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(Note: This post might fit in other forums as well)

The unrelenting dominance of the women's basketball team under Curt Miller should be instructive to the head coaches and athletic administrators at BG. Here are some elements that have made the women's basketball program such a success and can be replicated in other programs:

1) Make recruiting your number one priority. Miller and his staff took their lumps initially with the leftovers from the Dee Knoblauch regime for two years before landing a monster class that features five players currently seeing big minutes. Miller had a backround as a recruiting coordinator, and he hired coaches with great reputations as recruiters. The staff relentlessly attacks Ohio and Michigan, and coaches obviously function better with superior personnel.

2) Hire coaches that have succeeded in similar circumstances. Curt Miller came from Colorado State, which isn't exactly the first name that comes to mind when thinking about college basketball. Still, a little research would have showed that he and mentor Tom Collen installed a system and won big in a place where winning isn't easy. Finding gems buried beneath the bright lights of major programs is the way to go at all levels of staffing.

3) Retain and develop your personnel. It's an enormous waste of time and resources to bring players in only to see them depart (at worst) or stagnate. Megan Thorburn, a key senior contributor this year, saw her minutes fall during her sophomore year, and in most cases, a transfer usually follows. She stayed, improved her game and is now a key member of the rotation.

4) Don't get complacent with success. Both the football and men's basketball programs have had recent periods of great success only to fall back in subsequent years. Curt Miller is endlessly adapting and looking for ways to do things better and keep things fresh.

5) Keep your coaches. Curt Miller has had exactly zero changes to a coaching staff he calls one of the best in the Midwest and the entire nation since he got to BG, and in fact added Kevin Eckert after the first year. A staff that is cohesive, hard-working and in it for more than money and the next job goes a long way in fostering chemisty and continuity in a program. If a departure occurs, bring in an individual who fits the culture of the program and can recruit on a comparable level.

I see a couple problems with trying to apply this situation to other situations in the department.

The first one is -- it's easy to say you have to find diamonds in the rough and keep your coaches together or focus on recruiting, but those things are often very difficult to achieve individually at this level, and it's an even rarer case when they can all come together simultaneously. We've been very fortunate to retain our assistants, and find a good coach that wants to build something special here.

The second and biggest one is -- Women's basketball is a very different environment than men's basketball or football or hockey. The publicity level is different, the egos are different, just everything is very different. There are many more longtime women's basketball coaches around the country than there are longtime men's bb or football coaches. The salary structure makes it easier for smaller schools to keep good coaches in WBB.

It's a great post detailing how we've risen to #16 in the country. I'm not sure you can lay out a specific blueprint for the other sports to follow though. There are just too many variables. Recruiting is the biggest parallel, even though Brandon has nailed down lots of highly regarded talent, and that program is still in very bad shape. Miller is a rare blend of recruiting force, and basketball knowledge. He's still growing as a game coach and x and o guy, but his motivation, recruiting acumen, and willingness to build here are tough to argue with.

The number one thing the other programs can glean from the women's basketball program, is that you absolutely must find a great head coach and assistant staff, and you have to do whatever it takes to keep them once you find them. This might be impossible in football, but not in Men's BB and Hockey. You also have to be willing to recognize when you don't have the right person, and pull the trigger on replacing him. That's something our athletic department has failed to do.

In college sports, almost everything revolves around the coaches, and the head coach in particular. Good players come and go, but good coaches/recruiters combined with stability are tough for your competitors to overcome. Once you can find that one 10+ year great coach that builds the program and it's prestige, the train just rolls from there. Recruiting gets much easier.

Curt Miller is the "real deal".

Hopefully this "administration" won't let this slip away like they did with hockey.

They better open their checkbooks and give him what he needs to keep it rolling, because,...once you lose it, it's one heck of an uphill climb to get it back.

I think if anyone could know about that uphill battle (football with Meyer, hockey with York, and basketball with the Dakich fiasco) it's this administration. However I also think that if anyone could know and still let it slip away, it's this administration.

Alright...well the Urbie issue was going to happen no matter what....There is no way we could have kept him, and as far as him being an A$$hole....that comes with the territory....

Not too familiar with the York issue to comment, but the Danny Debacle was directly following the year we lost to Kentread State and barely missed the Tourney....it was a move that was a lose lose!!!

tim94064 wrote:Curt Miller is the "real deal".

Hopefully this "administration" won't let this slip away like they did with hockey.

They better open their checkbooks and give him what he needs to keep it rolling, because,...once you lose it, it's one heck of an uphill climb to get it back.

I agree, they need to do everything in their power to keep this going.

The picture is much bigger than just giving the head coach a raise.

ie: facilities/budgets/assistant coaches salaries.

It's very clear the previous administration let hockey go adrift by cutting budgets after the 84 championship, and watching the league big boys get serious about the game......we never recovered.

I couldn't imagine recruiting to Anderson Arena......you can blame the coaches all you want, but they start their day out with their hands tied behind their back.

tim94064 wrote: I couldn't imagine recruiting to Anderson Arena......you can blame the coaches all you want, but they start their day out with their hands tied behind their back.

That's not an excuse, and Curt Miller has proved that. You can sell Anderson Arena; you just have to be creative about it.

What you lose in seating capacity you gain in atmosphere with the students so close to the action. It's an "old school" feature virtually unseen in college basketball, and a good coach can work with that.

BG has the best environment for womens basketball in the MAC bar none. Playing in front of a couple thousand screaming fans right on the court beats playing in a mausoleum with about 200 people filled to 1/15 capacity any day of the week.

JoeFalcon wrote: a carnivorous arena

Which MAC arena is carnivorous -- I'm staying away from that one!

But yeah -- The facilities mean more to the men's b-ball players I talked to than the women. No doubt we need a new building at some point, but just as many recruits see AA as a reason for coming here as recruits that see it as a reason not to come here.

Jacobs4Heisman wrote:

JoeFalcon wrote: a carnivorous arena

Which MAC arena is carnivorous -- I'm staying away from that one!

I don't know, Savage Hall has a rather bloodthisty name and atmosphere to it

JoeFalcon wrote:BG has the best environment for womens basketball in the MAC bar none. Playing in front of a couple thousand screaming fans right on the court beats playing in a mausoleum with about 200 people filled to 1/15 capacity any day of the week.

I'd have to agree with this. I haven't been to too many other arenas for womens basketball, but the trip up to EMU this past weekend made me more sure than ever that AA is not as much of a negative factor for recruiting as people seem to think it is.

As 'nice' as the Convo Center was up there, there was no personality, the sound didn't carry, and it looked awful empty. Despite the low attendance (940, I believe), I don't think 1200 would have looked too impressive in there, nor been as loud.

I also think looking at the recruits we're bringing in/getting interest from is evidence enough that we can bring in serious talent without a snazzy new arena.

Curt Miller has brought BG up to a top fifteen program. He and his staff has the ability to make BG a UCONN of the midwest, they are that good.

It's up to the administration to give Curt all of the tools that he needs to keep it going.
Yes, Anderson is a great place to watch a game. But the arena is old and out dated to say the least.

The locker rooms are small, coaches offices are small, training facilites are outdated, and meeting rooms are non-existant. (and no weight rooms)
These are major areas that Curt needs upgraded to compete on a national level, not Mid Am.

It is old school, and it is time for the new one to come on line. Lets just hope somthing happens before it's too late.