It’s time…

[wiu2008]

WIU Basketball will always be what it is unless you do something outside the box to give it a chance to be better (I will say Jim Molinari did great things while here) 

my suggestion, while controversial. Call Bob Huggins. Redemption tour, put WIU basketball on the map. (Interviewed with Mcnese State and Cleveland State last year. He’s still got the itch. See Rick Pitino’s success) 

[sealhall74]

WIU Basketball will always be what it is unless you do something outside the box to give it a chance to be better (I will say Jim Molinari did great things while here) 

my suggestion, while controversial. Call Bob Huggins. Redemption tour, put WIU basketball on the map. (Interviewed with Mcnese State and Cleveland State last year. He’s still got the itch. See Rick Pitino’s success) 



 

Man, I do love me some Huggy Bear.   I doubt we could afford him but it would be one hell of a hire and would put some studs on the bench and a few people in the stands.  Gotta come to Macomb with that legendary stool though.

 
 
 

[Western_101]

I don't know the answer. Smarter people than me do. How has Western sports faired when a new coach hire is an assistant that has been elevated?

Across the board? It has never yielded success. Not once.

[vatusay]

That’s a rough list. 

Billy wright-terrible

jared elliot (what a disaster hire arguably the beginning of the end for wiu football)

Charlie fisher to a degree.

beudreux off to rough start

hendrickson did ok with Patterson players.

just what I can think of off the top of my head. 
 
 

[bignecks]

Chad did really good for a bit. The real issue was AD firing all of his assistants in the offseason which stifled his recruiting for this year too. I ultimately say we have to move on because it's just so bad this year, but I think Chad kind of got the shaft. I'm not as low on program prospects as others in this forum. We should be able to compete in this conference, we were literally just doing that. I also think paying for a name coach would be silly. Go get somebody who has built a program under these same circumstances from the lower levels and let them do their thing. 

[wiu2008]

WIU Basketball will always be what it is unless you do something outside the box to give it a chance to be better (I will say Jim Molinari did great things while here) 

my suggestion, while controversial. Call Bob Huggins. Redemption tour, put WIU basketball on the map. (Interviewed with Mcnese State and Cleveland State last year. He’s still got the itch. See Rick Pitino’s success) 




 

Man, I do love me some Huggy Bear.   I doubt we could afford him but it would be one hell of a hire and would put some studs on the bench and a few people in the stands.  Gotta come to Macomb with that legendary stool though.

 
 
 

 

I read last year many said “you’d be surprised” at the cost he was willing to take. Last year, he was just looking for a chance. Maybe that fire has burnt out, but it would certainly be worth a phone call. 

and he’s gotta bring the stool! 

[4EverPurple&Gold]

Make it stop please.... 

[Wiufan87]

Say what you want to about our mens basketball but we have beaten two Big Ten schools in recent years Nebraska and Wisconsin.  We are a year and a half removed from a 21 win season.                                     I have followed college basketball for 40 years what seems to work is hiring a coach who has been successful at his previous stop.  How about for us from a div 1 no football school like Molinari from Bradley or div 2 for us like JD was from Quincy.                              

[ST_Lawson]

Say what you want to about our mens basketball but we have beaten two Big Ten schools in recent years Nebraska and Wisconsin.  We are a year and a half removed from a 21 win season.                                     I have followed college basketball for 40 years what seems to work is hiring a coach who has been successful at his previous stop.  How about for us from a div 1 no football school like Molinari from Bradley or div 2 for us like JD was from Quincy.                       

I feel like getting a good coach from D2 is going to be a lot easier than pulling a successful coach from a D1 non-basketball school. Most D1 coaches (especially at non-basketball schools) are going to be making quote a bit more than they'd make at Western, so unless they REALLY like a major rebuilding project, or have strong ties to the area, it's unlikely they'd be tempted by our job. You gotta remember, Molinari went 9-20 in his last season at Bradley, after which he became an assistant coach at Minnesota, then Ball State before getting his HC job with us.

With that being considered, here's some D2 candidates to look at:

• Brett Ballard (HC at Washburn University) - 167-79 record in 8 years at Washburn, five D2 tournament appearances reaching the final four last year, currently 20-0 and ranked #1 in DII
• Matt Majkrzak (HC at Northern Michigan) - 108-66 record in 6 years at NMU with a 19-3 record so far this season, won the GLIAC the last three years in a row. Has other experience in the northern midwest with Chadron State (NE), UW-Green Bay, Bemidji State (MN), Bryant & Stratton-Wisconsin.
• Or if we want someone a bit more "local", George Suggs (HC at McKendree) - 80-56 in 5 season so far at McKendree including 17-4 so far this year, originally from St. Louis, played at Bellarmine and was a grad student at McKendree before being named assistant coach. He doesn't have a ton of experience, but knows the region.
• Also, Matt Brock (HC at UI-Springfield) - 97-88 record in 7 seasons at UIS including 14-6 so far this year. Originally from Camdenton, MO (near Lake of the Ozarks) and played at Truman State. Was previously HC at NAIA Missouri Baptist where he went 51-13 in his last two seasons.

If you want to compare to what a rundown like that would have looked like for Gravina before coming to Western: 93-28 record in 4 years at Quincy University with 3 tournament appearances. Before that, two years at NAIA McPherson College (KS) with a 21-33 record. Originally played at William Jewell College (D2 in Liberty, MO).

Now, if we were looking for a coach currently in the DI ranks, you're probably looking at someone who is a high-level assistant coach/associate HC at a successful mid-major school in the region. A couple of examples:

• Brendan Mullins - Associate HC at Murray State (MVC), has experience coaching at SIUC, IL State, UIC, Wright State, Green Bay. Played at D2 St. Michael's College in Vermont, but is from the Chicago area, playing HS at Downers Grove South: https://goracers.com/sports/mens-basket ... llins/1920
• Mike Black - Assistant Coach at Bradley (MVC), also coached at Fenwick HS in Chicago Catholic League, Illinois Veritas AAU program, and Malcolm X College. Played at DI Albany (NY), but is originally from Chicago: https://bradleybraves.com/sports/mens-b ... black/3519
• J.R. Reynolds - Associate HC at SEMO (OVC)...in his 4th year at SEMO, previously assistant coach at Miami (OH) for 5 years, assistant coach at EIU for 4 years, grad assistant at Purdue for 3 years. Played at Southeast Illinois College and Eastern Illinois: https://semoredhawks.com/sports/mens-ba ... nolds/3117

And of course, I'd love to see Matt Margenthaler (WIU alum and son of former HC Jack Margenthaler) return to Western, although that's highly unlikely: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Margenthaler
 

[wiu712]

On April 13, 2023, Western Illinois University Director of Athletics Paul A. Bubb announced the promotion of Chad Boudreau to Leatherneck Men's Basketball head coach, becoming the 25th head coach in program history.

"Chad's influence over the past three years as the associate head coach and the positive results we have seen in the program made this a rather easy decision," Bubb said. "The volume of interest, from calls to emails and text messages, was refreshing and confirmed to me that the program is definitely in better shape than during other recent searches, and Coach Boudreau has been a big part of making that turn around."

In his first season as Leatherneck head coach in 2023-24, Boudreau led Western Illinois to a 21-12 overall record. The 21 wins were the most for the program since the 2012-13 season when Jim Molinari was coach and Western won the Summit League's conference championship.

The 13 conference victories are the most for the program since 2012-13 as well. Boudreau's 21 wins are the most for a first-year coach in program history, breaking Stix Morley's record 19-win season in 1947-48.

Western Illinois also won 10 true road games, finishing among the top five in the country. Boudreau was named as a finalist for the Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year Award.

The award is presented annually to the top rookie, first-year head coach in division I college basketball. The Joe B. Hall award is named in honor of longtime Kentucky head coach Joe B. Hall who was given the task of following the legendary Adolph Rupp at the school.

2023-2024: 21-12 overall. 13-5 in the OVC

2024-2025: 12-19 overall. 6-14 in the OVC

Current season: 4-19 overall. 0-12 in the OVC