(02-01-2018 11:56 AM)mrjoolius Wrote:  

(02-01-2018 11:35 AM)WM Beancounter Wrote:  La Salle is not leaving the A10. Pure conjecture.

This is a college sports message board. Conjecture is what we do. Go check the "newest conference rumors" thread on the JMU board. I think it is up to 20,000 posts.

LOL... yeah, YOU go read that board and tell me what they're saying. The last thing I want to do is to read that board, and the last thing we should want to do is to emulate those idiots.

This lady is likely to have her finger on the pulse of conference realignment as well

http://www.tribeathletics.com/news/2018/...staff.aspx

(02-01-2018 01:57 PM)nogretheogre Wrote:  This lady is likely to have her finger on the pulse of conference realignment as well

http://www.tribeathletics.com/news/2018/...staff.aspx

Wow she is young. I hope she brings more energy than inexperience. Either way I'll reserve my judgement until I see what the school does.

But its always nice to have an alumna who understands the demands made on W&M student athletes. A Wharton MBA can't hurt either...

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Great hire!


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One thing that I love that seems to be proving true over and over and I believe will have great benefits is that AD Huge is very forward thinking. So thankful for that.

All joking aside, I think this is another good step. The mere fact that there is a strategy being implemented is an improvement over the time when I attended. Not sure what chips we will have, but I do think Ms. Huge and her staff are looking at the future. Plus, it is always good to have someone with William and Mary roots.
But, I must admit, my first thought in looking at the new bio and experience was that we plan to fully fund lacrosse and de-emphasize basketball and football. It has been too long already since we had a lacrosse thread on the site. Particularly the topic of how a new Virginia Beach Arena would impact our lacrosse program and our annual lacrosse match with VMI or George Mason.

Ms. Huge is doing very well in her first year. Looking forward to some good basketball tonight.

The Tribe roots part is what I like the most so far. Bringing in Shackford and now this hire says a lot to me. We got away from that in the 80s and 90s and I think it hurt us.

(02-01-2018 12:46 PM)WM Beancounter Wrote:  

(02-01-2018 11:56 AM)mrjoolius Wrote:  

(02-01-2018 11:35 AM)WM Beancounter Wrote:  La Salle is not leaving the A10. Pure conjecture.

This is a college sports message board. Conjecture is what we do. Go check the "newest conference rumors" thread on the JMU board. I think it is up to 20,000 posts.

LOL... yeah, YOU go read that board and tell me what they're saying. The last thing I want to do is to read that board, and the last thing we should want to do is to emulate those idiots.

Samantha Huge keeps making great hires and certainly appears to have a master plan getting launched.

I've spoken to Samantha several times and there is no doubt we're going to see remarkable change in Tribe athletics. She is a special person.

(02-02-2018 06:54 AM)BigTribe3 Wrote:  Samantha Huge keeps making great hires and certainly appears to have a master plan getting launched.

I've spoken to Samantha several times and there is no doubt we're going to see remarkable change in Tribe athletics. She is a special person.

Agreed. The hits just keep coming.



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(02-02-2018 06:54 AM)BigTribe3 Wrote:  Samantha Huge keeps making great hires

Okay, just to tone it down a little (and I am addressing this to many posters, not just BigTribe3) ....we do not know if the new women's soccer coach and the new volleyball coach are great hires -- yet. Neither coach has won even so much as one game yet. We can look at the resumes and assume that they are great hires and we can all hope and root that they turn out to be great hires --- but, remember, every new coach we have ever hired was highly thought of at the time of the hire (even Chuck Swenson and Rick Boyages). As of right now, the jury is still out on the hires and, in my opinion, the jury is still out on Huge. It seems she has started out well and apparently has pleased a lot of alumni -- but let's see what actually happens and whether she has the stamina for the long haul (and let's see how long she even stays at W&M).

Not a downer ...but don't go crazy with praise, either. Lastly, remember it is easy for anybody to look good when compared to Terry Driscoll.

bringing this over from the Elon game board, since its more relevant to the AD

(02-02-2018 01:17 PM)WM Beancounter Wrote:  

(02-02-2018 12:05 PM)Tribe2011 Wrote:  Also WM is now a much more rigorously challenging school academically. More demands on students' time.

LOL...

Its impossible to compare the differences in rigor over the decades. There is a perceived increase in difficulty and improved national standing of the college by younger alums and current students, however there is no data to back this assumption. This is likely fueled by the explosion in college ranking systems over the last few decades and misinformation from uninitiated parents to their children.

Most likely, it was hard then and remains challenging.



But lets get back to the point, student/fan experience:

In the early 2000s, student attendance was pretty bad for most basketball games. Crowds in general seemed paltry whenever I went to an event (except for soccer and homecoming football). Atmosphere was lacking without enough electricity to help initiate the fence-sitters in the audience. I knew less than a handful of students who seemed excited to go.

There is absolutely much more to distract students today. The social media time-vortex barely existed. TV was limited compared to what I imagine is nearly universal dormroom netflix bingeing.

The drinking age change likely contributed to a significant drop in student interest, without real on-campus tailgating. This change occurred at a time of diminished success on the court. Kappa Sig may have been a strong force on building student support at games, but their charter was revoked in the late 90s.

Posters frequently state that the product on the court/field is enough to bring people in, but I disagree entirely unless we are getting into the tourney often. Everyone likes a winner, yes, but the significance of a win against Elon is lost on the average person. Everyone understands big games against big-names or NCAA tourney play. For the rest of the season, you need to package this into a modern professional event. In the age of HD televised everything, its not just seeing the game live. You have to help build the suspense with lighting, music, announcers who werent trained in calling Wimbledon.

Without a TRUE winning tradition, the AD needs to work hard to build the atmosphere and incentive to make these must-see events for everyone.

Shackford is a great hire. Go look at her resume and tell me otherwise. She's a former player, started a program at one school and was national coach of the year at another.

Give me a break.

(02-02-2018 09:41 AM)Zorch Wrote:  

(02-02-2018 06:54 AM)BigTribe3 Wrote:  Samantha Huge keeps making great hires

Okay, just to tone it down a little (and I am addressing this to many posters, not just BigTribe3) ....we do not know if the new women's soccer coach and the new volleyball coach are great hires -- yet. Neither coach has won even so much as one game yet. We can look at the resumes and assume that they are great hires and we can all hope and root that they turn out to be great hires --- but, remember, every new coach we have ever hired was highly thought of at the time of the hire (even Chuck Swenson and Rick Boyages). As of right now, the jury is still out on the hires and, in my opinion, the jury is still out on Huge. It seems she has started out well and apparently has pleased a lot of alumni -- but let's see what actually happens and whether she has the stamina for the long haul (and let's see how long she even stays at W&M).

Not a downer ...but don't go crazy with praise, either. Lastly, remember it is easy for anybody to look good when compared to Terry Driscoll.

(02-02-2018 08:30 PM)Tribe32 Wrote:  Shackford is a great hire. Go look at her resume and tell me otherwise. She's a former player, started a program at one school and was national coach of the year at another.

Give me a break.

(02-02-2018 09:41 AM)Zorch Wrote:  

(02-02-2018 06:54 AM)BigTribe3 Wrote:  Samantha Huge keeps making great hires

Okay, just to tone it down a little (and I am addressing this to many posters, not just BigTribe3) ....we do not know if the new women's soccer coach and the new volleyball coach are great hires -- yet. Neither coach has won even so much as one game yet. We can look at the resumes and assume that they are great hires and we can all hope and root that they turn out to be great hires --- but, remember, every new coach we have ever hired was highly thought of at the time of the hire (even Chuck Swenson and Rick Boyages). As of right now, the jury is still out on the hires and, in my opinion, the jury is still out on Huge. It seems she has started out well and apparently has pleased a lot of alumni -- but let's see what actually happens and whether she has the stamina for the long haul (and let's see how long she even stays at W&M).

Not a downer ...but don't go crazy with praise, either. Lastly, remember it is easy for anybody to look good when compared to Terry Driscoll.

I said you "can look at the resumes and assume that they are great hires". I also said that we can temper the hyperbole on how great Huge is or how great these new hires are until they prove it. Shackford may be good but she also has very big shoes to fill.

Somebody stated that "anybody can look good following Terry Driscoll".

That should not go unchallenged because it is unfair and not true.

Terry had his faults but he also did some great things for our athletic program:

*somehow found the money for the greatest W&M athletics new construction spree in the school's long athletic history: The Laycock Building, the Zable Stadium upper deck, the Olympic track in the stadium,
Plumeri Park, the Plumeri Family indoor baseball facility, the Martin Family Stadium, the track & field throwing facility, the expanded outdoor tennis courts, the football scoreboard, etc.

*Approximately double the CAA championships of any other college in the conference under his directorship

*Maintained the high academic standards of our student athletes: highest graduation rate in the nation,
greatest number of academic All-Americans in the CAA and in the top ten almost every year nationwide

Sure there are things he didn't do, but the above comprises a remarkably successful record and I, for one,
believe Terry will be remembered as one of our best ADs for what he accomplished.

(02-03-2018 07:02 AM)BigTribe3 Wrote:  Somebody stated that "anybody can look good following Terry Driscoll".

That should not go unchallenged because it is unfair and not true.

Terry had his faults but he also did some great things for our athletic program:

*somehow found the money for the greatest W&M athletics new construction spree in the school's long athletic history: The Laycock Building, the Zable Stadium upper deck, the Olympic track in the stadium,
Plumeri Park, the Plumeri Family indoor baseball facility, the Martin Family Stadium, the track & field throwing facility, the expanded outdoor tennis courts, the football scoreboard, etc.

*Approximately double the CAA championships of any other college in the conference under his directorship

*Maintained the high academic standards of our student athletes: highest graduation rate in the nation,
greatest number of academic All-Americans in the CAA and in the top ten almost every year nationwide

Sure there are things he didn't do, but the above comprises a remarkably successful record and I, for one,
believe Terry will be remembered as one of our best ADs for what he accomplished.

Good post. I've never understood the whole Driscoll bashing.

Men's basketball. It was treated the same as the "lowest" sport. By a person with deep roots and knowledge of men's hoops, and what it can do to raise a university's profile. Any attempt by others to "raise the profile" of men's hoops was worse than pulling teeth. That's what the "bashing" is all about. That's all you need to know.

(02-03-2018 08:28 AM)nj alum Wrote:  Men's basketball. It was treated the same as the "lowest" sport. By a person with deep roots and knowledge of men's hoops, and what it can do to raise a university's profile. Any attempt by others to "raise the profile" of men's hoops was worse than pulling teeth. That's what the "bashing" is all about. That's all you need to know.

Exactly. Basketball, both men's and women's suffered on the lowest rung of the ladder @ W&M. It is the sport with the greatest upside and potential at W&M. It's elevation will elevate the College's image. I look forward to the day I'll not cringe 6-8 times in March watching the NCAA's on national tv or get the standard dismissal when engaging in sports talk with those from other institutions.

(02-03-2018 08:37 AM)LeadBolt Wrote:  

(02-03-2018 08:28 AM)nj alum Wrote:  Men's basketball. It was treated the same as the "lowest" sport. By a person with deep roots and knowledge of men's hoops, and what it can do to raise a university's profile. Any attempt by others to "raise the profile" of men's hoops was worse than pulling teeth. That's what the "bashing" is all about. That's all you need to know.

Exactly. Basketball, both men's and women's suffered on the lowest rung of the ladder @ W&M. It is the sport with the greatest upside and potential at W&M. It's elevation will elevate the College's image. I look forward to the day I'll not cringe 6-8 times in March watching the NCAA's on national tv or get the standard dismissal when engaging in sports talk with those from other institutions.

+1 on these two posts. Under Driscoll we invested more in the sports other schools were not investing in, so it should be expected that we did well in them. The problem is, there's a reason other schools aren't sending their money to tennis and track and gymnastics, etc. - they don't benefit the school nearly as much as a solid basketball program would have (and yes, I realize people like to trot out stats about alums from those programs donating which is fantastic, but there is no question our overall donations would be much higher with a historically annually competitive men's basketball program).

I don't know enough of the behind the scenes stuff to say whether Driscoll was competent or not, but I certainly believe his approach set WM back as a school.

VP article highlighting Huge's hopes, 5 year plan eval

https://pilotonline.com/sports/article_5...7108c.html