kopp, Beran and Nance. You have to take chances on guys like that. I have said this before but if you put senior Buie on the last Nance team (even with a less than healthy Audige), we go to the tournament. He does seem to be recruiting less big guys and going with more guards and wings.

And as far as changes in his coaching, I think the first 4 years he was a slightly crazed, confident and hungry coach. His teams played very hard and he had a great lead guard in McIntosh. After the first tournament, I think he was less hungry and overconfident (arrogant?) and struggled to make up for 3 years of recruiting classes that produced one great player (Pardon) and one rotation guy (Gaines) and no lead guard. Hard for any coach to overcome that.

In the past few years, he has been humbled and seems much less crazed and more supportive (as least on the sideline in games). Seems like the players genuinely like him.

This board is notoriously results oriented so let's see what folks think of him if we struggle after Buie and Langborg leave. He hasn't proven he can win without a great lead guard.
The results are the important factor ultimately. No to participation trophies. No to everyone graduates. No to cleanest program in the country.

Find a process to win without embarassing the school and alum.
 
Went from a good young coach to a very good experienced coach. Ego management and culture were his biggest learning curve moments. Lost the team after the first tournament and it took awhile to build it back. His X’s and O’s and in game decisions have not drastically changed. Do not underestimate the impact of an all American who is fully bought in. The fact that Buie and Audige didn’t have any chemistry problems shows the development of Collins culture building and ego management. That’s what lead to failure of 2017. Some of those teams inbetween were competitive as well. He’s always been a good coach but nobody is perfect and good players make bad coaches look good and good coaches great. Players win you games coaches build you programs.
And the end of the in between seasons were so bad that he was all but fired.
 
So did he go from a great coach to a mediocre coach and now back to a great coach? Obviously having good players is a big part of it but he struggled to get a lot out of those teams between the first dance and last season.

And I know people will say he has an All-American in Buie right now, but it's obvious that his coaching style has changed and he is a much better leader now.
Originally he was a pretty good coach that was learning his way. Recruited well and what he brought in fit with things were already here. They developed together and the culture was sound and the culture was that of working together to an end. But combination of ego and injuries derailed that group and he brought in higher rated guys but they never bought into the synergy of working together. They were close but the difference between winning and losing was a play or two and they just did not get it done. He learned from those mistakes and focused more on how everyone works together and how important the culture is and he had a couple leaders that brought that into fruition (Audige and Buie) and others followed and bought in as well and they focused on developing an identity. The basic difference is now they make those couple plays a game that are the difference between winning and losing.
 
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The results are the important factor ultimately. No to participation trophies. No to everyone graduates. No to cleanest program in the country.

Find a process to win without embarassing the school and alum.
Sorry but everyone still graduates and it is still one of if not the cleanest programs. Those foundations have not changed
 
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Collins has said in a few different post games that he doesn't know how Nick gets it done, and he seems ok with that.
His style of play is pretty unorthodox. He has a way of getting angles that give him an opening. Can't really coach that. But a lot of it seems to be just how hard he works. An example is when he managed to keep a path open for MN to drive for that basket. Without what he did, that never happens.
 
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Yes, he is. And he's a much better, more dynamic coach than he was just a few years ago. He needed to learn, and he did. His staff also deserve huge credit - as does CC for pulling together the right staff and leading them the right way. I personally think Lowery is a mastermind who behind the scenes has had a huge impact on this coaching staff, and on CC himself.

As a team, this squad is a shape shifter. How many different ways are we going to find to win this year? This ability to get it done in different ways, with different personnel, is impossible without good coaching. We win with offence, and sometimes defense. We win by shooting well, or by rebounding, or by protecting the ball. We win on the shoulders of Boo, or BB, or Berry, or Borg, or... Martinelli (?!). We win through a great game plan - or by really smart in-game adjustments when something unexpected happens.

There are very few routes to winning that we haven't taken this year. With all due credit to our players - that's not going to happen without great coaching.
I think the in game adjustments are huge
 
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Best in NU history. Showed it with his first tourney appearance. Reaffirmed with the 2nd. Silencing the most stubborn NU fans with the third.
Best in the last 50 years, yes. In history, not sure about that. There were some descent results in years past but BIG only got one team to tourney. And there was that national championship before there was an NCAA
 
This is a very good point. He seems to have gone from getting/going for highly rated recruits to getting guys that are talented enough but are also tough SOBs. And that speaks to him maturing as a coach and becoming better.
Comes to figuring out where he could gain an advantage. Everyone in BIG gets good players an in almost all cases better than what we can get at NU so that way really does not work for us. But getting the getting the bright, hard working SOB that is tough as nails and works hard to gain that advantage... That is reproducible . Perfect examples coaches sons such as Barnhizer or a guy like McIntosh. Not the highest rated but so important to programs
 
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So based on your hypothesis, do you think it is reasonable to hope that given the new venue that by many accounts rivals many very difficult venues and a series of years making the tournament, CCC could adopt parts of the Duke model because he knows how it works.
Not unless they fit the rest of his model
 
That guy is just an asshole. Too hard to sustain success on the “Enchanted Lakefront.” Collins came here, in part, because we had no tradition and now that he’s actually taking the program to where he envisioned when he got hired, he should leave. He’s becoming a legend at NU. Unless Duke opens up, I don’t see him leaving.
I know CC is not a fan of Gragg and felt Gragg’s comments hurt him in recruiting. If Greg goes, they’ll be a lot of happy people in the athletic department.
 
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