Will we need to keep Valentine to keep these commits?

He's going to have options. I hope we are preemptive and extend him

I think its probably a year or two early to worry about him leaving

contract through 2027

We should act early. The De Paul jobs is open (which it is every other year), Ohio State and based on Pitino's comments, the St John's job may be opening soon. Seriously, jobs like Louisville, Texas, Oklahoma State, and Vanderbilt look like they will be opening.

I would hope Coach Drew would avoid DePaul. If he's desperate to pay a financial debt that needs addressing right now, then I undersand, take it. Other than that, avoid that mess. If he has another successful year at LU, the offers will be better than DePaul. Of the list above,:

An Ohio State University is unlikely to take a coach from The Loyola University.

If TBoone PIckens is still paying the freight OK State, then back up your brinks truck Coach.

Shaka Smart wasn't good enough for Texas...

Louisville, has quite a coaching tree from which to pluck. Louisville's never been the same since the University took away the team's on-campus brothel.

St. John's may have an East Coast bias (Porter not withstanding), but probably not a bad gig if he can get it. You just worry if Coach Drew were to get there, peel back the first layer of the onion, and find out The Red Strom are Blue Demons East , it could be a short stop.

Vanderbilt-- Yes, Anchor Down. Vandy has money and patience. He'll get three years. If he loses, no one will flinch. But will they get rid of Stackhouse? He brought them on two nice NIT runs recently and went to the conference semifinal last year.

The reality is if he's happy where he is, and thinks he can have another good year or two at Loyola, he might be able to walk into a very good situation.

That is some top quality intelligent basketball comedy. Kudos to you, sir.

Everybody has to remember, Loyola is not a crappy job anymore. It's a better job than it was in 2021, when Moser left, because a new coach has taken the team to the Dance and we're in the A-10 now. Our budget is higher now, too. Other coaches in our league now include Frank Martin, Archie Miller, Fran Dunphy, and Anthony Grant-- coaches who have had multiple NCAA Tournament wins with other teams, some of them with major P5 programs. DePaul can throw money at a coach (and they have, over and over again), but everybody who took that cash ended their coaching career-- Purnell, Leitao, Wainwright, Stubblefield, etc.

The real question is what does Steve Watson and the Administration think? If they believe Drew is the guy they can get some pretty good money if they want. Drew has some good qualities. He runs a clean program the University is proud of, the kids are still graduating, we have a good Culture, the interactions that I have seen between Steve, and rest of the people in the building, show a genuine affection both ways, and we are winning. If we win the A10 Tourney and get to the Dance, it would be a no brainer to tear up the contract and extend him. Remember, we are not exactly destitute in what we can pay a Coach. We were set to give Porter 2 million and Cubs Skybox (don’t know if that was because Rickets had a personal relationship with Porter or not). SO assuming at 32 that Drew is not hell bent on leaving yet…we could pay him well enough to keep for a few years. My fear is Michigan State with Izzo getting ready to retire. Would they overpay Drew to come on as the Assistant Head Coach for a year with the agreement he takes over when Izzo is gone in 2 years?

We need to proactive and bury a poison pill in the contract, say a 5 million buy-out. It won’t deter a big P5, but for some other down on their luck programs, but potentially it could.

FYI: See the link with coaches salaries below the list of A10 Coaches:

1. Travis Ford 2.1 Million
2. Archie Miller 2 Million
3. Anthony Grant 1.83 Million
4. Mark Schimdt 1.8 Million
5. Frank Martin 1.65 Million
6. Mike Rhoads 1.5 Million
7. DREW VALENTINE 1.1 Million
8. Chris Mooney 1.1 Million
9. Keith Dambrot 1 Million
10. Kim English 925 Thousand
11. Fran Dumphy 724 Thousand
12. Matt McKillop 600 Thousand
Rest Unavailable: Keith Urgo, Billy Lange, Chris Caputo

https://theresourcenexus.com/coaches-salary/

For a young Coach, Drew is paid pretty good, but kicking him up the ladder a little wouldn’t hurt. Also, you can see De Paul was paying Stubblefield 1.5 Million.

Crazy…at the start of the year we were thinking it might be a long year and many questions were swirling around Drew’s job security. We start winning, we fight our way into a three way tie for 1st, we start landing highly ranked recruits and now we are worried about losing Drew!

Fun times!

Drew's salary is reported as $470,000 on Loyola's 2021 Form 990

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MBB Scholarship Chart

I really do think we're getting ahead of ourselves here, this team was dead last a year ago. We may finish 3rd or 4th in the A10. Now its possible Drew gets the Kim English treatment and does two years as an A10 HC and jumps to the Big East but I think it unlikely. It seems more likely he stays this year, and hopes for success in the coming few including Championships and tournament appearances before being considered for serious P5 jobs.

I don't think he or anyone would ever leave a head coaching gig for an assistant job. I do think Drew's dream is probably to land the MSU job though. And from what I hear, MSU is for sure keeping an eye on Drew. His best bet is to stick with Loyola and rack up some tourney runs before Izzo retires, and that's not a bad outcome for us at all.

If he makes the tourney this year, sure it wouldn't hurt to give him some more "convincing" that's the case. But that's why I don't believe he leaves LUC to take a job with a nominal pay raise at some P5 dumpster fire, like god forbid Depaul. Sure he makes more money but he probably shortens his career earnings in the long run, and lowers his chances of being an MSU HC candidate.