(06-18-2019 02:20 PM)DSL Wrote:  I will be attending but I will be shocked if we hear much discussion about Shaver. Giving any details about the Shaver termination would create too many HR issues and possibly legal/defamation issues.
In my four decades in a management position, I was never permitted to speak a word about a termination to anyone who was not totally involved with the decision. I think most attendees tonight will be disappointed and frustrated with the subject matter tonight, but maybe Huge will surprise me.

I think you are correct. Should be more of the same from the recent article. This is clearly a PR move as has all of the other recent media. Her image is damaged and she needs to shift that in a positive direction.

My buddy Jay is going to be the MC tonight. Be nice to him.

Air conditioning is a plus

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Well, she answered THE question(s)? I'll give her credit for that.

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I gotta say, I truly respect Huge for doing this town hall. She realizes that people are mad and, even though we may not be getting the answers we want, this is a big step in transparency and I really appreciate it.

Yep, this is our typical fanbase.

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Well, no question, she can handle herself in front of a microphone.

I guess I give her credit for holding this Town Hall, although I wonder who really determined it was necessary. Seems a strong PR effort, standard "great question" "glad you asked that" etc. I think she either was told or realized this Town Hall was necessary to reforge any relationship with the W&M community in order to retap donors big and small.

"the heartbeat of W&M athletics is Kaplan arena" ??????????

"renovate our home"

otherwise its just a lot of repeated rhetoric that Tribe basketball can and should be in the NCAA and there will be a ROI in the form of publicity, donors, profile etc. An old story.

Unless I've missed it no insight whatsoever into decision on Tony or searching for a new coach.

Comes across as smug, self-interested, and sees herself as right. Hope she is as good as she thinks she is. Says a lot of good stuff overall and handles it well. Still don't like her decision, etc. but she did this well enough.

Will be interesting how long she stays here. Just based on her demeanor, I predict she is gone by her choice or others within 4 years. Sounds like pure politician

She specifically said there were issues on and off the court that forced her hand (to fire Tony) and that she can't and won't divulge those reasons. I suspect there are legal reasons for that. She also understands the fallout.

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(06-18-2019 06:49 PM)Tribal Wrote:  She specifically said there were issues on and off the court that forced her hand (to fire Tony) and that she can't and won't divulge those reasons. I suspect there are legal reasons for that. She also understands the fallout.

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Thanks Tribal and others for the running commentary for those of us who can’t join. If she said this, that’ll keep the rumor mill humming for at least a little while longer (unfortunately).


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Great softball last question...

There is no way any responsible employer is going to publicly state the reason for a termination. None. (And I was/am vehemently opposed to the decision.)

I thought it went about as well as could be expected.

Some news (at least to me):

Apparently about a 33% reduction in MBB contributions on OTOD.
Look for an announcement re: Kaplan in the fall.
No plans for an Aquatic Center.
No plans for leaving the CAA (always "evaluating").
Strategic plan calls for 35 CAA championships by 2025 with at least 5 coming from a combination of football, men's and women's basketball.

She took some pretty direct questions (e.g., how many prospects did we interview for MBB coach?) which she didn't want to get into and answered pretty succinctly (curtly?) but what else could she do?

She did mention that coaching today, with the transfer portal, is no longer a situation where being with the players from 3 to 6 PM is sufficient. One could choose to read something into that if one wishes.

The complaint can be made that she was too smooth by half and filled a lot of time with happy talk but I'm afraid that is what an AD does. I still have to give her kudos for doing this even if it was driven by the adverse reaction to the MBB coaching change.

(I forgot to mention Jimmy Ukrop's question about ultimate frisbee ...)

Three comments:

1. She was asked if she knew ahead of time that players would leave via the transfer portal. She said yes. That is all she said, even after a pregnant pause after the "yes". Obviously, that curt answer just invites follow-up questions. Unfortunately, no one in the audience asked any.

2. As noted above, her responses about Shaver stated that there were circumstances involved that she could not go into. One woman then asked a follow-up question asking if anything "nefarious" was involved, and Huge said "no". Okay, then, if nothing nefarious was involved then why is she being so evasive? Why not just have the balls to say that she just plain didn't like Shaver and wanted to change coaches. But no, she gives veiled responses that truly lead people to think that there were other reasons (and the woman's follow-up question showed that perfectly).

3. She was asked by WY Daily how many people she interviewed for the Shaver vacancy. Very straightforward question. She even told the questioner that she had answered that same question before. She then proceeded to say "several" and moved on to the next question. So, hey, where is the supposed transparency? What is the need for secrecy here? What is wrong with answering "4", or "8", or "2"? You can give a truthful number but still keep the names confidential. When she says "several" I have no reason to believe that is true. It makes me think that she interviewed Dane Fischer and that's it. If not, then why not give me a number?

I agree with Odysseus. I think she came across as smug, glib, and too "pat". Unfortunately, my low opinion of her did not change any as a result of this town hall.

--EDIT --

Tribeinexile's post reminded me of another comment:

4. Huge said that she expected the donated dollars for Men's basketball to go down. Of course, she meant that she expected it AFTER she had fired Shaver. The problem, of course, as many of us have said, is that if she used her brain (or should we say something more politically correct such as if she "had experience") then she would have realized that BEFORE she fired Shaver.

5. I also did not like how she evaded the question of Shaver's buyout. The truth of it is that W&M is paying Shaver his salary each year for at least the next four years to NOT COACH. So don't disguise it by giving us BS about how it is not a "buyout". The truth is that Shaver is getting paid $1.5M-1.7M to NOT COACH.

(06-18-2019 06:18 PM)Tribal Wrote:  Yep, this is our typical fanbase.

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Watched what was available via replay. Did topic of present/future attendee/fan/donor base come up?

The way she spoke to the reporter that asked the question about how many coaches were interviewed really set me off. How do you think she treats her employees in the Athletic Department? Especially the ones that aren't "her people" - i.e. the ones she hasn't run out of there.

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(06-18-2019 07:47 PM)Florida tribe fan Wrote:  Watched what was available via replay. Did topic of present/future attendee/fan/donor base come up?

Yes. There wasn't anything really big in the responses, just that they know that students that are involved are significantly more likely to be engaged with W&M after graduating and also more likely to be donors. She said it's a difficult to balance making the gameday experience something that will interest students with not alienating the older alums.

Not too many AD’s would do a town hall like she did tonight...so big props to her for that. She said she has no regrets re: the Shaver firing and that she knows it was the correct decision. 100% right thing to say publicly to our fan base at this time. Whether she really still believes that or not privately is irrelevant.

(06-18-2019 07:58 PM)Tribe21 Wrote:  The way she spoke to the reporter that asked the question about how many coaches were interviewed really set me off. How do you think she treats her employees in the Athletic Department? Especially the ones that aren't "her people" - i.e. the ones she hasn't run out of there.

That reporter has been asking that specific question for months, and has gotten the same answer every time. It's a one-note song, and I'm sure it's gotten pretty old by now.

Curious to hear about the Kaplan renovations. Hoping for something similar to what Richmond did with the Robins Center

My two cents: There was a lot of fluff and eye-roll reactions to it. But the substance was good if you ignored the rest. There was a lot of corporate-speak, but she directly answered more questions than I expected, specifically the one where someone asked if she knew the transfers were going to happen. (one word answer: yes; nobody asked a followup)

Things that stand out to me:
Huge said she was happy that players have the freedom to make decisions about where they really want to be and that coaches need to make sure our programs are places players want to be. She said the CAA is the best fit for W&M. There aren't schools that fit our unique profile, so it's the best we can get. She said that no current strategic plan involves cutting sports. She said that W&M Sports Blog made a good case for men's lacrosse, but there's no way to do it financially. She said that she attends many practices because games are where she has to schmooze the fanbase so she doesn't get to watch them. She said that she watches every football and basketball game on replay after the games are over. She said the new streaming plan is a really good thing for W&M because it puts us on the leading edge of the transition to that type of distribution. She didn't directly address the high cost, but did say that they were exploring including it in some kind of package for season ticket holders. That was at the end, unfortunately, so there wasn't much opportunity to get into that more.

Also, this is the first in a series. She's planning to do these types of events regularly, with at least two more planned for this year. No more detail on that yet, but I'm sure it will be promoted if this one gets the positive reception that I think it will.