I dont blame the coaching

[squirrelgotdead]

If it affects the bottom line, it is important the President does have a big responsibility in that area.

Now I do agree they are not directly involved. . .but it is precisely those previous Presidents who have acted in ways that have negatively affected Bradley Athletics. . .

Rodes caved to the pressure of the close-knit Bradley community after daring to hire someone from outside the club and repeatedly refused increased funding for basketball and football.

Van Arsdale continued to refuse increased funding for athletics and ulimately caused the elimination of football and lacked the vision to capitalize on the emergence of TV.

Abegg eliminated Physical Education as a major and kept Bradley out of joining a potentially bigger conference in the late 1970's.

Brazil and Broski both were almost completely hands off in athletics, and while on the surface that may be a good thing, but that gave basically 20 years of continued hand-tying.

We finally have a President with vision, a willingness to pursue options for growth, and wants to re-assert athletics as a key money-making and PR vehicle for Bradley's emergence in the national picture.

[Beninator]

Who??? At least give us something to look at! One thing I take away from this board is if we do look for another coach I would not look to this board for a suggestion. Recruiting is no longer a regional endeavor its a national one/maybe international if you want to be consistently a top 50 team. I really do not care if we can recruit out of Chicago or not if there is a NY kid willing to come here and who has game! Since 1996, the average distance (from home town to campus) for the top 8 Gonzaga players per season is 1142 miles.

I keep bringing up the need for 2 new assistant coaches. One assistant would be an "x's and o's" coach. The other coach I would bring in would be a coach with connections in an area such as Chicago. Yes that assistant would be a figurehead in some ways, but I would want that type of person as a way to get into the door for some recruits that we might not otherwise be in the running to get.

[squirrelgotdead]

On a side note, Owen got himself into a little trouble back in the 1950's.

No doubt, but what Bradley became from the late 1940's thru the 1960's is almost entirely attributable to Owen. . .

But yeah, his Era certainly ended ignominiously, as did his life.

[SFP]

Beninator it is alot more useful to have an assistant that has connection to Adidas and Nike's AAU league then to any one area. How do you thing Calipari does it? It's a much different recruiting war out there then taking on local HS coaches. Major shoe companies do have influence where players land.

[BradleyBrave]

If it affects the bottom line, it is important the President does have a big responsibility in that area.

Now I do agree they are not directly involved. . .but it is precisely those previous Presidents who have acted in ways that have negatively affected Bradley Athletics. . .

Rodes caved to the pressure of the close-knit Bradley community after daring to hire someone from outside the club and repeatedly refused increased funding for basketball and football.

Van Arsdale continued to refuse increased funding for athletics and ulimately caused the elimination of football and lacked the vision to capitalize on the emergence of TV.

Abegg eliminated Physical Education as a major and kept Bradley out of joining a potentially bigger conference in the late 1970's.

Brazil and Broski both were almost completely hands off in athletics, and while on the surface that may be a good thing, but that gave basically 20 years of continued hand-tying.

We finally have a President with vision, a willingness to pursue options for growth, and wants to re-assert athletics as a key money-making and PR vehicle for Bradley's emergence in the national picture.

Interesting. I hope this turns out to be the case. I think we all just want to win. If the president can use her position to make that happen more often, awesome. It is of no concern to me who the coach is, where the players are from, or what style we play. I just want to win, and win consistently.

[SFP]

I agree with squirrelgotdead!

[Beninator]

Beninator it is alot more useful to have an assistant that has connection to Adidas and Nike's AAU league then to any one area. How do you thing Calipari does it? It's a much different recruiting war out there then taking on local HS coaches. Major shoe companies do have influence where players land.

SFP, I was thinking old school.. you are right... so a figurehead assistant with connections to the shoe companies it is... At least for us message board gurus.
I hate NIKE though... Any NIKE shoe I have owned did not last very long.

[shaunguth]

We couldn't afford to pay for one of Roy's expensive dress shoes....


But we're all so glad that you're excited for 12-12, 7-7, mediocrity and a 5th-7th place finish (AGAIN)

So.....we're either "excited" or we want the coach and his entire staff fired along with bringing in new players since the current staff didn't do as good a job as someone else could.

Those are the two options?

[shaunguth]

To the first comment: ...but if your light bulb obviously isn't working as it should, you have to change it at some point.

To the second comment: ...you mean like lose the zero recruits we have coming in next year to replace Singh, Roberts, and Brown?

Now Brown's leaving?

[shaunguth]

Well Jim is getting $400,000+ to coach here, so I think many many up-and-coming coaches would be willing to come here for a chance to be the head coach.

The other thing about coaching candidates is this.....until you make the move how do you know what will happen? So as far as names that blow you out of the water, it's not relevant exactly.

Give me a coach who WANTS the job and will work his butt off and improve BU. This .500, no conference titles, no REAL postseason, no Valley tourney titles stuff is not cutting it.

I don't want change for change's sake. I want change for a better and successful program

I certainly hope our new coach is able to get to the Sweet 16 before year five of his regime. Anything other than that would be a failure in comparison and would more than likely put him on his way out.

[BradleyBrave]

I certainly hope our new coach is able to get to the Sweet 16 before year five of his regime. Anything other than that would be a failure in comparison and would more than likely put him on his way out.

You forgot to hit the 'sarcasm' button...

[shaunguth]

You forgot to hit the 'sarcasm' button...

Why should the next coach get a free pass if he's not as successful as the current one?

[SFP]

Why should the next coach get a free pass if he's not as successful as the current one?

With the new facilities at his/her disposal I'd hope he would have a higher bar to climb.

Ever think of getting a female coach! Pat Summitt? First female HC for D1 men! Think about it! All this speculation is pretty funny and entertaining so we might as well think outside of the box.

[shaunguth]

With the new facilities at his/her disposal I'd hope he would have a higher bar to climb.

Ever think of getting a female coach! Pat Summitt? First female HC for D1 men! Think about it! All this speculation is pretty funny and entertaining so we might as well think outside of the box.

I actually did think about that when I was typing "he".

[BradleyBrave]

Why should the next coach get a free pass if he's not as successful as the current one?

Who said anyone would get a 'free pass'? He would and should be judged by the same standards as his predecessors. If he doesn't make a Sweet 16 but wins the MVC, he'll be fine in my book. Les could coach forever if he had us in contention annually, Sweet 16 or no Sweet 16. You act like it's something personal.

You seem like pretty big BU homer, are you going to go after the next guy because he's not the immortal Jim Les? I highly doubt that you will...