UIC extends Collins' contract

[Raider Country]

UIC extends Collins' contract
July 1, 2008

UIC men's basketball coach Jimmy Collins received a three-year contract extension that will keep him as the Flames coach through the 2011-12 season.

“I have been truly blessed to spend the last 12 years doing what I love here at UIC,” Collins said. “It is a great university with great administrators, faculty and students, who have all helped me, and this basketball program, become successful.

“I am as excited as I have ever been about our upcoming season and the young men we have returning, as well as the new recruits we have coming in,” Collins continued. “I am as eager to get on the court and continue to build this program as I was the day I got the job.”

www.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/1033571,collins070108.article

[bballraider]

I do not know if Collins himself will stay that much longer with Tracy Dildy in the wings nipping at his heels, but any coach needs at least a 3 year deal if he wants to get any recruiting done, so UIC did the right thing for now. If not they would be wasting their top assistant Dildy's recruiting talents too. With the talent returning this year in Mayo and Vandermeer, if UIC is not better than .500, I could see Dildy taking over the following year no matter what.

[Raider Alumni]

This doesn't make much sense to me. I think everyone expected Dildy to replace Collins after he returned to UIC last summer. Now UIC has to buy out Collin's contract if they want to replace him before 2012. I doubt Dildy is going to hang around until then waiting for his turn.

[Retired Coach]

This is an interesting development. I remember talking to Big D last season at one of our games about UIC and Dildy's recruiting tactics. There were a few players that both WSU and UIC were recruiting. I heard through the rumor mill that Dildy was selling himself as UIC's next head coach to these players. I remember telling Big D that I though WSU should have been doing the same with Donlon. Several schools have used Coach Brownell's status as a hot coach that could be moving up to a BCS program against us. I thought we should have named Donlon his future heir to help our recruiting efforts like UIC was doing with Dildy.

I wonder what this means at UIC.