(03-23-2019 11:41 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  We draw <1k people to games. It is a herculean task to sell the program to recruits when fan support isn’t there (Coach K’s final year at Army was 9-17). It is also incredibly difficult to attract good candidates. Bradley draws 5700 and Ohio 5600. http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketba...ndance.pdf

Here are the programs between 700-1300:
Alabama State 1296
Canisius 1280
SIU-Edwardsville 1268
Appalachian St 1268
FIU 1267
North Carolina Central 1263
Army 1253
SEMO 1251
Longwood 1248
Abilene Christian 1246
Detroit Mercy 1240
Loyola Maramount 1238
Marist 1224
EIU 1216
UMKC 1210
Alabama A&M 1209
Denver 1204
FAU 1188
High Point 1181
Northwestern St 1180
Samford 1159
Pepperdine 1156
Maryland-Baltimore County 1155
Niagara 1148
Coppin St 1146
Kennesaw 1146
San Antonio 1146
Northeastern 1142
Southern 1124
UMass Lowell 1119
Gardner-Webb 1110
Incarnate Word 1095
Manhattan 1094
Lehigh 1076
IUPUI 1056
Maine 1028
NIU 998
Drexel 989
Long Island-Brooklyn 989
Sam Houston State 944
Saint Francis PA 930
Brown 882
Dartmouth 868
New Orleans 863
Rio Grande Valley 845
SELA 837
Jacksonville 810
McNeese 793
Bethune-Cookman 776
Northridge 768
Robert Morris 765
American 761
Citadel 757
NJIT 756
Loyola Maryland 700


Teams with a better NET than NIU? 1 (Northeastern)

Teams with a top 25 win? 1 (NIU)

That seems inconsistent. You say NIU can't attract a "good candidate" and then you also throw in Coach K and his record his last year at Army. I draw from that that 1) Duke reached "down to a lower level" when they hired Coach K, and 2) despite coming from a "lower level" and despite coming off a season with a lackluster record, nonetheless, the man could coach, and was the right man for the situation at the time.

So …. no. I don't think we are going to get Izzo or Coach K or any similar coach. But, we certainly CAN give an opportunity to a enthusiastic coach -- maybe a coach "from a lower level" with local ties and coaching ability that just may be able to attract some players, win some games, and bring back the enthusiasm to the program that MANY of us know is possible. The current leader certainly has had a fair shot at doing it, and has he? Can we say the current coach is the right guy for the job? At this time next year will NIU be closer to its goal (which I hope is a MAC Championship) with him at the helm? If not, perhaps NIU should save the money it invests in the basketball program and reinvest that money in football. Then move basketball games to the fieldhouse with temp bleachers for game nights. Pack it with students, and rebuild from the bottom up.