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Hiring a good coach is really important...no s$%t! I am watching Toledo play Eastern Michigan. Unfortuantely, the Rockets got it right and we got it so wrong last time. Coaching is everything in college basketball.

Rollo, dead-on! You are exactly right. Success begins and ends with the coach.

A great coach could turn BG around very quickly. The wrong coach can go into a good program (i.e. Senderhoff?) and bring in to mediocrity. Athletic budget, fan base, and facility cannot overcome a bad coach, only enhance a great coach.

So, what is the formula? Anybody?

There is no formula. You have to hope like hell your AD gets it right.

The formula is when the stars align. Right coach with the right players in the right environment. New arenas, 4-star players and a coach with a significant resume can flop and the opposite can come out a winner. We could still be playing at Eppler with 1 offer recruits and an assistant from a mediocre mid-major program that all develop a winning attitude that takes us dancing. You just never know. Hopefully we find that fit.

BleedOrange wrote:Rollo, dead-on! You are exactly right. Success begins and ends with the coach.

A great coach could turn BG around very quickly. The wrong coach can go into a good program (i.e. Senderhoff?) and bring in to mediocrity. Athletic budget, fan base, and facility cannot overcome a bad coach, only enhance a great coach.

So, what is the formula? Anybody?

A LOT of luck!! If we don't get it right this time, well, need i say more?

Thought experiment: New coach with a 5-year deal falls flat on his face. 17-20 loss seasons every year. No team or player development. Would the university keep him and suffers another 5 throw-away years? Then what?

Attendance falls from 1500/game to 200/game?
Whatever sideline student support vacates entirely?
Even diehards like ourselves give up and move on?
Some in the university community question whether we should continue having a men's basketball program?

That's where the program is at right now. This coaching hire is a make-or-break decision.

Gulp.

As bad as we were this year a few last second shots kept us from finishing near the middle of the pack. I definitely believe the situation needs to change but I don't think we are in quit that dire of shape.

On the flip side I had the opportunity to attend a Walleye game last night with around 8,000 other fans (they termed it a sellout - not by my eyes but close). The atmosphere was rather electric considering the level of play displayed by the home team. Some dire hard fans were disgusted and headed to the gates early but there was an environment that was very nice for the casual spectator. I see no reason that a last place DI basketball team cannot have 3,000 for every weekend game if the environment and marketing is enhanced. Stop waiting for a winner to fill the arena, prepare for a winner and start filling the arena.

BleedOrange wrote:
So, what is the formula? Anybody?

John Calipari has said that administrations win championships, not coaches. Not only do we need to pick the right person, they need a clear vision with high expectations set for them and the support to carry it out. Support, of course, means money. We need a larger staff, a higher paid staff, a larger recruiting budget, charter flights and a bunch of other wrongly labeled "little things" that support high level performance.

Combine those resources with the right fit at the top and there's your championship.

BTW, highmajorscoop said we're "one of the hardest mid-major jobs available" due to low money for assistant coaches, no support staff and the East Division writ large:

https://twitter.com/highmajorscoop/stat ... 0620986368" target="_blank

It's likely stuff peddled by rival coaches to discourage top caliber people from taking the job and beating them or excuses from former coaches and/or their buddies.

Kingston is undoubtedly working to rectify the salary and staffing issues. You've got as many scholarships as anyone else in the league and a brand new $36 million dollar arena. You can recruit here and there is ample talent within a 3-5 hour radius.

The new $36M building just doesn't matter that much, especially when you compare it to other facilities. It doesn't differentiate BG in any meaningful way for attracting players or coaches. The Stroh is a non-negative and nothing more.

Until we can rectify the money situation, all we'll have is a token program.

Mr. Crack single provided a gift that should single handedly rectify the funding issue. At least so much that it alone should fund an increase in hoops funding to put us at the top of our conference for the foreseeable future.

Investing his money properly by improving the program should pay dividends in greater revenues down the line to ensure we can maintain that level of expenditures.