TERRE HAUTE — Indiana State Director of Athletics Ron Prettyman’s men basketball coach hiring saga has gone from the palatable local buzz of Kevin McKenna’s introductory news conference on March 29, to sitting in his office doing the anonymously soul-crushing drone work of going through endless contract legalities.
“There’s just a lot of legalese to sort through,” Prettyman said Friday.
Soul-crushing might be pushing the metaphorical envelope a bit as far as Prettyman is concerned, but the fact remains that McKenna’s contract is not yet a done deal one month after he was hired, which is a concern to some Sycamores fans.
Prettyman said ISU fans shouldn’t fret. The lag time between McKenna accepting the job and negotiating the final details of the contract are not unusual in high-profile collegiate jobs.
“I think that whenever you are in the process of hiring a coach and you need to move quickly, you come to terms with general agreements,” Prettyman said. “The details come later and that’s where we’re at.”
Prettyman has declined to release salary details of the contract until it is done, though McKenna is believed to have a standard five-year deal.
Prettyman expects McKenna’s contract to be completed soon, negotiation continues between legal represents of McKenna and the ISU athletics department.
“There’s no concern this won’t get done,” Prettyman emphatically stated. “Kevin and I meet nearly everyday and there’s a great working relationship.”
McKenna hasn’t let the contract get in the way of progress. His assistant coaching staff is completed, and McKenna has been on the road recruiting to replace Clayton Vette’s scholarship in the April recruiting period that ends on Monday.
Prettyman has been impressed.
“He works hard he battles for his program, he’s very involved, everytime I walk by the office, the players are in the office talking to him or one of the assistants. He’s very visible, cares about the young men on the team,” Prettyman said.
• Saint Louis to MVC? — St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz reported last week that one of the requests new Saint Louis Rick Majerus had if he accepted the Billikens job was that SLU should rejoin the Missouri Valley Conference. The Billikens were in the MVC from 1937-1943 and from 1944-1974 and are currently geographic outcasts in the Atlantic 10.
Majerus will be introduced as the Billikens coach on Monday. None of the affected parties are commenting on the Valley, but it’s an intriguing possibility.
I think SLU is a slam dunk for the Valley. Geographically it is perfect. SLU is similar to other Valley private schools and it is building a new on-campus arena
It would solidify St. Louis as a Valley city. The MVC tournament has grabbed St. Louis’ attention without SLU, but there’s no guarantee the local interest remains if the Valley suffers a downturn, which could happen sooner than later with massive roster conference-wide change over next year, not to mention five new coaches.
There would be logistical problems with 11 teams, particularly with the amount of conference games. The Valley would either have a 20-game conference schedule, or have to abandon its cherished round-robin format, something it did from 1994-1996 when it had 11 teams before Tulsa left.
Twenty games, which the Big Ten is doing next year, is ideal. But the Valley would have to cram them into one week less than the Big Ten has because the MVC tournament starts a week earlier. As it is, the Valley basketball schedule is too packed. Twenty games would have to make pre-exam conference games a reality.
It’s a minor hiccup in the grand scheme of the advantages SLU would bring to the Valley.
From the Press Box
From the Press Box: Prettyman not concerned about McKenna’s contract
- From the Press Box
-
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Peyton’s place belongs to Eli
The good people of Indianapolis justifiably puffed out their chests throughout Super Bowl week as the city received deserved rave reviews for the job it did as hosts of Super Bowl XLVI.
-
TODD GOLDEN: Teammates, colleagues express their loyalty to Weatherford
Sometimes you worry whether someone is stopping to smell the roses when they smell rosiest.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Does melted ice reveal Belichick's heart of gold?
If you’re into Youtube — and who isn’t these days? — there’s a vintage television profile of then-Cleveland Browns coach Bill Belichick posted on the popular site.
-
TODD GOLDEN: Indiana State men caught between expectation, reality
The Missouri Valley Conference is hush-hush on how it puts together its matchups for the annual conference schedule.
-
TODD GOLDEN: Accentuating the positive with ISU's Odum
There’s something to be said for being your own worst critic, especially when it comes to sports.
-
TODD GOLDEN: Loss hurts, but national exposure is ... priceless
Trying to advance the philosophy that any publicity is good publicity is probably an effort wasted on a losing team less than 10 minutes removed from a disappointing defeat where victory had been oh so close to fruition.
-
TODD GOLDEN: The great playoff race is on for Indiana State football
The great race is on.
-
TODD GOLDEN: Fans owe ISU seniors 10,000
I have covered Indiana State football since the 2004 season.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Indiana State has used up its playoff mulligan
It’s been a glass half-full kind of season for the Indiana State football team, so it was easy — and exciting — to get caught up in looking ahead to scenarios that placed ISU in the FCS playoffs, even if ISU didn’t win out.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Not a coulda, shoulda for Sycamores
Indiana State's football team is getting tired of being graded on the curve of its own past futility.
-
TODD GOLDEN: Supernatural Shakir was a sight to behold
I’ve often heard it said when a player has a big statistical day that he’s racking up “video game numbers.”
-
TODD GOLDEN: Sycamore defense absorbs lesson
A win is a win, they say. And for Indiana State, none of the Sycamores are going to take back or put an asterisk next to their 48-34 victory over Butler on Saturday.
-
TODD GOLDEN: And now on to the normal part of the schedule
The Steve Miller Band would’ve appreciated Indiana State’s trip to Penn State.
-
TODD GOLDEN: Sabermetrics has changed love of baseball
I turned 40 this summer. No problem.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: No debate about quality of Vigo baseball
It’s standard practice for losing high school coaches — especially coaches who led teams on a deep postseason run — to heap praise on their seniors one last time. It’s even more so when one of those seniors was the rock of a given team for a four-year period.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Season dies down, but ISU’s plate not empty
With coaching changes having mostly sorted themselves out and with recruiting having just entered its quiet period today, college basketball has settled into its more relaxed offseason mode.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Winning spring more important than winning the spring game
Indiana State football coach Trent Miles has been involved in collegiate coaching since 1987. He knows better than anyone that there’s no one-size-fits-all way to approach the annual spring football game.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Friday wait was worth it for Indiana State
Many have seen the famous Salvador Dali painting, “Persistence of Memory.” The most memorable images in the surreal painting are unquestionably the pocket watches that are drooped over a ledge, a tree branch, etc.
-
Many Sycamores, past and present, to remember
The minute it became apparent Indiana State had punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament with a 60-56 victory over Missouri State on Sunday, I reflected on all of the moments in the previous seven years of covering the Sycamores that led to this.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Sycamore AD Ron Prettyman explains Cal Poly interest
Editor’s note: Indiana State Director of Athletics Ron Prettyman interviewed and participated in a public open forum for the same position at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo last week.
-
Paradigm shifts for Sycamores after UNI win
In many respects, it’s been an Indiana State men’s basketball season like no other in its recent history.
-
Odum shouldn’t be overlooked as MVC’s Freshman of Year
The cliché would state that Creighton forward Doug McDermott has taken the Missouri Valley Conference by storm from day one. The truth is that McDermott had the attention of MVC observers long before day one.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Late turnover doesn’t define excellence from Jake Odum
You know what’s one of the best tests of how a player has gained respect? Listen to the way the road crowd reacts when that player has the ball in his hands.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Tempo changes for worse on both ends for Sycamores
When Indiana State was on its six-game early January winning streak that saw it rise to the top of the Missouri Valley Conference, team chemistry was seemingly the biggest reason for the success.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: ‘Yeah, but’ … maybe ISU is for real
I had an eighth-grade reunion in Milwaukee last summer, the highlight of 2010 for me. Among the memories we re-lived, I had totally forgotten that my seventh-grade teacher nicknamed me “Yeah But.” As in, “Yeah, but …” I always seemed to have an argument for the answer he sought in class, whether my argument was right or not.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU’s place in pecking order hasn’t changed
The nonconference portion of the college basketball season serves several purposes.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Thompson’s latest honor stands apart from the rest
Anthony Thompson has won his share of trophies and awards.
-
From The Press Box: Waltman reception highlights ISU reunion
It seems like every time I’m around Royce Waltman, I have to brace myself.
-
From The Press Box: At its worst moment, Indiana State showed a lot
Everyone knows life is unfair … you just hate it when life proves it.
So it went for Indiana State’s football team on Saturday as it faced perennial power Northern Iowa. -
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Don’t get too worked up about preseason polls
The Indiana State men were picked where in the MVC Preseason poll? The Sycamores tied for fifth last year and have seven players back from a postseason team. Terre Haute is so excited about this team. They had to be picked in the top half of the league, right?
- More From the Press Box Headlines
-
Police: Houston Found Dead in Her Hotel Room
Recording Superstar Whitney Houston Dead at 48
Palin Brings Anti-Washington Message to CPAC
Maine GOP Chairman Says Romney Wins Caucuses
Fans 'Speechless' Over Houston's Death
Androgynous Model Walks Runway As Man and Woman
Raw Video: Deadly Blasts in Syria
Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate
US Airmen's Killer Sentenced to Life in Germany
Latest Jason Wu Collection Shows Chinese Roots
ShowBiz Minute: Madonna, Beresford-Redman, Pawsc
Raw Video: Whitney Houston's Last Performance
Paul Suffers Narrow Loss to Romney in Maine
Stars Show Support at AMFAR Charity Gala
Snow Strands Italian Towns
Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords
Raw Video: Rough Seas Stop Oil Removal
The Muppets Are Oscars Bound!
Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama
BCBG Kicks Off NY Fashion Week
Lusetich: AT&T Rd. 3 recap
Whitney Houston's body is removed from hotel
Raw Video: Aurora Borealis As Seen From Space
Whitney's Final Days - EXCLUSIVE
Romney Tops Santorum in CPAC Straw Poll
First glimpse of Blue Ivy Carter
Angry Dad Shoots Teens Laptop
Peek inside Barbie's closet
Absolute Lin-sanity
Madonna's Daughter Shaves Head
5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La.
Test on Comforter in Powell Unit Shows Blood
Hero Driver Saves Kids From Burning Bus
Funeral to be held for Powell boys
Sandusky on having to stay inside and people turning on him
Woolly Mammoth Caught on Camera?
Did JLo 'Assault' Marc Anthony on Camera?
Christie Brinkley's Runway Slip
Toddler forced to run half-naked in snow
