Director of Basketball Operations

[tornado]

you know JMM if the people we are sending packing weren't some of our all time greats, and if there was even a hope they'd ever come back to BU in the next 20 years...
and if somewhere in some program we would begin to see some success...........somewhere, anywhere....
I posed this question several times over the past year and I note how everyone who's an expert suddenly disappears and makes NO effort to answer it...

BUT - name which ones of the 14 different sports we have that are doing any significantly better NOW than they were 4-5 years ago when we started with all the firings, cleaning house in the entire Athletic Dept., and have replaced 12 of our head coaches in that interval...
If I saw some light at the end of the tunnel I might not have any questions - but at what point do we say that just maybe we've made way too many changes and we aren't any better in any sport?.....
meanwhile attendances and revenue are way off and not a lot of light at the end of the tunnel.....
Some tried to convince me baseball was better this year and yet didn't every single one of the other 7 MVC teams have a better year than we did??

[Da Coach]

I agree. Sometimes it's hard to see the forest for the trees.
The last staff averaged almost 20 wins per season over their last 6 years, and had All-MVC players, sometimes multiple, in almost every year. There were record levels of fundraising that helped fund the largest expansion and upgrade in the history of the athletic department. 4 of the last 6 seasons lead to post-season tournaments, including the first NCAA wins in 20 years, and the first Sweet 16 in over 50 years. Until we start seeing winning teams again, I think it's a little foolish to try to paint the last regime as so terrible. From what I am hearing, the season ticket renewals are way down, and that will translate into a huge drop in revenues for the years to come.
Maybe eventually, after another single digit win season or two, even the JL-haters will have to admit we didn't have things so bad.

[Braves4Life]

Maybe eventually, after another single digit win season or two, even the JL-haters will have to admit we didn't have things so bad.

Things weren't so bad, but they also weren't as good as they could/should have been (in many sports). In 3-4 years I believe that we will know with 100% certainty whether BU's administration has any clue when it comes to building a successful athletic department. For now, the jury's still out and it's too early to judge their success or failure.

[AZ BU Fan]

DOBO search looks like yet another episode of "As The (BU MBB) World Turns"...

Longest running soap opera in Peoria.....

[TheHeemyMonster]

I agree. Sometimes it's hard to see the forest for the trees.
The last staff averaged almost 20 wins per season over their last 6 years, and had All-MVC players, sometimes multiple, in almost every year. There were record levels of fundraising that helped fund the largest expansion and upgrade in the history of the athletic department. 4 of the last 6 seasons lead to post-season tournaments, including the first NCAA wins in 20 years, and the first Sweet 16 in over 50 years. Until we start seeing winning teams again, I think it's a little foolish to try to paint the last regime as so terrible. From what I am hearing, the season ticket renewals are way down, and that will translate into a huge drop in revenues for the years to come.
Maybe eventually, after another single digit win season or two, even the JL-haters will have to admit we didn't have things so bad.

You have given Geno one season with the team being most of JLs players and you are already writing Geno and the enitre program off. Unbelievable. If you think JL could do any better with a no talent team filled with a few players that played significant minutes that should be playing d2 basketball then you are crazy. Geno walked into a mess and you cant even begin to really critize him until year 3

[Da Coach]

You have given Geno one season with the team being most of JLs players and you are already writing Geno and the enitre program off. Unbelievable. If you think JL could do any better with a no talent team filled with a few players that played significant minutes that should be playing d2 basketball then you are crazy. Geno walked into a mess and you cant even begin to really critize him until year 3

You are 100% wrong. All I am doing is defending the record of the previous coach from the usual ignorant assaults we keep seeing. I would like nothing more than to see this current team rise to the level of success and beyond that we were fortunate to have for the 6 years prior to the coaching change.

[bradleyfan20]

DOBO search looks like yet another episode of "As The (BU MBB) World Turns"...

Longest running soap opera in Peoria.....

The DOBO search is over. Coach Ford is waiting until July 1 to make the hire. As some have already mentioned, it is someone with ties to Coach Ford from Ohio. You may even see him in Peoria in the next week to ten days.

Stop trying to make everything into a drama. Coach Ford is hiring the guy that he planned on hiring from the day Beilein left. Remember, Beilein has been technically gone for 1 week and there is a process to hiring.

[tornado]

I agree -- Geno does not need any distractions at this busy time of the season

[JMM28]

I agree. Sometimes it's hard to see the forest for the trees.
The last staff averaged almost 20 wins per season over their last 6 years, and had All-MVC players, sometimes multiple, in almost every year. There were record levels of fundraising that helped fund the largest expansion and upgrade in the history of the athletic department. 4 of the last 6 seasons lead to post-season tournaments, including the first NCAA wins in 20 years, and the first Sweet 16 in over 50 years. Until we start seeing winning teams again, I think it's a little foolish to try to paint the last regime as so terrible. From what I am hearing, the season ticket renewals are way down, and that will translate into a huge drop in revenues for the years to come.
Maybe eventually, after another single digit win season or two, even the JL-haters will have to admit we didn't have things so bad.

For the record, I was talking about the Olympic sports. But don't let an opportunity waste to mention being 1 of 115 teams to win 20 games!

[tornado]

...don't let an opportunity waste to mention being 1 of 115 teams to win 20 games!

I suspect had we won 20 games this past season it would have been lauded as the epitome of success
in headline stories over and over for longer than the DRuff incident was repeatedly brought up

[lefty]

Seems to me people like to bring stuff just to get a reaction from others.

Doesn't seem to me either side wants to let go of the past, or at least aspects of the past.

[tornado]

there's 42 comments in this thread and maybe a handful, 4 or 5 make veiled reference to something past - mostly because that's likely to show us what happens in the future...
I find it interesting that almost every person who rails over and over that we should stop bringing up the past (not you lefty) - are the very precise 3 or 4 people who post obscure comments and "screen shots" from 6-8 years ago to make some unintelligible point or take an immature swipe at someone....

[tornado]

btw - this morning, even local expert on everything, Phil Luciano took a swipe at how slow Bradley is making progress...

"Some things never change...
If you were to fall asleep like Rip Van Winkle and awaken two decades from now, you might find....


- The Downtown hotel project still would be looking to get done sometime in the near future."


BUT also...
"- Bradley University would still be hoping to recapture its basketball glory years."

http://www.pjstar.com/news/x345283390/Luciano-Blown-hotel-deadline-Some-things-never-change

[Braves4Life]

btw - this morning, even local expert on everything, Phil Luciano took a swipe at how slow Bradley is making progress...

"Some things never change...
If you were to fall asleep like Rip Van Winkle and awaken two decades from now, you might find....

BUT also...
"- Bradley University would still be hoping to recapture its basketball glory years."

Bradley Basketball has been relevant only twice in the last 24 years if an NCAA appearance is the definition of relevance -- once under Mo, once under Les. I know we're all hopeful that Geno can bring BU back to national relevance.

[Chico]

Glad he said "might."