IU’s next top coach
Michigan City Rogers grad and Indiana AD Dolson will make right call on new basketball coach, childhood friend and ex-Hoosier Delray Brooks says
When Scott Dolson arrived in Bloomington for his freshman year at Indiana University, his best friend, Delray Brooks, foreshadowed Dolson’s future.
“I told him he was never leaving Bloomington again, and I got it right,” Brooks said.
Brooks and Dolson graduated from Michigan City Rogers in 1984 and roomed together in Bloomington for Brooks’ only year at IU.
Brooks left after a season and transferred to Providence, where he led the Friars to the Final Four in 1987 under Rick Pitino.
Brooks was co-Mr. Basketball in 1984 with Purdue recruit Troy Lewis, and Dolson was Brooks’ sounding board for his college options.
Dolson always listened, but it was clear to Brooks that he favored Indiana.
“He never said that, but you could tell that’s what he wanted,” Brooks said.
Brooks and Dolson did everything together.
Brooks would spend nights at Dolson’s grandparents’ home in Indianapolis through their school days. They played on the Rogers baseball team together.
Brooks secured Dolson a job as a manager for the IU men’s basketball team during his freshman year. By 1988, Dolson had worked his way to senior manager.
Dolson, according to Brooks, went to Bobby Knight’s basketball camps when he was in elementary school. Brooks said Dolson was “all about Indiana from the first time I met him.”
It’s impossible for Brooks to say he knew 37 years ago that Dolson, now IU’s athletic director, would be tasked with a legacy-defining decision that stirs the pulse of Hoosier nation like no other: hiring the next men’s basketball coach.
Archie Miller was fired
Monday after four forgettable seasons.
Brooks knew over the years as Dolson moved up in the IU athletic department that he was on a trajectory to become the AD.
Dolson worked for Tim Knight, Bobby’s son, in a sports marketing capacity before returning to IU in 1989. In the athletic department, Dolson earned a reputation as a fundraising savant. It wasn’t long before he was named the director of the Varsity Club, the fundraising arm for IU athletics.
In July, Dolson succeeded Fred Glass as the AD.
Under Glass, Dolson oversaw men’s basketball. Dolson was instrumental in getting Bobby Knight to return to Assembly Hall for IU’s game against Purdue last year, according to Rick Commers, Dolson’s junior varsity basketball coach at Rogers,
Knight had stubbornly refused to return for a game since he was fired in 2000, rejecting multiple olive branches from the school. Dolson helped navigate Knight’s reunion.
“(Dolson) was a big influence on getting him back,”
Commers said.
In a news conference after Miller was fired, Dolson said he is not going to use a search firm to hire the next coach.
Given his background with the Knight family, it’s easy to speculate that Texas Tech coach Chris Beard would be high on Dolson’s list. Beard was an assistant under Knight and Knight’s son Pat at Texas Tech for 10 seasons.
Beard took the Red Raiders to the national championship game in 2019, when it lost to Virginia in overtime.
Dolson said he didn’t have “anyone in mind” for the job, which is hard to believe. He talked about hiring a coach who embraced the Indiana tradition but was forward-looking.
None of this really offers any substantive clue about who the next coach will be. Market forces, mutual interest and the right fit will affect who follows Miller.
Some names that have been rumored include former Michigan coach John Beilein, Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens, Arkansas coach Eric Musselman and Beard.
One thing seems certain. Dolson appears to be uniquely qualified to hire the next great IU men’s basketball coach.
If he does get the right coach, Dolson can be mentioned in the same sentence as Bill Orwig, the AD who hired Knight.
Of course, Brooks believes his childhood best friend is prepared for the moment.
“If you grew up in Michigan City, we have a pride thing that is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced,” he said. “When we get to those positions, we are ready for that.”