Reflections on UC Davis and Les success

[Bravesfanchicago]

It wasn't who had a larger ego. It was that JG was unnecessarily intimidated. I think Les was a fairly private, and at times, shy person. Remember he had a forced public athletic life since he was 18. I think he was cautious with relationships. But he was also very confident about what he thought he could accomplish.

The most famous person in Peoria is generally the BU basketball coach...maybe Bob Michael back in the day.

Yes JL could fundraise and presented well...had long deep ties to BU. The fundraising campaign was largely done before JG touched down in Peoria...the new facilities were approved and underway. JG had little substantive roll in any of that...but she tried to take credit for any and all positive outcomes. But when things were challenging ...she sent out her press spokesperson/speech writer. Never knew that role existed previously....

Remember the pattern was always the same....JG tried to undermine those that she could not buffalo. And it brought her down in the end.

So Les reported to KK..and then Cross ....and that was not permitted to function...JG insisted on involving herself. That was the beginning of the end,

[tornado]

when Mike Cross was asked to reflect back and name the top accomplishments during his & Joanne's tenure (Cross' time here largely paralleled Glasser's)

most AD's would have bragged about great athletic teams, successes in tourneys, winning records, putting players into the pros, winning the conference, going to the post-season, teams staying clean and out of trouble, or building the fan base...

instead - for his legacy, he claimed the silly mascot (which they actually hired some firm to do for them) and signing a shoe deal with adidas (every team in DI & DII has a shoe deal with someone so it sure can't be rocket science)...

so that was it....that's what we blew 6-7 years and $30 million accomplishing..

[carter]

Cross

Wasn't he the one also responsible for getting rid of our last logo and pushed for having the B as the new logo which in my opinion was a big mistake.Think of all the teams that have a letter for there logo,boring I think.

[tornado]

Wasn't he the one also responsible for getting rid of our last logo and pushed for having the B as the new logo which in my opinion was a big mistake.Think of all the teams that have a letter for there logo,boring I think.

yeah - he also paid a consulting firm to come up with that plain B

but I think the guy who came up with that kinda stole it from one of the top DII schools in the nation, Bellarmine University

[Da Coach]

Wasn't he the one also responsible for getting rid of our last logo and pushed for having the B as the new logo which in my opinion was a big mistake.Think of all the teams that have a letter for there logo,boring I think.

Yes, the new shield B logo was introduced in August, 2012, so that was under Dr. Cross, though I think much of the emphasis to make a change came from higher up.

http://www.pjstar.com/x580291723/Bradley-unveils-new-logo

There was also this failed attempt to change Bradley's nickname from Braves to Brave, even though Bradley had already fought that battle with the NCAA for years, and finally won when the NCAA backed off its demand that Bradley drop the name. The administration wanted to drop the "s" and rename the sports teams "The Brave". But at least they did a survey of alumni, donors, and fans first and found that an overwhelming majority were against the change. Plus, a significant number of donors said they would pull or end their donations if a change was made. At least in that instance, they listened to the alumni, fans, and others, and the push to make the change ended in November, 2012.

http://www.pjstar.com/x1440171463/Bradley-will-stay-the-Braves

[carter]

I agree totally da coach.I think the previous administration decided to get rid of our previous logo because it had the word braves in it.They were trying to destroy anything with Braves.

[Da Coach]

It was also reported that the President wanted to try to copy the general appearance of some of the logos for highly esteemed eastern universities

[tornado]

nice recap of Jim Les's great season

http://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/les-talks-about-close-knit-historic-aggie-mens-basketball-team/

[bradleyfan124]

It makes my skin crawl everytime I think how JG almost destroyed Bradley and what Jim Les and Ken Kavanaugh might have accomplished if they had been allowed to stay and do their magic

[Da Coach]

Another complimentary article about UC-Davis

http://www.midmajormadness.com/2017/5/21/15651568/uc-davis-is-a-program-on-the-rise-aggies-big-west-ncaa-tournament

[tornado]

interesting .....they describe his time at Bradley quite positively..
they point out how he rebuilt Bradley and led them to big time post-season success/Sweet 16 and describe his time here as a success...

[tornado]

another one of Jim Les' players headed for some NBA workouts..

https://twitter.com/CaliforniaAggie/status/872159156538671105

this is pretty amazing...recall how ridiculed people were who predicted that when Jim Les was fired, then later hired by UC-Davis...
that a FEW predicted he would win a LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP, go the the NCAA, and get players into the NBA before Geno Ford would...
One of Les' current players is even being cited as a possible NBA draft pick next year - LINK
But, poof, it's all a distant memory along with half the fan base and donation base..thanks to JG/MC.

Unfortunately Dr. Glasser listened to the extreme few squeaky wheel whining fans (who sent e mails instead of contributions or support) and her own ego instead of common sense & the rest of the fan base.

[Da Coach]

....
Unfortunately Dr. Glasser listened to the extreme few squeaky wheel whining fans (who sent e mails instead of contributions or support) and her own ego instead of common sense & the rest of the fan base.

And to a certain reporter with an obsessive agenda...

[tornado]

nice off-season article on Jim Les & UC-Davis

https://www.midmajormadness.com/2017/6/24/15835508/hope-index-uc-davis-first-ever-ncaa-trip-was-no-surprise-aggies-brynton-lemar-chima-moneke-big-west

[tornado]

reminiscent of Jake Eastman...
one of Coach Jim Les' recent grads at UC-Davis, JT Adenrele - going to work in the front office of the Sacramento Kings!
...seems JL has a way of getting them to the NBA one way or another!

https://twitter.com/JohnTKings

https://twitter.com/JohnTKings/status/885576310763921409