(02-08-2015 03:20 AM)KickItToScotty Wrote:  

(02-07-2015 10:56 PM)jmutoml757 Wrote:  

(02-07-2015 10:14 PM)Hotrod829 Wrote:  

(02-07-2015 08:50 PM)jmufan2008 Wrote:  Agree completely. Keener took absolutely nothing (honestly, less than nothing) and by his last season had us at least heading in the right direction. Yes, those years were terrible, but seriously...really, really bad (though still entertaining to mock the hell out of other teams from the BLEACHERS beside their bench). Brady took up where Dean had us going and brought us into a middle-of-the-road CAA team. We had one lucky year where we rattled off a few wins in the CAA tourney in, from what I remember, the first year where we had lost some teams and the CAA had taken a sudden dive in quality. Other than that, it's been a very 'meh' tenure. We have way too much turnover to create any sort of player leadership or loyalty, and without either of those, we will never have a consistently good team. After 7 years, I think it's clear that Brady was good enough to get us back to the level of an average D1 team, but I don't think he'll ever get us to even a top 100 team for two years in a row.

I agree with LH that we need to announce the hiring of a new head coach (I'll leave the names to people who have actually researched this stuff) and the ground breaking of the new arena. We'll probably also need a new athletics giving campaign at the same time and I'm not sure that there would be a better time. Time to see whether JMU athletics can try to take a risk and hope for a favorable change.

Luck had nothing to do with that year.

We were all on the bandwagon and constantly humming start wearing purple during that run. But we can't forget that not only had the best teams bolted the leaugue, but I believe that two other teams could not compete in the tourney (Towson/UncW) for other reasons. Call it "luck", good fortune, or whatever you want, but we all know that it has an unofficial asterik beside it. Was I watching and rooting? Heck yes, but my purple goggles are not so thick as to not see reality.

VCU was gone, ODU(3-15 CAA) and Georgia State(10-8) couldn't play in the tourney cause they were on their way out, and yeah no Towson(13-5) or UNCW(5-13) in the tourney. Mason was in it. We were the 3, we beat the 6(W&M) then beat the 2(UD) after they had a first round bye, and killed the 1(NU) after they had a first round bye.

Also, we were the best team in the conference the last half of the season. Nineteen games in, we were still under .500, yet finished with 21 wins on the year. We beat Delaware both games in the regular season and outplayed Northeastern at their place (although, we lost). So just stop with this asterisk stuff right now.

And Dukie/Nation said he continues to enjoy this season. Not me or the other huge amount of JMU fans not going to the games.

The decision making at JMU has been awful.

Dukie/Nation is part of the problem.

If JMU had achieve their athletic potential over the past 20 years, the CAA would not have imploded like it has. The CAA needed leadership and vision, JMU did not step up, now we have this mess.

Thank you Dukester for the analysis.

(02-07-2015 09:03 AM)Dukester Wrote:  Reading through the ratings this year and the last 7 years things have been more consistent and and even trending than I thought.


This year:

It's felt like we've been inconsistent. Seems like we played better without Nation. It felt like we were playing good ball in portions of the season - but was it just the level of competition? Well - we're into Feb, and RPI makes it real easy to check

JMU versus the RPI top 185: JMU 2-10 (home wins versus Richmond and Radford)
JMU versus RPI 185-333: JMU 11-1 (one loss at #252 ECU)
JMU current RPI - Not surprisingly #180

I know RPI does not take into event margin of win or loss - but really that's pretty consistent this year......

The Seven year Tenure of Matt Brady:

Don't have the RPI's for the seven years but do have the Sagarins -

Year 2008- 2009 #131 - Brady was able to turn the program around the addition of 3 freshman - Devon Moore, Julius Wells, and Andrey Semenov. I believe all were top 5 in the CAA ROY voting. This year the program was turned around with these three freshman as the foundation going forward.

Year 2010-2011 #95. The was the one year Denzel Bowles was with us for the full year.

Years less Brady's First and the Denzel Bowles year:
2009-2010 #220
2011-2012 #244
2012-2013 #170 NCAA Playin year
2013-2014 #253
2014-2015 #194

Average Sagarin rating last 5 years (less full Denzel year) = #216
Dean Keener's last year Sagarin rating = #210

Now addressing some comments I've heard from some of my friends like 84 and DD through they years as well as comments by others -

I'm going bacK to 7 years ago - We had a two time National coach of the year - Larry Eustachy- saying he wanted to coach at JMU. He acknowledged he had a drinking problem - would change and wanted a new start. In all honesty I think most of the current regulars were excited when it looked like he was on his way to JMU. He didn't cheat. He was well liked by his players. He was easily the top 5 coach in College basketball at the time. He had a drinking problem - acknowledged it said & would quit. Dukie/Nation never wanted him due to it, but in all fairness he expressed this hit home to him(not him personally, but someone in his family). '84 for years stated Larry and Matt have had similar success. Somehow with similar success Larry was hired to Colorado St 2 years ago (given a big increase)and his 19-4 CSU team is receiving votes in the top 25. He's also making near 1,000,000 a year and will likely make over that with incentives.

DD has said numerous times this year how JMU had a lot to do with our situation based on putting Brady through the lame duck year. And after year 4 I probably shouted loudest that if you bring Brady back for year 5, you have to extend him even in a sham non-transparent way with a 5K buyout. It would of helped Matt recruiting and would of given JMU a non-costly out. Jeff and Charlie actually had a new contract to do just that (not sure exact buyout amount they had), but Lin said no - let him coach out year 5. So that's how JMU messed up.

But here's how Brady had the bigger impact on the current situation:

He did not capitalize on the NCAA appearance. He used the 6 ships on non top CAA talent. He did not have to use all 6 scholarships late in the process.

The recruiting class that should of been this year's seniors (had nothing to do with lame duck)- Enoch Hood, Arman Marks, Keynan Pittman, and Va Tech transfer Gene Swindle. Those three freshman should be leading our team this year. That's a big part of our problem problem today.

This year's "supposed to be" Junior class at one point looked promising, but now all that is left is Ron Curry. Cooke has decided he did not want to play for Brady. Nation (a player I said had the ability to be one of JMU's top 5 of all time) could not be controlled by Matt. Taylor Bessick said he no longer wanted to play for Brady.

Those two years are what should be leading this team to be a top 100 program. This has nothing to do with the lame duck season.

Other Player issues

Julius Wells stayed 4 years with the program, but did not get along with Brady.
Darren White - All rookie CAA team asked to leave the team following his Freshman year.
Chad Jackson - the promising Freshman from Brady's 3rd recruiting class transferred after his Freshman year.
AJ Davis - Had a ton of talent, but did not play up to his talent under Brady until the last month of his Senior year.
Denzel Bowles - Brady could not say enough negatives about Denzel even a year after leaving the program.

Mug shots of two of our players this year.

Even Lou Rowe left the coaching staff.

And Dukie/Nation said he continues to enjoy this season. Not me or the other huge amount of JMU fans not going to the games.

At one point both JMU Men's and Women's basketball were both good. During that period JMU men's teams had 3-4 times more in attendance than the women's team.

Now the Women have more fans than the Men's program. Men have never had less fans, and women have never had more.

A couple of notes on the recruiting - the Hood, Pittman Marks class was a bad class - Hood and Pittman are not a big part of lesser D1 programs/leagues and Marks isn't even playing D1- so Brady has full accountability for that miss which really hurt the program. In fairness some of the class inequity was due to injuries- Moore, Goins, Semenov (twice) all red shirted due to injuries and extended eligibility which I think sometimes can mess with recruiting and development of players behind them, the flow of the program year over year, etc.

Regarding the 2013-14 class going into recruiting season Brady had 6 scholarships (Semenov, Goins, Moore, Dioufe, Davis, Swindle) to fill. Only 3 were "lame duck" recruits- Kent (offered by W&M, UNCW, New Hampshire and others) who has been a contributor, Satkus who has surprised at times and was/is a developmental player and Rivard who was a reach. APR was a factor I'm sure in all 3 recruits as all 3 are good students. Brady left 3 scholarships for late recruiting pending how the team did, his future, etc. After the season Semenov got his 6th year using one scholarship and 2 additional opened up after Marks and Hood left. With the 4 remaining 3 were late commits after it was apparent that Brady would be back (contract terms notwithstanding). Lukic (offered by Mason, Charlotte and another school, Vodanovich (pursued by Youngstown, St Bonnies and others) and the final recruit Yohani Dalembert. Brady carried over one scholarship into the next year and used this and Semenovs spot to sign Hall and Sterling. I think given the circumstances (many of Brady's doing) he did a pretty good job navigating the 13-14 year- it's the 11-12 class and the defections from 12-13 that hurt but the idea of lame duck or late recruits vs. early recruits I think is overstated. Some of the better recruits have been late signees- even this years class- McLean, Morgan, Grays were all late signees.

Couple of quick points since I saw my name in here. I've always thought that Eustachy was a good coach. I watched his Iowa State teams, one of which went to the Final Four if I'm recalling correctly. I simply pointed out that it took him a good long while to turn things around at Southern Miss and that his teams often played weak schedules with a lot of home games. He did make the NCAAs there, but it might have been in Year 8 of his regime. With respect to Doherty, he took a job at a Florida school (FL Atlantic?) and left after a year or so to go to SMU, where he failed and was eventually fired.

With regard to Brady, his biggest failing is that he's missed on too many recruits. You can almost group his recruits into two subgroups: (1) transfers, both 4-year and JUCOs; and (2) high school and prep players. He's been far better in bringing in contributors from the first group. As has been said, the Marks, Pittman, Hood class was a total washout. Now, the six-man recruiting class brought in while he was a lame duck for part of the time has not been a good one. Rivard could not play at the CAA level and transferred to Colgate. I don't think that Satkus, Vodo, Lukic are impact players and should not be rotation players certainly. Kent and Dalembert have contributed, but I'm not sure either will make an all-conference team before they leave. The verdict is still out on McLean, Hall and Sterling, but it seems to be a better class than the previous one.

If you'll recall, Matt brought Bino Ranson with him to JMU and his leaving was a big loss. If JMU were to retain Brady, I would insist on him hiring an extremely competent recruiting coordinator. I don't think he's got that on his staff currently.

Notwithstanding the recent difficulties, this team could be very good next year with Brady at the helm if they're able to qualify Roland and add one or two impact players in the front court. JMU is on some of those players currently. With Roland and Morgan joining the back court, they should be very solid there. It's the front court that needs a lot of help at this point.

(02-08-2015 09:37 AM)Dukes84 Wrote:  Couple of quick points since I saw my name in here. I've always thought that Eustachy was a good coach. I watched his Iowa State teams, one of which went to the Final Four if I'm recalling correctly. I simply pointed out that it took him a good long while to turn things around at Southern Miss and that his teams often played weak schedules with a lot of home games. He did make the NCAAs there, but it might have been in Year 8 of his regime. With respect to Doherty, he took a job at a Florida school (FL Atlantic?) and left after a year or so to go to SMU, where he failed and was eventually fired.

With regard to Brady, his biggest failing is that he's missed on too many recruits. You can almost group his recruits into two subgroups: (1) transfers, both 4-year and JUCOs; and (2) high school and prep players. He's been far better in bringing in contributors from the first group. As has been said, the Marks, Pittman, Hood class was a total washout. Now, the six-man recruiting class brought in while he was a lame duck for part of the time has not been a good one. Rivard could not play at the CAA level and transferred to Colgate. I don't think that Satkus, Vodo, Lukic are impact players and should not be rotation players certainly. Kent and Dalembert have contributed, but I'm not sure either will make an all-conference team before they leave. The verdict is still out on McLean, Hall and Sterling, but it seems to be a better class than the previous one.

If you'll recall, Matt brought Bino Ranson with him to JMU and his leaving was a big loss. If JMU were to retain Brady, I would insist on him hiring an extremely competent recruiting coordinator. I don't think he's got that on his staff currently.

Notwithstanding the recent difficulties, this team could be very good next year with Brady at the helm if they're able to qualify Roland and add one or two impact players in the front court. JMU is on some of those players currently. With Roland and Morgan joining the back court, they should be very solid there. It's the front court that needs a lot of help at this point.

Yes - Bino was the one that recruited Denzel to JMU. He was a major loss......

I think another hit to our program caused by the lame duck year was the loss of Lou Rowe - perhaps if he had stayed around Andre Nation wouldn't have gotten off track? But he had an opportunity to leave and you can't blame him for taking it when everyone expected Brady to be let go at the end of his contract.

(02-08-2015 03:20 AM)KickItToScotty Wrote:  

(02-07-2015 10:56 PM)jmutoml757 Wrote:  

(02-07-2015 10:14 PM)Hotrod829 Wrote:  

(02-07-2015 08:50 PM)jmufan2008 Wrote:  Agree completely. Keener took absolutely nothing (honestly, less than nothing) and by his last season had us at least heading in the right direction. Yes, those years were terrible, but seriously...really, really bad (though still entertaining to mock the hell out of other teams from the BLEACHERS beside their bench). Brady took up where Dean had us going and brought us into a middle-of-the-road CAA team. We had one lucky year where we rattled off a few wins in the CAA tourney in, from what I remember, the first year where we had lost some teams and the CAA had taken a sudden dive in quality. Other than that, it's been a very 'meh' tenure. We have way too much turnover to create any sort of player leadership or loyalty, and without either of those, we will never have a consistently good team. After 7 years, I think it's clear that Brady was good enough to get us back to the level of an average D1 team, but I don't think he'll ever get us to even a top 100 team for two years in a row.

I agree with LH that we need to announce the hiring of a new head coach (I'll leave the names to people who have actually researched this stuff) and the ground breaking of the new arena. We'll probably also need a new athletics giving campaign at the same time and I'm not sure that there would be a better time. Time to see whether JMU athletics can try to take a risk and hope for a favorable change.

Luck had nothing to do with that year.

We were all on the bandwagon and constantly humming start wearing purple during that run. But we can't forget that not only had the best teams bolted the leaugue, but I believe that two other teams could not compete in the tourney (Towson/UncW) for other reasons. Call it "luck", good fortune, or whatever you want, but we all know that it has an unofficial asterik beside it. Was I watching and rooting? Heck yes, but my purple goggles are not so thick as to not see reality.

VCU was gone, ODU(3-15 CAA) and Georgia State(10-8) couldn't play in the tourney cause they were on their way out, and yeah no Towson(13-5) or UNCW(5-13) in the tourney. Mason was in it. We were the 3, we beat the 6(W&M) then beat the 2(UD) after they had a first round bye, and killed the 1(NU) after they had a first round bye.

Yep , sounds like we played some good basketball at the end of the season. No asterisk, we won the games we needed to win to get a NCAA spot.

(02-08-2015 03:38 PM)Hotrod829 Wrote:  

(02-08-2015 03:20 AM)KickItToScotty Wrote:  

(02-07-2015 10:56 PM)jmutoml757 Wrote:  

(02-07-2015 10:14 PM)Hotrod829 Wrote:  

(02-07-2015 08:50 PM)jmufan2008 Wrote:  Agree completely. Keener took absolutely nothing (honestly, less than nothing) and by his last season had us at least heading in the right direction. Yes, those years were terrible, but seriously...really, really bad (though still entertaining to mock the hell out of other teams from the BLEACHERS beside their bench). Brady took up where Dean had us going and brought us into a middle-of-the-road CAA team. We had one lucky year where we rattled off a few wins in the CAA tourney in, from what I remember, the first year where we had lost some teams and the CAA had taken a sudden dive in quality. Other than that, it's been a very 'meh' tenure. We have way too much turnover to create any sort of player leadership or loyalty, and without either of those, we will never have a consistently good team. After 7 years, I think it's clear that Brady was good enough to get us back to the level of an average D1 team, but I don't think he'll ever get us to even a top 100 team for two years in a row.

I agree with LH that we need to announce the hiring of a new head coach (I'll leave the names to people who have actually researched this stuff) and the ground breaking of the new arena. We'll probably also need a new athletics giving campaign at the same time and I'm not sure that there would be a better time. Time to see whether JMU athletics can try to take a risk and hope for a favorable change.

Luck had nothing to do with that year.

We were all on the bandwagon and constantly humming start wearing purple during that run. But we can't forget that not only had the best teams bolted the leaugue, but I believe that two other teams could not compete in the tourney (Towson/UncW) for other reasons. Call it "luck", good fortune, or whatever you want, but we all know that it has an unofficial asterik beside it. Was I watching and rooting? Heck yes, but my purple goggles are not so thick as to not see reality.

VCU was gone, ODU(3-15 CAA) and Georgia State(10-8) couldn't play in the tourney cause they were on their way out, and yeah no Towson(13-5) or UNCW(5-13) in the tourney. Mason was in it. We were the 3, we beat the 6(W&M) then beat the 2(UD) after they had a first round bye, and killed the 1(NU) after they had a first round bye.

Yep , sounds like we played some good basketball at the end of the season. No asterisk, we won the games we needed to win to get a NCAA spot.

The asterick is about 4 of Brady's team would of been able to qualify if the conditions were similar to 2012-2013. Brady had better teams, and 2010-2011 was a ton better. If was the perfect storm. They were the 170th rated team. This team would not of even been on of the first 50 out for an NIT bid that year.

(02-07-2015 11:12 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  I like Matt as a person. And he's certainly been a better HC than either Dillard or Keener. The record, despite Dukester's spin, is what it is, and it includes an appearance and win in the NCAAT.

Has Matt done enough to keep his job? Could JMU "do better," or simply make another mistake if the powers that be decided to replace him?

I don't know. It's a crap shoot IMO. But if forced to replace Matt, this is what I'd do.

In concert with making the grand announcement we were breaking ground on the new convo, to be ready by such-and-such a date, I'd hire Jeffrey "Jeff" Capel III as our new HC.

A new arena. A new HC (one who has a solid pedigree and who succeeded before as a HC in a P5 conference). The combo of a new home court and a new HC might just provide the "juice" JMU needs to take the next step.

And my sincerest thanks to MB for helping dig JMU out of the cellar. It wasn't easy after what the previous coaching tenures has done to a once proud program.

What sort of salary are you paying Jeffrey "Jeff" Capel III to come to JMU? He is the current associate head coach at Duke now that Wojo is at Marquette. Jabari Parker, Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones all have stated in so many words that Capel is the main reason they chose Duke. If Coach K is making over $9million, do you have any thoughts on what they are paying Capel?

I believe you are saying we only go after "Jeff" if we also an announce a new Convo? I appreciate the optimism

(02-08-2015 04:42 PM)Bawlmer Duke Wrote:  

(02-07-2015 11:12 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  I like Matt as a person. And he's certainly been a better HC than either Dillard or Keener. The record, despite Dukester's spin, is what it is, and it includes an appearance and win in the NCAAT.

Has Matt done enough to keep his job? Could JMU "do better," or simply make another mistake if the powers that be decided to replace him?

I don't know. It's a crap shoot IMO. But if forced to replace Matt, this is what I'd do.

In concert with making the grand announcement we were breaking ground on the new convo, to be ready by such-and-such a date, I'd hire Jeffrey "Jeff" Capel III as our new HC.

A new arena. A new HC (one who has a solid pedigree and who succeeded before as a HC in a P5 conference). The combo of a new home court and a new HC might just provide the "juice" JMU needs to take the next step.

And my sincerest thanks to MB for helping dig JMU out of the cellar. It wasn't easy after what the previous coaching tenures has done to a once proud program.

What sort of salary are you paying Jeffrey "Jeff" Capel III to come to JMU? He is the current associate head coach at Duke now that Wojo is at Marquette. Jabari Parker, Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones all have stated in so many words that Capel is the main reason they chose Duke. If Coach K is making over $9million, do you have any thoughts on what they are paying Capel?

I believe you are saying we only go after "Jeff" if we also an announce a new Convo? I appreciate the optimism

Yes Balmer, that's my idea in a nut. I have no idea what Duke pays its assistants, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is nearly equal to (or more) than what Matt is making now (just a tad over $300k). JMU would have to be prepared to offer up to the $500k range methinks if we want Jeff. At 39 I'm sure Capel must be looking for another shot at a being a HC. The promise of following a coaching tree that contains Lou and Lefty. plus a new arena might be enough to even take a pay cut to captain his own ship.

All that said, as I shared earlier, I like Matt very much as a person, and I respect what he has done at JMU. I also respect that there are those JMU fans who want more (wanted more) success, faster, than what Matt has delivered.

Yet, I've never been an advocate for blind leaps of faith (insert "jumping out of the frying pan into the fire" analogy here)...and IMO simply to release Matt without some kind of plan in place that truly promises that a coaching change will reinvigorate the MBB program is a gamble I wouldn't make.

So, yes, my "plan" would be to couple the change of MBB head coaching perspective with the new arena. A fresh start all around...and given Jeff's pedigree and successful previous association with the CAA and moderate success at Oklahoma, I think he's about the biggest "name" JMU could reasonably attract should the decision/plan involve releasing Matt.

(02-08-2015 05:49 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(02-08-2015 04:42 PM)Bawlmer Duke Wrote:  

(02-07-2015 11:12 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  I like Matt as a person. And he's certainly been a better HC than either Dillard or Keener. The record, despite Dukester's spin, is what it is, and it includes an appearance and win in the NCAAT.

Has Matt done enough to keep his job? Could JMU "do better," or simply make another mistake if the powers that be decided to replace him?

I don't know. It's a crap shoot IMO. But if forced to replace Matt, this is what I'd do.

In concert with making the grand announcement we were breaking ground on the new convo, to be ready by such-and-such a date, I'd hire Jeffrey "Jeff" Capel III as our new HC.

A new arena. A new HC (one who has a solid pedigree and who succeeded before as a HC in a P5 conference). The combo of a new home court and a new HC might just provide the "juice" JMU needs to take the next step.

And my sincerest thanks to MB for helping dig JMU out of the cellar. It wasn't easy after what the previous coaching tenures has done to a once proud program.

What sort of salary are you paying Jeffrey "Jeff" Capel III to come to JMU? He is the current associate head coach at Duke now that Wojo is at Marquette. Jabari Parker, Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones all have stated in so many words that Capel is the main reason they chose Duke. If Coach K is making over $9million, do you have any thoughts on what they are paying Capel?

I believe you are saying we only go after "Jeff" if we also an announce a new Convo? I appreciate the optimism

Yes Balmer, that's my idea in a nut. I have no idea what Duke pays its assistants, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is nearly equal to (or more) than what Matt is making now (just a tad over $300k). JMU would have to be prepared to offer up to the $500k range methinks if we want Jeff. At 39 I'm sure Capel must be looking for another shot at a being a HC. The promise of following a coaching tree that contains Lou and Lefty. plus a new arena might be enough to even take a pay cut to captain his own ship.

All that said, as I shared earlier, I like Matt very much as a person, and I respect what he has done at JMU. I also respect that there are those JMU fans who want more (wanted more) success, faster, than what Matt has delivered.

Yet, I've never been an advocate for blind leaps of faith (insert "jumping out of the frying pan into the fire" analogy here)...and IMO simply to release Matt without some kind of plan in place that truly promises that a coaching change will reinvigorate the MBB program is a gamble I wouldn't make.

So, yes, my "plan" would be to couple the change of MBB head coaching perspective with the new arena. A fresh start all around...and given Jeff's pedigree and successful previous association with the CAA and moderate success at Oklahoma, I think he's about the biggest "name" JMU could reasonably attract should the decision/plan involve releasing Matt.

That was my dream hire 2 years ago, but he was not one I heard considered back then. I think he might be close to 7 figures to hire(but I'm guessing), and might even be one of the top candidates when coach K steps down in the next few years. Would not surprise me if he's making 500k or more now....

He about the closest thing out there to a guaranteed success.

(02-07-2015 11:12 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  I like Matt as a person. And he's certainly been a better HC than either Dillard or Keener. The record, despite Dukester's spin, is what it is, and it includes an appearance and win in the NCAAT.

Has Matt done enough to keep his job? Could JMU "do better," or simply make another mistake if the powers that be decided to replace him?

I don't know. It's a crap shoot IMO. But if forced to replace Matt, this is what I'd do.

In concert with making the grand announcement we were breaking ground on the new convo, to be ready by such-and-such a date, I'd hire Jeffrey "Jeff" Capel III as our new HC.

A new arena. A new HC (one who has a solid pedigree and who succeeded before as a HC in a P5 conference). The combo of a new home court and a new HC might just provide the "juice" JMU needs to take the next step.

And my sincerest thanks to MB for helping dig JMU out of the cellar. It wasn't easy after what the previous coaching tenures has done to a once proud program.

I agree Longhorn. And I do not think we need more fans who give our football coach a C- after a playoff year and refuse to call a CAA basketball championship a basketball Championship. We beat ODU twice two years ago, Mason was in the tournament and we played good basketball in the CAA final and in our NCAA win.

(02-08-2015 07:14 PM)Dukesfan71 Wrote:  

(02-07-2015 11:12 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  I like Matt as a person. And he's certainly been a better HC than either Dillard or Keener. The record, despite Dukester's spin, is what it is, and it includes an appearance and win in the NCAAT.

Has Matt done enough to keep his job? Could JMU "do better," or simply make another mistake if the powers that be decided to replace him?

I don't know. It's a crap shoot IMO. But if forced to replace Matt, this is what I'd do.

In concert with making the grand announcement we were breaking ground on the new convo, to be ready by such-and-such a date, I'd hire Jeffrey "Jeff" Capel III as our new HC.

A new arena. A new HC (one who has a solid pedigree and who succeeded before as a HC in a P5 conference). The combo of a new home court and a new HC might just provide the "juice" JMU needs to take the next step.

And my sincerest thanks to MB for helping dig JMU out of the cellar. It wasn't easy after what the previous coaching tenures has done to a once proud program.

I agree Longhorn. And I do not think we need more fans who give our football coach a C- after a playoff year and refuse to call a CAA basketball championship a basketball Championship. We beat ODU twice two years ago, Mason was in the tournament and we played good basketball in the CAA final and in our NCAA win.

We need more fans paying to go to basketball games, and we need more students at games....

[/quote]

I agree Longhorn. And I do not think we need more fans who give our football coach a C- after a playoff year and refuse to call a CAA basketball championship a basketball Championship. We beat ODU twice two years ago, Mason was in the tournament and we played good basketball in the CAA final and in our NCAA win.
[/quote]

We need more fans paying to go to basketball games, and we need more students at games....
[/quote]

After years of FB season tickets, I jumped in for a pair of MBB this year. The drive from DC to the burg for weekend games is pretty easy. You can get up close for very reasonable prices. Getting to see UVA and Brown from High Point is really a treat for any basketball fan. Our Dukes can play better and be better, but as fans you are missing out if you don't go see in person the team we're fielding. Every game I go to, I see something that makes me glad I was there.

Go Dukes!

2/21 Attendance at ODU vs LA Tech 8,019
2/21 Attendance at VCU vs UMASS 7,637

JMU vs Elon Attendance 1,377

Average 1995 attendance at JMU - 5,637 (with half as many students)

MB just needs to hire an Ace recruiter like he had with Rowe and Bino and thing will continue to improve. Matt knows the strategy of the game well. But if the basketball coaches are paid like our assistant football coaches then we know it would be difficult to find and compensate an Ace mid major recruiter for market price on JMU's pay scale.

Dukeman: JMU is located in a low population area. 90% of the people at the VCU game Saturday were not students. The RVA has close to 1.3 million people. Harrisonburg has 52k. We don't live in 1995. Stop looking into the past to support your weak arguments.

(02-23-2015 11:48 PM)JMUNation Wrote:  Dukeman: JMU is located in a low population area. 90% of the people at the VCU game Saturday were not students. The RVA has close to 1.3 million people. Harrisonburg has 52k. We don't live in 1995. Stop looking into the past to support your weak arguments.

Your argument is flawed. Bringing up the past to support JMUs attendance does matter. It shows that JMU, now double the student population, can have better attendance than it currently has. Stop making excuses for subpar leadership.

(02-23-2015 11:48 PM)JMUNation Wrote:  Dukeman: JMU is located in a low population area. 90% of the people at the VCU game Saturday were not students. The RVA has close to 1.3 million people. Harrisonburg has 52k. We don't live in 1995. Stop looking into the past to support your weak arguments.

Nation is right. Richmond metro population is well over 1.3 million people and half of them think Shaka Smart should run for President. I can't wait to watch an 11 seed take out the Rams in the first round of the NCAA's

(02-24-2015 01:01 AM)johnjmu98 Wrote:  

(02-23-2015 11:48 PM)JMUNation Wrote:  Dukeman: JMU is located in a low population area. 90% of the people at the VCU game Saturday were not students. The RVA has close to 1.3 million people. Harrisonburg has 52k. We don't live in 1995. Stop looking into the past to support your weak arguments.

Nation is right. Richmond metro population is well over 1.3 million people and half of them think Shaka Smart should run for President. I can't wait to watch an 11 seed take out the Rams in the first round of the NCAA's

98, if I put your comment with Dukeman's it can be used to back up his argument. Though, he doesn't come out and say it, one of his points is make some changes, do something, don't just sit there and let us fall further behind.

Everybody knows where JMU is located and its surrounding population, and everybody knows Richmond's population. I can assure you Dukeman does. That means we have to work harder than they do to get people to our games. I don't have the answers, but winning is one important step.

There are a ton of things that must be done to go along with winning, if I do not speak the truth, then I suggest taking a look at the University of Miami's attendance figures. 14 home games with an average attendance of 5326. You are simply going to have to trust me, weather is not a factor. When they have been the away team, they have averaged 12,202. So, I guess size of your market doesn't have nearly as much to do with attendance as we might think.