I watched the video from the introduction of the new UMKC HC- Billy Donlon (link below). Some highlights:

The emcee (Steven Davis, the radio voice for the Roos) said that this is a critical moment for UMKC. It is the moment to take the next step up to compete seriously and consistently for conference championships. It is a new era for UMKC athletics with new AD and new HC. The Chancellor spoke of athletics as being a point of pride for the university. He said he expects them to compete for championships, to win the right way. The AD said he visited 11 coaches in 16 days, travelling 15,000 miles. Donlon was the most prepared with an understanding of the possibilities and challenges facing the Roos. (Sounds like he really wanted this job.) The goal is to become a top 50 program and deeply engage the Kansas City area.

HC Donlon said he intends to recruit the local area hard, to build a recruiting fortress around KC. He mentioned the juco programs in KS and IA, and is open to transfers. He shared a lot of coach speak. What came through was his energy and excitement to be at UMKC. As they say, "He won the press conference." Note: His wife gave up a partnership in a law firm in Chicago to come to KC, and she gave birth to their daughter just 19 days ago.

My biggest take away was this: UMKC seriously considered going to division 2 or 3 as a cost saving measure in their athletic department. It is clear that they have decided that their revenue problem was a relevance problem- that not many in KC cared about the Roos because the Roos haven’t been very successful. With the AD hire and now the HC hire, it’s clear that the Roos are committed to staying in d1 and achieving basketball success. They have moved from, “It would be nice to be successful” to “We will become successful.”

Let’s see what happens. The first thing to watch is if he wins over players who have expressed interest in transferring. At verbalcommits.com UMKC right now has 3 scholarship players, 0 recruits, and 1 open offer for next year.

https://www.facebook.com/UMKCathletics/v...314799867/

New Roo AD going to work, not wasting any time. This is from the KC newspaper on Wednesday- 2 days ago:

UMKC has created an athletic fundraising arm. The Roo Athletic Fund will support scholarships and upgrades and improvements to facilities. “My hope is that alumni, fans and supporters across Kansas City commit to propelling UMKC athletics to be a premiere mid-major Division I program,” UMKC athletic director Brandon Martin said in a statement. According to the university, UMKC ranks last in the Western Athletic Conference in donors. "We are asking our student-athletes to compete and win championships, but we need to provide them with the support to do so,” Martin said.
https://www.kansascity.com/sports/colleg...00449.html (shout out to perry c at the umkcroos.proboards for noticing this)

At the end of today's presser, the AD had reps ready to sell season tickets and take donations to the new athletic fund.
Good for him; that's being on the ball.