Chris Jans - New Head Coach

[mscarn]

Some interesting Jans/MAC connections. Former Wichita State assistant (and Jans colleague) Dana Ford came to the program from Tennessee State, where he coached under current Miami coach John Cooper for two years. The AD at Wichita who hired Gregg Marshall was Jim Schaus, currently the AD at Ohio.

The always helpful Wichita Eagle updates the situation in Kansas:

"Forbes’ smart phone is filled with messages, many congratulating him on WSU’s season. Others are coaches inquiring about the opening at WSU or a spot on Jans’ staff at Bowling Green."

http://www.kansas.com/2014/03/24/336623 ... ching.html" target="_blank

[BGFalconfromCincy]

Can the fan base do something to help her cheer up?

I'm sure we can. Bowling Green, OH, is a pretty friendly place. We just need to make the effort.

Send her a Myle's Pizza or some Pollyeyes chicken and cheese stuffed breadsticks, I bet those could cheer her up

[truth]

Can the fan base do something to help her cheer up?

I'm sure we can. Bowling Green, OH, is a pretty friendly place. We just need to make the effort.

Send her a Myle's Pizza or some Pollyeyes chicken and cheese stuffed breadsticks, I bet those could cheer her up

Those places ARE the answer to everything. What am I even doing right now...?

[Flipper]

Getting uprooted for your senior year sucks....been there did that.

[Falcon Fanatic]

The only sad part of this story is reading the tweets of Chris's daughter Maddie. Appears she is struggling and sad. I mean, she has made some wonderful friends in Wichita. Looks like next year will be her senior year and from the looks at it Maddie is an excellent athlete in softball, basketball and tennis. I am sure she is happy for her Dad but leaving her friends after 7 years must be difficult.

Wonder if she can stay out there with friends or family for her senior year? Other coaches who've moved here did that when their son or daughter was heading into their senior year. It'd be tough, but easier than moving to a new school in your senior year, especially when you're on sports teams with peers you've played with for a long time! I wish her luck and hope a situation can be worked out for her!

[Class of 61]

The only sad part of this story is reading the tweets of Chris's daughter Maddie. Appears she is struggling and sad. I mean, she has made some wonderful friends in Wichita. Looks like next year will be her senior year and from the looks at it Maddie is an excellent athlete in softball, basketball and tennis. I am sure she is happy for her Dad but leaving her friends after 7 years must be difficult.

Wonder if she can stay out there with friends or family for her senior year? Other coaches who've moved here did that when their son or daughter was heading into their senior year. It'd be tough, but easier than moving to a new school in your senior year, especially when you're on sports teams with peers you've played with for a long time! I wish her luck and hope a situation can be worked out for her!

Then again sports can be the entry into a new school...give you new contacts and friends to expand your social circle etc.

[Aargh]

Some interesting Jans/MAC connections. Former Wichita State assistant (and Jans colleague) Dana Ford came to the program from Tennessee State, where he coached under current Miami coach John Cooper for two years. The AD at Wichita who hired Gregg Marshall was Jim Schaus, currently the AD at Ohio.

The always helpful Wichita Eagle updates the situation in Kansas:

"Forbes’ smart phone is filled with messages, many congratulating him on WSU’s season. Others are coaches inquiring about the opening at WSU or a spot on Jans’ staff at Bowling Green."

http://www.kansas.com/2014/03/24/336623 ... ching.html" target="_blank

WSU fan here - hoping I can give information worth reading, or just provide something to chew on during the off season.

The Dana Ford story is epic. He was a grad assistant at WSU under Mark Turgeon. Then he moved to Winthrop to work for Gregg Marshall. Later, Marshall hired him at WSU, so it was his second time at WSU and his second time working for Marshall. Marshall asked for and was given a 2-year commitment, but that wasn't put into the wording in his contract.

After one year, there was a coaching change at Illinois State and the new coach there hired Ford, who played his college ball at Illinois State. During the 2013 season, there was an incident outside the WSU locker room at Illinois State that required security to break up a conflict among the coaching staffs. As near as anyone can piece the clues together, the Illinois State staff called out the WSU staff. The WSU staff responded with a "come and get it" reply. The Iliinois State staff decided they should do that.

Then there's the John Cooper connection. Cooper played his college ball at WSU. He broke his leg during a season that had a lot of promise, but went into the toilet after Cooper was out. That was the turning point that ended up with WSU basketball absolutely sucking through the entire decade of the 1990's.

[Globetrotter]

Welcome to the website. I have a question for you. Verbal commits has Wichita State with 14 schollies out for next year. Thats one too many. What's the story there?

[Aargh]

About NCAA tourney money

The NCAA does pay $1.5 mill per appearance, but in the Missouri Valley, that money goes to the conference and is split among all the schools. WSU gets 2 shares, so that's 2/11ths of $1.5 mill that WSU gets. The payouts are spread over 6 years. The F4 run was actually cash negative. It opened up some booster pockets a little deeper.

There are some other perks. WSU gets $250K for playing a game against a "name" opponent in our downtown 15K arena instead of playing the game in the on-campus facility. Next year we're getting an ESPN game on a neutral court (in of all places South Dakota) against Memphis.

[Aargh]

Welcome to the website. I have a question for you. Verbal commits has Wichita State with 14 schollies out for next year. Thats one too many. What's the story there?

Right now we have all our scholarships filled, but the staff never quits recruiting and appears to be on the short lists of 3 or 4 JuCo posts. We're not currently over-committed, but the staff is doing everything possible to get there.

There are several possible ways to resolve this. Fans suspect the staff knows more than the fans and knows what they're doing by continuing to recruit.

We could have an in-state player who has made it known they will pay their own way if it helps the team. Creighton did that with Doug McDermott this year. Yep, the assumed National PoY is a walk-on. We could have a player who feels he'd get more minutes and be a better contributor at a lower school. We could have someone leaving for "whatever" reason. Seems there's always a one of those. No one likes to talk about cutting a player, but perhaps the coaching staff is ready to "encourage" a player to seek an opportunity more at his level of play. Basketball is a business, and it's not a really nice business. You gotta win.

If there's a player we might lose to a lower level team, I doubt that Jans would want to bring that player with him.

[Aargh]

At last I get to why I've come to your site. I'm going to be a BG fan as long as Jans is there. Jans is one of the best at analyzing an opponent and preparing his team that there is. Period. The End.

Your players are going to work harder than they ever imagined anyone works to play basketball. WSU's practices sometimes are run with the players wearing weighted vests, and fouls are never called. New players (JuCo's, especially) regularly say that D1 games are easier than WSU practices.

Players are going to go to class. They're going to get decent grades and they're going to graduate. They are going to hit the weight room like it was their girl friend. They are going to run all summer. Every day, after they finish running, they will be in the weight room. After they finish up their "suggested" workouts, they will be allowed to play a pickup game. That regimen creates teams that are prepared for the last 5 minutes of a game, which is when the close games are decided.

Not every player wants to do that. I suspect Jans will be very clear about what he expects from his players and not all the current players will be comfortable with that. I doubt you will have defections over personality. Jans seems to have been the "good guy" on the WSU staff. Players who might not want to work hard enough, or play nasty defense, or give something resembling 100% on every play might not fit with Jans.

What we've seen of Jans' recruiting is that he targets players who are a bit under the radar and have a solid work ethic, great charaacter, and are willing to work hard, learn, and be coached. Jans has an incredible recruiting network. He's likely to recruit athletic guys with the right attitude and character, and take some risks on coaching them up to a level where BG would not be able to expect to recruit.

You may lose a few who don't want the hard work. That may sting for a year or two, but they will be replaced with players who want the hard work.

[HoopsFan]

And that will be a refreshing change from what we've had the last 7 years.

Nothing else needs to be said.

HoopsFan

[Globetrotter]

Welcome to the website. I have a question for you. Verbal commits has Wichita State with 14 schollies out for next year. Thats one too many. What's the story there?

Right now we have all our scholarships filled, but the staff never quits recruiting and appears to be on the short lists of 3 or 4 JuCo posts. We're not currently over-committed, but the staff is doing everything possible to get there.

There are several possible ways to resolve this. Fans suspect the staff knows more than the fans and knows what they're doing by continuing to recruit.

We could have an in-state player who has made it known they will pay their own way if it helps the team. Creighton did that with Doug McDermott this year. Yep, the assumed National PoY is a walk-on. We could have a player who feels he'd get more minutes and be a better contributor at a lower school. We could have someone leaving for "whatever" reason. Seems there's always a one of those. No one likes to talk about cutting a player, but perhaps the coaching staff is ready to "encourage" a player to seek an opportunity more at his level of play. Basketball is a business, and it's not a really nice business. You gotta win.

If there's a player we might lose to a lower level team, I doubt that Jans would want to bring that player with him.

Thanks,

Verbal committs has you with 14 guys right now. Any idea who the wrong guy is if you are at 13?

http://www.verbalcommits.com/schools/wichita-state" target="_blank

[mscarn]

After one year, there was a coaching change at Illinois State and the new coach there hired Ford, who played his college ball at Illinois State. During the 2013 season, there was an incident outside the WSU locker room at Illinois State that required security to break up a conflict among the coaching staffs. As near as anyone can piece the clues together, the Illinois State staff called out the WSU staff. The WSU staff responded with a "come and get it" reply. The Iliinois State staff decided they should do that.

Great stuff. It's interesting because a guy we might now hire as an assistant (Bobby Steinburg) was an assistant for Ford when he was in the MAC at Kent. The coaching fraternity never ceases to amaze.

Speaking of that, what is your opinion of Devon Smith? Do you think he's a more likely candidate to join Jans or stay at Wichita? He seems to have been passed over for the last couple assistant openings you've had.

[Aargh]

Thanks,

Verbal committs has you with 14 guys right now. Any idea who the wrong guy is if you are at 13?

http://www.verbalcommits.com/schools/wichita-state" target="_blank

D.J. Bowles does not count as a basketball scholarship. He died on the court in an early practice. On-court CPR and on-court defibrillator got his heart going again. He did not get medical clearance to play basketball at WSU. In situations where a player is permanently medically disqualified from playing, he can keep his scholarship, but it doesn't count against the limit.