Why the Valley has been down

[WuDrWu]

Coaching and AD turnover, yes, but mostly its about money.

When talking about college athletics, money should probably always factor into the discussion. But if that is mostly the reason, how do you explain UNI the past couple of years?

The question was about the league, not about UNI. League wide, schools are not investing at a level that other leagues ahead of them are and that doesn't mean that a team can't win that doesn't spend money.


There can be anomalies in either direction. And while UNI has achieved great successes the past 2 years, it's not exactly Duke.

[unipanther99]

Coaching and AD turnover, yes, but mostly its about money.

When talking about college athletics, money should probably always factor into the discussion. But if that is mostly the reason, how do you explain UNI the past couple of years?

The question was about the league, not about UNI. League wide, schools are not investing at a level that other leagues ahead of them are and that doesn't mean that a team can't win that doesn't spend money.


There can be anomalies in either direction. And while UNI has achieved great successes the past 2 years, it's not exactly Duke.

It's not just UNI. I think it's fair to say both UNI and SIU have had financial issues, yet they have combined for 7 titles in the past ten years. I obviously don't think that spending less on basketball is the right move, I just don't think it matters very much. Instead, look at what those two programs have done on the court. Smothering defense, difficult to game plan against, and carrying that philosophy through coaching changes. It's not pretty, but it seems to have been more effective than anything else the Valley has done lately. When SIU started paying Lowery "Gonzaga money," and the Salukis started recruiting different kinds of players, that's when things started to go South.

I don't think Valley schools should try to keep up with the BCS schools financially. We just can't win at that. I'm not saying every team needs to play Matt Painter style defense, but find your own identity. Don't be Duke-light. If we make ourselves unique and find our niche in college basketball, we will continue to be relevant.

[valleychamp]

I think that is probably pretty accurate. Style of play may be one of the main problems. All the MVC teams in the glory days of the mid 2000's played a tough hard nosed style, and the defense was of much better quality back then.

MVC teams now are just too soft.

[unipanther99]

I think that is probably pretty accurate. Style of play may be one of the main problems. All the MVC teams in the glory days of the mid 2000's played a tough hard nosed style, and the defense was of much better quality back then.

MVC teams now are just too soft.

Champ, I love your passion... But after agreeing with me you threw a grenade and I for one will not jump on it!

[Aargh]

I think the coaching situation has really hurt the Valley.

Budgets are so tight at some Valley school, that those schools hire assistants, which is always a gamble. Even when that works out (Keno Davis is a prime example) it doesn't always work out (Keno Davis - again).

Ben Jacobsen has worked out really, really well. Chris Lowery worked out well for a while and then self-destructed. If coaching consistency was a key component, then BU should be moving to the top of the Valley now - which doesn't seem to be happening.

I even think assistant coaches are critical. Bradley's brief run at prosperity and subsequent drop coincided with the arrival and departure of an assistant coach. WSU's 2007 collapse coincided with the loss of Tad Biyle from the coaching staff. WSU's current lack of progress from last year coincides with the loss of Earl Grant, who Marshall brought with him from Winthrop.

I think recruiting budgets are being cut at more schools than we've heard about. Money is tight in this economy and the cost of D1 basketball is going through the roof like snow at the Metrodome - except the opposite direction.

About the guard/big guy theory.

When one coach goes out and starts getting more post players, the rest of the coaches in the league have to respond. then the emphasis switches from signing guards to signing post players. It's also possible that for a decade or so, there were a lot of good guards in the Valley's recruiting areas. Maybe there aren't that many now. An example of something like that is what happened in Wichita. There was a period of about 10 years, when Wichita high schools were pumping out D1 players about every year. Then maybe one or two per decade for 20 years.

[Ace Dad]

We sometimes talk about issues as if other conferences do not go through similiar challenges. I know this may be apples and oranges, but check out this article about the ACC being down this year:

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/insider/ ... ce_ncb_xxx

[Ricardo del Rio]

The coaches cannot recruit quality players on balance.

When some teams attract quality players, some coaches cannot coach well.

The first question, which must be asked is this:

Why cannot the coaches attract more quality players? I am sure the answer to this question is a long laundry list of factors.