Giacoletti

[Wufan]

Drake's new head coach is doing noticeable things with his roster in Des Moines. The Bulldog faithful are rightfully excited about his debut. If Drake finishes second, I think there is a very good chance that Gia is the Coach of the Year. I believe they were picked 9th in the pre-season polls. I have a couple of questions:

1) What is he being paid?
2) If he is successful, can Drake maintain him?
3) He had some moderate success at Eastern Washington (one NIT and one NCAA tourney game) which included three 2nd place finishes and a first place finish in the Big Sky. He turned that into an opportunity at Utah where he won the MWC in his first year with a 13-1 record (29-6 overall) and achieved a sweet 16. In the two years following, he had losing records and resigned. After year 1, Bogut and Marc Jackson graduated and two other starters transferred. Still, such a mediocre finish. What happened?

[lime]

not sure what happened at Utah, but under Boylen (Giac's successor) they went 18-15 and 24-10 (making the NCAAs) when his recruits would have been juniors/seniors and then dropped to 14-17 and 13-18 (when his recruits would have been gone). that's the silver lining I've clung to with his Utah days, which were otherwise the biggest concern with his hire.

Drake is serious about committing to basketball success (see the practice facility), particuarly when they look at how peer schools (Butler and Gonzaga) have pushed their brand with it. I've heard that they're paying him in the $400-450k range. I assume they'd be willing to up that if it meant keeping him if they make the NCAAs in the near future, not sure what the upper limit on Drake's capability is.

[DUBulldog]

Maxwell (Drake's president) has been quoted as saying that this hire disproves the "Maxwell Rule". It had been suggested by several people that there was an unofficial rule at Drake that nobody would be paid more than Maxwell. So, he is apparently making more than Maxwell. I don't have the exact figure, but Cityview (weekly paper in Des Moines) reported that Maxwell made somewhere around $500,000 in 2012.

I do think that Giacoletti is here for the long term. I don't have time right now to explain in more detail.

[TheDrake]

Drake's new head coach is doing noticeable things with his roster in Des Moines. The Bulldog faithful are rightfully excited about his debut. If Drake finishes second, I think there is a very good chance that Gia is the Coach of the Year. I believe they were picked 9th in the pre-season polls. I have a couple of questions:

1) What is he being paid?
2) If he is successful, can Drake maintain him?
3) He had some moderate success at Eastern Washington (one NIT and one NCAA tourney game) which included three 2nd place finishes and a first place finish in the Big Sky. He turned that into an opportunity at Utah where he won the MWC in his first year with a 13-1 record (29-6 overall) and achieved a sweet 16. In the two years following, he had losing records and resigned. After year 1, Bogut and Marc Jackson graduated and two other starters transferred. Still, such a mediocre finish. What happened?

1) Something north of 500k
2) I believe so. Giacoletti has experienced basketball at a lot of different levels. He believes he can turn Drake into a mid-major power and the administration seems willing to back that goal financially. Ex. New practice facility, almost double head coaching salary and money to pay for quality assistants. From day one he has talked about being at Drake longterm and transforming the program.
3) When I've heard him talk about it he says that Utah wanted instant results coming off of the sweet sixteen and he was building with freshman and sophomore recruits. Those recruits later went on to a conference championship after he left so Drake fans are hoping that it's a case of not being given enough time.

[agrinut]

Coach of the year unless Wichita stays perfect right?

[Cdizzle]

Coach of the year unless Wichita stays perfect right?

I think that seems reasonable if Drake can rack up 10 or more Valley wins. They are on their way.

I am excited to see the on-court results, but even more excited to hear about the financial commitment Drake is making to MBB. Hopefully that will pay off for both Drake and the league in the long term.

[BCPanther]

Drake getting good would be great for the league.

Another Question for Drake fans. I think even you guys would admit that the Knapp Center is awful. With sustained success is the money there to either build an actual arena (not a rec center that converts to an arena on game nights) or play downtown at the Well?

I think if everything would go right for you, and with the population growth in Des Moines, that you could realistically draw 10-12,000 a night with sustained success.

[SpiritedDrake]

I like the Knapp Center...

[TheDrake]

Drake getting good would be great for the league.

Another Question for Drake fans. I think even you guys would admit that the Knapp Center is awful. With sustained success is the money there to either build an actual arena (not a rec center that converts to an arena on game nights) or play downtown at the Well?

I think if everything would go right for you, and with the population growth in Des Moines, that you could realistically draw 10-12,000 a night with sustained success.

I for one would admit that the Knapp Center is awful.

I don't think Drake needs to build an entirely new arena though. Do a complete renovation of the Knapp making permanent seating, and bowling in the corners. That would bump capacity up at least a couple thousand.

The Well is terrible for watching basketball.

[Cdizzle]

and bowling in the corners

I guess that's one way to try to draw more folks.