Is coaching Indiana basketball still a 'great job'?

Is Indiana University basketball an elite job?

Why are we talking about this at the end of May?

Well, Fred Hoiberg's defection from Iowa State to the Chicago Bulls provided the impetus for ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd to begin a debate with his staff on what constitutes a "great job" in college basketball.

Cowherd's assessment is that Iowa State is nowhere near a great job. Hoiberg built it into a successful one -- but not great, Cowherd argued.

Cowherd put Indiana on his list of "great jobs" joining the likes of Kentucky, Kansas, UCLA, Arizona, Duke and North Carolina.

His staff disagreed.

So Cowherd had former IU player and coach and current 1070 The Fan host Dan Dakich on to talk about the Hoosiers program's place among college basketball's elite.

Cowherd: "Is Indiana basketball still a great job without Bobby Knight? I say it is due to its AAU players in the state, my staff disagrees and says Dan Dakich won't be objective about it… Alright, who is right, Dan?"

Dakich: "Well, recruiting hasn't been a problem for Tom Crean, let's go that route first and foremost. So players have wanted to come play for him. He's recruited McDonald's All Americans. Look, you've got a fan base that's going to show up on Sunday afternoon, 17-18,000 people to see Chicago State play Indiana at noon on Sunday."

Cowherd: "That's a good job!"

Dakich: "Right, it's a great job. You don't have to go anywhere outside normally, outside a two-hour area to go recruit McDonald's All Americans. ... There are like 12 kids from Indianapolis that are pros. You have the chance to schedule anybody you want. Tom Crean schedules the lowest of the low in Division I to bring them in at home, so you're going to win 20 games every single year unless you completely screw it up, Colln. Let me throw this to you, (you'll be) coaching basketball in the state of Indiana and you're going to make $3 million, what's not great about that?!?"

Cowherd and Dakich then discussed the merits of Syracuse and UConn, programs that have enjoyed great success, largely due to iconic coaches Jim Boeheim and Jim Calhoun.

Cowherd: I'm going to give you a few more because this was a real argument with our staff today about Indiana. The state produces great players, has great facilities, it's a legacy program in a great conference. I think the Hoosier gig is a great gig... How about Gonzaga?

Dakich: "Gonzaga is a great job and I'll tell you why. A couple of things: No. 1, and Mark Few told me this when he turned down the Indiana job. I asked Few, 'Did you ever imagine you'd turn down $1.5 million to coach at Indiana.' He said, 'Dan, we can win more than Indiana because of our conference, we have a better setup in terms of facilities.' They have chefs, they have private planes, they win every game at home without question. They can play anybody, anytime, anywhere. I would put Gonzaga with what they've done with that program, into the great job category in college basketball."

Wait, Mark Few turned down the Indiana job?

Well, at least if it's to stay at another "great job"...