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It has to help in our search for a new coach, doesn't it? "Look what can be done here at BGSU!" A huge contingent of BGSU fans at the Breslin Center, a Sweet 16 appearance, and a PROGRAM that's been winning consistently for years now. Do you think there's impact there, or do you think it's just too different?

I'd like to think that it would make a difference, but I fear that the perception is that they are too different. It depends on the potential coach and how he feels about women's basketball (and MAC Basketball).

They're too different. The Women's team has been very successful (albeit not this successful) in the past while the men have continued on their hamster wheel of futility. If I'm a coach I'd be swayed more by the results achieved by Weinert, Larranaga and Dakich than Fran Voll and Curt Miller.

But that's just me...

I'm with you Grant. I think it shows the pent-up desire to support the school and a winning team.

Lord_Byron wrote:I'm with you Grant. I think it shows the pent-up desire to support the school and a winning team.

I think the point I'm trying to make is that it CAN BE DONE here... You can build a winning program again, you can get crowds behind you, and you can make a deep impact in the NCAA tourney! The women are proving it.

I know the games are different, I know the style is different, I know the systems are different, but it's still BGSU Basketball....

Most of the men's coaches I've talked to over the years don't respect women's basketball. In fact, they usually say that the women are taking money away from the men's program.

I think the men and women's programs are too different to have a carryover impact. Many male athletes come in thinking of a career in sports at some level-either pro basketball or coaching. They are, I think, more concerned with media coverage, facilities and the perception of the program. The women, IMO, tend to look more for the academic side, post college opportunities in other fields, etc. In other words they're smarter and more realistic than the men.

It definitely shows that the community will support you en masse if you give them a reason to.

The formula is exactly the same: recruit, develop and retain solid players. The men have been 1/3 for a while, perhaps 1.5-2/3 if you want to be generous.

The women's team is led by 5 seniors who have been in the program for four years. The men's team hasn't been able to put together a senior class like that in the 5 years since McLeod, Matela, Pardon and Klassen graduated.

I absolutely think that the Women's tourney run and overall success has an impact on the coaching search and to some degree the success of the men's program. I heard Bruce Pearl has said that one of his most important and successfull recruiting tools is the success of the Tennessee Women's program.

YES...It shows the it can be done here
YES...It gets BGSU in the national spotlight to some degree
YES...I think it could only help in a coaching search.
YES...I think that it could even be used as a recruiting tool for our men's program.

Keep it up ladies

The big parallel is fan support and media coverage. A coach that has concerns about either can be pointed directly to the women's success. The argument would be even stronger if said coach doesn't respect the women's game. If some podunk women can bring this kind of attention to themselves, what could some big strong men do?

MacGuy wrote:[men's coaches] usually say that the women are taking money away from the men's program.

As a general rule, yes. But this got me thinking:

Men's attendance for 2006-2007 = 21,049
Women's attendance for 2006-2007 = 20,897

So the men out drew the women by 152 this past season... or did they? The men played 15 home games and the women played 13 home games (excluding exhibitions). So:

Men's average attendance = 1,403/game
Women's average attendance = 1,607/game

So the women averaged 204 more than the men per game. I don't know the difference in ticket prices, if any, but I would bet the +200/game for the gals made this season a push financially, at a minimum.

Thoughts?

Some potential men's coaches may be intimidated of the women's success (don't like the idea of being out-shined by the women).

Miller and the seniors will be gone so we will be rebuilding that program too.

Globetrotter wrote:Miller and the seniors will be gone so we will be rebuilding that program too.

I love declarative statments based on little more than uninformed projections.

Globetrotter wrote:Miller and the seniors will be gone so we will be rebuilding that program too.

And your inside source is whom? Please don't speculate unless you have something better than your sixth sence to go on. Why would you want to be so negative in the middle of such a successful season anyway. Enjoy the ride then we can worry about what comes next. GO FALCONS!!!!!