Author Topic: Rumor mill: Boals/Ford on the move?  (Read 3470 times)

OldSeawolf

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Re: Rumor mill: Boals/Ford on the move?
« Reply #45 on: March 17, 2019, 02:25:09 pm »
OH and Boals waste no time. He’s off to his alma mater. Didn’t even stick around for their crummy post-season tournament. Anyway, wish him well.
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SBU9191

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Re: Rumor mill: Boals/Ford on the move?
« Reply #46 on: March 17, 2019, 02:49:38 pm »
Not to push this thread into a different direction but I think this partially highlights that Stony Brook needs to get into a better conference if it wants to truly develop the athletic programs and reach a whole new level of national success.  There is only so much that you can accomplish in the America East when it comes to recruiting, attracting coaches, and holding onto coaches.

Chairman of the Board

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Re: Rumor mill: Boals/Ford on the move?
« Reply #47 on: March 17, 2019, 03:25:13 pm »
ouch.  we will bounce back.  we have some good players. 

what is the immediate impact- do we lose anyone?  kwas?  bench players?  committed recruits???

also- don't discount that this could be a good thing in the long run, never know...
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Hammertime

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Re: Rumor mill: Boals/Ford on the move?
« Reply #48 on: March 17, 2019, 04:18:57 pm »
To all the knuckleheads on this forum who thinks SB should stay in the AE and CAA for all sports! this goes out to you. SB is going to be **** for years to come in BB. Suck it up and push to move out of these bottom dweller conferences, if sports is as important as they make it out to be!! # I will not be renewing my BB tickets for next season.

VA_Seawolf

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Re: Rumor mill: Boals/Ford on the move?
« Reply #49 on: March 20, 2019, 02:46:26 am »
To all the knuckleheads on this forum who thinks SB should stay in the AE and CAA for all sports! this goes out to you. SB is going to be **** for years to come in BB. Suck it up and push to move out of these bottom dweller conferences, if sports is as important as they make it out to be!! # I will not be renewing my BB tickets for next season.

I see what you're saying, but honestly, where are we going to go? The CAA is better, but still a one bid league and Hofstra will block. The A10 has too many teams already, and is full of private schools who we would have nothing in common with. It wouldn't be the best fit and why would they take us right now? Unless it's for an FBS conference, we're not going anywhere for a while. We'd need to get through the buzzsaw that is Vermont and win the AE multiple times to be attractive for the A10 and even then there's the institutional fit problem I mentioned.

The AE isn't even that bad. Vermont has a decent chance at beating FSU on Thursday, and UMBC got the greatest win in college basketball history. It's the bottom feeders in this conference who have been crap forever playing in high school gyms like Maine, New Hampshire, etc that are anchors and kill us in the computer rankings. Plus I predict some instability in the CAA once JMU goes FBS as there could be a split between the publics and privates in that league. I wouldn't at all be shocked if say JMU goes FBS, William and Mary goes to the Patriot, Elon back to the Socon, etc. This would open up the option of Delaware, Towson and others to the AE who fit in a conference of public schools.

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Re: Rumor mill: Boals/Ford on the move?
« Reply #50 on: March 20, 2019, 09:07:17 am »
agreed with the analysis- and would echo:

We'd need to get through the buzzsaw that is Vermont and win the AE multiple times to be attractive
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Checkmate

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Re: Rumor mill: Boals/Ford on the move?
« Reply #51 on: March 20, 2019, 10:19:45 am »
agreed with the analysis- and would echo:

We'd need to get through the buzzsaw that is Vermont and win the AE multiple times to be attractive

Eh. I think winning is only a sliver of this thing. We'll always be a stepping stone as long as we're playing in a bottom 5 or 10 conference. Same thing goes with players. We'll fill our roster with two stars unless there's a switch. We have a beautiful arena, great facilities, a strong academic institution, and a good fan base for the moment. Still, no blue-chipper gets excited about going north for the winter, going into crummy old empty gyms, and facing the dregs of Division I basketball.
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Moveitfred

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Re: Rumor mill: Boals/Ford on the move?
« Reply #52 on: March 20, 2019, 11:13:10 am »

[/quote]

Eh. I think winning is only a sliver of this thing. We'll always be a stepping stone as long as we're playing in a bottom 5 or 10 conference. Same thing goes with players. We'll fill our roster with two stars unless there's a switch. We have a beautiful arena, great facilities, a strong academic institution, and a good fan base for the moment. Still, no blue-chipper gets excited about going north for the winter, going into crummy old empty gyms, and facing the dregs of Division I basketball.
[/quote]

This, yes.

Overall, from my perspective, SBU does things pretty well considering its resources and situation (which also includes fielding a wide range of sports teams most people don't talk about, that also do well and also draw energy/resources in the athletic dept).

I'm sure those who primarily or only follow men's basketball as the marque sport can't help but feel snakebitten as well in recent years. If instead of what still feels a bit like sneaking into one NCAA tournament with arguably the greatest team in SBU history the team had gotten into, say, maybe 3 over the last ten years or so (doesn't getting in two out of four Warney years plus maybe one more with those other good teams feel about right?) maybe a number of fans would not be so riled.

Add to the madness is the reality that UVM is also always there at the end, and they tend to break through about 50% of the time. Why can't we have at least that, too? One would think if you're a top contender winning the big prize about half the time would be reasonable, but to be regularly good but seemingly always coming up short in a one-bid league can be maddening and get you thinking there are gods in the sky conspiring against you.

And of course in 10 years one of these three things will be true: 1. We will still feel shafted, maybe with still only one NCAA dance, 2. we'll feel good or better with a couple, three more bids, or 3. We'll finally overtake UVM and be the powerhouse who seems like they're always getting in. There's my Capt. Obvious list for the day.

How do you achieve #3? Not easy, all things considered, and also be careful what you wish for.


OldSeawolf

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Re: Rumor mill: Boals/Ford on the move?
« Reply #53 on: March 20, 2019, 11:18:20 am »
I'll take a moderate position here. 

I think there is no doubt that winning breeds enthusiasm, when it comes to the fans, student interest, community interest, and publicity in the college basketball world. Who ever heard of Gonzaga until they started winning every year; now it seems like they are a perennial 1 or 2 seed.  There was a different feel around the arena when Warney was around and we were winning.  Didn't have that feel this year, IMO.  Hate to look backwards, but winning only 1 of 5 AE Championship games (3 of which were home!), didn't help.  Losing in the QF's this year, negated a lot of the progress we built during the season.  Win games, win big games, and the fans will come, and the buzz around the nation will develop.  Winning cures all (or at least helps a lot).

All that said, the AE is not strong enough of a conference to natively attract 3+ star players.   There are only circa 4,500 DI players in the country, and the players that you're going to attract to the AE, are under-the-radar players or guys that know they're not good enough to play in the P5 conferences and subsequently the NBA, and just want a solid education at zero cost.  You have to be extremely lucky to attract a John Stockton type to SBU.

So, here's what I would suggest as part of a 5-10 year plan, to become the next Gonzaga:

1) Double the budget of the program through donations and activity fees.  Increased visibility of the sports programs has ripple effects on the academic institution at large;

2) Get a top-name coach (not an Assistant) that will garner national attention.  If we need to pay $1MM/year, so be it;

3) Get a coach with some Long Island roots that can establish a relationship with the 3MM people and multitude of high schools we have on Long Island.  Let Long Island become a breeding ground for SBU players;

4)Yes, move to a better conference; A10 at the minimum.  Forget about moving to another 1-bid conference like the CAA; there is no real incremental gain for doing that;

5)Forge a relationship with High School sports programs in the area: free tickets to high school and middle school teams, regular newsletter communiques to the players and parents of these schools, schedule regular coaching workshops, etc.  Create a buzz in the area that will keep these kids home;

Need to think big, and yes, it takes money to make money (or gain notoriety).  We've come a long way with sports from the days when I was an undergraduate at SBU (and navigating the muddy campus to play bball in the dusty gym). Kudos to our President (and former President) and the sports administration for getting us where we are today.  Now, let's take that next leap.

Are we all in?
How old a Seawolf am I? I followed them during their Final 4 DIII hoops run in 1977-78 (they were called the Patriots then)