It's over for Woodson

At least it appears the Hoosiers will let him retire with dignity -- and a lot of cash.

Not to get all political on you, but it feels almost Biden-esque, Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama and other Democratic power brokers talking Joe Biden out of running for a second consecutive term. Down in Bloomington, the power brokens have spoken to Mike Woodson and convinced him, rather easily we’d presume, to retire rather than suffer the indignity of being fired at season’s end.

This is the fair way, the proper way to show respect to one of IU’s greatest playing legends and a long-time head and assistant coach in the NBA. Say what you will about Woodson but he was in his early 60’s when he came back to campus. He didn’t need to chase 17 year olds. He had money from his two decades in the NBA. He could have found a warm place to settle and lived a life of leisure, fine wine, cigars and golf.

Instead, he wanted to pursue a life-long dream and coach his beloved alma mater back to glory.

Didn’t happen.

And that fact, along with the fact he never came close to returning IU back to the top of the college basketball food chain, is the reason he won’t be back next season. I don’t know how anybody can look at this from the outside and claim it’s somehow unfair or too soon. They barely made the NCAA Tournament his first year, winning a play-in game, won a first-round Tournament game before getting rolled by Miami, (with a team that featured Jalen Hood-Schifino and Trayce Jackson-Davis), missed the tournament last year and are poised to miss it again.

I rooted for the guy. We were IU classmates. Like Curt Cignetti, he was taking the job at a somewhat advanced stage in life. He was successful in the NBA as a head and assistant coach, so he knew his way around a dry-erase board. And he was legacy. He’s IU royalty. Someone who came directly from the Bob Knight tree and helped bring The General back to Assembly Hall before he passed.