UNCW is surveying many constituents associated with the University. One of the questions asked about conference affiliation and who our peers are/should be.

What conference should we aim for?

(10-26-2016 03:32 PM)82hawk Wrote:  UNCW is surveying many constituents associated with the University. One of the questions asked about conference affiliation and who are peers are/should be.

What conference should we aim for?

A10 should be what we are marketing ourselves to be apart of

(10-26-2016 03:32 PM)82hawk Wrote:  UNCW is surveying many constituents associated with the University. One of the questions asked about conference affiliation and who our peers are/should be.

What conference should we aim for?

A10 is the only conference they should consider. The CAA has been a bad fit for quite some time.

(10-27-2016 08:33 AM)jumpinmullet Wrote:  

(10-26-2016 03:32 PM)82hawk Wrote:  UNCW is surveying many constituents associated with the University. One of the questions asked about conference affiliation and who our peers are/should be.

What conference should we aim for?

A10 is the only conference they should consider. The CAA has been a bad fit for quite some time.

A 10 team round robin conference from Boston to Charleston at the mid major level is insane and not sustainable long term. CAA needs divisons in the short term. UNCW should make themselves as attractive as possible for the A10 and hope the opportunity arises

Scenario...

UNCW continues its meteoric rise. A10 comes calling in the next year or two. Does Keatts stay if that's the case? Thoughts?

(10-27-2016 06:59 PM)solohawks Wrote:  A 10 team round robin conference from Boston to Charleston at the mid major level is insane and not sustainable long term. CAA needs divisons in the short term. UNCW should make themselves as attractive as possible for the A10 and hope the opportunity arises

The one thing that we know is that the status quo in college athletics will definitely change. The key to hoping to successfully navigate that change is to be firing on all cylinders when cascading changes occur.

Ten years ago... when UNCW was hitting on all cylinders...we beat Butler like a drum, and bested VCU and George Mason for the CAA title. Then we went into Rosmarie dePaulo/Kelly Merthens/Benny Moss/Buzz Peterson Dark Ages at exactly the time that conferences were being realigned. Butler went to the Big East, and VCU/GMU went to the A10 - and UNCW became the CAA's red-headed step child.

Timing is everything....

(10-28-2016 06:49 AM)70shawk Wrote:  

(10-27-2016 06:59 PM)solohawks Wrote:  A 10 team round robin conference from Boston to Charleston at the mid major level is insane and not sustainable long term. CAA needs divisons in the short term. UNCW should make themselves as attractive as possible for the A10 and hope the opportunity arises

The one thing that we know is that the status quo in college athletics will definitely change. The key to hoping to successfully navigate that change is to be firing on all cylinders when cascading changes occur.

Ten years ago... when UNCW was hitting on all cylinders...we beat Butler like a drum, and bested VCU and George Mason for the CAA title. Then we went into Rosmarie dePaulo/Kelly Merthens/Benny Moss/Buzz Peterson Dark Ages at exactly the time that conferences were being realigned. Butler went to the Big East, and VCU/GMU went to the A10 - and UNCW became the CAA's red-headed step child.

Timing is everything....

No kidding. We picked a horrible time to hire incompetent administrators

Timing is everything and being prepared to succeed is paramount now for UNCW. I hope Bass is doing the work behind the curtain that it will take to get into the A10. Anything less than the A10 is a failure and will doom UNCW into another 10 years in the CAA. He also better be looking for the next coach right now..

I'd say we get about a 30% bump that Keatts stays if we hit the A10, and assuming funding and salrlary follow the upward trend. Although, would that make us tourney ineligible for the first year? I have his retention at 40% and 70%, respectively.

Sent from my SM-G900V using CSNbbs mobile app

(10-28-2016 06:49 AM)70shawk Wrote:  

(10-27-2016 06:59 PM)solohawks Wrote:  A 10 team round robin conference from Boston to Charleston at the mid major level is insane and not sustainable long term. CAA needs divisons in the short term. UNCW should make themselves as attractive as possible for the A10 and hope the opportunity arises

The one thing that we know is that the status quo in college athletics will definitely change. The key to hoping to successfully navigate that change is to be firing on all cylinders when cascading changes occur.

Ten years ago... when UNCW was hitting on all cylinders...we beat Butler like a drum, and bested VCU and George Mason for the CAA title. Then we went into Rosmarie dePaulo/Kelly Merthens/Benny Moss/Buzz Peterson Dark Ages at exactly the time that conferences were being realigned. Butler went to the Big East, and VCU/GMU went to the A10 - and UNCW became the CAA's red-headed step child.

Timing is everything....

You left out some key names that were instrumental in running Brownell off and bringing the program down.

And GMU went to the dumpster too...remember that. They can survive and will be good again but it's ALL ABOUT the Head Coach fellas. You guys know that. Keatts is good for UNCW and if he leaves at some point, UNCW needs a good one.

To the question....I think that the CAA is a good fit for UNCW. If they went to the A10, that may be okay but every game would be very difficult. Davidson and Mason know that. VCU is in a great location for talent. They only have to compete with UVa, Va Tech and Richmond for recruits. That's not the case here. UNCW is in North Carolina....the BIGGEST hot bed for hoops but they have to compete with the Big 4, Davidson,Charlotte and ECU for talent. That's something to consider. Keatts recruits to a system that kids like so UNCW is good right now. If the situation changes and if Keatts moves on at some point, and they move to the A10, then they would have to get a dynamic recruiting coach and/or stick to this system and continue player evaluation regionally. At the end of the day, the CAA is a fine conference for UNCW. It's a league that they have a shot each year. Yes, an at large isn't as realistic so that's a consideration, but it's also good to win and build a winner. That's what people see....a winner. I still wonder about Davidson in the A 10. I just don't see them winning there with the type of player that McKillop likes.

(10-28-2016 11:48 PM)billthebighawksfan Wrote:  And GMU went to the dumpster too...remember that. They can survive and will be good again but it's ALL ABOUT the Head Coach fellas. You guys know that. Keatts is good for UNCW and if he leaves at some point, UNCW needs a good one.

To the question....I think that the CAA is a good fit for UNCW. If they went to the A10, that may be okay but every game would be very difficult. Davidson and Mason know that. VCU is in a great location for talent. They only have to compete with UVa, Va Tech and Richmond for recruits. That's not the case here. UNCW is in North Carolina....the BIGGEST hot bed for hoops but they have to compete with the Big 4, Davidson,Charlotte and ECU for talent. That's something to consider. Keatts recruits to a system that kids like so UNCW is good right now. If the situation changes and if Keatts moves on at some point, and they move to the A10, then they would have to get a dynamic recruiting coach and/or stick to this system and continue player evaluation regionally. At the end of the day, the CAA is a fine conference for UNCW. It's a league that they have a shot each year. Yes, an at large isn't as realistic so that's a consideration, but it's also good to win and build a winner. That's what people see....a winner. I still wonder about Davidson in the A 10. I just don't see them winning there with the type of player that McKillop likes.

You forgot two very important schools which they most certainly compete with for recruits, Georgetown and George Washington.

I'm on the fence on this one.

UNCW could potentially dominate the CAA. That would mean regular NCAA tournament games, and we would break through eventually. That's the Gonzaga route and it's certainly viable.

The A10 route would be the only other option. BUT, I would only make that move if CofC came with us. That would give is a good grouping in the Carolinas, along with VCU, GMU, GW and Richmond not too far away in the Virginia DC area. Not bad travel at all. This may also allow the A10 to create geographical divisions, and that would be a damned good one.

Yes, recruiting in NC is more difficult, but the A10 has name recognition and cache' in the basketball world that the CAA can't touch. We would leap far ahead of ECU and Charlotte conference wise, and we could then recruit against a WFU and NC State in North Carolina. We could easily become the 3rd. best program in the state with a VCU style of play, and Keatts or a coach in his mold to continue that style.

(10-29-2016 09:00 AM)82hawk Wrote:  I'm on the fence on this one.

UNCW could potentially dominate the CAA. That would mean regular NCAA tournament games, and we would break through eventually. That's the Gonzaga route and it's certainly viable.

The A10 route would be the only other option. BUT, I would only make that move if CofC came with us. That would give is a good grouping in the Carolinas, along with VCU, GMU, GW and Richmond not too far away in the Virginia DC area. Not bad travel at all. This may also allow the A10 to create geographical divisions, and that would be a damned good one.

Yes, recruiting in NC is more difficult, but the A10 has name recognition and cache' in the basketball world that the CAA can't touch. We would leap far ahead of ECU and Charlotte conference wise, and we could then recruit against a WFU and NC State in North Carolina. We could easily become the 3rd. best program in the state with a VCU style of play, and Keatts or a coach in his mold to continue that style.

That's my ideal scenario too

At the very least the CAA needs to add 2 and get divisions

Round robin from Boston to Charleston is asinine at our financial level

Big fish in the little pond is not the way to go -IMO. Much rather see them step up and take on some real programs,build to compete at a higher lever instead of trolling in the slow lane.

(10-29-2016 07:19 PM)jumpinmullet Wrote:  Big fish in the little pond is not the way to go -IMO. Much rather see them step up and take on some real programs,build to compete at a higher lever instead of trolling in the slow lane.

It may be that the best path is to be the big fish in a small pond. Build credibility and a winning tradition, then be prepared to make the leap to the A10.

They have credibility now and they are winning right now. If not now,when? They are in a great spot right now to think about moving up . The CAA has never really made sense for UNCW but now it makes zero sense to play down to the competition while traveling the entire east coast to do so. Maybe they should welcome the challenge to get better and compete instead of hiding out in the CAA for the next twenty years.

(10-30-2016 09:17 AM)jumpinmullet Wrote:  They have credibility now and they are winning right now. If not now,when? They are in a great spot right now to think about moving up . The CAA has never really made sense for UNCW but now it makes zero sense to play down to the competition while traveling the entire east coast to do so. Maybe they should welcome the challenge to get better and compete instead of hiding out in the CAA for the next twenty years.

Unfortunately the A10 has a no vacancy sign on its office door.

All we can do is put ourselves in a position to be attractive if/when the time comes

Never made since? Really? A conference that had schools like Richmond who was known for making waves in the NCAA tourney. Then there was Navy and David Robinson. VCU and GMU who both went to the final four. And of course UNCW who beat a16th ranked USC and then took eventual champion Indiana to the wire. Yeh, we've always been too good for the CAA. ??

(10-30-2016 03:27 PM)SEA33HAWK Wrote:  Never made since? Really? A conference that had schools like Richmond who was known for making waves in the NCAA tourney. Then there was Navy and David Robinson. VCU and GMU who both went to the final four. And of course UNCW who beat a16th ranked USC and then took eventual champion Indiana to the wire. Yeh, we've always been too good for the CAA. ??

To much travel for UNCW then and now. All the good programs in the original lineup are gone and there is no reason to think it will get better. They had some success but also some real down times to go along with the good years. At least give your self a chance for a bid on a year without having to win 3 games in 3 days. Its just a common sense approach but I get it if you don't want the challenge of being legit most of the. Don't be scared to fail is how I see it. The A10 will open up again when the BIg 12 explodes into nothing.