I'd rate a 2. But at least it's a 2 that's trending upward rather than downward. Next year (barring injuries or defections) should solidify his progress meter.

(03-07-2018 06:39 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote:  

(03-07-2018 03:50 PM)JMUDunk Wrote:  

(03-06-2018 06:42 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote:  So far the following ratings have been given...
Dukes94 2
JMUfan2008 2
JMUETC 2
TribeTransfer 2
JMURocks! 3
PurpleHazed invalid. Get off the fence and select 2 or 3
BSKB invalid. Get off the fence and select 2 or 3
PhillyDuke 2
JMUNation 2

Is that it? Any others? Lots of comments on the thread but only a few performance appraisals.

Put me down for a 2 with the trending arrow downward. Not the teams performance, necessarily, but I can’t offer a 1.5 and it wasn’t a 1, soooo.

Issue I have, among many, is we barely managed to eek out a double digit W season, were scarcely under an RPI of 300(!)...

And in the best of times managed a whopping 2 game win streak. Somethings missing there.

With as many close Ls as they had, there is reason for some optimism moving forward, but to this point it’s the same tune on the broken jukebox over and over and over again.

Yet another season of futility. I’d give it one more year...

YES! We've sucked Dunk into the discussion after lurking from deep in the woods all year.

Still deep in the woods. Looking for a reason to emerge.

20+ years is a Loooong time, callouses are plenty strong. Call me Mick Dunk Dodge...

I didn't really watch any games this year but I did follow quite a few of them online. I'd have to say the biggest disappointment was the majority of close games were ones where we had a lead late in the game and faded. There were a variety of reasons, and some fall to some degree on the players (fouls, poor shooting, missed free-throws, etc) but most of them fall on the coach (adjustments, schemes, lineups, conditioning, prep, motivation, etc).

If it was a case of JMU coming from behind as the game moves along that would indicate to me that the coach is making adjustments and improving game play. But the fact the team seemed to often trend down as the game went along tells me HCLR is struggling big time and perhaps has exhausted all his coaching ability to little affect.

Balancing his performance (2) and results (1) with his recruiting (7) I give him a 3.

It looks like the Court of Public Opinion has given Louis Rowe a 2 for this year’s performance appraisal based on the average of all the responses.

It will be interesting to see what Jeff Bourne has to say in a Bourne Monologue regarding the basketball program.
Right now he has egg on his face 2 years in to the Rowe experiment While trying to raise a lot of money for the $88 million Arena. Due to his decisions, the program has gone backwards and has negative momentum during a critical time.

His Bourne Monologue from 2 years ago
Bourne Monologue

“We are ahead of where we were when Matt was hired, but we're not where we want to be.”

And now back to being where we were when Matt was hired.

(03-10-2018 09:21 AM)Hart Foundation Wrote:  It looks like the Court of Public Opinion has given Louis Rowe a 2 for this year’s performance appraisal based on the average of all the responses.

It will be interesting to see what Jeff Bourne has to say in a Bourne Monologue regarding the basketball program.
Right now he has egg on his face 2 years in to the Rowe experiment While trying to raise a lot of money for the $88 million Arena. Due to his decisions, the program has gone backwards and has negative momentum during a critical time.

His Bourne Monologue from 2 years ago
Bourne Monologue

"In regards to postseason success, Matt's teams have gone 1-7 in the CAA quarterfinals, reaching the semifinals once in eight years and advancing to one NCAA Tournament."
Rowe hasn't won a single quarterfinal game in two years and didn't even make it to quarterfinals this year. 0-1

"Community engagement is a significant piece to the student-athlete experience and is an expectation of a coach of this stature. The men's basketball program and its coaching staff must have a stronger presence in the local community."
It appears that Rowe has a much stronger presence in the community.

"JMU needs new energy surrounding the program to counteract a downward attendance trend."
There is definitely a different energy. Regardless of the losses, there is a different energy that this team is almost there. Next year, that energy could fizzle if this team isn't successful.

"If you look across the board at all of our programs at JMU, you will find success in all aspects of student-athlete growth, both inside and outside of competition. We expect a commitment from our coaches to the total student-athlete experience and to our departmental goals for retention and graduation."
HCLR definitely loves his players and seems very involved in their student/athlete growth.

"Having eight student-athletes exhausting their eligibility next year, combined with the challenges of scheduling, created an urgency to commit to a decision with long-term implications."
This doesn't really apply to Rowe like it applied to Brady. If the success isn't there next year, I still don't think there will be enough losses in talent for the admin to use that as an excuse to extend/fire Rowe.

"The timeline for fundraising and for construction of the new Convocation Center project make it essential that we have the right coach in place to spearhead that initiative and lead us into this new era for our program."
This is still a question mark. Not sure what he is doing in regards to the fundraising or what kind of positive influence he is in to raising the money. One thing is for certain: the results on the court aren't making it easier to raise money.

(03-10-2018 09:25 AM)#YEEHAWDUKES Wrote:  “We are ahead of where we were when Matt was hired, but we're not where we want to be.”

And now back to being where we were when Matt was hired.

The present condition and trajectory of the JMU MBB program reminds me of comedian Ron White’s quip about the small airplane he was on experiencing engine problems, and the fear expressed by other passengers that the plane would crash. White’s expressed confidence that the plane would continue to fly...all the way to the crash.

That’s exactly where the MBB program is...and where co-pilots LR and JB are flying this baby. I’m not anticipating a soft landing.

Now that everyone who cares has chimed in, I will offer my evaluation for what it’s worth.
I give Louis Rowe a 1 for severely underperforming this year.
In a performance evaluation, the results are the only thing that matters and that is exactly how it should be. Put up or shut up. There is no gray area in sports. Every game has a winner and a loser. Louis Rowe and JMU basketball were losers this year.
The performance appraisal expectations for the program do not change based on who the coach is. Either you meet the metrics or you do not.

You are what your record says you are. Coach Rowe was 10-22.
JMU tied for the worst record in the CAA and they held the worst record overall by themself.
In postseason, Coach Rowe lost in the Keener round and didn’t even get to the quarterfinals of the CAA which Bourne expects JMU to advance beyond the quarterfinals. Gotta get there first.
Once again this year, The Whole was less than the sum of the parts.
When you are not coming close to the metrics for winning and you rank last among your peers for raw performance, then you get a 1 every time.

Now there are all kinds of soft metrics Bourne added to try to justify a change 2 years ago, but the reality is that if you don’t win, you will get fired. You can’t shake enough hands and kiss enough babies to offset losing. You can’t point to individual talent and recruiting success because Nobody cares about these things if the team doesn’t win. You can graduate 100% of your players and you will get fired for losing. You can raise Donations for the arena and you will get fired for losing. You can increase attendance and you will get fired for losing. All of these soft metrics are merely tiebreakers if you have 2 coaches that win. If coach A doesn’t do these things and Coach B does, then coach B would win the tie as long as they are both winning at a similar level.

If Rowe doesn’t have a Bourne ultimatum in his performance tracker for next year, I will be shocked and question if JMU wants it bad enough. THe program is bigger than one person and JMU absolutely cannot go into a new arena with a losing, or even mediocre coach. I suspect Rowe will be tasked with finishing in the top 4 of the CAA and advancing to at least the semifinals of the tourney. If he can do that, he gets to come back for a 4th year and the expectations would be higher. Get to the NCAA that year or get replaced with an experienced head coach who has a winning track record and can open the new arena with excitement and winning in 2020.

Annual appraisals don’t consider previous years, but once the appraisal is finished then it can be added to previous years’ appraisals to analyze the track record. Strike 2 for Louis Rowe. 2 years and 65 games is a long time to show what you can do and the results are extremely concerning.
Last year was a disaster. Prior to the hiring Bourne stated “With a strong presence on next year's team of upperclassmen who have experienced winning, a new coach can be successful right out of the gate.“
Nope.
Rowe took a program with 80% of its starters returning and 8 seniors (more than any team in the nation) and transformed them from a squad that won 40 games finishing in the top 3 of the CAA in the previous 2 years into a squad that went 10-23, played in the Keener round, and then lost in the quarterfinals.

Check out Rowe’s place among peers...
JMU coaches career winning percentages.
Campanelli .655 took promotion at Cal
Driesell .589 fired after 9 seasons
Brady .523 fired after 8 seasons
Dillard .467 fired after 8 seasons
Thurston .413 fired in middle of 3rd season
Rowe .308
Keener .267 fired after 4 seasons

But wait, Rowe hasn’t had enough time you say?
JMU record in 1st two years
Campanelli 35-17
Driesell 36-25
Dillard 27-27
Brady 34-35
Thurston 25-33
Rowe 20-45
Keener 11-45

Here is another comparison vs peers in the CAA. 2 of these coaches were hired at the same time as Rowe, took over losing programs in terrible shape, yet have performed better than Rowe. Sad story.
Record over last 2 years...
Charleston 51-17
UNCW 40-27
Northeastern 38-26
Towson 38-27
W&M 36-26
Hofstra 34-29
Elon 32-32
Delaware 27-39
Drexel 22-43
JMU 20-45

The results so far are worst case scenario IMO. Take a winning program and run it into the gutter faster than you can say WTF happened?

“Winning Program”

The math does not lie; very well done Hart.

I will chime in quickly. I rate JMU's ROI from Rowe a 3. You cannot pay a head coach at the bottom of the pay scale and expect upper tier results. JB and King are getting exactly what they paid for regarding talent. If they refuse to pay at the top of the conference pay scale (Brady was the bottom half of the CAA pay scale) how can you realistically expect better results? In the end the free market always wins.

As a JMU basketball fan, alumnus, and donor it bothers me how King and JB go discount shopping for basketball coaches. With us offering stipends and opening a brand new arena there are reasons we cannot be a top 100 program. We just need to find a successful coach from a lesser conference and pay him fairly in comparison to his CAA peers.

(03-11-2018 08:42 AM)Rock House Duke Wrote:  I will chime in quickly. I rate JMU's ROI from Rowe a 3. You cannot pay a head coach at the bottom of the pay scale and expect upper tier results. JB and King are getting exactly what they paid for regarding talent. If they refuse to pay at the top of the conference pay scale (Brady was the bottom half of the CAA pay scale) how can you realistically expect better results? In the end the free market always wins.

As a JMU basketball fan, alumnus, and donor it bothers me how King and JB go discount shopping for basketball coaches. With us offering stipends and opening a brand new arena there are reasons we cannot be a top 100 program. We just need to find a successful coach from a lesser conference and pay him fairly in comparison to his CAA peers.

Yes, facilities alone are not enough. You have to pay someone enough to entice them to leave a good program to take over one that has had little success in 20 years.

Hart talks about Rowe being replaced by an experienced head coach with a winning track record. Shaver is the only current CAA head coach who fits his description prior to being hired by the Tribe and he was a D3 head coach. The rest of the CAA seems to go for assistants from winning D1 programs so I find this part of his post wishful thinking.

Lou’s record stands for itself. I will say he inherited a winning team minus the best player in the CAA so his assessment of year one falls on deaf ears for me. His team in year two did go 6-6 over the last 12 games of the regular season so there is our silver lining. Overall, it was a poor year. Lou needs to get to a winning record next year and the top half of the CAA for me to think he is making enough progress. There was some this year but it sure wasn’t significant.

I think Hart is smoking crack if he thinks there will be an NCAA ultimatum in year four. If Lou has his program in the top half of the CAA with solid recruiting classes and players who stay out of trouble, that is going to be enough. This program has not won consistently for 20 years. The administration and most of the fan base will be content to see the program win on a consistent basis. Once that happens, it will take many more years of consistent winning before that will not be enough and by then the present administration will be retired.

After year two, I can reasonably conclude that Lou is not a special coach. With his current record, it is hard to argue against anyone who says he is below average. How quickly he can learn and grow will determine his future prospects for remaining a head coach. Actually, how quickly his players can learn and grow is even more important for his future. Lefty was not much of an x’s and o’s guy but he sure had a good career by recruiting great talent. This Freshman class gives us all hope. One more solid class and I believe Lou will have things turned around and headed in the right direction.

Another 10 win season should have JMU looking to buy out the last two years of Lou’s contract. I don’t believe that is going to happen. The talent level is too good. As long as the work ethic of these players is there, we should see them and their record get better each year.

We all hope LR would (or will) succeed. He's a valued JMU alum and former star of the MBB program. JMU took another long-shot on the hire, however, and went cheap. The university is now getting what it paid for, and the controversy and heat around the LR hire is really just starting. Another season like the first two, and LR has to go.

Unlike MH, who had proven himself at each level of competition as a HC before coming to JMU, and who had earned his way to the position at JMU, LR did not have any previous HC experience, and the results speak for themselves. Never again should JMU hire a HC in MBB who has never been a HC before. Yes, JMU MBB is down now, but we fans...heck, the university and community...deserve better.

If JMU MBB can't attract a proven D1 MBB HC, or afford the salary that comes with it, I'm afraid JMU fans will see a repetition of the same-o same-o that has the MBB program wallowing in mediocrity. It's time for a new approach, and I say we take the approach of W&M, and hire a top DII HC.

The best DII guy out there at the moment appears to be Ben McCollum, the HC at Northwest Missouri State. He's a NMS alum, and has been their HC for 9 years, so it would be a hard "get"...but a shot at a DI HC gig in the solid CAA with a new arena, would be hard to dismiss. I bet JMU could land him for less than $500k if we really made a sincere effort. Here is a link to his bio...

http://www.bearcatsports.com/coaches.asp...ath=mbball

Okay...I'm ready to listen to the alternatives...but don't try and tell me JMU's MBB is "all that" under LR...we're hurting, and changes are needed.

I wasn't following closely when Rowe was hired, but was there any indication as to why the UVA assistant turned the position down? Did he get lowballed on salary or did he not feel he was ready to make the jump to HC yet?

(03-11-2018 01:23 PM)tribe_transfer Wrote:  I wasn't following closely when Rowe was hired, but was there any indication as to why the UVA assistant turned the position down? Did he get lowballed on salary or did he not feel he was ready to make the jump to HC yet?

Money. Prestige. Probably other reasons as well...

Lets face it....these power 5 assistants live a good life. Money is as good or better than being head coach at lower level...working in great environments and less accountability. That said, at some point most guys want a chance to be a head coach. The situation must be right and JMU was not right fit for Sanchez at low salary and lack of commitment from administration.

(03-11-2018 01:30 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(03-11-2018 01:23 PM)tribe_transfer Wrote:  I wasn't following closely when Rowe was hired, but was there any indication as to why the UVA assistant turned the position down? Did he get lowballed on salary or did he not feel he was ready to make the jump to HC yet?

Money. Prestige. Probably other reasons as well...

Brady said JMU was a "bad Job".

Brooks complained publicly of Alger's leadership against COA.

Withers said the administration "did not get it" .

Mickey's divorce from JMU was not amicable.

Why even build an $88 million arena if we aren’t going to try hard with a sufficient head coach salary?
Let’s assume an arena’s life expectancy is 40 years. That is $2.2 million per year.
Yet JMU won’t pay more than $400,000 annually for a head coach?
That is bass ackwards.
The algorithm makes no sense at all.
Head basketball coach is way more important than a building.

Creative thinking here... perhaps we can get Union Bank & Trust to sponsor a winning head coach. They pay JMU an additional $250K per year and the new head coach wears a suit with their giant logo on it wherever he goes.

(03-11-2018 04:40 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote:  Why even build an $88 million arena if we aren’t going to try hard with a sufficient head coach salary?
Let’s assume an arena’s life expectancy is 40 years. That is $2.2 million per year.
Yet JMU won’t pay more than $400,000 annually for a head coach?
That is bass ackwards.
The algorithm makes no sense at all.
Head basketball coach is way more important than a building.

Creative thinking here... perhaps we can get Union Bank & Trust to sponsor a winning head coach. They pay JMU an additional $250K per year and the new head coach wears a suit with their giant logo on it wherever he goes.

Creative thinking is exactly what's needed...especially if between $400 and 500K seems to be the top end of what JMU will pay for a MBB HC. That's why I suggested JMU drop down a level, and hire a talent that has been in charge before, just not at the D1 level.

(03-11-2018 02:46 PM)nyduke Wrote:  Lets face it....these power 5 assistants live a good life. Money is as good or better than being head coach at lower level...working in great environments and less accountability. That said, at some point most guys want a chance to be a head coach. The situation must be right and JMU was not right fit for Sanchez at low salary and lack of commitment from administration.

JMU is in a tough spot- you would think prospective coaches could see the potential based on the growth of the school, the budget, the success with other sports, the renderings of the new arena- but it may have looked far fetched and if the $ isn't higher level the job probably gives most established coaches or high level assistants pause. Sure the CAA is a solid league but why take the JMU job when they can wait for a better gig. Take Dave Odom's son for example- not sure if he was in play at JMU but in making the dance at UMBC he can skip over the JMU level job and probably get a job at Charlotte or ECU which pays better. everyone on this board hopefully sees the potential at JMU for MBB - maybe have lived through it- but if you're an outsider we are far removed from those days and it may not be as easy to see.

My hope is if this doesn't turn quickly that the next time around it will be easier for everyone (internally meaning they will allocate more money for the right coach and externally because the new arena will be on the near horizon) to see the potential of the program.

The established lower level coach- i.e. D3 is an interesting thought. Kim Anderson at Missouri comes to mind as a recent failure. Bo Ryan is a good success story- I think Beilein and a guy like Clues at Iona started at that level as well.