According to Jeff Rabjohn’s of Peegs.com, Indiana men’s basketball assistant coach Ed Schilling will seek new opportunities in basketball. Sources tell IndianaHQ that not all players have been informed of this news at the time of writing. In the two years of Archie Miller era at IU so far, this coaching change would be the first.

Indiana assistant Ed Schilling is looking for new opportunities in basketball and will be moving on, sources tell https://t.co/21qm56hx7e. #iubb



Story: https://t.co/NBFnVmXimk pic.twitter.com/x6oUSOk8uK — Jeff Rabjohns (@JeffRabjohns) June 27, 2019

The university later released an official statement on Ed Schilling with quotes from Indiana head coach Archie Miller.

Indiana officially announces Ed Schilling has moved on from the staff. #iubb pic.twitter.com/UsjXkxybBJ — Stu Jackson (@StuJTH) June 27, 2019

Ed Schilling, a native of Lebanon, Ind., has coached at Indiana University for the past two years, and he has been cited as a developer of individual player talent from players like Romeo Langford. Given his past experience coaching at the high school level in the state of Indiana (including coaching a Yogi Ferrell-led Park Tudor team), Schilling had relationships critical throughout the state of Indiana. His ties to the state were a key component in catalyzing Archie’s initial “Inside-Out” recruiting philosophy.

In addition to recruiting players this off-season, the Hoosiers will now need to recruit a new assistant coach.

Who would the Hoosiers bring in?

To speculate on what the Hoosiers are looking for in a new assistant coach, one must first breakdown what is leaving the program with the departure of Ed Schilling.

In-state connections

First and foremost, Indiana is losing ties to the state. Schilling has built relationships across the state throughout his career being a native of the state. As a graduate of Lebanon high school, a former coach at Western Boone High School (Thorntown, Ind.), a former executive of an Indianapolis-based development camp, and a four-year head coach at Park Tudor High School, Schilling is a well-known name throughout the Hoosier coaching circles.

Does Indiana need to bring in someone with equal access to the state? Probably not. In fact, there might not even be a candidate that has deeper ties.

There is no doubt that Ed Schilling was a major part of Archie Miller getting his foot in the door with high schools across the state. The Indiana staff have done the right things and invested the right time in the right places, so those in-state relationships are not necessarily disappearing once coach Schilling leaves the program.

Also it’s impossible not to mention Indiana’s recruiting for five-star 2019’s Keion Brooks Jr. from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Without re-opening up wounds for Indiana fans, Ed Schilling’s relationship included coaching Keion’s father at Wright State when Keion’s father was a player there.

Plethora of player development experience

The other big term that is associated with Ed Schilling is player development. The former high school and college head coach was in charge of coaching and training of the Adidas High School All-American Team in national and international competitions. He was also a director and trainer at the Champions Academy in Indianapolis, Indiana.

When Romeo Langford committed to Indiana University, Ed Schilling was cited as one of two reasons for his choice.

And then they also got coach Schilling. His individual development over the summer with guards, his resume says it all. He sent so many guys to the NBA when he was at UCLA. Romeo Langford on his commitment to IU

Schilling’s past stop at UCLA under then-head coach Steve Alford allowed Schilling to develop a number of players that are now in the NBA. Zach Lavine (Chicago Bulls), Kevon Looney (Golden State Warriors), Norman Powell (Toronto Raptors), Lonzo Ball (New Orleans Pelicans), and T.J. Leaf (Indiana Pacers).

Ed Schilling has also spent time with St. Vincent’s Sports Performance and their NBA-readiness program. As a result, his name is tied with over 60 high-profile young players, including No. 1 NBA Draft selection Greg Oden, Mike Conley, Mario Chalmers, Gordon Hayward, Carl Landry, Jeff Teague, Marquis Teague, Cody Zeller, etc.

The Hoosiers have to bring in another assistant that can hold serve to the same recruiting notoriety that Ed Schilling has brought for the program.

Between developing players for college-readiness and NBA-readiness, Indiana’s newest assistant must understand the process of growing individual skills.

The skill needed most at the moment? Hoosier fans will say shooting.

Working with the guards

Between the front-court players and back-court players, Ed Schilling and Bruiser Flint separated their duties by working with their respective groups. Ed Schilling was mainly in charge of working with the guards.

In fact, he co-authored a book called Guard Play with former Indiana-star and current Nevada head coach Steve Alford.

Given his background as a four-year starting point guard for Miami (OH) and his extensive player development experience, Schilling coached the Hoosiers’ guards to understand the game, broke down their areas of improvement, and leveraged individually tailored drills to improve their overall skill set.

While Archie Miller being a collegiate point guard himself helps, one would think that the new assistant could take over the guards, or perhaps Bruiser Flint could make a shift over. All considerations at this point in time.

What does this mean for the Hoosiers?

In short, the Hoosiers need to find someone who can continue the recruiting momentum that Ed Schilling brought to the table. While the relationships in the state may not be a top priority anymore for this particular hire, Schilling’s player development was a big selling point for many top players.

Additionally, Indiana could add is an assistant that has more offensive emphasis. One case study (albeit in reverse) is Michigan’s hiring of assistant coach Luke Yaklich, who joined the Wolverine program in 2017.

Coach Beilein is one of the best offensive minds in the game of basketball, and a major reason why he was hired by the Cleveland Cavaliers. But Michigan had significant room for improvement in the defense department, so they hired Luke Yaklich who was the associate head coach at Illinois State.

Yaklich was a major reason how Michigan turned around their defense. In just his first year, the Wolverines led the Big Ten in scoring defense for the first time since the 1960s, and they were ranked eighth nationally. According to Kenpom, they were ranked third in defensive efficiency.

The following season, Yaklich improved a top ten defense even further. Michigan finished second in the nation in scoring defense and second in Kenpom defensive efficiency. Of course they again led the Big Ten in both ratings.

Since the hiring of Luke Yaklich, the maize and blue have a combined record of 63-15 and they were 2018 NCAA Runner Ups and 2019 NCAA Sweet Sixteen contenders.

With Archie Miller being the more defensive-minded coach, an offensive-minded counterpart would be refreshing for the Indiana program – a program that has at times experienced considerable stagnation on offense in the past two seasons.

Lastly a “shot doctor” would really be beneficial for the team. In the theme of scoring and offense, the Hoosiers have been in the Big Ten’s cellar in terms of shooting.

In 2018 the Hoosiers finished 9th in the conference in 2-point shooting percentage, 10th in 3-point shooting percentage, and dead last at free throw shooting percentage.

In 2019, Indiana improved in two-point shooting percentage largely due to the effectiveness of Romeo Langford and Juwan Morgan. They finished third in that category in the Big Ten. They were dead last (27.5%) in three-point shooting percentage and 11th for free-throws.

Ed Schilling’s Career at a Glance