(01-11-2016 11:35 AM)Dukes84 Wrote:  Just a few thoughts on the Brady situation. I don't know what's going to happen going forward, but I thought this team was good enough to challenge for the league title following out of conference play. They then proceeded to lose their first two conference games at home. Both of those games reminded me of the two earlier home losses in that JMU seemed to play with a lack of energy. I mentioned that following the Elon game on these boards and then when I listened to the pre-game for Towson, the radio crew picked up on that to start the pre-game discussion. They then went out and played with far greater passion and had a 19-point lead at one point before winning by 14 points over a team that had beaten W&M on the road by double digits. We'll see if they can play with that mindset going forward.

Since removing Andre Nation from the team following the W&M game, JMU is 22-10, good for .6875 winning percentage. They're 12-5 now, which is good for more than a .700 winning percentage. When you look to next year, I think the team has a chance to be very good, given the additions of Snowden, Shepherd and Hollywood. Credit Brady for bringing in those players to the program, as I've heard good things about all of them. And I say credit Brady because he's in lame duck territory again, as he was going into Year 5. And they were going to fire him following Year 4 after he had signed Curry, Nation and Cooke in the fall of that year (and later got Serb that spring).

If you look at Brady's top peers in the CAA, and I'm talking about Coen at NE and Shaver at W&M, look at their records. Coen has been at NE for 10 years and he now seems to have figured it out. Same for Shaver in his 13th season. One of the other top coaches, Joe Mihalich, had been at Niagara for 15 seasons or thereabouts before coming to Hofstra and is now winning with Niagara's players of course.

I recall hearing the names of Danny Hurley and Mike Rhoades as possible replacements for Brady. I think both are good coaches, but Hurley is not likely to make the NCAAs again this year, his fourth, at Rhode Island. Rhoades in his second year at Rice has something like a 5-11 record and is winless in Conference USA. A year ago, he won 12 games. I think that Dave Paulsen is a good coach but look at his initial struggles at Mason and we'll soon find out if the players he's brought in are good enough to win at a high level in the A-10. He brought in 9 or 10 guys before coaching a game in the league.

Last point: getting into the NCAAs from the mid-major level is incredibly difficult. All of the advantages are with the power conferences. How many mid majors get at large berths? Not many, save for the VCUs of the world (and they're no longer mid major if you listen to some of the pundits).

A few points to consider.

I hear you 84 but I would argue that getting to the NCAAs as JMU in a mid major conference is probably easier than if you're a middle of the road or lower program in a better conference.

Mason will really have trouble getting to the NCAAs in the A-10. The league is too big and there is too much competition for the auto bid. Even if they have a respectable OOC the odds are the conference schedule will be too brutal for them to finish with a good enough record to get an at large. You watch St Bonnies is 3-0 in conference right now with a good record- by the end of conference play they will be ticketed for the NIT. The cream always rises to the top in those conferences.

I think JMU really has a chance in todays CAA to grab the brass ring. There is a void at the top- some solid programs but no dominant team. Teams have dominated in the past- ODU, VCU, Mason. JMU and Brady both needs to raise their level. Show you can put some distance between you and the other solid programs.