Mike Roberts: Welcome Aboard

After spending the summer with an open assistant coaching position, on Wednesday afternoon, Indiana University filled that open position when they hired UNC-Greensboro associate head coach, Mike Roberts. The former walk-on at IU returns to Bloomington after spending a year on Bob Knights staff at Texas Tech as a graduate assistant coach, followed by two years as an assistant at California, and four years at Rice.  At both of those stops he served under head coach Ben Braun.  He has spent the past eight years at UNCG.
The hire has kind of baffled me, but not in the way you may expect.  Roberts is widely known as having a great basketball mind.  He is well respected, and spoken highly of in coaching circles.  He is an “Indiana guy!”  All things that, in most cases, would be check marks for a new addition to the coaching staff at IU for the fan base.
Shortly after it was announced that former assistant coach Ed Schilling wouldn’t be returning, the message boards were clamoring with the usual things said by the faceless “experts” that frequent such places.  One of the most popular things being said was, “We need an Indiana guy!” And although Mike Roberts wasn’t one of those names being thrown around, his credentials are every bit as good as any of the other “IU guys” that names were mentioned.  Sure, a few of those names were more recognizable than Roberts, but had no coaching experience at all.  A few have been assistants for some time, but other than being more household names for members of the fan base, on paper, they offer no more than Roberts.  A few met all of the criteria that the fan base felt “we” needed.  But being realistic, those few are sitting in prime position to take over at an established university, or possibly their first head coaching position somewhere else.
It was hinted that the new coach would be an established recruiter, and although Roberts name doesn’t scream that, it has been stated that he is well known in that regard.  I mean let’s be realistic here, the UNCG’s of the world don’t land too many 5-star players, BUT, they do recruit kids that play with those 5-star players. They travel to the same high schools and on the same AAU circuits as the “big boy’ schools and recruiters.  And although they’re not there to see the McDonald’s All-Americans, they do build solid relationships with the coaches of those players.  Recruiters have to be respected, trusted, and tireless workers.  By all accounts, Mike Roberts checks all of those boxes.
So why are some fans in an uproar about this?  I’m not really sure.  I mean I understand we all have a wish list when it comes to such hires, or in the very least, we all want that guy that has a resume that includes a list of one-and-done type commitments.  But those guys don’t usually take the third assistants coaching position on a new schools bench.
I don’t think that Mike Roberts was at the top of IU’s wish list either, but it’s been rumored that he not only blew them away, but all communication with people that have worked with, or against, Roberts, gave him an exemplary endorsement.  Now, I personally don’t have any idea if Roberts will succeed, and that is the part that baffles me the most, because no one, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE else does either. I mean I’ve personally hired people that came with glowing recommendations and yet they just didn’t pan out.  I’ve hired people that I wasn’t blown away by that I now wish I could have cloned.  In other words, you just never know.
I, for one, trust in Archie Miller’s vision, and if Mike Roberts is part of that vision going forward, then I’ll reserve judgment until I’ve seen what he brings to the table.  But then again, I’m not one of the many “experts” that are a part of the IU fanbase.  So I say, welcome aboard, Mike Roberts!