(04-03-2019 04:52 PM)Wear Purple Wrote:  

(04-03-2019 03:10 PM)RamDawg Wrote:  Only time (about 3 years) will tell but if he can't keep most of his roster that are in the transfer portal, he's going to be chasing recruits that are current seniors and have been overlooked. I hope I'm wrong but I don't see W&M being able to attract quality transfers. It could be a very painful couple of years but maybe he's able to bring players with him but that doesn't help much for next season. I sure hope the current Tribe players stay and give the new coach a shot.

Yep.

Rowe was in the same situation - like many other coaches who are hired this time of year - and, he has been criticized for his "first" signing class, which really wasn't his "first" signing class in my opinion. At this point, you are looking for scraps, grad transfers (which aren't plentiful for mid-majors), and taking chances on JUCO's (to which he has been criticized for those as well).

The new W&M head coach - again, like many others this time of year - should not be analyzed for his recruiting prowess in this 2019 class anymore than Rowe should've been for his 2016 class.

As far as your last sentence, I'm a Zero Sum kinda guy. If W&M dying for a few years helps JMU's chances of success, then I'm a happy (Zero Sum) kinda guy.

I'm a firm believer that college coaches, especially the mid majors need 4 years but I also believe they need to be on short leashes. The AD should be able to tell the HC, "your defensive assistant or your conditioning person you hired isn't meeting expectations, find someone else"

I get the whole zero sum thing but the quality of CAA MBB is horrible already so I'm pulling for CAA members to strengthen their programs.

I’m not in the camp that wants W&M to struggle, though I’m afraid they will with this change.

Perhaps in the short term it is a zero sum game in the CAA. For leagues like the ACC or A10 this is not the case, as they can gain additional respect and more tourney bids.

CAA was on the verge of becoming a multi-bid league like the A10 before teams like VCU, ODU, GMU left. If they were still in the CAA, the chances of at large bids would be higher.

You could argue it’s zero-sum in that those bids would come at the expense of other conferences, but for a given conference like the CAA, improved talent and competitiveness (read: ncaa wins) can strengthen the conference and be good for other schools as well.

CAA football had 6 teams make the playoffs. In other conferences I think there is a good chance some of these teams don’t make the cut. In other words, playing in a stronger conference enhances the reputation, respect and opportunity for all.

I look forward to a day (if it ever arrives) where we are looking down the CAA standings and whining about the cellar-dwellers bringing the strength of the conference down...instead of...

...where we've been and are...

...that is, looking up at the top of the standings and wishing we could raise the strength of the conference.

If somebody has to be at the bottom, if W&M (and maybe Elon, who is still looking to hire a new HC) has to be there and it isn't us, then cool.