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Geno Ford....
- Thread starter Big Mike
- Start date
PTownHawkeye
New member
New head coach of Stoney Brook?Maybe this was already on here but I didn't see it.
Correct - https://www.newsday.com/sports/college/stony-brook/geno-ford-basketball-coach-1.28956762
Geno obviously wasn't successful in Peoria and wasn't the right choice as we now know.
That said, in my several extended social interactions with him, he could not have been a nicer guy and from everything I ever heard and saw, a great husband and father. So I'll root for him wherever he goes. Hopefully Stony Brook will be at a level where he can succeed.
tornado
New member
I liked Geno personally but he was just not intense enough and strict enough to develop a good team here...
many players developed lazy, self-centered work habits & it showed everywhere- in practice, on the bus, in games & at Big Al's.
I also think he was tremendously hampered by the meddling and micromanagement that came from above,
and he was doomed to fail because the main influence in the department came from above & would have guaranteed failure for anyone.
Everybody in the Athletic Department from coaches to secretaries to development people were told how to do their job
by someone else who didn't have a clue and if they did not do exactly as the were told - they were fired (and I can name a dozen examples - including many who are fine people, highly respected and successful and who have gone on to stellar & envious careers elsewhere).
Even Glasser's staunchest supporters like Wessler acknowledged that fact.
...and he even stated that was the reason Bradley had so much trouble finding anyone to take the open coaching job
in 2011 despite throwing out ridiculous salary figures like $750K for guys with zero success getting to the NCAA.
btw - if you want to see how dishonest the PJS is and how they kissed up to Glasser and defended her and her terrible decisions and even played promotional-agent for her - then read the article Kirk Wessler wrote when Joe Stowell was fired and kicked off campus.
If there was ever a time Kirk or the PJS should have reported the facts and raked Joanne over the coals - it was when they treated Hall of Famer Joe Stowell like trash.
Even the title of the article was a lie "Double hit stings old coach.."
http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...trip=1&vwsrc=0
But it wasn't a double hit - it was a QUADRUPLE HIT! Stowell was fired from his position on the Bradley Hall of Fame Committee, he was fired from his position as WMBD radio broadcaster - but he was also banned fully from any other Bradley related activites PLUS the incredibly unprecedented BANNING of him personally from even setting foot on campus!! Kirk never even mentions that.
Kirk then goes on to describe the treatment of Stowell as simply "head scratching" but NEVER actually criticizes or calls anyone out for this affront and insult to NOT just Joe Stowell but to every other Bradley fan of any age that knew Joe Stowell.
Kirk then goes on to defend the banning because Joe is too old, there's no room for him on the radio crew, and then
by the end of his ridiculous article he suggests the blame for the whole mess and firing/banning of Joe Stowell might be ON JIM LES!!!!
"...It is not much of a secret, for example, that Stowell and head coach Jim Les have had no relationship to speak of ..."
LOL - and you wonder why people think the PJS has bias? They had tremendous and even dishonest & irrational bias FOR Joanne and against anyone who preceded her or succeeded her. They have been in Joanne's pocket since 2007 when she arrived here and have endlessly carried water for her and shifted blame for everything negative - every inept or disastrous action - all the drop in attendance and unprecedented losing seasons - shifted the blame to someone else - KK, Jim Les, and even onto the fans, Chris Reynolds & BW.
Despite Joanne being worse for Bradley than that spark was for the Hindenburg - the PJS has never once hinted that she did anything wrong or less than outstanding. They have run with the Joanne Glasser Brand for over a decade and have never let up -
many players developed lazy, self-centered work habits & it showed everywhere- in practice, on the bus, in games & at Big Al's.
I also think he was tremendously hampered by the meddling and micromanagement that came from above,
and he was doomed to fail because the main influence in the department came from above & would have guaranteed failure for anyone.
Everybody in the Athletic Department from coaches to secretaries to development people were told how to do their job
by someone else who didn't have a clue and if they did not do exactly as the were told - they were fired (and I can name a dozen examples - including many who are fine people, highly respected and successful and who have gone on to stellar & envious careers elsewhere).
Even Glasser's staunchest supporters like Wessler acknowledged that fact.
...and he even stated that was the reason Bradley had so much trouble finding anyone to take the open coaching job
in 2011 despite throwing out ridiculous salary figures like $750K for guys with zero success getting to the NCAA.
btw - if you want to see how dishonest the PJS is and how they kissed up to Glasser and defended her and her terrible decisions and even played promotional-agent for her - then read the article Kirk Wessler wrote when Joe Stowell was fired and kicked off campus.
If there was ever a time Kirk or the PJS should have reported the facts and raked Joanne over the coals - it was when they treated Hall of Famer Joe Stowell like trash.
Even the title of the article was a lie "Double hit stings old coach.."
http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...trip=1&vwsrc=0
But it wasn't a double hit - it was a QUADRUPLE HIT! Stowell was fired from his position on the Bradley Hall of Fame Committee, he was fired from his position as WMBD radio broadcaster - but he was also banned fully from any other Bradley related activites PLUS the incredibly unprecedented BANNING of him personally from even setting foot on campus!! Kirk never even mentions that.
Kirk then goes on to describe the treatment of Stowell as simply "head scratching" but NEVER actually criticizes or calls anyone out for this affront and insult to NOT just Joe Stowell but to every other Bradley fan of any age that knew Joe Stowell.
Kirk then goes on to defend the banning because Joe is too old, there's no room for him on the radio crew, and then
by the end of his ridiculous article he suggests the blame for the whole mess and firing/banning of Joe Stowell might be ON JIM LES!!!!
"...It is not much of a secret, for example, that Stowell and head coach Jim Les have had no relationship to speak of ..."
LOL - and you wonder why people think the PJS has bias? They had tremendous and even dishonest & irrational bias FOR Joanne and against anyone who preceded her or succeeded her. They have been in Joanne's pocket since 2007 when she arrived here and have endlessly carried water for her and shifted blame for everything negative - every inept or disastrous action - all the drop in attendance and unprecedented losing seasons - shifted the blame to someone else - KK, Jim Les, and even onto the fans, Chris Reynolds & BW.
Despite Joanne being worse for Bradley than that spark was for the Hindenburg - the PJS has never once hinted that she did anything wrong or less than outstanding. They have run with the Joanne Glasser Brand for over a decade and have never let up -
There are numerous other examples of the sycophantic relationship between the PJ Star and Glasser, as well as Geno Ford, and how the PJ Star acted more like they were PR people to "promote Bradley's brand". Perhaps none more obvious than this one we have mocked before-
https://www.pjstar.com/x638339032/Wessler-Bradley-keeps-losing-for-a-reason
Kirk says:
"Yes, the Braves are better than they were when the season started two months ago. By a light year or two, they’re better."
Here is some context-
Jim Les' last team went 12-20 (4-14 in the MVC) despite being picked in the preseason poll to finish 4th. But he was forced to play virtually the entire without perhaps his best 2 starters by a couple moves made by the President. She forced Taylor Brown to sit out despite the assurance by multiple doctors that he did not have anything serious that warranted it. And she lied to Sam and Carl Maniscalco that if Sam redshirted to recover from an ankle injury, that Jim Les would not be fired and Sam would be able to return and play his final season under Jim. Playing without those 2 stars, Bradley had a losing season, and Glasser used that to force Michael Cross to fire Jim Les. Cross had even written a letter of evaluation after the season recommending that Les be retained and that the sub-par season was not his fault, but Glasser overruled it. All of this can be easily documented by people who worked at Bradley in 2011, but the PJ Star never bothered to report any of this. We did.
So then the new coaching search and hiring process was terribly botched. About a dozen candidates were interviewed, and they all turned the job down. Ultimately, Geno Ford accepted the job because he did not get along with his AD at Kent State, and wanted desperately to get out. Again, none of this was ever reported by the PJ Star, though it would not have been hard to document it. There is even way more laughable stuff that happened with selection of Geno Ford and his hiring (made by Joanne, not Mike Cross), but I'll not go into all that I heard from an insider.
Geno went 7-25 his first season, 2-16 in the MVC, the worst record in Bradley history, and finished last! Kirk made that statement ("better....by a light year or two, they're better") after a loss to Drake (January 10, 2012), their 8th loss in a row, and in the midst of losing 21 of their last 23 games. Included in that horrendous losing streak were multiple 30 point losses, even at home (to Evansville!), and losses to Wichita State by 37 points in Wichita, and a 39 point loss at home! Yet, Kirk described the team as "better....by a light year or two, they're better". As we all know, things only got worse over the next 3 seasons. But, again the cheerleaders at the PJ Star continued to write glorified puff pieces about how Geno was "doing things the right way", about mythical improvements, and how his Geno's recruiting was "a defining moment" and comparing some of Geno's mediocre recruits to previous recruiting classes of Jim Molinari and Jim Les that included All MVC players, MVC Player of the Year, and multiple runner-ups for POY, and NBA 1st round draft picks, as well as players who were winners, and played in the NCAA and NIT Tournaments. And the cheerleaders kept claiming Geno was left with an "empty cupboard", when in fact, he was left with a lot of talent including multiple All-MVC players (Maniscalco, Taylor Brown, Walter Lemon), an MVC Defensive POY (Dyricus Simms-Edwards), as well as a pretty good post player (Will Egolf). Bradley has not had a post player who averaged double digit points since Will.
I could point to numerous other articles that reported over-the-top and unwarranted praise for Geno. And there were innumerable other negative things during Geno's tenure that intentionally went unreported or glossed over-- player arrests, suspensions, and other incidents. They went overboard reporting about the team's "improved" record in 2013 which was actually due more to the worst Strength of Schedule in Bradley's history in 2013 and the emergence of All MVC player Walt Lemon who Geno inherited, yet the reports tried to credit it all to the great coaching, which we know now was not the case.
And yes, Geno was a great guy and I wish him success at Stony Brook, but the reporting from 2011-2015 was laughable, and the promoting of Geno and Joanne was exactly what they now claim is not their job.
https://www.pjstar.com/x638339032/Wessler-Bradley-keeps-losing-for-a-reason
Kirk says:
"Yes, the Braves are better than they were when the season started two months ago. By a light year or two, they’re better."
Here is some context-
Jim Les' last team went 12-20 (4-14 in the MVC) despite being picked in the preseason poll to finish 4th. But he was forced to play virtually the entire without perhaps his best 2 starters by a couple moves made by the President. She forced Taylor Brown to sit out despite the assurance by multiple doctors that he did not have anything serious that warranted it. And she lied to Sam and Carl Maniscalco that if Sam redshirted to recover from an ankle injury, that Jim Les would not be fired and Sam would be able to return and play his final season under Jim. Playing without those 2 stars, Bradley had a losing season, and Glasser used that to force Michael Cross to fire Jim Les. Cross had even written a letter of evaluation after the season recommending that Les be retained and that the sub-par season was not his fault, but Glasser overruled it. All of this can be easily documented by people who worked at Bradley in 2011, but the PJ Star never bothered to report any of this. We did.
So then the new coaching search and hiring process was terribly botched. About a dozen candidates were interviewed, and they all turned the job down. Ultimately, Geno Ford accepted the job because he did not get along with his AD at Kent State, and wanted desperately to get out. Again, none of this was ever reported by the PJ Star, though it would not have been hard to document it. There is even way more laughable stuff that happened with selection of Geno Ford and his hiring (made by Joanne, not Mike Cross), but I'll not go into all that I heard from an insider.
Geno went 7-25 his first season, 2-16 in the MVC, the worst record in Bradley history, and finished last! Kirk made that statement ("better....by a light year or two, they're better") after a loss to Drake (January 10, 2012), their 8th loss in a row, and in the midst of losing 21 of their last 23 games. Included in that horrendous losing streak were multiple 30 point losses, even at home (to Evansville!), and losses to Wichita State by 37 points in Wichita, and a 39 point loss at home! Yet, Kirk described the team as "better....by a light year or two, they're better". As we all know, things only got worse over the next 3 seasons. But, again the cheerleaders at the PJ Star continued to write glorified puff pieces about how Geno was "doing things the right way", about mythical improvements, and how his Geno's recruiting was "a defining moment" and comparing some of Geno's mediocre recruits to previous recruiting classes of Jim Molinari and Jim Les that included All MVC players, MVC Player of the Year, and multiple runner-ups for POY, and NBA 1st round draft picks, as well as players who were winners, and played in the NCAA and NIT Tournaments. And the cheerleaders kept claiming Geno was left with an "empty cupboard", when in fact, he was left with a lot of talent including multiple All-MVC players (Maniscalco, Taylor Brown, Walter Lemon), an MVC Defensive POY (Dyricus Simms-Edwards), as well as a pretty good post player (Will Egolf). Bradley has not had a post player who averaged double digit points since Will.
I could point to numerous other articles that reported over-the-top and unwarranted praise for Geno. And there were innumerable other negative things during Geno's tenure that intentionally went unreported or glossed over-- player arrests, suspensions, and other incidents. They went overboard reporting about the team's "improved" record in 2013 which was actually due more to the worst Strength of Schedule in Bradley's history in 2013 and the emergence of All MVC player Walt Lemon who Geno inherited, yet the reports tried to credit it all to the great coaching, which we know now was not the case.
And yes, Geno was a great guy and I wish him success at Stony Brook, but the reporting from 2011-2015 was laughable, and the promoting of Geno and Joanne was exactly what they now claim is not their job.
tornado
New member
and two of Geno's recruiting classes were said to be on par with the best recruiting classes of the past
and the class that had Xzavier Taylor was hyped up & said to be on par with the group that included
Mitchell Anderson/David Thirdkill/Donald Reese. Dave Reynolds tracked Geno's every recruiting move and reported on who he was following and actively recruiting...
- now don't get me wrong- I think that's great and wish he'd be doing it now but it was ONLY for Geno and only
to hype up how great things were going then
https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sp...uiting-article
https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sp...ruiting-column
https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sp...article-7-4-14
and the class that had Xzavier Taylor was hyped up & said to be on par with the group that included
Mitchell Anderson/David Thirdkill/Donald Reese. Dave Reynolds tracked Geno's every recruiting move and reported on who he was following and actively recruiting...
- now don't get me wrong- I think that's great and wish he'd be doing it now but it was ONLY for Geno and only
to hype up how great things were going then
https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sp...uiting-article
https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sp...ruiting-column
https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sp...article-7-4-14
Tommy
Well-known member
I remember when we hired Geno and a friend of mine pulled up some highlight clips of his teams at Kent State. We watched quite a few minutes of play and he turned to me and said that’ it looked like street ball with no real game plan involved. Who knew then exactly how right he would be.
Yes, I remember watching every game and then reading the positive PJS articles and wondering if we had seen the same performance. It was during the Geno years that I quit reading the PJS, quit coming to the forums, and but for my buddy convincing me to stick it out through the hard times because it makes the good times that much better, I would have given up my season tickets. But I didn’t, and I’m glad I didn’t, because he was right. Wardle has improved every year, and it has been a sweet reward made sweeter because of what we endured as fans.
Good luck, Geno. We hardly knew ya, but I can’t say I miss ya!
Yes, I remember watching every game and then reading the positive PJS articles and wondering if we had seen the same performance. It was during the Geno years that I quit reading the PJS, quit coming to the forums, and but for my buddy convincing me to stick it out through the hard times because it makes the good times that much better, I would have given up my season tickets. But I didn’t, and I’m glad I didn’t, because he was right. Wardle has improved every year, and it has been a sweet reward made sweeter because of what we endured as fans.
Good luck, Geno. We hardly knew ya, but I can’t say I miss ya!
As always - thank you Da Coach and Tornado for sharing what was truly occurring years ago - and it is so shocking to think that all that actually occurred. I pray for healing to continue for all those who were affected - including Joe Stowell, Hersey Hawkins, Jim Les, etc. etc. etc.
FYI - I dug up an ole picture from I don't know if it was 2014 or 2015 of a School President and her Athletic Director using their crystal ball during a staff meeting.
tornado
New member
New Stony Brook head coach Geno Ford makes bold prediction
"Geno Ford expects Stony Brook to compete for a championship now
Ford promised an aggressive approach to offense, defense and scheduling as he was formally introduced
... Ford said, "There are zero reasons we can't compete for a championship immediately."
https://www.newsday.com/sports/colle...ach-1.29292377
I know I have heard that before....
"Geno Ford expects Stony Brook to compete for a championship now
Ford promised an aggressive approach to offense, defense and scheduling as he was formally introduced
... Ford said, "There are zero reasons we can't compete for a championship immediately."
https://www.newsday.com/sports/colle...ach-1.29292377
I know I have heard that before....
Dub
New member
We can neither blame Geno for the decline in our program, nor credit him for helping us.
That said, I do remember driving to work the day Geno was hired, listening to him on 1470 talking about how Bradley hasn't done much winning lately, and that's going to change.... blah blah blah.
It hit me as a slam on the former coaching staff that was undeserved and highly ignorant in nature.
So glad we're back in a good place now. SCHEDULE STONY BROOK!
That said, I do remember driving to work the day Geno was hired, listening to him on 1470 talking about how Bradley hasn't done much winning lately, and that's going to change.... blah blah blah.
It hit me as a slam on the former coaching staff that was undeserved and highly ignorant in nature.
So glad we're back in a good place now. SCHEDULE STONY BROOK!
I have too heard this before Tornado and Dub
March 27, 2011
https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/nc...sketball-coach
Quoting this article and what Geno Ford stated:
"I am ecstatic to work at such a great institution with such a rich basketball history," said Ford in a statement released by the university. "The passionate Bradley fan base, academic excellence and exceptional facilities will give us an opportunity to compete at the highest levels of the Missouri Valley Conference.
"I am excited about the support for our program and the resources we have to achieve at the highest levels. The investments made in our program will give us a chance to achieve our maximum potential."
And in 4 years here is Geno Ford's Bradley Coaching record
[TABLE="class: wikitable, width: 0"]And in 4 years here is Geno Ford's Bradley Coaching record
[TR="bgcolor: transparent"]
[TD="bgcolor: #DDDDDD, colspan: 9, align: center"]Bradley (Missouri Valley Conference) (2011–2015)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: transparent"]
[TD]2011–-12[/TD]
[TD]Bradley[/TD]
[TD]7–-25[/TD]
[TD]2–-16[/TD]
[TD]10th[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: transparent"]
[TD]2012–-13[/TD]
[TD]Bradley[/TD]
[TD]18–-17[/TD]
[TD]7–-11[/TD]
[TD]T-7th[/TD]
[TD]CIT Quarterfinals[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: transparent"]
[TD]2013-–14[/TD]
[TD]Bradley[/TD]
[TD]12–-20[/TD]
[TD]7-–11[/TD]
[TD]7th[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: transparent"]
[TD]2014-–15[/TD]
[TD]Bradley[/TD]
[TD]9–-24[/TD]
[TD]3–-15[/TD]
[TD]10th[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #FAFAFA"]
[TD="colspan: 2"]Bradley:[/TD]
[TD]46–-86 (.34 )[/TD]
[TD]19-–53 (.264)[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 5"] [/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Well I'll have to save the following link http://sbufan.createaforum.com/stony-brook-basketball/ for next season. This is the Stony Brook basketball forum (message board) This past season Stony Brook finished 24 - 9, 2nd in the 9 team American East Conference.. OK Geno - the bar is set pretty high - we'll check in during next season to see if you are maintaining the "Stony Brook Highest Levels and Record" set
this past season. Good Luck ..
tornado
New member
article on Geno - mentions the lawsuit - which is still not settled completely altho Kent State did win the judgment against Geno but still pursuing judgment vs. Bradley
https://www.newsday.com/sports/college/stony-brook/geno-ford-basketball-coach-1.28956762
They "finished second in the America East Conference and is in position to return nearly its entire roster" - so I guess they are already putting heavy expectations on Geno
https://www.newsday.com/sports/college/stony-brook/geno-ford-basketball-coach-1.28956762
They "finished second in the America East Conference and is in position to return nearly its entire roster" - so I guess they are already putting heavy expectations on Geno
LittleBrave
Active member
Well, I have little interest in what happens.
But I do know he didn't know how to coach on the offensive end. Terrible play calls and our guys had to work so much harder for buckets - usually fade-aways and double-clutch drives by Walt. We had 5 LeBron's playing - and each had their turn on offense - but the defense knew who our LeBron was each time down the court.
LittleBrave
Active member
Possibly my lowest state of the Bradley program...until it got worse a few years later...amazingly.
https://bradleybraves.com/news/2011/12/29/205352966.aspx
https://bradleybraves.com/news/2011/12/29/205352966.aspx
Attachments
That was definitely a low point. I believe that was the largest margin of defeat at home in Bradley's history. But Wichita was a pretty good team that year. They were a Top 20 team (finished the season ranked 18th), they won the MVC easily and went 27-6.
Later in that 2011-12 season, Bradley lost at home to Evansville by 30 points, then the next game lost at ISU by 30. Neither team had a winning record. To me, they was the lowest point.
https://bradleybraves.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=461
LittleBrave
Active member
No need to apologize...your sentiments are shared by many Tommy.