(04-18-2010 06:30 PM)PTJR Wrote:  

(04-18-2010 05:29 PM)mdtntrojanceo Wrote:  

(04-18-2010 04:48 PM)PTJR Wrote:  

(04-18-2010 03:27 PM)mjs Wrote:  

(04-18-2010 01:52 PM)DollarBill Wrote:  Good point. I'm sure every one of those 14,000 bleacher seats are occupied every home game. My personal belief is that is important to have a decent arena and decent fan support. In our case we continue to allow the "commuter School" thing to be an excuse or crutch. I have never believed that traditional campus life is that important to present day athletes. What is traditional anyway? Don't believe basketball players care much about sitting in the student center sipping a coke through a straw.

I don't think "campus life" means much to the "one and done" players or Juco players who are older. My thought has been (and I may be wrong) that the average 17 year old, who happens to be a basketball player, is not that much different than the average 17 year old who is not an athlete. While basketball related things (coach, facilities, conference, etc.) will greatly effect their decision they are also looking at things the average student does- campus, social life, girls, educational quality, etc.
Who knows what makes any one kid make his decision. Trey Finn was quoted that he switched to ASU because they had a football team. I took that to mean they had a more "traditional" campus life and were away from home.

I agree that a lot of things go into a kid selecting a college to attend, and basketball players aren't immune to those same considerations. But to say that facilities don't make a difference, I think that is incorrect as far as the statement goes. Dollarbill hit the nail on the head. If you have 14,000 plus jamming the arena like Kansas does for every game, and you have the storied tradition that they do, then the fact that those people sit on bleachers makes zero difference to the players.

But if you are an outfit like us, having a nice facitily should make a lot of difference since we don't have either the tradition or the fans in the stands that other places have. Having really upscale locker rooms, etc. should be a big recruiting benefit. Diddle Arena isn't nearly as plush as the Stephens Center, but it is a much more exciting place to attend a basketball game due to the attendance, atmosphere, and tradition.

The bottom line is that we have done better in the past with lessor facitilies, so there is no reason to believe that we can't do better in the future with nice facilities.

Just win baby. WIn and they will come.


Coach Newell to Monroe. You know it makes sense to me.
Couple of notes re: ULM arena, etc. Calvan Natt was the MAN, Brother Kenny wasn't too bad either. They grew up in Bastrop so NELA was a natural for them. The arena was built for basketball. Having grown up in Monroe, I remember it opening with great fanfare for our small town. Gov Edwards probably was the one who got the money for it. He doles out lots of money prior to going to prison! It may have been Gov Treen. Getting old can't remember. Gonna have to disagree with my friend PTJR....it was built for basketball and for years was the thing to do in Monroe!!

If there is any guy that frequents this board who should know about ULM it is you! How the hell have you been? Missed you!

Why did they build the seats on the sideline so far back from the court? I accept that basketball was the driving force behind getting the building built, but apparently it wasn't done with a basketball court in the center as the main priority.

Wouldn't it be something if Newell ended up there. You talk about something that would stir things up when ULM came to town!

And has Zach made a decision on college yet?

Yes! Today he signed the papers to enroll in Samford University. Samford was generous with a Presidential Scholarship. He is excited as they have great undergraduate programs that will lead to Law School/B School, etc. Time will tell. Thanks for asking.

(04-18-2010 07:46 PM)mdtntrojanceo Wrote:  

(04-18-2010 06:30 PM)PTJR Wrote:  

(04-18-2010 05:29 PM)mdtntrojanceo Wrote:  

(04-18-2010 04:48 PM)PTJR Wrote:  

(04-18-2010 03:27 PM)mjs Wrote:  

(04-18-2010 01:52 PM)DollarBill Wrote:  Good point. I'm sure every one of those 14,000 bleacher seats are occupied every home game. My personal belief is that is important to have a decent arena and decent fan support. In our case we continue to allow the "commuter School" thing to be an excuse or crutch. I have never believed that traditional campus life is that important to present day athletes. What is traditional anyway? Don't believe basketball players care much about sitting in the student center sipping a coke through a straw.

I don't think "campus life" means much to the "one and done" players or Juco players who are older. My thought has been (and I may be wrong) that the average 17 year old, who happens to be a basketball player, is not that much different than the average 17 year old who is not an athlete. While basketball related things (coach, facilities, conference, etc.) will greatly effect their decision they are also looking at things the average student does- campus, social life, girls, educational quality, etc.
Who knows what makes any one kid make his decision. Trey Finn was quoted that he switched to ASU because they had a football team. I took that to mean they had a more "traditional" campus life and were away from home.

I agree that a lot of things go into a kid selecting a college to attend, and basketball players aren't immune to those same considerations. But to say that facilities don't make a difference, I think that is incorrect as far as the statement goes. Dollarbill hit the nail on the head. If you have 14,000 plus jamming the arena like Kansas does for every game, and you have the storied tradition that they do, then the fact that those people sit on bleachers makes zero difference to the players.

But if you are an outfit like us, having a nice facitily should make a lot of difference since we don't have either the tradition or the fans in the stands that other places have. Having really upscale locker rooms, etc. should be a big recruiting benefit. Diddle Arena isn't nearly as plush as the Stephens Center, but it is a much more exciting place to attend a basketball game due to the attendance, atmosphere, and tradition.

The bottom line is that we have done better in the past with lessor facitilies, so there is no reason to believe that we can't do better in the future with nice facilities.

Just win baby. WIn and they will come.


Coach Newell to Monroe. You know it makes sense to me.
Couple of notes re: ULM arena, etc. Calvan Natt was the MAN, Brother Kenny wasn't too bad either. They grew up in Bastrop so NELA was a natural for them. The arena was built for basketball. Having grown up in Monroe, I remember it opening with great fanfare for our small town. Gov Edwards probably was the one who got the money for it. He doles out lots of money prior to going to prison! It may have been Gov Treen. Getting old can't remember. Gonna have to disagree with my friend PTJR....it was built for basketball and for years was the thing to do in Monroe!!

If there is any guy that frequents this board who should know about ULM it is you! How the hell have you been? Missed you!

Why did they build the seats on the sideline so far back from the court? I accept that basketball was the driving force behind getting the building built, but apparently it wasn't done with a basketball court in the center as the main priority.

Wouldn't it be something if Newell ended up there. You talk about something that would stir things up when ULM came to town!

And has Zach made a decision on college yet?

Yes! Today he signed the papers to enroll in Samford University. Samford was generous with a Presidential Scholarship. He is excited as they have great undergraduate programs that will lead to Law School/B School, etc. Time will tell. Thanks for asking.

Samford is a great academic school, perfect size, with a beautiful campus, in a great city. The son of one of our best friends and a contemporary of Peter went there and loved it. John Griffee, played tennis for the Bulldogs. When Peter was working at EKU, we went down to Birmingham for a game the last year Samford was in the OVC. They have a brand new gym that is pretty nice. You will enjoy it, as I know you will become the newest Bulldog fan!

(04-15-2010 05:55 PM)mjs Wrote:  

(04-15-2010 05:47 PM)outsideualr Wrote:  

(04-15-2010 05:19 PM)mjs Wrote:  Jeff says he will make a strong push for the job and has a connection there. It could be good deal for ULM. He'd probably be willing the pay THEM to get out of Monticello. Don't think it will happen, but I bet he would bring a good crowd out to the Stephens Center when ULM comes to town.

I'd love to see him get a chance to coach at the D1 level again. Hope he gets the job.

I really can't imagine it happening unless his "connection" has a lot of influence at ULM. Can't imagine their fans would be really happy bringing in a 60 year old coach from a DII school. I guess stranger things have happened.

The thing Mike has going for him is that he took a ragtag D1 program at UALR, regularly won championships, beat Notre Dame in the NCAA tournament, and nearly beat a very fine North Carolina State team. Those are pretty good credentials for a school like ULM. I don't know why he wasn't able to get back into D1 basketball through the years. Sure he probably ran a program that might have been borderline legal, but it sure hasn't hurt John Calipari through the years.

(04-20-2010 08:07 AM)outsideualr Wrote:  

(04-15-2010 05:55 PM)mjs Wrote:  

(04-15-2010 05:47 PM)outsideualr Wrote:  

(04-15-2010 05:19 PM)mjs Wrote:  Jeff says he will make a strong push for the job and has a connection there. It could be good deal for ULM. He'd probably be willing the pay THEM to get out of Monticello. Don't think it will happen, but I bet he would bring a good crowd out to the Stephens Center when ULM comes to town.

I'd love to see him get a chance to coach at the D1 level again. Hope he gets the job.

I really can't imagine it happening unless his "connection" has a lot of influence at ULM. Can't imagine their fans would be really happy bringing in a 60 year old coach from a DII school. I guess stranger things have happened.

The thing Mike has going for him is that he took a ragtag D1 program at UALR, regularly won championships, beat Notre Dame in the NCAA tournament, and nearly beat a very fine North Carolina State team. Those are pretty good credentials for a school like ULM. I don't know why he wasn't able to get back into D1 basketball through the years. Sure he probably ran a program that might have been borderline legal, but it sure hasn't hurt John Calipari through the years.

According to a post by Bird of Paradise on the ULM site, Keith Richard, Kenny Natt, and Terry Waldrop of Texas Wesleyan will interview this week. All seem like good candidates, but Waldrop may be a slight frontrummer prior to the interviews.