(05-25-2018 07:35 AM)stanman505 Wrote: (05-24-2018 11:48 PM)HogDawg Wrote: (05-22-2018 10:57 PM)stanman505 Wrote: (05-22-2018 09:46 PM)HogDawg Wrote: (05-22-2018 11:22 AM)stanman505 Wrote: You do know that UTEP's new coach was at Fresno St. before. Maybe the kid wants to play for the coach that recruited him and developed him the past two years.
Nope, I did not know that......BUT, that simply begs the same question for the coach: Why would HE leave Fresno for a UTEP program in shambles?
I don't think shambles is an accurate assessment of UTEP basketball right now.
1. UTEP did beat La. Tech in El Paso
2. UTEP finished 2nd in the conference in attendance while having a losing season.
3. UTEP has one of the top basketball facilities, in CUSA in the Haskins Center and the Foster-Stevens practice facility.
4. UTEP has the largest recruiting budget in CUSA
5. UTEP is paying Rodney Terry 100k more than he made at Fresno St.
6. Rodney Terry is from Texas and recruits the state heavily.
UTEP had talent last year, but when the head coach steps down because of health reasons and the team loses both players over 6'8" to injuries and still was respectable in most all games. In addition UTEP is not on any type of probation and has a full allotment of scholarships and can play in any post season tournament. I would be willing to bet that UTEP will finish in the top 6 this coming year and will be picked to finish top two in the 2019-2020 season.
Yeah......I wasn't looking for a comparison to LA Tech or CUSA. I was looking for a comparison to Fresno St. FSU has a big budget too. FSU averages over 6K at home too. FSU plays in a nice facility too. The FSU Save Mart Center is one of the elite basketball arenas in the west. And of course, one could argue that California's climate is much more appealing than El Paso's.
All of this --along with a 20-win program-- sounds much more appealing than what the current state of UTEP's basketball program offers. Again, just my opinion. I'm just trying to understand why Coach Terry would take that gamble.
1. UTEP had high attendance than Fresno St. last year, even though UTEP only won 10 games and Fresno St. won 20.
2. UTEP has a significantly larger basketball budget than Fresno St.
3. UTEP is paying Coach Terry more than Fresno St.
4. UTEP has one of the best practice facilities around and it is a major upgrade over Fresno St.
5. Coach Terry is from Texas and just wanted to come home.
6. Texas does not have a state income tax like California so Coach Terry will get an even bigger take home pay check.
1) The average home attendances were literally within a couple hundred people a game. So, no real material difference. Thus, this is a non-issue.
2) UTEP has an 850K larger basketball budget than Fresno ($4.13 to $3.29M) This may be a slight advantage to UTEP but still not THAT much of a factor. Honestly, I don't even know how a basketball program could spend that much.
http://www.fresnobee.com/sports/college/...18684.html
3) Considering the risk Terry is taking, he's not really being paid much more.
4) The Save Mart Center is a $100 Million facility. At some point, the facility comparison becomes moot.
5) Yes, Terry may be from Texas, but it's not like he's in Houston. He's now in El Paso, which equidistant between San Diego, CA and Dallas. I'm not sure how helpful that will be to his cause.
6) The lack of a state income tax is the only solid advantage I really see to this for Terry.
7) CUSA has proven to be a one-bid basketball league. Terry has proven he can get his Fresno team to the NCAA Tournament. This will be a HUGE challenge for him at UTEP.
8) Again.....recruiting kids to the California valley vs the desert town of El Paso? Seriously?
I think Terry is running from
something. Rodney Terry better be careful. This looks like a career killer move to me. His predecessor, Tim Floyd, was successful in a lot of places before arriving in El Paso. And we saw how things worked out for Floyd.