How Good Is the BU Job?

[bake]

I Too

MB:

I am watching the tournement games in Charlotte NC, with, as you, an individual whom I feel has the best NCAA basketball mind on anyone I know. He suggests top 50 might be a bit strong though is a strong supporter of the MVC.

Our discussion this evening has been around Paul Lusk, assocaite head coach, at Purdue?

Just a name to think about.

Go Braves, Butler, Richmond, and the Zags.

This is by far the best time of the sports year.

[Beninator]

Above anything mentioned, the Administration needs to demonstrate with the new coaching hire that we are committing to a winning program. If we have a lackluster coaching hire, this thread, or similar threads will exist for most of the summer and beyond.

[Buesch N Chips]

Above anything mentioned, the Administration needs to demonstrate with the new coaching hire that we are committing to a winning program.

That sentence sounds great, but I don't know how you define that at all.

How do you demonstrate that you are committing to a winning program?
What is a winning program?

[Beninator]

That sentence sounds great, but I don't know how you define that at all.

How do you demonstrate that you are committing to a winning program?
What is a winning program?

In no particular order for starters:

Allocate more resources to the program.

Hire a new coach who is currently working for a coach with a proven coaching tree and who has extensive recruiting ties in the midwest .
(exception here would be Jonson and Amaker who can be hired on their own merits)

Hire quality assistants who are hired with the new coach's blessing instead of patchwork hires from people above the new coach.

Have a defined recruiting strategy.

[Bravesfan]

Thing is, they got rid of him in part because of not being competitive..,

And I believe their version of competitive is a bit stronger than yours...

1 NCAAT
1 NITT

All in 9 years with no finish above 4th in conference wasn't good enough for them and frankly isn't for many of us around here, especially when you consider the doormats that Wichita State and UNI were not more than 10 years ago!

I think we being one of the best fan bases in the conference deserve much much more!

First, just to clarify for anyone who may have missinterpreted my comments above, I am definitely not satisfied that we have only made these tournaments twice in nine years, and the Big Dance twice in 20 years. I'm just saying I can at least live with a team that does not finish in the cellar every year and at least is competitive with a chance to make a step up to the top in future seasons.

That said, back to the discussion of what it means to be competitive. I understand where you are coming from SLB, but I tend to think of competitive as playing close games and winning at least half of them. A .500 team that finishes 5th or 6th in the conference usually plays most of their games close, but isn't quite good enough to win the majority of them. That's what the traditional definition of competitive is, and I think that is a good definition of where the "bottom" of a program should be defined. But we all know that most teams below the top 50 in the country will have years where they finish lower.

Your definition of competitive seems to be within striking distance of one of the top two postseason tournaments each year. Yes, that's a different level of being competitive, but before we can get to that level of competitiveness, we have to at least be competitive to get to the .500 mark.

I think this team was heading toward that goal at the end of this season, but we will never know if this team could hit the next level next year under Les. I hope a new coach does not mean a mass exodus from what we have, but it seems to be starting already.

[Bravesfan]

But compared to the rest of BU history JL delivered twice as many NCAA wins as the last 45 years prior to him. I'm not saying JL was great by any means, but to pretend he was less than what BU is used to is simply false. I'd argue he was our best coach in 50 years. (I have a pretty huge hatred for cheating...)

My point is, everything needs to be kept in perspective, and I could easily list 20 more desirable mid major jobs, let alone BCS.

I agree with your point as well amc, but as I stated in my previous post above, yes while I can live with a competitive team each year, of course I want more NCAA and NIT tournament appearances. But I also do agree with you amc that we have a long way to go towards being an annual NCAA Tournament participant, and there's no guarantee this will change with the next coach. So in other words, one or two NCAA Tournaments per 10 to 20 years may be the status quo for us.

[randy]

If you measure the job by fan support, we are #52. Not bad.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/8753820042742b01b8b6be967b4a3893/Awide_Mbkbattlists.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=8753820042742b01b8b6be967b4a3893

[Missouri Brave]

Fair point by anyone who knocked my comment that Bradley is "perhaps one of the top 50 jobs in the country."

First, certainly BU has not been one of the top 50 teams in the country the past two decades when it comes to W-L, postseason appearances, etc. But I'm not saying that we have one of the top 50 PROGRAMS in the country, only that it is perhaps one of the top 50 JOBS.

Why do I say that?

1.Look at how avid the fan base is. With the exception of this season, attendance has been terrific for years, all despite a team that has routinely underperformed. And think about this: it's a Saturday night, our team had a rough year and yet many of us are online right now, talking about our team.

2. Bradley basketball is THE game in town. We have no major league sports teams, nothing that truly competes with BU hoops for attention.

3. Illinois is a hotbed of basketball talent and central Illinois is very fertile recruiting ground.

4. With the decision to hire a new coach, the administration has signaled that it isn't going to be happy with mediocrity. They want to win and win regularly. (And yes, I realize that this point is the one that many on this board will likely disagree with.)

Are Butler and Gonzaga among the top 50 jobs in the country? I don't think any of us would dispute that they are. And BU might have the edge on both schools on points #1, #2 and #3 above. Now we just have to start winning some games, as they've both done consistenly over the past decade.

[Missouri Brave]

If you measure the job by fan support, we are #52. Not bad.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/...b6be967b4a3893

Great stuff, Randy. Three so-called mid-majors in the Top 52 and all from the Valley - Creighton (#15), Wichita (#41) and BU.

Princeton averaged 2,300 a game.

[Missouri Brave]

Just posted the following on the Princeton board. Maybe a bit over the top on my part. I think I may need to go back over there and apologize. I blame Bradleyfans poster Randy for giving me the strong statistical evidence below.

------------------------

Johnson may consider taking the Bradley job IF he actually wants people to see him coach. Bradley, which was absolutely horrible this season, still averaged 9,300 fans a game, 52nd in the country. Two other Missouri Valley Conference schools, Creighton (#15) and Wichita State (#41) averaged more than 10,000 per game. Princeton, which is supposedly a better job than the one at Bradley, averaged 2,300.

If Coach Johnson wants to coach in a better league with a more avid fan base then he'll strongly consider Bradley. If he chooses to stay at Princeton because he loves the job and the school, I say more power to him. There's something to be said for a guy with great love for his alma mater.

Princeton's had more success than Bradley for much of the past two decades but, all that said, it still isn't in the same class as far as top basketball jobs go. And odds are strong that it never will be.

[Braves4Life]

If you measure the job by fan support, we are #52. Not bad.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/...b6be967b4a3893

Great stuff, Randy. Three so-called mid-majors in the Top 52 and all from the Valley - Creighton (#15), Wichita (#41) and BU.

Great, great, GREAT point randy!! That's exactly why I believe BU is such a great job for an up and coming coach to want. GIVE PEORIA AND THE BU FANS A WINNER AND WATCH OUT BROTHA!! YOU'LL BE A HERO, REVERED, AND A LIVING LEGEND!

[tornado]

Everybody is forgetting this admin/board brings this job WAY down. 4-5 years ago it was a much better job. I hope a new coach does not do any research.

agree -- I have always said Bradley is one of the best non-BCS schools as far as basketball, tradition, attendance, etc....it truly is a good job but not like it once was......

Clearly -- any job that pays a couple hundred thousand or more will definitely attract lots of interested parties...
No doubt there are hundreds of HS coaches and lower level college assistants making way, way less than what they'd start at in this job, so it's still a desirable job...but many of those applicants will be deep in the pool of qualifications...

Having said that -- I agree with Petey -- that word gets around about some of the challenges of this particular job -- read between the lines --
the college basketball coaches and AD's are a close knit group -- everyone knows everyone and sees each other all the time on the recruiting trail, games, and especially this time of the year with the NCAA games going.
They make calls, they talk, there are few secrets......

So word of lots of inside details get around freely and if there's anything that might dilute the pool of truly qualified candidates, it's the negativity and issues that are known behind the scenes regarding the BU job...
Players are still quite close to their old AAU coaches & talk with them every day, and other coaches hear the reasons when players bolt & transfer even before finding out who the next hire is....

I think the Bradley job has been tainted by some of the issues.......

[Braves4Life]

I think the Bradley job has been tainted by some of the issues.......

I'm sure this kind of pessimism and negativity initially goes on at many schools who fire their coach, especially when he has deep roots in the community and even more so when he was the conquering hero..... the "Golden Boy".

Like all things this shall pass, Bradley will get "their man", they'll rebuild their program, and all of the anti-BU Administration Negative Nellies will eventually come around and, once again, drink the kool-aid like good little soldiers.

Bradley Basketball is really all Peoria has to rally around as a community and, one way or another, it will continue to be the glue that holds Peoria sports fans together. Bradley Basketball WILL survive! THE SKY IS NOT FALLING! THE FUTURE STILL LOOKS BRIGHT! GO BU!!!

[srw]

But again, this illustrates the argument against firing Les in the first place. They fired Coach Mo, and of course some of their better recruits bolted. The same thing is happening now with Remy Abel seriously looking somewhere else now. And SM has been lost too, even if he would have only been around one more year.

As I just posted on the "Federal government" thread, a new coaching hire better darn well turn the program into a major power in a hurry. If not, and the new coach has off the court issues and graduation issues with his players, then the administration will never live this down.

Now, looking at Bradley's history as has already been posted above in this thread, maybe Bradley is destined to be a Morehead St/Indiana St type of program with one or two NCAA Tournament appearances every 10 to 15 years, with a few NIT/CBI/CIT appearances in between. In other words, a decent, competitive program that has few truly bad seasons, but not a consistently great program. Fine. I can live with that because I actually do have a life outside of sports and have other more important things to worry about. But if this is the case, then why was Les fired in the first place? He was able to accomplish at least that much, and with a high graduation rate in the first place! Who's to say the next guy will be able to sustain this! Nothing against the next coach because I would be judging someone without seeing their body of work, but if the goal is just to keep Bradley competitive, then they already had their guy, and they let him go. Go figure!

The administration likely will not be here to live it down. One problem with senior administration moving around quicker than coaches is they don't really have to deal with the remnants.

Im not saying this to be criticial of President Glasser or Dr. Cross, I think they have the opportunity to be very successful with this hire. I am just stating this in general.